Den of Cin with Devin & James

Devin & James are back in the Den for another tribute to a lost legend. This time we are paying tribute to horror film's favorite ice cream man, the iconic REGGIE BANNISTER, by deep diving the franchise that put him on the cult map, Don Coscarelli's PHANTASM series! All five Phantasm films are covered (Phantasm, Phantasm II, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, Phantasm: OblIVion, and Phantasm: RaVager), as well as the film that proceeded them, Coscarelli's criminally under-seen coming of age comedy, KENNY & COMPANY, featuring Reggie as a cool elementary school teacher, and A. Michael Baldwin as the coolest kid in said school. Gas up the Hemi'cuda, and grab your four-barrelled shotgun, cause Angus Scrimm's TALL MAN is up ahead with an army of silver spheres!

Devin & James are back in the Den to explore a decade in the career of one of our favorite American character actors: PETER BOYLE IN THE 1970s!

From the his humble beginnings in the late 60s until his passing in 2006, Boyle was a consistently working actor and beloved legend of film and television, but there was something special about his output during the decade of the New Hollywood movement.

We start with 1970's still controversial JOE, a part that Boyle filled so perfectly during production that the entire film was re-edited and re-titled in post in order to switch his supporting character into the main event!

We follow that up with still-timely THE CANDIDATE, in which Boyle spins himself far, far, far away from the "Joe-persona" to help liberal Robert Redford become a California senator.

Boyle then returns to dark territory, playing an ominous presence in the life of Robert Mitchum in a classic neo-noir slow burn, THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE.

He finally gets a proper starring role in the absurdly under seen and underappreciated CRAZY JOE, where he plays real life wiseguy Joe Gallo, running a gang that includes the likes of Rip Torn, Fred Williamson, and Henry Winkler!

There might not have been a ton of dialogue for Boyle in his biggest hit of the 70s, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, but his turn as "Fronkensteen's Monster" is one of the most important and beloved of his entire career. We try not to spend the entire segment endlessly quoting Gene Wilder & Mel Brooks' script.

And just for the hell of it, we finish the decade off the same way Peter Boyle did, with the (literal and figurative) disaster film, BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, featuring an all-star cast of actors who must have all had bookies to pay to be in this one (though we argue it's all in dumb fun).

In between, we also consider his contributions to high profile projects like Taxi Driver, Hardcore, and The Brink's Job, as well as obscurities like Steelyard Blues and T.R. Baskin.

Please join us in the Den to celebrate one of the most unique performers to ever steal a scene.

Devin & James are back in the Den, and it's gonna be a hot one! That's because we are taking a look at SUMMER HORROR MOVIES, in which characters have their summer in the wilderness ruined by maniacs or savage beasts. Largely inspired by any combinations of Deliverance, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Jaws, these films filled the theaters for several years, with results being among both the most unique and the most formulaic of the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s.

We start with 1976's "Jaws with Claws", GRIZZLY. Then we discuss the underrated RITUALS, starring the great Hal Holbrook. Then we dive into Joe Dante's brilliant PIRANHA. Things get bizarre when we visit the 1979 slasher TOURIST TRAP. Then we take a look at WITHOUT WARNING, about a pre-Predator alien on a hunting trip. We discuss what makes JUST BEFORE DAWN, THE FOREST, and THE PREY interesting among the many Friday the 13th wannabes before we check into the best of those, SLEEPAWAY CAMP. We finish off in 1993 with the video store classic, TICKS, starring Seth Green and Alfonso Ribeiro.

So grab a six-pack of Mountain Dew and some frozen Otter Pops, because it's time to cool off with a summer movie marathon!

Devin & James are back in the Den with another trip (and we mean TRIP) around the world with a look at STRANGE INTERNATIONAL WESTERNS. America may have cornered the market on the genre of its own invention, but artists from around the world have always found inspiration in Wild West mythologies, and we have picked out a few of the wildest, weirdest, and downright most bizarre Westerns from around the globe.

We start in 1964 Czechoslovakia with Oldrich Lipsky's highly-stylized musical satire on classic cowboys and capitalism, LEMONADE JOE. We couldn't ignore Italy, so next we look at the dreamlike nightmare that is Giulio Questi's Spaghetti Western, DJANGO KILL... IF YOU LIVE, SHOOT!, featuring Tomas Milian. Then we come closer to home with Alejandro Jodorosky's midnight masterpiece from Mexico, EL TOPO. We jump back across the pond to discover an underappreciated 1970 gem from the New German Cinema Movement, Roland Klick's DEADLOCK (co-starring a very sweaty Mario Adorf). Next we jump continents, and decades, for 2007's wild and unwieldy SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO, an ultra pop culture-infused oater from Japanese visionary, Takashi Miike. Finally, we take a ride with Kim Jee-woon's incredible South Korean Kimchi Western, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD, his 2008 tribute to Sergio Leone set in 1930's Manchuria that feels more like a true Western than a lot of modern Westerns.

