Trauma Box

This week on the Box we've got working artists Kari Cholnoky and Dante Lentz on board, and we're unwrapping 1988's Phantasm 2. The dream-like logic of Don Coscarelli's legacy-spawning OG remains intact, but numero dos delivers More Guns, More Balls, and More Explosions. The 1980s were a heck of a time, no? We also take detours into the world of videogame rentals, cosmic horror, goo, and Star Wars (again, goddammit). Check it out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc, and scope out Trauma Box at patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

Trauma Box invites our buddy, musician Beau Wanzer on board for an extra spooktacular affair. While Beau is beloved for his chugging industrial beats - equal parts terrifying and absurdist - he's also a renown connoisseur of horror cinema, and he serves as our guide to the surprisingly fun Frankenhooker, Frank Henenlotter's 1990 cult classic. Frankenhooker delivers more slyly subversive laughs than jumpscares, and we are here for it. We also talk deep VHS box lore, Times Square history, and simple joys of watching brains with eyeballs in jars. Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.

Spooky season continues unabated, and here at the Trauma Box we're teetering on the Edge of the Axe! The VHS box presents José Ramón Larraz's 1988 flick as typical slasher fare of the era, but the movie turned out to be a strangely brooding downbeat giallo, much closer in spirit to films of the 1970s. We also talk about cinematic depictions of car washes, jangly Californian country rock, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, and more! Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc, and scope out our Patreon at www.patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

'Tis the season for scares, and our Trauma Boxers are going gory this month in celebration of the Hallows and their eve. We're kicking off the spooks with a long-time favorite VHS box: CARNOSAUR. This 1993 jammer is Roger Corman's attempt to siphon off some of the tremendous juice that Jurassic Park was generating. But outside of the dinos and the presence of Laura Dern's mother Diane Ladd, the similarities are scant - Carnosaur is a deeply nihilistic flick, paranoid and punishing. We also talk fried chicken, Jeff Goldbum, and the shape of Clint Howard's head. Tune in on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. etc.

This week, to ring in October, star of stage and screen Sam Pancake graces the Traume Box with his presence. We regretfully watched the 1991 made for tv version of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, starring the luminous Redgrave sisters as two codependent hags jockeying for dominance in an empty Hollywood mansion. The experience was as disquieting as it sounds, but there were lots of fun diversions along the way. If you're in the LA area, go see Sam's hilarious and touching one man show in November:

https://ci.ovationtix.com/36684/production/1291297?performanceId=11868574

Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Patreon, and dear God check out Sam's podcasts, The Monday Afternoon Movie Club and OhI The Horror!

What is a mausoleum but a box of trauma? This week, Tyler and Shawn exhume 1983's Mausoleum, a magnificent piece featuring the bountilful gifts of Bobbie Bresee and MARJOE GORTNER. Marjoe, for the uninitiated, was an ordained Evangelical preacher at age 4, who came to reject the church in his teen years, and the man's unusual talents are not wasted in the gutters of early 80s trash cinema. We've also got killer dance sequences, negligees, and ooze and goo galore in this week's episode, so check it out on Apple Music and Spotify. And don't forget to join our Patreon at patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

Tyler and Shawn welcome Chris Miller aka Gunnar Haslam aka La Synthese Humaine (AND aka Shawn's co-host on the Base Camp Beta podcast) onto the Trauma Box this week for a treacherous dive into James Bond's verboten-era with License to Kill. Sometimes described as the "Cannon Group Bond" film, License to Kill sees the heritage franchise floundering with a brand of charmless, post-Temple of Doom nihilism, but we blast through it with a heroism that surely trumps that of Timothy Dalton's Bond. We also talk about the logistics of underwater fight sequences, cinematic depictions of imaginary Central American countries, and the oh-so-tempting possibility of Shia LeBeouf playing James Bond. Check it out on Apple Pocasts and Spotify!

Tyler and Shawn ring in their *twentieth* episode with a celebration of American Ninja! This absolute stone-cold staple of the video store shelves had somehow evaded both of our watchings over these many decades, and let us tell you, this omission was a real joy to shore up. We talk trash film history via Golan and Globus's Cannon Group, the ninja craze of the 1980s, Michael Dudikoff's sexy broodings, etc etc etc! Check it out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don't forget to scope us at patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

The Trauma Box drives Tyler and Shawn to the steamy streets of Two Moon Junction, Zalman King's (of Red Shoe Diaries notoriety) directorial debut. We're no longer in the land of the erotic thriller or the erotic comedy; Two Moon Junction is a film that can only be described as *erotica.* Expect sexy carnies with Fabio-grade pecs, a saxophone-rich soundscape, excessive Freudianisms, excessive-excess, and lots and lots (and lots) of Sherilyn Fenn. My goodness. Check it out on Apple Podcast/Spotify, and scope what we're up to on patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

Tyler and Shawn return to the nebulous space-time of the peplum, also known as the sword & sandals flick, a glorious cinematic domain that, typically, casually muddies grimdark Medieval tropes and Orientalist fantasy with a dash of magic and a dose of absurd masculinity. These films were essential VHS store shelf-fodder - unfortunately, Deathstalker 2 deviates from genre form with a heaping dollop of Police Academy-esque humor courtesy of the eternal troublemaker, Jim Wynorski. We also talk about the ruination of Star Wars franchise, orcs, fantasy aritst Boris Vallejo, and of course, being traumatized by Alejandro Jodorowsky films. Check it out on Apple Podcasts or Spoity - and do scope out our Patreon, where we've started uploading some sweet Bonus Content!

