Test Pattern: A Horror Movie Podcast
A bi-weekly look at the monster movies, TV shows, cult films, and horror stuff that keeps YOU up at night! In the days before syndicated stations and 24 hour programming, television stations often showed old monster movies hosted by local on-air talent. It is in this spirit that "Test Pattern" is made – a little bit spooky, a little bit silly, but always informative! Jacob and Tab have a new topic each week, with a focus on the macabre offerings shown on television starting in the mid 1950s, favorite creature features, and B-movies (with occasional forays into the outer realms of horror).
Episodes
As we hang up our horror host costumes, we can't help but pass out that sweet sweet Test Pattern Halloween Candy. It's time for one final Halloween Hoorah!
We contemplate life and death and come to the realization that sometimes… dead is better. We read Stephen King's darkest novel, Pet Sematary and watched the 1989 adaptation!
Sources:
On Writing by Stephen King
Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary, documentary
We come full circle, as we revisit our first movie together ... Sleepaway Camp! Stay tuned after the episode for a bonus conversation with Jacob and James about their OG bad movie nights!
Sources:
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
"Robert Hiltzik Talks the Making of Slasher Classic Sleepaway Camp" by Don Kaye, Den of Geek
Actor commentary with Felissa Rose and Jonathan Tierston
Director/Actor commentary with Robert Hiltzik and Felissa Rose
We're joined by Brian Ivanhoe to explore the boundaries of reality with Jacob's Ladder and Silent Hill!
Sources:
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
"Hell Can Wait: Art, Trauma, and Other Demons" by Rich Johnson, Fangoria
"Up Jacob's Ladder and into the Hell of a Veteran's Psyche" by Tim Golden, The New York Times
"Understanding Jacob's Ladder" by Pinchas Leiser, My Jewish Learning
"What is the Story of Jacob's Ladder" by Joel Ryan, Christianity...
The Dead have waited ... for our final installment of the Romero Dead Trilogy! We wrap things up with Day of the Dead!
Day of the Dead (1986)
Sources:
Director/Crew/Actress commentary with George Romero, Tom Savini, Cletus Anderson, and Lori Cardille
The World's End: The Making of Day of the Dead (documentary)
Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes of the Most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever by Joe Kane
First . . . there was the Night. Now, see if you can live through the Dawn! We continue our coverage of George Romero's Dead Trilogy with the original Dawn of the Dead!
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Sources:
The Dead Will Walk (Making of documentary)
Director/SFX commentary with George Romero, Tom Savini, and Chris Romero
Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes of the Most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever by Joe Kane
They're coming to get you ... we kick off October (and our coverage of the Romero Dead Trilogy) with the classic that started it all - Night of the Living Dead!
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Sources:
Director/actor/producer commentary with George Romero, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, and John Ruso
Actor/producer commentary with Russell Streiner, Vincent Survinski, Judith O'Dea, Bill Hinzman, Kyra Schon, and Keith Wayne
Night of ...
We welcome you to ... Jurassic Park! We're joined by Tab's husband, Kris, to talk about his favorite movie and the Michael Crichton novel from which it was adapted!
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Sources:
"Michael Crichton on the Jurassic Park Phenomenon", featurette
"Return to Jurassic Park: Dawn of a New Era", featurette
Jurassic Park (1993)
"The Movies That Made Us: Jurassic Park", Netflix
Where to find Kris Online:
Don't lose your head! We're joined by JX Dill to explore the Scottish Highlands with Highlander and Justin Kurzel's adaptation of Macbeth!
Sources:
Highlander (1986)
"There Can Only Be One: Why Highlander Will Live Forever" by Ed Power, The Telegraph
"15 Immortal Facts About Highlander" by Jake Rossen, Mental Floss
Macbeth (2015)
"Michael Fassbender and the Robes of Royalty" by Rachel Lee Harris, The New York Times
We're joined for the final time (at least officially) by James to talk about the gorgeous and ghostly Japanese anthology film, Kwaidan!
