Wes Craven - Deadly Blessing

0:00 So last year on our Patreon are limited nineteen eighty six series covered Wes Craven's Deadly Friend. My guests for that episode were Amandagantic and Chuck Bryan, two names synonymous with horror, and I gotta tell you I was craven some more time with these two, so they have returned. So, guys, let's talk about another film by Wes Craven, his nineteen eighty one underrated folk horror film Deadly Blessing. Hello everybody, I'm Jeff Johnson and this is a Film By podcast.

1:06 Let me begin by inviting all of you to check out a Film Buy's YouTube channel. It's been there for a while, kind of line dormant, but we have just dropped our three parts special, which is available now. A Film By goes to scare Fest and I gotta tell you Each episode is packed with on camera interviews with plenty of your favorite celebrities that we're at the event, so don't miss it. Please hit that follow button now because we also have something in the works to celebrate our YouTube launch, but it's only available for the first one hundred subscribers. Guys, my Deadly Friends, We're back. I had so much fun discussing Deadly Friend with you guys, and I was so happy when you were like, hey, we'll come back next year, We'll do another one, and we just what are the chances that it would be another Wes Craven film with the word deadly in the title.

1:59 I was like, I hadn't seen this movie, and I just said, we're doing it because it's Wes Craven, it's deadly, and it's Chuck, it's Amanda, and I'm so happy to have you guys back. Well, we're definitely seeing a theme going on here. We're going to talk about the theme later on towards the end here, but before we do that, Amanda, welcome back. It's always a pleasure. I gotta wonder, are we ever gonna have you on where we're not talking about a horror film. I don't know if that's gonna happen. But maybe probably not. It's not probably not right. Probably. I mean, I can't really think of any other genre or specific film that I get it as excited as I do about horror.

2:44 I really can't like. And you're the slasher girl, so yeah, we got we got to have you for these these episodes. A genre I like seventies, the gritty movies of the of the seventies, Chuck, what can you tell us about the Cinematic Flashback Podcast? Yeah, The Cinematic Flashback is a show I host that celebrates the wild, bold, and unforgettable films of the nineteen seventies. Each episode, my co host and I Matt, we hop into the proverbial wayback machine and revisit one classic movie, breaking down the cast and crew, just the story behind the production, how it performed then and now. And you know, we always finish up asking does this film still groove or did it kind of lose its beat? So anyways, it's part film history, part conversation between friends who just love movies. So you'll get a little bit of mix of research, trivia and maybe a little humor along the way.

3:44 I happen to love the Cinematic Flashback Podcast. I'll be honest, Like, there's there's a couple of movies. I was like, I've never heard of this? Is it any good? And Chuck, you if you said it grooved, it hit my it hit my playlist, so nice I have you to thank for several I was like, either I've never seen it or I've always wanted to see it, and you know, and then a couple I was like, well, I'm gonna go watch it again because you know, Chuck and Matt. Have have got my interest piqued. So, guys, we're here to talk about Wes Craven. I got three facts about Craven and a and a and a pretty cool quote befitting. The holiday that we're in. Let's start off because I know we talked about Wes Craven a little bit last time, but this time I was surprised to find out he was originally set to direct Superman for the Quest for Peace. What you think about that for a second, Wes Craven directing a Superman film?

4:41 It didn't happen because you know that that that that tried and true excuse in Hollywood, Chuck, you've heard a bunch of times creative differences. Is this Superman for still being produced by gold Globus, the go glob. Brothers apparently, so the creative difference is not with them. They were actually with Christopher Reeve. I don't know what a Wes Craven SUPERMANI film would have looked like, but I would have watched I. Can tell you right now there would be a bathtub scene. There would be a pretty interesting bathtub scene. That is. That is absolutely sure. I'm sure that guys, are either of you familiar with a director named Abe Snake?

5:23 No? Okay, uh oh, Chuck, unfortunate trouble. Unfortunately, you sent me down a rabbit hole of research on this, and I am familiar with it with him. But I'm gonna let you talk about. That well to anyone, any horror fan. That's like, I've seen every West Craven film. I have every West Craven film in my collection. Chances are you don't because Abe Snake was just one of the fake names that Wes used in the seventies when he was directing pornographic films. Now that you say that, it's ringing a bell, I think I did hear that. I I don't know where you would find an Abe Snake pornographic film at this point. But you gotta wonder, like where people complain like is it just too cinematic?

6:14 Does it? You know? His shots just too artistic? I don't know. I've never never seen. A hand coming out of the bathtub. Yeah, yeah, why are we in the bathtub again? I'll tell you what before all that, though, before his filmmakingy career actually took off, he was a teacher and university professor, having earned an undergraduate degree in English and psychology, as well as a master's degree in philosophy and writing. So mister Craven quite the educated man before, well before and after his film career. So on scary movies, Wes had this short quote to say, horror films don't create fear, they release it. I think that's kind of interesting, Like it's it's deep, you know. It kind of makes you think, because I don't think we go into a movie and get scared. I think we just have fears that are in us that maybe get unlocked a little bit by what we see on the screen for.

7:11 Sure, Like innate things inside every person that you're afraid of, the dark, strangers, invasions. Snakes, that's okay. A farmhouse with open windows at night. That to me, this film hit a couple of the things that get me. So yeah, it's unleashed. Look, this is a very underrated film. This is nineteen eighty one. This is Wes Craven before Nightmare on Elm Street. Chuck, could you give us a small synopsis about deadly blessing. Oh yeah, So it's a film about Martha and her husband Jim, and they live on a farm beside a group called the hit Sites. Now, the hit Sites are an Amish like sect led by Jim's fanatical father Isaiah Yah. So, as it goes, Jim is killed in what appears to be an accident and Martha is left alone, but she is soon joined by her city friends Vicki and Lana.

8:13 So as murders, visions and religious hysteria spread, suspicion turns inward, and the final act reveals the true killer, Jeff. One thing's clear. When Wes Craven knocks on your farmhouse door, don't answer it, because that's not salvation. It's a deadly blessing. Very perfect, Chuck, Thank you, Amana. Let's get this out of the way. Is this a slasher film? Yes, yes, I was. I was quite surprised actually when I was watching it. I mean I wasn't ready for that, were you. No. I thought I was gonna be more supernatural, which you know, obviously we get a taste of. But yeah, I would definitely classify this as a slasher.

8:56 None of us had seen this when we agreed to do this, and I gotta tell you I got a little nervous at first because Amanda throws a message in the chat what the actual f am I watching? And I was like, Okay, what's Wes Craven? You know it's it's uh, it's Ernest. Borgnine, like you know. And then I was out of curiosity. I just I just google it and I pull up IMDb and the only screen grabs are a naked woman at a bathtub provocatively and I was like, oh no, what if this is? You know? And then the film poster like, you know, scantily clad girl being you know, with the hands coming down by her head. I was like, what if this is some you know, erotic horror film, you know, like a what have I?