Saddle up and keep your wits. It's gonna get weird.

Devin & James are back in the Den, and we're ready to hit the road with special guest CASEY O'CONNOR! This time we're deep diving into one of the most unique movie series ever created, THE MAD MAX SAGA!

From the grimy exploitation charm of MAD MAX, through the high-octane thrills of THE ROAD WARRIOR and BEYOND THUNDERDOME, to the violent elegance of FURY ROAD and FURIOSA, there is really no other series that compares with George Miller's apocalyptic vision of the future.

Along the way we discuss Australian biker films, Mel Gibson, Vernon Well's ass-less chaps (aren't they all?), bone-crunching stunts, Tina Turner in a car chase (!), the series' Oscar-winning return 30 years later on the shoulders of Charlize Theron & Tom Hardy, and how Chris Hemsworth fits into one of the greatest lineups of villains to ever rule a wasteland. We even take a moment to acknowledge the massive pop culture footprint the films have, leading to a million imitators from 1990: The Bronx Warriors to Waterworld.

Join us as we ride eternal, shiny and chrome, into Valhalla!

Devin & James are back in the DEN OF CIN with a tribute to actor/writer/director ROBERT DUVALL! Few other artists have had such a long lasting impact on the art form as Duvall, with parts in many of the most important movies ever made, in both supporting and lead roles. We start off with a list of the expected must-see classics, such as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, M*A*S*H, and Network (to name just a few), but we deep dive into a selection of Duvall films that tend to get less attention in the modern era than the typical "greatest hits" of his filmography. We start with a look into his supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE, and then dive into long form conversations about his many starring roles, including the criminally underseen THE OUTFIT, his Oscar winning country music masterpiece TENDER MERCIES, family drama THE GREAT SANTINI, Dennis Hopper's still controversial COLORS with Sean Penn, the self-written & directed THE APOSTLE, and the 21st century western OPEN RANGE. Along the way, we get into side conversations about THX-1138, TOMORROW, THE STONE BOY, FALLING DOWN, JOE KIDD, TRUE CONFESSIONS, and THE JUDGE, as well as probably the weirdest, most random cameo of all time in the remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. Join us for all of these, and even a few more, as we celebrate over 60 years of cinema with Robert Duvall!

Devin & James are back in the Den for a career retrospective of one of Hollywood's greatest curmudgeons: GEORGE C. SCOTT!! We've been promising this one for years, and it's finally here.

We've selected a handful of our personal favorite Scott performances, starting with Paul Schrader's notorious sleazeball thriller HARDCORE. Next, we ride the streets of 1970s Los Angeles with the criminally under-seen THE NEW CENTURIONS.

Then we check ourselves into THE HOSPITAL for a particularly (im)potent Scott performance, and follow that with the existential cool of THE LAST RUN.

Next, we take a trip to 1968 San Francisco in the disjointed romance of PETUNIA. Finally, we get spooky as hell with the greatest cold-case ghost story of all time, THE CHANGELING.

Along the way, we take shorter looks at many other Scott essentials, such as DR. STRANGELOVE, PATTON, THE HUSTLER, ANATOMY OF A MURDER, RAGE, EXORCIST III, THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER, ISLANDS IN THE STREAM, and even a few others.

Grab a stiff drink, settle in, and enjoy cinema's greatest angry man in all his salty glory.

Devin & James are back in the Den one more time in 2025 for our final 50th Anniversary celebration of the films of 1975! This time we focus on the ODDBALL MOVIES of '75, those that are too wild or weird to easily fit into the other categories in our series. We begin with a couple of moody films written by Thomas McGuaine: Stoner cowboys Jeff Bridges & Sam Waterston rustle cattle in RANCHO DELUXE, and then Peter Fonda & Warren Oates have very violent conversations about fishing in 92 IN THE SHADE. Both films also feature amazing performances by Harry Dean Stanton and Joe Spinell. We lighten the mood a bit with Michael Ritchie's underrated slice-of-life beauty pageant comedy SMILE, with fantastic performances by Bruce Dern, Annette O'Toole, and many others. We finish up our celebration with a couple of very dark Los Angeles Depression-era period pieces: Mike Nichols' THE FORTUNE, a pitch-black screwball comedy featuring Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, and Stockard Channing in a murdurous love triangle, and John Schlesinger's brutal poison pen letter to old Hollywood, THE DAY OF THE LOCUST, showcasing the never-better Karen Black, the never-creepier Donald Sutherland, and a rare major role by William Atherton. Throw in a lot more offbeat appearances by the likes of Slim Pickens, Burgess Meredith, William Hickey, Billy Barty, Margot Kidder, and Geoffrey Lewis, and you end up with one of the most interesting rosters of character actors we've ever discussed in one episode! These films don't all turn out to be masterpieces (most of them don't), but they are all huge creative swings that stand out from the crowd during an era known for big swings, and that's saying something. Join us to pay tribute to the films from 1975 that were too weird to be hits, but too rare to be forgotten.