Tyler and Shawn fall into The Dead Pit this week, Brett Leonard's (of later Lawnmower Man fame) ham-fistedly Freudian asylum-centric zombie flick. It's a real hoot, and we talk about Italian aesthetics in American films, cinematic portrayals of mental health facilities, and the puzzles of digital reverb. Listen on Apple Music and Spotify, and check out our Patreon at www.patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

The Box goes bawdy again with Candy Stripe Nurses, a Julie Corman-produced sex comedy romp from 1974. This VHS box has haunted us for decades, and it delivers the goods in era-appropriate style with sass and grass galore. We talk American film history, LA culture, 70's sex-positivity, *and more*! Tune in at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.

It's Ghoulies time! Perhaps *the* ur-frightening VHS box, few of our generation made it through the 80s without confronting the terrifying image of a ghoulie popping out of a toilet seat. Michael Guggino - musician, sound technician, and cousin-of-Shawn - joins us to plumb these depths, and we talk about farting on Ghost Hunter, the myth of the primal father, and of course, plenty of childhood trauma. Scope the latest episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc, and check out our Patreon where we'll be dropping some extra special treats soon.

Giallo-horror master Lucio Fulci makes a visit to the Trauma Box with his 1984 headscratcher Murder Rock. This Flashdance-indebted (?) giallo features more murder than rock, and it doesn't have all that much murder, but Tyler and Shawn roll with the many confusing punches. But really, what's not to love here? Hop into the Trauma Box this week for stylish interiors, sexy Italians, bizarrely inappropriate dance sequences, and a pretty shitty Keith Emerson score!

For our thirteenth episode - lucky as ever - Tyler and Shawn tuck into the Osterman Weekend, legendary director Sam Peckinpah's final film. Its iconic VHS box - which features the feline Meg Foster wielding some kind of cyberbow - has plagued our Boxketeers for decades, and let us tell you, this one delivers the goods. And by goods, we mean bads. It's a muddled mess torn between the aesthetics of two decades and the ethoses of at least three genres. But! If you enjoy watching shadowy people watch other people have sex on TV monitors, this is the film for you! Tune in for our deep dive, and do check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/traumaboxpodcast

Today we recruit friend of the pod Aerin Ercolea, musician, poet, and intrepid Trauma-Spelunker. She brings her past to the present via the greatest presence of the past: motherfuckin' DINOS. "Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies" is a dollar bin compilation of 1950s and 1960s monster movie trailers that was foundational to her childhood mythology. Sadly, it's a bit scant on the actual dinos, but hey, we still talk some amateur dinosaurology, the eroticism of humanoid troodons, Pittsburgh hoagies, and kaiju anatomy. Turn out, tune on, drop dino facts.

Trauma Box takes our first peek into the vast world of Albert Pyun with a visit to his first feature, 1982's The Sword and the Sorcerer. Pyun is a figure that many Trauma Box listeners will be familiar with, if not by name then certainly via the iconic VHS boxes of his innumerable direct-to-video offerings. Pyun's ouevre typically evinces a fascination with martial arts and cyborgs, as seen in films like uh, Kickboxer 2 and Cyborg. But before Pyun found his true calling in that particular vein of trash, he hit blockbuster success with The Sword and the Sorcerer, a fantasy/barbarian flick that, we were surprised to discover, pre-dated Conan the Barbarian. Unfortunately, it's...not great, but veterans of Pyunville will be hardly shocked by this. Expect winsome smirks, blows-to-the-groin, harem babes turkey legs, and other other classic tropes of the sword & sandals genre, all tinged with Pyun's blundersome touch!

This week, in announcement of the launch of our Patreon, Trauma Box deviates from our standard-issue format to discuss one of Shawn's Foundational Childhood Texts: Darby O'Gill and the Little People. This quirky 1959 Disney flick features sumptuous production, ponderous pacing, and a smirking, decidedly-not-Irish young Sean Connery. Join for our in-depth discussion of generational Disney aesthetics, vintage special effects techniques, and of course, Childhood Trauma. And please do check out our Patreon for more exciting things to come!
www.patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

This week, the Trauma Box pops open with Skin Deep, a 1989 offering from the senescent Blake Edwards. Beauty is, as they say, only skin deep, and apparently so are bad movies. Skin Deep's legendarily ribald VHS box proves misleading, as the film contained therein lies much closer to Leaving Las Vegas than Revenge of the Nerds. Consider it a cautionary tale, with the moral being: never cast John Ritter (as much as we do love him) in a role written for Dudley Moore. The sex addict gags and boozehound travails ring as perfunctory and cudgeling in the absence of Moore's British Wit. But fear not - your noble Trauma Boxers have once again stepped in to take these punches in your stead!

Trauma Box goes bawdy this week, as Tyler and Shawn get tackled by Summer Job, Paul Madden's neon-swathed sex comedy from 1989. An unremarkable but admirably good-humored cast slog through third rate gags pulled from Police Academy and Porky's, and we're right there slogging through it with them. As if that wasn't decadent enough, we even get a performance from former ELO members moonlighting as OrKestra, and it's as middling and feeble as you might possibly imagine. You may well spend the film as we did: asking the question "will there be a cameo from a dog wearing sunglasses?" But who knows, you might also learn how to do the Primrose Porpoise along the way.