9:45 What have I done? Like, you know, I've asked Chuck and a minute to watch this, and I don't know what I'm you know, but Amanda that crossing, Yeah, crossing. I was a little worried. So, but Amanda, what was it? Chuck? You were asking off we're off camera, You're asking like what what was what? Manda? What were you watching at that point? Let me just preface this though by saying I'm not good with new movies, which is what I admire about you guys that you'll you know, like you. Had just said that, Chuck. You know, I had started a playlist for you basically, have movies you've never seen that you want to see or whatever. I have a very small attention span. I'm always doing something else when I'm watching movies all the time, So if it's something unfamiliar or TV shows or whatever, I can't do it. Like I still haven't even finished the last season at Handmaid's Tale because I have to pay attention to it, like and I can't do that.

10:33 So I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna sit down. I've got to focus on this. I've never seen this movie before, and it starts out looking like Little House on the Prairie, and I was like, I can tell you right now, this is not gonna be my jam. This is I thought it was going to be more like a period piece. You know, they're hoe in the fields down, They've got that ridiculous voiceover very ABC Sunday Night movie. You know. I was like, Oh, this is going to be torch sure, And luckily it picked up pretty quickly after that. But the beginning was not. I know, they were setting the tone, you know, and setting the actual setting of. The movie to give you world building there, but I was not prepared for that. I'm not gonna lie.

11:16 I was like, ooh, I'm so happy that you said little House in the Prairie because my first note I'm looking at right now opening feels like little House on the Prairie until the Jaws narrator drops in, Yeah, and then it's like, wait, what just happened? Because he's like, in the rolling hills of a simple farm community, untouched by time, a gruesome secret has been protected for generations. And I was like, okay, well, now you got my attention because I don't want to watch the Little House. On the Prairie. No, no, you know. And then this guy pops in with this ominous voiceover, and then Michael Berryman's running around, so I was like, okay, now you have my attention. I'm all the way in, Chuck.

11:56 What was your thoughts when you started it? Well, first of all, the credit sequence Maren Jensen, Okay, Athena from Battlestara pickup. I mean, you're I know you're going to talk about that. But for me, like my ten year old starts coming back out right. And the second thing that was just immediately noticeable was James Horner soundtrack. So I'm like, well, yeah, we've got something really good here. And I was, I was, I was kind of excited. I wasn't really sure how it was going to go. It was a little it took a little while to get started, but then it does pick up definitely. I I'm hearing the James Horner score. I know, I'm watching a Wes Craven movie, and chuck to your point, Athena is on the screen, you know, so yeah again, yeah, I'm with you. Ten year old Jeff's like, whoa, hey, Athena from Battlestars in this, and you know, and you got Ernest.

12:53 Borgnine, who's just terrifying. You know, he's he's given off some Reverend Cane vibes from Pultar guys to a little bit because he's also still he's like, this is nineteen eighty one, so he's still big and brutish and looks like he can he can whip some ass, you know, like kind of a Poseidon adventure. Borg Nine absolutely love it. To be fair, you guys are talking about your ten year old You know and are coming out, and Maren came out. I had no idea who she was, but my forty eight year old like, oh yeah, very very pretty lady. Wow. I was not ready for for Athena to to disrobe. I didn't know that was on the menu. So I was like, what, okay.

13:37 You know interesting disappointing to learn that was a body double. Well, some of the scenes were a body double and some were and you know, who's who's to say who it was. But Maren Jensen, this is her final film role. Career was kind of cut short by illness, but she did go on to co found the cosmetics brand Stilla, which Chuck the man is not in her head. You and I, we don't know what we're talking about, but it's shadow. I actually do this, oh you okay, okay, I. Know this because my my daughter, my youngest daughter, is a makeup artist, and so I asked her about this and she told me. She gave me all the information about it.

14:23 So it's so it's a popular brand, then that is what it sounds like. So good it sells well, it's the. For okay okay, uh, Now what I I might not know about eyeshadow, but I do know that she collaborated with Don Henley quite a bit in the early eighties, doing some voice work, some some background vocals. Chucks at a little bit of piano work for Don Henley. Yeah, so it was it was actually, uh, you know, she and Don Henley were a couple for quite a long time. And if do you remember the song Johnny Can't Read So when it kicks into the course, she's in the background. That's okay, that's And there was a video, not Enough Love in the World, and she composed she's appeared in the video for that, and she composed a piano intro for his song A Month of Sundays. They were they weren't him for a while until they separated in eighty six.

15:15 Nineteen eighty six the best year in the eighties, Chuck for cinema. As you know, I was surprised to see a very young Sharon Stone show up in this movie playing her friend Lana Marcus. And this is her first speaking role. I think she had done one or two other movies before this where she's just like in the background hanging out. But in Woodie Allen's Stardust Memories, she was like the girl on the bus is her credited role for that, but she had no speaking wise, this was her first credited speaking role. You know that was in a major film. Okay, so I know she's got an acting coach on set with her. Let's let's we'll be We'll be fair, but be firm. How is Sharon Stone in Deadly Blessing?

16:04 I was she just fine? Did did you hear the story about like how she wanted direction though from Wes Craven. No tell okay, tell us Amanda. So apparently, because this was her first like you know, we'll call it major in quotes roll, she went on there, you know, on set and expected the director to be like, this is what you're going to do, this is how you're going to say this, this is you know, the direction you're going to turn whatever, And apparently Wes Craven is much more about just creating the atmosphere and letting the actors and actresses kind of do their thing. And apparently she shut down the production a couple times and was like finally screamed at the top of her lungs on the set, I need direction here, and Wes Craigan basically told her that I'm not your director.

16:49 Whoa, somehow that was smoothed over. But yeah, I thought that story was kind of interesting because as a first time actress coming on a set to a somewhat major movie. You know, this is Wes's first big production movie, you know, first time he's working with big actors, so he. Had big money on this one. Yeah. Uh, I don't know, Like I just and I know it's her character, but Amanda, I gotta I gotta say, like, if if you're inviting you to your your gal palace over to cheer you up, maybe Lana should stay home. Maybe she she. Just shows up with her own bag of issues and you know, and box of. Wine and box of wine. Yeah, well I think you need a box of wine if you're gonna do the spider scene. Yeah, okay, now.

17:38 You know I do have a funny comment about that though. Yeah. Marin Jensen that's her name, right, Yes, So she's on screen absolutely stunning. Can you imagine her being like, I am the prettiest babe in this movie. And then in Walch Sharon Stone. Yeah, nineteen eighty one, Sharon stonewaks in. Yeah, yeah, it had to be a little bit of a hit. But listen, there's there's no unattractive women in this movie as far as I'm concerned, none at all. Now, the spider, like you watch a movie sometimes, Now, this is nineteen eighty one, so we're thinking, there's no cgi, this is practical effects. But how are they doing this? And Amanda, I know you're not a fan of this this moment, but we gotta we gotta address it because there's a spider and let's i don't know what, like a tarantula.

18:25 Basically it drops down and go and right into her mouth. And I'm like, okay, how do they do that? And it turns out Wes, you know, Sharon sounds like I'm not doing that, sure, And Wes picks up the spider and tries to show her like, hey, it's it's gentle, it's it just looks scary, you know. And he's like kind of holding it and petitent, and she's like, no, I'm not doing it unless you remove its teeth. Now it's nineteen eighty one, and Wes says, yeah, we will, We'll remove the spider's teeth, and then she agrees to do it. I think he's just full of shit, though, Like, are you telling me that they had a spider operation and had this thing like, yeah, do you call a spider dentist or you know.