Sources:
Film historian commentary with Stephen Prince, author of A Dream of Resistance: The Cinema of Kobayashi Masaki
"Kwaidan: No Way Out" by Geoffrey O'Brien, Criterion
"Why Japan Keeps Apologizing for World War II", NowThis World
"Guillermo Del Toro talking about Kwaidan and Lafcadio Hearn", ...
The clock strikes Soul's Midnight once again as we explore the case of the Green River Killer.
This is a very disturbing, lengthy case that involves sexual assault, rape, murder, and necrophilia. We want to be very clear about that so that people who might experience distress from listening to discussions about those topics can stop the episode here. We want to encourage everyone to put their mental health and well-being first - ...
We're going to snag that tall dude! We go in depth on the original Phantasm and talk about the franchise up through Phantasm IV!
Sources:
"Cult Films Spell Success for Movie-Maker" by Steve Porath, The Evening News
"Rewind: The Making of Phantasm" by Dominic Barlow, FilmInk
Director and cast commentary with Don Coscarelli, A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, and Angus Scrimm
We're joined by Micah to talk about femme transformation horror in Ginger Snaps and Excision!
Resources for Crisis Help
USA:
National Suicide Prevention Line - 1-800-273-8255
Self Harm Crisis Text Line - Text HOME to 741741
Trevor Project Crisis Line:
- Text START to 678-678
- Call 1-866-488-7386
- Start a Chat
International
Click this link to see a list of hotlines around the world
Sources:
Ginger Snaps (2000)
In honor of Tab's birthday, we're ready to rock out and talk hard with a couple of her favorite non-horror films. We watched Rock 'n' Roll High School and Pump Up the Volume!
Sources:
Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
"Rock 'n' Roll High at 40: How the Ramones and a Rebellious Female Lead Invaded Theaters" by Raj Tawney, Variety
Pump Up the Volume (1990)
"Talk Hard: The Making of the Teen-Angst Classic Pump Up the Volume" by Eric ...
We're making Crystal Lake memories! Hey, Jason! We watched Friday the 13th IV: The Final Chapter and Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives!
Source:
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th, documentary
After this, we'll never sleep again! We followed Nancy's story in A Nightmare on Elm Street and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors!
Source:
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (documentary)
In this episode, JOIN US …as we bask in the glow of Hollywood's most impressive chin with Bruce Campbell and the Evil Dead Trilogy - The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, and Army of Darkness!
Sources:
The Evil Dead (1981)
Commentary with Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, and Bruce Campbell
Commentary with Bruce Campbell
The Evil Dead: The Untold Saga (documentary)
Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn (1987)
Commentary with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbe...
In celebration of Jacob's birthday, we take a detour from the horror highway with a couple of his favorite non-horror films - First Blood and The Warriors!
Sources:
First Blood (1982)
Commentary w/Sylvester Stallone
Commentary w/novel author David Morrell
The Warriors (1979)
The Warriors Movie Site, warriorsmovie.co.uk
"The Warriors at 40: the enduring appeal of a New York classic" by Charles Bramesco, The Guardian
We take a long look in the mirror with The Broken (2008) and Jordan Peele's Us!
Sources:
Us (2019)
"The All-American Nightmares of Jordan Peele" by Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone
"Jordan Peele on Us: 'This is a very different movie from Get Out'" by Steve Rose, The Guardian
"Jordan Peele Explains the Significance of the Michael Jackson Imagery in Us" by Rachel Thompson, Mashable
Clips:
We lose our minds with George A Romero's The Crazies and The Signal (2007)!
Sources:
The Crazies (1973)
"Special Article: Year of The Crazies: 1973", Bloody Disgusting
"Insider Info (The Crazies) - Behind the Scenes" by Jeff Stafford, TCM
"In the Know (The Crazies) - Trivia" by Jeff Stafford, TCM
The Signal (2007)
"The Signal: A Gory Forecast for Pop Culture" by Eric Bomba-Ire, CinemATL
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