Devin & James are back in the Den for another look back at the year in cinema that was 1975, this time focusing on THE EXPLOITATION FILMS of 75! This episode is not for the easily offended. We start with the blaxploitation classic BUCKTOWN, starring Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Thalmus Rasulala. Then we pivot to the bizarre indie WELCOME HOME, BROTHER CHARLES, featuring a murder weapon that has to be seen to be believed. (Note: Devin accidentally titles this as "Welcome Back, Brother Charles" in the film's intro. Sorry folks.) Things don't get any more sane when we check out the notorious nazisploitation film, ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE S. S. Following that grimness, we lighten the mood with one of our own favorites, THE SWITCHBLADE SISTERS, with its strange Shakespearean overtones. We then explore two nasty little movies that are just dying to be rediscovered, the relentless POOR PRETTY EDDIE and the weird split persona of THE LOVE BUTCHER. We end things with a quick trip to Italy for the Last House on the Left-inspired NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS. Follow us, if you dare, into the grimy grindhouses of 1975!

Devin & James are back in the Den, and they're handing out full-sized candy bars to all the trick or treaters! Friend of the show Casey O'Connor returns to help us celebrate Halloween with a discussion of 1980s stand-alone SLASHER MOVIES that never became sequels or franchises (sorry, Freddy, Jason, Michael, and Chucky). We start by getting aboard the TERROR TRAIN, followed by the weird as hell HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. Next comes the slaughter fest that is PIECES (It's exactly what you think it is!). Then we retreat to the woods with THE BURNING and MADMAN. We discuss the underappreciated debauchery of THE PROWLER, and the surprising longevity of MY BLOODY VALENTINE. Next, we flash some devil horns at TRICK OR TREAT, a heavy metal masterpiece. We end the night with the brutal but unique INTRUDER. In between, we mention several more of our favorite Slashers, as well as some of the one-off hits that came along in the decades after this horror heyday of the 1980s. Please join us for our Slasher Party! We've got all the popcorn and chainsaws you'll need! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Devin & James are back in the Den to start Spooky Season with a 50th anniversary celebration of the HORROR MOVIES OF 1975! We begin by rediscovering the nihilistic classic THE STEPFORD WIVES. Next, we debate if the masterpiece PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK and the underseen THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD are even technically horror movies, or rather films so unique that they defy genre classification. Then we head to the drive-in for the cheestastic THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION. We next examine the taboos of David Cronenberg's disturbing, yet hilarious, SHIVERS. We travel to Spain to explore two bizarre horrors by filmmaker Amando de Ossorio, his final Blind Dead entry, NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS and the totally unhinged Exorcist "homage" DEMON WITCH CHILD. We round things out with some Satanic Panic in two of the wildest Satanist cult films ever made, the RV road chase nightmare RACE WITH THE DEVIL, starring Peter Fonda and Warren Oates, and THE DEVIL'S RAIN, featuring unhinged performances by William Shatner, Tom Skerrit, John Travolta, and the GOAT, Ernest Borgnine! We also bring other 1975 tricks and treats like BUG, TRILOGY OF TERROR, THE AMUSEMENT PARK, SALO, KISS OF THE TARANTULA, and even DEAFULA! We've packed the candy sack as far as it'll stretch for this episode, so sit back with some witch's brew and enjoy the start of Halloween season with us!!