19:09 Like Hermie came in from uh readinose ring dear and pulled that those teeth right away. You know, there's not enough money in the world, not enough money in the room. She did it. Uh. I just I don't know. I just don't know that we're even a movie like this. I just you know, it's got a little bit of money behind it. But I don't think we're calling in a spider dentist to remove the tarantula's teeth. I just I think she I think she got bamboozled by Bye by Wes Craven. Let's talk Susan Buckner. She's the other friend Vicky Anderson. I don't know anything about this woman. Guys. I know she was Miss Washington in nineteen seventy one, and I know she played Patty Simcox in Greece with Travolta and Olivie Newton John. Other than that, Chuck, you're the seventies guy. Any what do we know about Vicky Anderson anything?

20:00 My my hit on her was gonna be for grease, That's what I am from. But stole your thunder. No, that's fine. I'll tell you what. What's surprising though, the one, the one thing I did uncover the whole time she's doing this, I think about this out of all of them. She's a little physical. She's got you know, with the. Car wreck and you know, she's running around, she's you know, she's jogging the whole time. She's pregnant the whole time, she's she's shooting this movie. So god, I think that's a little bit dangerous. You know, I don't know, but I liked her though. I thought I liked the character. Yeah, she did. I feel like she's like, you know how everybody says, like, oh, it's that guy when you see somebody in a movie, you know you've seen them before. She can't think of where I watched it the first time, and I'm like.

20:45 It's that girl. It's that girl. She's been a ton of stuff and to come to find out, Nope, nope, not really. So she just has that face. I guess that she's got the look. Yeah that looks familiar. But yeah, I you know, Amanda, you you've you've you've told us this is a slasher and the unfortunate thing in slasher films are that a lot of people are not gonna make it to the end, and I'm watching it, I'm like, I hope she makes it to the end. I mean she doesn't, but you know, did like here, I was so happy to see uh, the guy she's smitten with, Jeff East playing the younger brother of Maren's husband.

21:25 Uh, he's John Shitt, John Schmidt, Schmidt Schmidt not Yeah, sorry, Jeff. I as soon as I saw his face, I knew exactly who it was, though you guys recognized him of course. Oh yes, that guy can kick a football like nobody's business. Yeah I can. Yeah, young Clark Kent from the nineteen seventy eight Superman. I thought that was awesome, absolutely awesome. Moving right along though, because I you know, we. Could talk about all we can talk about the. Whole Hea tight family, I'm sure, but two people and Chuck, if I've if I if I'm missing someone, you you let me know, Amanda. If I'm missing out on someone, you gotta tell me. But we got to talk. We already mentioned him.

22:07 Ernest Bord nine as Isaiah Schmidt the Elder. Mm hmm, I don't know. Has has he ever played a bad guy. Is this the only time he's played a bad guy? Oh, I'm sure he's played bad guys before. I don't know. I just I always think of him. I think of Escape from New York. I think, you know, the Poseidon Adventure. He's always, he's always, he's a he's a cool dude. Yeah, we covered him on Poseidon Adventure, and that that was what was coming in my mind. But I thought, I. Thought in this film, Yeah, the term chewing up the scenery kind of describes the performance because when he's on, you know, he he he's a force on the screen, and you know it, it's kind of turning off because of the way that they're you know, always accusing uh people of being the incubists or you're the Herald or the you know, you're in league with the incubus.

23:07 Hell fired to the Incubus. Turns out he wasn't wrong. Well yeah, I mean, Amanda, our guy, Isaiah, he's he was he had the right idea, right right. I think this is just classic misdirection. You know, we're supposed to be scared of him, but. Well it's one hundred percent misdirection if you watch the whole movie. I mean, I think it's fascinating he was actually nominated for a Razzie for that role. I think he won. I think really, I didn't think it was bad, like I don't think like. Okay, so Chuck's talking about chowing up the senior and you're saying he was nominated for a Razzie Award. Oh, I hope he didn't win. I don't know what would have been. Well, I don't know who he's up against.

23:48 But you know, very classic, Amanda, to know he was nominated for a Razzie but not know if you want or not. So sorry to disappoint your listeners. I want to. I want to believe that he was nominated but but but lost, because this is not a bad performance. Yeah, Chuck, Chuck's right, he he. Kind of he dials it up a little bit, but I think you have to when you're the elder of the. That's his character, right, Yeah, and the. Fictional Amish community that he's in, you know. And it's he's evoking a response. Yeah, from the viewers who are watching him. You're you're meant to root against him, And like you said, it is a bit of a misdirection. There's a lot of misdirection there's a lot of misdirections.

24:29 We'll we'll get the we'll get the few of them. But misdirection it is. You're not wrong, now, Craven. I mean, I think you'll. Appreciate this as the slasher Girl. Craven likened working with borg nine to Carpenter working with Donald Pleasants on the original Halloween, saying that borg nine was the first big name actor he had worked with, and he was very intimidated the whole time. Okay, you know that makes sense, Like you got to think like Carpenter when he's making Halloween. The only known actor is Donald Pleasance, and they're like, there are a bunch of kids around him, and they're like, eh, mister Pleasants. And Wes Craven's in the same boat, you know, he's he had dune hills have eyes at this point.

25:09 But there's no big stars, you know. So and now you've got Academy Award winning Ernest borgnine. You know, I think it was Marty in fifty five. Maybe you got Ernest borgnine on your on your set, So yeah, I could see that he'd be a little intimidated. Well do you think that that was kind of done by design to following Halloween's model. I think. So, I mean there's let's. One big recognizable name. Yeah, I mean Amanda. Let's be honest. There's there's a couple of different things that we're gonna that we see in this movie that's like, oh, I saw that in this movie, and you know, and then one in one case and we'll we'll get to it. But uh, you know something that we'll see again, uh with with West. But yeah, borgnine is awesome in this Uh actually got thrown from a horse, busted his head over and they took him to the hospital. Three days later he's back on set to finish the movie. So he's a tough guy. He's a very tough guy. One last guy I want to talk about before we before we move on, one of my favorite guys, Michael Berriman playing William.

26:17 Gluntz God Glunts. Yeah. This is his second of four Wes Craven films. He does Hills in seventy seven, He's Got Deadly Blessing in eighty one, and then he does Invitation to Hell and Hills Have Eyes Part two in nineteen eighty four. What I love about him in this movie is this is his first I feel like this is one of the first movies where he's he's not playing this scared I get it, miss again misdirection. He's playing someone that we are we think we should be scared of. But he's not a bad guy. And I love the fact that Michael Berman gets to to kind of, you know, show his acting chops. He gets to he gets a lot of dialogue in this, and. He's you know, he's he's a tragic character as far as I'm concerned.

