FILM ON THE FRINGE: Magic Myth & Movies

What if a dream could kill you?

We revisit Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and the real-life sleep phenomena that inspired it. We explore how Freddy Krueger emerged from Craven’s own childhood fears and reports of mysterious deaths among Hmong refugees.

From vodou to viral spores, zombies have always evolved with us. In this week’s episode of Film on the Fringe, we uncover the real roots of the undead—myth, science, and metaphor. 

🧟 Highlights & References:

Dr. Atom takes you behind the scenes of JURASSIC PARK—literally. After a personal story of working alongside the filmmakers, we explore the science of cloning dinosaurs, the truth behind amber-trapped DNA, and modern de-extinction efforts using CRISPR and AI. Then we dig into the 19th-century Bone Wars, Victorian dinosaur mania, and Arthur Conan Doyle’s THE LOST WORLD. Along the way, we follow a strange fossil trail into the world ...

Gremlins on the wing, goblins in the woods, and strange little beings at your window. From WWII aviation lore to Spielberg’s unmade alien siege story, this episode traces the evolution of mischievous trickster creatures through folklore, pop culture, and real-life encounters—including the night something came calling in Kentucky.

Venture into the murky space between psychological manipulation and the supernatural. Today, we’re talking about The Quiet Ones (2014), a Hammer Films horror throwback inspired by one of the strangest real-world experiments ever attempted: the Philip Experiment. We’ll unpack how a group of researchers in 1970s Canada set out to create a ghost, explore Derren ...

Let's explore The War of the Worlds — the iconic novel by H.G. Wells and the countless interpretations, adaptations, and conspiracy theories it inspired.

Let's dissect The Conjuring 2 and the real-life case that inspired it—the infamous Enfield Poltergeist. Was it a genuine supernatural event or an elaborate hoax that spiraled out of control? Join me as I explore how this case became one of the most documented hauntings in history.

Enter the eerie world of artificial intelligence—from the sleek and unsettling Ex Machina to real-life AI developments that feel ripped straight from science fiction. We’ll explore the rapid evolution of AI, the ethical dilemmas that come with it, and some unsettling cases of chatbots behaving… strangely.

Are we on the verge of...

Is it real - or not?

It has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction. We live in a time of "fake news" and "deepfakes", under a constant barrage of disinformation and propaganda.

It's only natural that artists would reflect this blurring of the lines in their work. And there's no better place to practice this craft than in the conspiracy and paranormal genres. 

Join us as we discuss a few current exampl...

We return to our roots and do a feature-length takedown - er, review - of the new(ish) documentary BOB LAZAR: AREA 51 & FLYING SAUCERS. 

Do we think there's life on other worlds? Almost definitely.

Intelligent? Probably.

That they've visited earth? Possibly.

The they've visited earth sometime in the last century? Unlikely, but who knows?

That Bob Lazar actually participated in a government effort to reverse engineer an alien space...

We review the fascinating and disturbing documentary, HOLY HELL.

The film chronicles the 22-year journey of former members who were trapped in the bizarre Buddhafield cult.  

Through personal archive footage and interviews, the film chronicles the rise and fall, not only of the cult itself, but of its strangely charismatic leader, Michel Rostand (aka Andreas).

This is one of those "cautionary tales" of how cult leaders use time-tes...

In tonight's podcast, we discuss a fascinating documentary on Netflix called JIM & ANDY: The Great Beyond, which chronicles the behind-the-scene antics of Jim Carrey playing Andy Kaufman - and his alter-ego Tony Clifton - on the set of Man on the Moon.

At first glance this might not seem very paranormal, but the questions this documentary raises about the notion of the self, the other, etc., are nothing short of profound.

JIM & AND...