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Devin & James are back in the Den! And we're celebrating more 50th anniversaries for the iconic year of 1975. This time we're covering 1975's TOUGH GUY MOVIES! Ranging from over-the-top action to gritty neo-noir, some of our greatest movie stars of the era were busy making this year one of the best for being a badass. We start by taking a swing at Charles Bronson and James Coburn in the criminally underrated HARD TIMES. Then we dive into messy pro-killers James Caan and Robert Duvall in THE KILLER ELITE. Then it's off to Japan with Robert Mitchum in THE YAKUZA. We continue our globetrotting in England with a different kind of Duke, John Wayne in BRANNIGAN. The travel vibe continues as we climb the treacherous "Murder Wall" in Switzerland with Clint Eastwood in THE EIGER SANCTION. Then we return to Los Angeles for the underappreciated Burt Reynolds' dark neo-noir, HUSTLE. After that, we keep on truckin' with Jan Michael Vincent in WHITE LINE FEVER. We finish off with a short bit covering a couple of oddballs, even amongst this bunch: Joe Don Baker (RIP) as MITCHELL, and Paul Newman in THE DROWNING POOL. And that's only a handful of the tough guy movies released this year! Join us for a discussion on some of the best "Lazy Sunday" watches you could ever find.

Devin & James are back in the Den to celebrate the 50th anniversary of some fantastic and influential films coming from Asia in 1975! We start with one of our favorite monsters in the Kaiju classic THE TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA! We then take to the streets with Kinji Kukasaku's brutal yakuza tale COPS VS. THUGS. Then things get more kung fu classical in the origin story of one of cinema's coolest weapons, THE FLYING GUILLOTINE. After that, we hop on THE BULLET TRAIN (No, not the Brad Pitt one. The Sonny Chiba one!). Our cinematic traveling continues down under with the Australian/Chines co-production, THE MAN FROM HONG KONG. From there, we go completely off the rails with the cinematic cotton candy that is SUPER INFRAMAN. Finally, we get a taste of horror (and some other things we'd rather not mention here) in BLACK MAGIC. All of these films are from Japan or China, but we make sure to check in on the rest of the continent with shout-outs to YEONG-JA'S HEYDAYS out of Korea, THE RARE BLUE APES OF CANNIBAL ISLE from Malaysia, the Bollywood classic SHOLAY, and DERSU UZALA, the Academy Award-winning Russian film directed by Akira Kurosawa!

Devin & James are back, and they're gonna need a bigger podcast. That's why they've brought back special guest CASEY O'CONNOR to discuss the blockbusters and award nominees of 1975! We start with a little film called JAWS, which some of you may have heard of before. We then move on to the Best Picture winner, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, followed by the Kubrick comedy (that's right, I'm calling it a comedy), BARRY LYNDON. We then take a turn toward Altman's NASHVILLE, before ending up in New York City for 3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR and DOG DAY AFTERNOON. Along the way, we also give shout-outs to SHAMPOO, THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER, and THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING. There must have been something in the water in 1975 (a shark, perhaps?) because these are some of the greatest, most influential, and important films ever made, celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year!

Devin & James are back in the Den with special returning guest star, CASEY O'CONNOR!! We needed an extra hand to take on the first episode of a new ongoing series about the cinema of 1975, with our first deep dive being into all the huge CULT FILMS of '75, celebrating their 50th anniversary this year! We start at the top with the iconic ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. We then take that time warp back to visit MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. Next are a couple of exploitation classics from two grindhouse giants, Russ Meyer's SUPERVIXENS, and Rudy Ray Moore in DOLEMITE! We then see, hear, and feel Ken Russell and The Who's rock opera, TOMMY, with a LISZTOMANIA chaser. We finish off with a batch of post-apocalyptic films, each with its own bleak view of the future: ROLLERBALL, DEATH RACE 2000, and A BOY AND HIS DOG. And this is only the start of the discussion about all the incredible celluloid that came from 1975!

Devin & James are back in the DEN to conclude their discussion about one of the greatest American actors ever to hit the screen, GENE HACKMAN! This time around, we reach into some slightly more obscure territory. We get into his early Western work, in THE HUNTING PARTY and BITE THE BULLET. We also discuss two films he made with a frequent collaborator, Arthur Penn: the underappreciated TARGET and the stone-cold neo-noir masterpiece, NIGHT MOVES. Actress Joanna Cassidy shows up as a match for Hackman in THE PACKAGE and UNDER FIRE. We also discuss a couple of misfires that may fall short of greatness (or even goodness, in some opinions). Still, we make the case that Hackman makes them interesting watches anyway: LOOSE CANNONS (with Dan Aykroyd and an insane Hitler sex tape plot) and LUCKY LADY (which puts him in a literal throuple with Liza Minnelli and Burt Reynolds!!!!). All this, plus many more films to add to your list. We could have honestly gone into a third episode with Hackman as the headline topic, and we hope you join us to celebrate his unique presence in cinema. Gene Hackman was truly one of a kind.