27:00 It's kind of the the guy who's still you know, he's he's an adult, but but he still has kind of he's kind of a kid at the same time. Yeah, he's he's curious, but also you know it's gonna get him in trouble obviously, but he he doesn't, he doesn't mean bad. He there's no ill will with this guy. He's just he's a terrible liar. You know, you think about their mud on the shoe, you know, before you you tell your dad that I lost the other shoe and the mud. But Michael Barreman is so he's a He's a really interesting actor to just look at. So when you see him, you never forget him. And we reviewed one Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest earlier this year, and when Michael Barrriman appears in that film, it's just like, all of a sudden, it's like, wait a minute, He's not gonna hurt anybody here, you know.

27:52 So he's had a he has a good film to start off with, and then you know he's made his career, you know. Since Yeah, he is such an amazing guy. We actually last weekend we had the chance to talk with him at Scarefest, and I. Know the whole interview. Again, I mentioned our YouTube special film that goes to Scarefest. You can see the whole interview there, but I did want to give you this clip. He had a fun story about his time on Deadly Blessing. If we could talk about another performance William Gluntz nineteen eighty one's Deadly Blessing. This is your second time working with Wes Craven. Any fond memories from that film.

28:38 Yes, we filmed in Texas. I was one of Sharon Stone's first movies. Oh that's right, chance, don't you. My girlfriend at the time was a Texas blonde athletic and a lot of legs. I just a real sweetheart, and she didn't like the idea of being around all these hussies. So I was getting my work done. It was a great work for his West again and what I mean the film was wonderful to work on. But some of the other actresses showed up in a place where we were hanging out as a tenth and she had a one of them had a water bottle and she looks looking at me and she goes, could you open this, open this for me please? Now my girlfriend has her hand on my thigh. I feel the claws and I'm thinking, uh, I have to say the right thing or I'm going to get in trouble here. So what I did was I said, well, you have to snap it like you ring in the neck of a chicken.

29:42 I got points for that. Yeah. Michael Berryman awesome guy. Definitely you got to go check out that that. Yeah, he's amazing. Yeah, he's he's got some fun stories. Let's talk about this film's background. You know, as you heard, as you heard, mister barrym and they were shooting this in Dallas, you know, Dallas, Innis and and Waxahachie, Texas. Uh So, to create the look of the film, Craven said he was inspired by Philip Wiley's books in Van Goes's paintings to get like that houses lined up farm, you know, American Gothic look. I don't know if I'm thinking Van go for American what don't you like Rockwell? Maybe or I mean I'm not the art major.

30:27 Yeah, but you know so. The cinematographer on this film was Robert Jessup, and his credentials included Smoky in the Bandit. I think between Jessup and James Horner, they really elevated the look in the sound of this film, and I think it maybe held up some of the story a little bit as well. Horner's score is fantastic. It definitely gives this movie a little more gravitas. Chuck, I know you're a big Horner fan. You know our very own Wayne Whited is. A huge James Horner fan. I asked Wayne, I said, look, what can you tell us about Horner's work on Deadly Blessing? Yeah, this is a Wayne take it away.

31:27 James Horner's score for Deadly Blessing is one of his earliest works, and though it is often overshadowed by his later triumphs, it offers a fascinating glimpse into a composer who would soon become one of the divining voices of film music in the nineteen eighties and beyond. The film itself, a Wes Craven directed horror story about an isolated religious community and mysterious deaths, provided Horner with the opportunity to experiment with atmosphere, tension, and musical textures. His work here is raw, experiment and at times abrasive, but it lays the groundwork for some of the stylistic hallmarks he would refine in his later career. Director Wes Craven and producer Patricia Kershevik originally wanted composer Jerry Goldsmith to score the film based on the success of his score for the film The Omen, but the Oscar winning composer was well out of their price range. In came James Horner, who was only twenty seven years old at the time and who had just completed his score for the film Wolfen at this time, replacing the rejected score that Craves Safean did for the film. Horner was very aware of the producer's love for The Omen, and being a great admirer of Goldsmith's work. Horner did his best to evoke the feel and style of that earlier score. One of the most striking aspects of the score is Horner's use of dissonance and sound designed elements to evoke unease. Rather than relying on lush themes and romantic motifs, he leans heavily

32:59 on eerie string clusters, sharp brass stabs, and unsettling percussive rhythms. The score doesn't always flow melodically. Instead, it creeps and jolts, mirroring the unpredictable nature of the film suspense. Often, Horner plays with silence and sudden bursts of noise, which just enhances the atmosphere and keeps a listener in a state of heightened anxiety. Some of the highlight cues that Hornered created for Deadly Blessing includes the fantastic piece used for the main title, which he immediately sets up broading unsettling atmosphere, using low strings, eerie, sustained chorus, and unsettling clusters to create a sense of dread. The influences from the Omen are extremely prevalent here. The cue Martha and Jim is a quiet, sweet interlude that shows Horner's early mastery of the orchestra. Warm strings and a flowing, sweet theme contrasts nicely with the horror material that lies ahead.

34:00 Next is Jim's death. With Tractor, one of the film's more cinematic horror moments, with Horner moving from slow dread to violent orchestral outbursts in choir, and is very similar in style and sound to one of the composer's later action horror projects Aliens For fans looking for the ultimate horror queue, the track Gluntz's Demise is a perfect example. Horner presents a longer and more developed look into his own terrifying style, creating a full arc of suspensible music which builds to tear to release, laying choir, percussion and string clusters. There's even a touch of Craig Huxley's blaster Beam, made famous with Goldsmith's score to Star Trek the Motion picture. This is Horner at his scariest, an example of a musical haunted house.

34:52 The queue Snakes in the Bath is an extended suspense piece with sustained tension and a clever use of orchestral shocks to bring out the best effect. Another later cue, Faith leaps out is pure James Horner at his finest and most ambitious, highlighting many of his musical fingerprints heard so many times in his later films, A perfect mixing of choir an orchestral frenzy, building up the tension to a climax, highlighting the character of Faith and her demise. Then, finally, there is the final cue of the film, the encabus rises and end credits, concluding the film with a return to the choral chanting and a disturbing string version of the pastoral theme, all based around a chilling piano under theme. Now, I will truly admit Deadly Blessing is not an easy album to listen to. This is music designed to unsettle, and its effectiveness lies more in the ability to sustain tension rather than providing an enjoyable listening experience. Deadly Blessing didn't receive a soundtrack release back in nineteen eighty one when the film was released, with the exception of a low quality bootleg released back in the nineteen nineties which paired the score with another of Horner's unreleased early scores.

36:06 Wolfin film music and horror fans would have to wait a long time before the official release of this score, It wouldn't be until June of twenty twenty three before it would see the light of day in the form of a special collection volume from Intrada Records containing the complete score, mastered from the only surviving set of a quarter inch two track stereo elements. This release contains a few extra pieces, including an earlier take of the queue snakes in the bat and a later revised version of the end titles, which Horner had rescored the final few seconds to the piece Dave included. The music used for the trailer for the film, composed not by Horner but by the incredible John Beal, best known for scoring the hit TV series Happy Days Lavernon Shirley in eight is Enough.

36:53 Beal is a well known composer of trailer music from nineteen seventy seven to two thousand and seven and wrote trailer music from films ranging from Titanic to Star Wars, Planted the Apes to a Laddin, even Police Academy in JFK. It's a great addition to an already fantastic soundtrack. Ultimately, Corner's Deadly Blessing soundtrack remains his curiosity in his career a bold, somewhat abrasive work that reveals this early mastery of orchestral color and psychological manipulation. It may lack the sweeping emotional resonance of his later achievements, but as a horror score, it is both effective and historically significant. For listeners willing to embrace the unsettling qualities, it offers a fascinating window into an early development of one of cinema's most celebrated composers.

