Third Channel Podcast

Well, after all, the first Valentine’s Day dance in 20 years has to be something special. Join PJ and Derek as they dig into the shadowy tunnels at the heart of George Mihalka’s My Bloody Valentine (1981). In this episode the guys explore the grim legend of Harry Warden, the miner who turned a holiday of romance into a ritual of revenge, and examine how the movie balances small-town drama, tragic backstory, and shocking brutality i...

When it’s all done, they’ll tell his story, and Candyman will live… forever. This week PJ and Derek are joined by Producer Ty as they step back up to the mirror to summon Nia DaCosta’s Candyman (2021). In this episode they explore how the film expands the mythology beyond a single monster into a chorus of voices shaped by racial trauma and artistic obsession. Reimagining the urban legend for a new generation, while interrogating le...

You won't know true ecstasy until you have tasted death. Join PJ and Derek as they reach this franchises strangest crossroads in Turi Meyer’s straight-to-video finale, Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999). In this episode the guys debate the film trading gothic urban horror for sunlit Los Angeles streets and Día de los Muertos imagery, reworking the legend into a generational curse, the franchise fatigue that shaped this overlooke...

I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom. Join PJ and Derek in The Big Easy as they inspect Bill Condon’s sorrow-soaked sequel to the urban legend that never dies in Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995). In this episode the guys unpack how shifting the setting to New Orleans trades the cold brutality of Chicago for Southern Gothic excess, family curses, and a myth rooted in generational trauma that expands Danie...

You were not content with the stories, so I was obliged to come. Join PJ and Derek as they step up to the mirror to summon Bernard Rose’s Candyman (1992). In this episode the guys discuss Tony Todd’s iconic performance, Philip Glass’s hypnotic score, and the film’s unsettling use of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green as both setting and symbol. Candyman transforms a slasher premise into something far more unsettling: a meditation on belief, v...

Have you ever heard of The Three Sisters? Join PJ and Derek as they descend into the nightmare of color and sound that is Dario Argento’s Inferno (1980), the second chapter in the Three Mothers trilogy. In this episode the guys wade through flooded ballrooms, cursed apartments, and brutal eruptions of violence to unpack Argento’s uniquely dreamlike approach to horror, where reason dissolves and atmosphere reigns supreme in somethin...

There are some things that man is not meant to splice. This week PJ and Derek are joined by special guest Charlie as they dive headfirst into the pure cinematic mayhem of Joe Dante’s sequel that gleefully tears up the rulebook in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). In this episode they explore how Dante uses slapstick violence, mutant gremlins, and nonstop parody to mock sequels, media culture, corporate America, and even the audienc...

Look Mister, there are some rules that you’ve got to follow. Join PJ and Derek as they unwrap the strange magic that is Joe Dante’s Christmas classic Gremlins (1984). In this episode the guys discuss why the gremlins themselves are both hilarious and genuinely unsettling, and how the movie pushed boundaries for what mainstream horror could look like with its blend of holiday cheer, creature-feature effects, and razor-sharp satire t...

It's like a virus. So what do we do with any virus? Quarantine. We isolate it and then we kill it. Join PJ and Derek as they revisit the Norwegian outpost of The Thing (2011), Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.’s chilling prequel to Carpenter’s iconic masterpiece. In this episode the guys unpack the film’s strengths and missteps, from its tense early moments and creature concepts to the infamous shift from practical effects to CGI, a...

If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know if it was really me? This week PJ and Derek are joined by special guest Bug as they venture into the icy isolation of John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). In this episode, they explore how a simple survival scenario transforms into a suffocating nightmare through its tense atmosphere, groundbreaking practical effects, and how its themes of mistrust and identity still reso...

And as he had for thousands of years, Krampus came not to reward, but to punish. Join PJ and Derek as they explore how Michael Dougherty transforms seasonal cheer into claustrophobic dread in Krampus (2015). In this episode the guys unwrap the film’s blend of dark humor and folkloric horror, break down its spectacular creature effects, and discuss how a story about family dysfunction spirals into a full-blown winter nightmare benea...

Show some enthusiasm. Thanksgiving is an institution here. Join PJ and Derek as they carve into the holiday slasher that proves no tradition is safe in Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving (2023). In this episode the guys unpack the film’s evolution from a notorious faux trailer into a full-blown horror feature, complete with its masked killer, standout set pieces, twisted sense of humor, and practical gore served piping hot. Arrive hungry… lea...

You are receiving this broadcast as a dream. Join PJ and Derek as they descend into the forsaken Los Angeles church at the heart of John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness (1987). In this episode the guys attempt to unravel the blending of quantum theory with ancient theology, the unsettling dream broadcasts from the future, and the suffocating sense of inevitability that gives the movie its slow-burn dread that the end is nigh. 📺

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Do you read Sutter Cane? Join PJ and Derek as they crack open the reality-warping nightmare that is John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness (1994). In this episode the guys unravel the film’s blend of psychological horror and cosmic dread, with its nods to Lovecraftian mythology and Stephen King’s small town terrors, that explores the nature of fear, the power of fiction, and the terrifying possibility that stories can become real...

During the spookiest time of the year there are a few guidelines all ghosts and goblins should follow. Join PJ and Derek as they light another jack-o’-lantern and carve into Michael Dougherty’s cult anthology Trick ’r Treat (2007). In this episode the guys unravel how the film’s intertwining stories reinvent Halloween mythology, the eerie atmosphere that captures the spirit of Samhain through its dark humor and gory morality plays,...

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Third Channel Podcast. Join PJ, Derek, and Producer Ty as they catch up on a year of horror. In this episode the guys talk about what they’ve achieved in the last year, which horror films from this year are their favorites, what the next year of franchises looks like for the Third Channel, and what Ty truly thought of Jaws. 📺

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Time for Haddonfield to start healing. Join PJ and Derek as they confront the decisive finale of David Gordon Green’s trilogy with Halloween Ends (2022). In this episode the guys peel back the mask to reveal the legacy of trauma, the controversial rise of Corey Cunningham, and the final confrontation between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. But what does “the end” really means if evil never truly dies… it just changes Shape. 📺

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For the past forty years you’ve let the idea of this… Boogeyman, consume you. Join PJ and Derek as they descend into the chaos of David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills (2021). In this episode the guys unpack the film’s chaotic mob mentality, through its themes of fear and vengeance, and debate whether the social commentary lands in one of the most divisive entries in the franchise where Evil Dies Tonight. 📺

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There's a reason we're supposed to be afraid of this night. This week PJ and Derek are joined by special guest Bug as they revisit Haddonfield to dissect David Gordon Green’s Halloween (2018). In this episode, they explore how this film reimagines Laurie Strode not as a victim, but as a survivor shaped by trauma, its bold retconning of the franchise mythology, and the return of Michael Myers as a shape of pure evil. 📺

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