Devin & James are back in the DEN to pay tribute to one of the greatest performers of all time, GENE HACKMAN! Gene Hackman may have retired from acting 20 years before his unfortunate passing earlier this year, but in his five decades of filmmaking, he created a filmography that's impossible to match. In fact, we had to extend this out to two episodes. In this first of two, we discuss some of Hackman's earlier work, such as MAROONED and CISCO PIKE. We get into some of his heavy hitters, like HOOSIERS, MISSISSIPPI BURNING, UNCOMMON VALOR, and UNFORGIVEN. We also cover some of his lesser-seen titles, like the masterpiece SCARECROW, and the bizarre EUREKA. We even get close to his retirement, with HEARTBREAKERS, RUNAWAY JURY, and, of course, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS. Add a few mentioned along the way, and we are still just getting started. For deeper dives on a few of Hackman's other classics, please look up our episodes on THE FRENCH CONNECTION series, and our episode on Killer Couples, which explores BONNIE & CLYDE.

Devin & James are back in the Den, and it's full of bats! In this episode, we are covering a very specific type of vampire... OFF-BRAND DRACULAS! These vampires may have castles in Transylvania, look hot in a cape, or have an unnatural interest in foreign real estate, but they all owe their cinematic existence to the literary existence of Bram Stoker's Dracula. We start with NOSFERATU, covering Murnau's 1922 silent classic, through Herzog in 1979, and to Eggers in 2024. We then move on to a couple of Bela Lugosi films, where he plays a bloodsucker who is "definitely NOT Dracula" (legally speaking) with 1935's MARK OF THE VAMPIRE and 1943's THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE. We then head to AIP in the groovy 70's, when they redefined the old legend with 1970's COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE, featuring the underrated Robert Quarry as the titular count with a mouthful of fangs, as well as 1972's BLACULA, featuring a dignified performance by William Marshall that deserves much more credit than it's punny title suggests.

Devin & James are back in the Den to bid a final "ciao" to the TOUR OF ITALY series with a look at the violent world of POLIZIOTTESCHI movies! (or Eurocrime, for the pronunciation challenged.) Italy had a special touch with crime thrillers during their politically tumultuous "Years of Lead," and we go over some of the genre's highest points, starting with Enzo G. Castellari's HIGH CRIME (1973), starring Franco Nero, and Franco Nero's mustache. We follow that with Lucio Fulci's only crime film, the gloriously bloody CONTRABAND (1980). Then we get into the sticky details around the release of Mario Bava's underseen and underrated RABID DOGS/KIDNAPPED, and why two different cuts of this movie were finally released over 20 years after the movie was shot and abandoned in 1974. We follow that with some fun in Umberto Lenzi's THE CYNIC, THE RAT, AND THE FIST (1977), which matched up 3 of the genre's most iconic stars (Milian, Merli, & Saxon). Finally, we cover the influential second entry of Fernando Di Leo's "Milieu Trilogy," THE ITALIAN CONNECTION (1972), where actor Mario Adorf outshines hitmen Henry Silva and Woody Strode to give the most heart-pounding and heartbreaking pimp performance we've ever seen. We're sad to finally be leaving Italy behind (for now), but we closed out with some of our favorite movies ever committed to celluloid. Buckle in and hold on for some off-the-wall Italian mayhem.

Devin & James are back in the Den with their penultimate visit to Italy! This time we shift from focusing on one genre to examining a type of film that is not uniquely Italian, but they sure put their own style on: THE KNOCK-OFF. Low-budget films ripping off box office hits has always been a popular way for Producers to make a buck. Still, the filmmakers themselves can sometimes bring their own spin to a popular trope or trend and create works that rise above being called simply imitations. And then... there are the imitations. We make the case that there is plenty to enjoy about all the approaches, as long as you know what you're getting into. We start with the sharksploitation film that Universal Studios successfully took off the market for lifting the plot of Jaws in 1981, Enzo G. Castellari's THE LAST SHARK (with a bonus look at CRUEL JAWS). If imitation is flattery, then Bruno Mattei must be one of the most complimentary filmmakers ever to play the game, and we dive into his back-to-back sci-fi knocks-offs from 1989, ROBOWAR (Predator featuring a Robocop) and SHOCKING DARK (Aliens featuring a Terminator). We finish up with a couple of films that are inspired by the head-spinning, pea soup-spitting world of The Exorcist, but that build their unique plots and bizarre twists to create works that stand on their own, Alberto De Martino's THE ANTICHRIST, and Ovidio G Assonitis and Roberto D'Ettorre's BEYOND THE DOOR, both from 1974. Grab a can of Campbell's Pea Soup and a straw, and buckle in.