37:46 Well they have it, Wayne, Listen. We look at the schedule, and I'm always assuming that Wayne's going to go after like more well known movies. But when he saw Deadly Blessing, he went, oh, I'll do that. I was like, no, you won't. You don't know anything about Deadly Blessing. It's a Wayne doesn't like horror films. And he's like. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And he's like, no, that's a James Horner score. I'm in so so Wayne, We thank you for that crazy crazy uh Wayne Whited fact for you I learned just this past weekend at Scarefest. At one time Wayne was related to Wes Craven kind of like a kind of like a dark helmet, like your brother's sisters cousins kind of thing. But Wes Craven what you know, he's he's from Cleveland, Ohio. So and that's where you know our show, you know, originates from his Ohio.

38:38 Not not Cleveland, but but Ohio. Yeah. Wayne just casually drops us on me and David at Scarefest and I'm like, huh what And we've known the guy twenty thirty years. I'm like, you're you were related to Wes Craven through through maryg He's like, yeah, he's a nice guy, Like he went to like Wayne's going to family reunions and there's Wes and they're hanging out. And Wayne just never thought to tell us any of this, you know, until season six. So you know, Wayne, thank you for that. Wayne has so much knowledge. I mean, he's probably forgotten more than I've ever known, So it doesn't surprise me. I know, I know. Listen, guys, let's take a quick break and when we get back, there's a couple scenes. I know, we got to talk about welcome Back. I've got Amanda Janic, I've got Chuck Bryan. We're talking about Wes Craven's nineteen eighty one I'm ash horror film, Deadly blessing.

39:37 Guys. I'm not gonna do like the whole pivotal. Moment thing because it's it's a horror film, it's a slasher, and we don't need to worry about pivotal moments. But there are some crazy scenes that I definitely want to talk about. How'd you guys feel about the John Deere tractor murder? Who No, I thought like, okay, you got that pair there there are final girl. Yeah. I thought Jim was gonna. Make it that one threw me for a loop, didn't. I was going I was surprised with Jim. I honestly, I agree with you. They set it up perfectly. They pulled the old what is it, the old Alfred Hitchcock thing where they introduced like you think is going to be the star. You start to invest in them, you know, you get a little bit of a connection, you know, because he's speaking with the the midwife lady next door that and so you're you got all the feels and then crunch.

40:34 Yeah, I'm like, okay, not not a good look for John Deere. It's such a what a what a way to go right to be crushed? I mean that that is just because because you're still there, right, yeah. You're yeah, you're that's not that's not a quick death. No again. You know, Amanda, you talked about the misdirection that is constantly going through this movie, which makes it, which makes it a good you know, a good slasher. You're always like who who did it? Like, unless it's not, unless it's Nightmare on the Street three Dream Warriors and you know, Freddy Krueger's back. You know, a movie like this where you're like, who's the killer? Who's who's responsible? Speaking of that, back to Michael Berryman, he gets knifed, you know, while peeping on on Athena from Battlestar Galactica. I didn't see that happening because at that point, I'm like, Berryman, he's he's a bit of a creep.

41:31 I think he's. I didn't see it happening because at that point we're being led to believe that it's one of the hit tights, So why would they be taking out. Their own exactly? And I'm like, well, wait, you know, is it is it? Isaiah? Is it Ernest borgnine kind of teaching this kid a lesson? Is it? And then and the big shock for me is I mean he has done total slasher style, you know, with the with the slashing. I was like, okay, so wait this is is this a slasher movie? Is that? Because I man like you, I'd like, I'm thinking, we're watching a supernatural horror film, religious supernatural horror film, and it's it's not that. Now we're we're on a different path and now it's okay, who's the killer and we're just along for the ride.

42:15 But that was one of the death blow too, and that was very Giallo, like the Italian style. Yeah, we're in the gloves, they got the knife. You know, there's red in the frame and all that. So slasher, yes, but that one, I mean that one reminded me a little more Giallo style, which is slasher, but the way that death was carried out. Yeah, But you know, Jeff, there are two characters we haven't spoken about in our rundown, and I kind of alluded to the neighbors. Yeah. So there there's Louisa and her daughter Faith. They're pretty they're pretty important.

42:55 Yeah, they're farmers. They're not farmers. The mother, you know, works works at the diner, I think, and Faith apparently collects eggs and paints yeah, a lot. And so they're they're the they're the neighbors. Poor Faith. She's the the object of Michael Berryman's haunting, you know, and you know he destroys her painting set at the very beginning. But you know she's the she is the Laura Ingles, if you will, of the beginning of this. Film definitely starts out Laura Ingles. Definitely does not end up Laura Ingles. No, yeah, listen, are we gonna I know that some people might be watching this on on to B or Pluto when when the time comes, But are we are we are we staying spoiler free just for for that? Or are we are we just gonna chat about chat it up? What do you guys?

43:50 How do we How do you stay spoiler free? Like I don't know that you can? And plus it's it's nice ones. You've had your chance, right listen, listener's hit pause, go watch it if you don't want anything spoiled for you because uh. Also, you're listening to a podcast about a movie you haven't seen, then that's on you. Yeah, yeah, you do you do what you're gonna do. So, yeah, Faith starts off the movie Laura Ingles finishes it. Lou Ingles just coming. What was her brother's name, Adam. I don't know Adam, but the thing right off the bat was her mom, right, Luise, She's like already like you see her kind of like, oh, no, boys, whatever, I hope you have a girl, you know, boys or nothing but trouble. And at first you're just kind of thinking in your mind, well, maybe it's because she's just dealt with these hit tights and they're just all jerks, you know, to everybody. But yeah, no, she she tries to hide a secret that gets revealed at the very end of the film.

44:56 Well, yeah, because it's I did not see the Sleep Camp reveal hitting the way it did. I was, and I was a little confused at first. I was like, why would you? Yeah, thank you, because seriously, again going back to my attention span, I'm in and out while I'm watching this, and I saw her hit the ground. I mean, I don't know if we're talking about that exact scene yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I didn't pay that close of attention to understand what just happened. All I was like, when they were wrestling, why, all of a sudden is our shirt open? Right, I'm with you. So my first thought was and I don't I don't want to be mean, but I. Was just like, okay, well why would you? Why does her shirt need to be open? Especially if she's not maybe she's not built, you know.

45:44 A certain way. And then I and then it hits me. I was like, wait, that she's not a girl. Like and then I'm full on this like superwoy camp mode. I'm like, oh, okay, now I see what's going on. And that leads me to her momma, Amanda, how much the boy? How much of Yeah? But when you think back though, Amanda, her mom, how how much missus Vorhees is she given off? When you when you think back to it, Oh, totally total hold on Pamela Vorhees. She has one of my three favorite lines in this movie when she talks about if Faith was born a boy, she would have thrown her into the creek like a cat. Yeah, like what, like you don't do what to cats, don't do that to babies?

46:30 Like So at the end, retrospectively, looking back, there were some lines that it was like, Okay, this woman's not not all there, not all there. Yeah, we've we've definitely got some Friday thirteenth happening in this. We've got a whole lot of Sleepway camp happening in this. Yeah, very protective mom, you know, sounding and that's why you think. Okay, maybe halfway through it was like, oh, that's she's got to be the killer. She has to be like, she's far too protective, like you said, missus Vorghees. I give you credit because I didn't see it coming. I was like, oh my gosh, you know, because like I was feeling a Pamela eye. But then I didn't. I was like, well, we're not going to do that. And then we did that, and I was like, this is straight up for thirteenth, Like Wes was cribbin a little bit of Sean Cunningham. As far as I'm concerned, I have.

47:18 A question for you. Yeah, okay, let's see it. Okay, So you have a very straight I mean, I don't want to say a straightforward I mean, there's a lot of misdirection here, but it is. It is a good horror film where you know, there is a mystery that happens, which is part of what the fun of the film is. But there's also a supernatural element to this question. Did this supernatural element happen or was that all just a figment of their imaginations? Not talking about the what you know John Peters put in there at the very end. But I mean, just like all of Lana's stories about hearing the man whispering in her ear and the hands coming down like you see on the poster.

48:01 By the way, the poster is awesome. Oh, poster is very awesome. If you've got to go and look at the poster for it, it's it's really good. And yes, but you know you have the hands that are kind of coming out. So there is so just a We talked about an incapus right a couple of times, so from a I don't know if Wes Craven was meaning all of this, but just being the dungeons and Dragons nerd that I am. And Incabus is a is like a demon. Yeah, it's a male demon and he comes to women at night and in their sleep and they get it on. Okay, A Suckabus is a female version of an Incabus, So okay.

48:48 So Glant says it wrong, like he's shouting out incubus, but he should have been shouting out Suckubis. Then well, the incabus obviously I think is a real spiritual thing at the end, But calling Faith an incabus or accusing her of being in league with or whatever, it turns out he's right, he's. Right, you know, Yeah, Michael Barman is right. Yeah, they were right all along. But Mike, I still feel that this this film is playing two ways. I think there is you know, there's obviously there's a supernatural element. It gets revealed at the end. So that makes me think that anything with Lana when she's asleep, that that is that is actually the real incubus. And then all the things that are happening outside in the physical world during daylight or you know, in the evening but not like in a sleep state, all of that is Faith going around or it could be your mom, one of the two, okay. And then you also have was it a ghost face? Uh in the barn? You know, who's who's chasing Lana inside the barn just all OpEd up?

50:00 That was the only one that I really couldn't say who that was because it just doesn't seem I couldn't. I couldn't quite put in there that it was Faith in a robe girls her mom in a robe out into broad daylight when Maren is is right out on the tractor out in front of the barn. So that part I really can't explain. But I think for the most part, it just seems like that there's there's a there's a actual spiritual side to it, and there's a definitely a physical side to it. Chuck brings up a good point, Amanda, as my expert in this matter, I'm gonna ask you. I'm gonna ask you. The movie is a slasher, the movie.

50:42 Is supernatural horror. It's walking a fine line between both subgenres. Can can can it? Does it get away with it? Because and I asked this because I know doing a little bit of homework, there were certain theaters that were cutting the you know, when the incubus of the shows up and you know, comes out of the floor and all that. There were some that were cutting some some theaters were actually cutting that and removing it from the movie to keep it just a strict slasher film because it was that a Yeah, So my my question to you is, can horror films do this? Can they can they kind of keep one foot in each each subgenre and get away with it? In your opinion, I think.

51:24 It can be done. I mean, I guess when I think. About this movie as a slasher, like I think about it being in a slasher in the same way that like Halloween is not really what we deem slashers. It's not really what people think about when they think about slashers. But it's got those elements to it. Try to think of another movie maybe that would combine the supernatural and the slasher elements. I mean one comes to mind, which Jason goes to Hell gets away with It. Oh God, that's not even a movie. I had to I had to throw it out there to you. What this me of? Okay, well, what this whole film reminded me of after I finally sat down and thought about it. This was Wes Craven's practice run for a Nightmare on Elm Street and more rely one. I mean, I think it was like the prototype of it, and he took some of these themes and he just expanded it and just made a much better villain villain.

52:24 I don't know. No, that's actually really good, like Parallel, because there are elements of Nightmare and Elm Straight that whole series that are supernatural. If you really want to think about it, that way. Yeah. I mean, Freddy's a slasher, but it is, it's got it by default. It is supernatural, right. I was going to say Freddy is also supernatural. Yeah, okay of the biggest one. So yeah, there you go, Chuck. I I think you're right. This is kind of like his his test run for Nightmare m Street and to that point the bathtub scene, and I know Man is about to WinCE again, but I was shocked at how shot for shot that moment is because this is nineteen eighty one with uh, you know, with Deadly Blessing, and then we see we see the exact same thing happen in nineteen eight fours a Nightmare on Elm Street with Nancy with a Heather landinghamp. I mean, he's I'm thinking he had to have had this running on set of Elm Street and say, hey, this is how we're going to block the scene.

53:27 This is how we're going to do it. This is where I want the girl. I want her legs open, I want the thing coming out in the middle. It's amazing how how perfect it is. It's a perfect matchup. Well you guys were you guys kind of blown away when that when that happened. Totally right away. I mean, but yeah, I also couldn't sit through it. Yeah, it's it's tougher for me than the glove, right, Oh yeah, by sure, because I have I have. Lived with that for so many years. So it's it's it's nothing but to have this same scene come up, right, But now it's not you know ready, it's someone has actually put a big old snake into the bathtub, and there's some you touch me there again, I'm gonna scream, pulls up the soap so that snake's all over the place, right, I'm I'm just it gets me. And then there's one scene and I think I may I may have said something to you about it, Jeff, was that that when she's she's fighting with the snake and all that the snake is swimming up the side of the bathtop. And I'm like, yeah, nope, I'm out.

54:40 I'll tell you something I have. I'm not I'm not necessarily I'm not afraid of snakes. I've I'll pick them up. I've I've held snakes. I've you know, whether it's been at like a nature center and it's like, hey, here hold the book in stricter or it's been like out back of work and it's been like a brown snake. I don't it doesn't bother me, but I'll tell you this, No, there's something. There's a different kind of fear unlocked when the snake is in the water with you and it it just goes right by you. And I've had that and I, like a cartoon character, I was running on top of the water to get back to the boat. There's a different kind of fear unlocked when you're a woman during the bathtub with a snake, and there's some very.

55:25 Phallic undertones to it. I'm telling you, guys, I almost vomited in my mouth, like and then a couple of times I rewatched it. I could not sit through it. I couldn't like I. Had to look away, like visceral reaction. Well, and that does not happen to me a lot. Well, you know, they like they say like with horror films, and I know we've talked about this on some of the other episodes we've done, but like the bathroom, it's one of the most. It's one of those places in the house. Where you're you're you're most vulnerable, right, because more often than not, you're gonna be in a state of a dress. You're gonna be you know, your guards down a man. It to your point, I know, you know, you look at a bathtub and you're like, let's get some candles and bubbles and a glass of wine. And it's a it's a it's supposed to be serendy, it's supposed to be a place to relax. And you watch this scene in Deadly Blessing and I don't have a bathtub in my place.

56:19 It's a shower, and I'm glad. I don't want a bathtub ever again after watching this, because not scared. You know, I can I can be in a bathtub and go, yeah a hand with a claw with a with a with a you know, Freddy's glove. That can't happen. And really, but. You know, some kind of pest, you know, be it a snake or something, some kind of creepy crawly can definitely get in your bathtub. And this move, that scene, just aside from the whole Nancy nightmare, um Street shot for shot thing happened. I was creeped out. I was like, no, I'll never get in a bathtub again. Like I wouldn't go on vacation and getting a getting a hot tub at this point.

57:02 See, we have a. Big corner tub and we have a hot tub, and I enjoy both immensely. I'm sorry I made you watch this movie then, if that's. It's just I can't watch it. I just it just like even talking about it right now, like I feel bile coming up, like it was, well, that was so unsettling. Oh well, let's before before Amanda, you know, loses it. Let's let's move, let's let's let's wrap this up, or like. One more, I got one more thing, because this is the one scene that I cannot figure out who it was that put the snake in the tub, because my theory is this. My theory is that this is Faith.

57:43 Faith is in love with Martha. She wants Martha for himself, so she kills her husband, or actually before she even does that. While they're at the beginning, uh, Jim and Martha are celebrating their one year anniversary. She comes into the house. She steals the photo that she goes and makes her masterpiece painting. Later on, she later comes into the house after Jim's death. She sits on there, you know, their bed, and starts going up and down kind of in a really creepy way. Super and then you know, you know, Michael Berryman is outside looking at her, so she offers him, and then you know she's she's doing stuff to get the friends away, and and then someone comes in and puts this snake in. So my theory is that, you know, faith, you know who is We've already said, is a man is in, you know, wanting to possess her own or whatever. Martha Schmidt, I don't see why he would put a snake in the tub.

58:48 So I can't explain that one unless it happens to be Luise the mother. So this one doesn't make sense to me. Well, it might not make sense, but it definitely scares the scares the crap out of us. It was, it was effective. Well, guys, we find ourselves at a crossroads because we've discussed two West Craven films with the word deadly in the title. Now there are no other West Craven films that have the word deadly in it. We've covered both of them. So I ask you, you know, next year, do we come back and discuss a West Craven film or do we find a new underrated horror film with the word deadly in the title, because I can assure.

59:32 You there are plenty of them, and we're we're here. The fork is in the road. I ask you, guys like Amanda, are we coming like we're the Deadly Friends? Are we coming back? Are we gonna do another West Craven movie or are we going to do a Deadly movie? What do you think? I think I've teamed Deadly only because I feel like the niche of your podcast is maybe movies that haven't been discussed as much. Yeah, and I do feel that films by Wes Craven have been covered on every corner of the internet. Chuck, do you concur Yeah, I'm gonna go with Team Deadly as well, because after this we get the Nightmare series, we get the Scream series, and you know those are those are really well known, maybe lesser known to you know, younger people who are starting off in this genre. Last House on the Left and The Hills Had Lies, They're they're very good. But yeah, Last House on the Left is a difficult film to watch, and I'm not sure I can't recommend that to everybody. It's not recommend That's not only.

1:00:41 That, but you keep the podcast light, yeah, playful and stuff, and there's. No way to do that. And I would not join that anyways because I won't watch it. I watched it once and yeah, nope. All right, let's let's after we did that Deadly Friends last year, Amanda, Because you said that exact same thing, I said, ooh, I've got to go watch this, And when I was finished, I was like, she was right. You never you never saw Last House on the last I had. Never seen it. No, and I'd never seen I had not seen The Hills Had Eyes Have Eyes, And I definitely would watch Hills Have Eyes again. The first one. I wouldn't. And originally he wanted to make that, you know, a pornographic film, so he wanted it to be a lot more than what we saw, and what we see is already pretty rough.

1:01:30 Well, Chuck, if she gave you, well she tried to give you a warning last time with Last House, I'll give you a new warning just to keep it going. And Amanda, I'm betting she's seen this so she can back me up on this. You say on your grave, Chuck. Chuck, that is the movie you should not watch. Do not watch You watch it now because that's the other one I will not watch. Yeah, that's a that's a video box. I have seen that video box since what nineteen? Well need something? Okay, you know, can I can I give you a fun fact about that video box. I know that there's a famous actress who's rear worth seeing. I mean, do you know this?

1:02:11 Do you? You? You know the poster the movie box, It's like we we have the woman's torso from behind. You know who that is? Right? No, that is to me more? Is it really? Yep? She was a model before she was an actress, and that's that's that's her. How do you know all these weird random things? That's amazing, like absolutely amazes me. But you might wanna, yeah, hang out with wa Chuck. You might want to avoid I spit on your grave. It's if you if you thought Last House on the. Left was tough, well, you know, buckle up, because I spend on your gaves a lot worse. You don't do something I know.

1:02:51 I know, Uh, Jeff, I had what I have? One more thing? There's two more quotes. In this movie. Okay, Oh, I didn't even give you my favorite quotes, so maybe you're about to give it to me, I'm sure I am. The first one is that the hit Tits make the Amish look like Swinger. Yes, absolutly kills me. So every time he said this is an Amish horror movie, I'm like, not a Swinger horror movie. Cracks me up. I think I rewatch this four times and it made me chuckle all four times. And then Ernest four nine his quote about how you're a stench in the nose of God. Yea of God ils. Yeah I had, I had the Swinger one.

1:03:40 But then it's a slasher movie, which means the police have got to be completely invisible or useless or both. And I love when the sheriff the first time he shows up, he has the line, hey, if something happens, I ain't gonna be back in time for nothing but clean up. Do your job, dude, like you can't. Yeah, no, I thought, yeah, it's definitely a slasher Now the cops are not showing up until it's time to just pick up. Right, So right, do you want a fun little fun fact before we close it out? Absolutely? This is. It's so dumb, though, you guys, it's so dumb, but I thought this was funny. So this is a West Craven movie and they spend the whole movie talking about the Incubus. Right, Yeah, the band Incubus.

1:04:26 Had a song in Wes Craven's Scream three. Wow. I didn't wait, I didn't think it. No, I didn't even think about that. I loved Incubus. What a dumb fact. Hey, I'm gonna go pull up Spotify and listen now, So thank you for that. Yeah, crowded elevator. Amanda watched this one four times? Amanda, you watching what you? Are? You watching on a t B or you buy it or TB. I love to be. I love to be, absolutely love to be. You watch to four times? I got? I gotta. Watched loosely okay, okay, loosely turn it on.

1:05:07 For eyes on it one full time. I watched it again today while I was working, just to refresh myself because it's been two weeks since we were supposed to originally record. But I was standing at the time. But yeah, I think four times okay. So the question is, would you recommend this to someone, whether they're a horror fan, a West Craven fan, just wanting to watch something on TV. Does this get the slasher Girl recommendation. I would say, if you like movies from the early eighties, probably you know, but if you're like a nineties or two thousands horror fan, this is gonna lose. Yeah, it's gonna lose you real quick, I think.

1:05:49 And I also think it doesn't have a ton of the elements that make a West Craven movie what a lot of people think a Wes Craven movie is. So say you take a Scream fan. Or even an everyone Elm Street fan, you're like, oh, Wes Craven did this, You'll love it. You know, they're gonna probably not love it because it's it doesn't have a lot of the Hallmark Craven stamps in it. But I would recommend it. I think it's an interesting watch. I'm still very confused by it all. But it's too I think. They were too so how about Chuck. Yeah, this is it is definitely better than Deadly Friends.

1:06:33 Oh, I didn't see the right the rating, the ranking. I didn't know. We're doing. Well. You know. If you're saying, if people were to ask me, would you recommend Deadly Friend that it's hard, it's it's it's like, okay, it's it's cute. It feels like an experimental movie, you know, where he was trying to uh do that whole John Carpenter starman thing for himself, but this one it feels more like it was his warm up. It was his dress rehearsal for what was coming up. And so if you look at it in that angle, it's really kind of neat. And there's some things about the film that don't quite make sense, you know, as far as like, okay, who really is involved in all of this? And at the end it really doesn't matter. And once you have gone back and rewatched that fall down by Faith and you figure out, oh, okay, now I understand what's happened there because they don't spend a lot of time on it.

1:07:35 But yeah, it's a movie that I would recommend for people that if you're if you're looking for something you haven't seen before, you could do a lot worse than. This, Well, Chuck, If someone wanted to see Buffy the Vampire Slayer completely obliterate Mama Fatelli's head with a basketball, I would totally tell them to watch Deadly Friend. As for Deadly Blessing, it's streaming free on tub and Pluto TV. Right now, and I think it's definitely worth the watch, especially for Michael Berryman, Ernest borgnine and hey, you know, can you really call yourself a Wes Craven fan if you haven't seen all his films? And I'm not talking about Abe Snake, I'm talking about Craven.

1:08:18 So I say, like, look, if you're a Nightmare fan, you want to see this just for the bathtub scene. Just to see like the where we started and where we ended up. So I'm saying check it out. But listeners, for those of you that already have, what did you think of Wes Craven's Deadly Blessing? Did you see it? Are you planning to? Are you pulling up to me and watching it four times like a managanic? You can let us know, you can less know on social media. You'll find us on Facebook, Instagram, and x You can check out a film by podcast for all of our film and TV articles and the entire library, which is streaming free. You can check us out on YouTube.

1:08:58 I'm happy to say now with our we're kicking it Like I said, we're kicking it off with our a film that goes to Scarefest. A lot of awesome stuff in those three small episodes, and you can always write to us at a Film by Podcast at gmail dot com with your questions, comments and concerns. We may just read your response on the show and send you some a film by swag. Chuck before you run off. I know, I know we're gonna talk to you again. This week. We're talking about The Blob, the remake with a you know, which is gonna be awesome. Oh yeah, we got the Blob. For Deadly Blessing, but not all. Wait, the Blob is not a slasher. I could talk about Kevin Dillon all day.

1:09:40 Chuck, you got you. You picked the wrong guest host. You should have. Well, you know it was you know, we remake it so good. It's well, yeah, it's all well we had you know, it's directed by Chuck Russell. We had to have a Chuck you know, show up. I mean, it's it's us slash. I would have even thought to get you for the Blob. But I do have some other horror movies though, okay, I do, I do. It's not all slashers, but the man. All right, well, Amanda, you'll have to let us know how Chuck you do this stuff. If you ever do the stuff? Do you remember that movie? I remember that movie. Right here?

1:10:20 Okay, right here, we're talking the stuff. Uh, Chuck, I know you're gonna be back this week for you're with me and David talking about the Blob. But what's going on? What? How's the lineup looking on the Cinemat Flashback podcast? Yeah, we are winding down our first season. I think we're gonna end up with twenty six episodes, which I know is small potatoes. That's like a month's worth of podcast for you guys, But for me, I'm pretty happy about that. Let's see. Coming up, I've got David Wright aka Deaf Dave. He is coming on. We're talking the Three Musketeers, Richard Lester's Great Adventure true story, that the telling of the Dumas story. Following that, we're coming out with Apocalypse Now. We recorded that just recently. What a fantastic film that is. And then to finally wrap up season one, we are covering Robert Shaw in the Deep and I have a guest host coming. Uh A mister I don't know if you've heard of him or not, A Jeff Johnson.

1:11:27 That's right. I I told you back when you started You're like, hey, how about some give us some some thoughts, give us some recommendations. I was like, Chuck the Deep, lou Gassa Jr. Jacobassett, make it happen. And you're like, what else you guys got. I was like, Chuck, the Deep, The Deep. The Deep had had always been scheduled in since you said that it was penciled in. It's just taken a while. To get nulty just being just just I'm so excited to talk about the Deep. Yeah, listeners, if you have not already hit that like and subscribe button on the Cinematic Flashback podcast, you're missing out.

1:12:12 I don't know what you're waiting on. It is the podcast for the seventies classics. What Chuck and Matt are doing over there absolutely awesome. I've been fortunate enough to show up a couple times over there looking at you Jaws episode, which was just groundbreaking stuff. Chuck. If you if you look up Jaws podcast, you're gonna get a telephone book. And you know we've done it. We've done Jaws. You know, everyone we know he's done Jaws. And somehow you found a way to make Jaws like it was like the first time ever listened to a podcast about Jaws. I love what you get. How can you can you express how can you express your love for a film by just thinking of the craziest ways you would redo it if you could. So you guys brought it. It was very creative. David was an amazing host that night. It allowed me to hop on and play along, and we just had a lot of fun. I think I think Jason Colvin said that he hadn't smiled that much, and I think everybody was grinning ear to ear by the end of.

1:13:17 Loved what You did. I hope, I hope you do something like that again. Yeah, I hope. So Rocky is having its fiftieth anniversary. I'm your guy. I'm your guy, Amanda. You are the slasher girl, and I gotta tell you. I know we said deadly blessing it counts as a slasher, but I also know we've had you on a couple of times. I don't feel like we've done a true slasher film. So I think the next time you show up, it's it's time to do a bona fide eighty slasher film. Are you Are you up for that? I'm ready, absolutely ready. That's I told you, that's my element. I told I told you. I was like, I was like, you know, I think we we owe you at this point.

1:13:59 You've you've you've shown up a couple times, done an excellent job, you know, talking about movies that aren't exactly your favorite subgenre. So I was like, hey, pick the slasher. We're doing it. I don't care, I don't care how big it is. So I am excited for that too. And I know we've got something special planned for next season. I won't give that away just yet, Amanda, but you know what I'm talking about. Oh yeah, yeah. So I want to thank both of you, you know, for for humoring me and doing a film like we none of us had ever seen before, didn't know what to expect, but I think we had a good time with it. I I'm glad. I'm happy that I've seen this one.

1:14:39 And to all of you listening to the show, following us on social media, subscribing to our patron and checking out our YouTube channel, we thank you.