204 – Showgirls 2: Penny’s From Heaven

Heels, sheer top, full face of makeup. That’s how I sleep!

Tim and Jen brave the crowdfunded sequel to Showgirls, a mindbogglingly lengthy auteur statement called Showgirls 2: Penny’s From Heaven.

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The entire thing is the work of bit-part Showgirls (the original) actress Rena Riffel, who wrote, directed, edited, and starred in…this.  Please don’t be mad at us Rena we love you.

See Rena’s pivotal appearance in Tim’s beloved Fishmasters, the low-budget but charming San Luis Obispo-area TV show mentioned in the episode.

Geeks of Doom had some hilariously wrong information about the film when the first trailer and crowdfunding appeal droppped:

[T]he film is “about stripper who died from a dose of contaminated cocaine. Her brother comes to Frankfurt to find the responsible and revenge.”

We’ve seen it, and it’s not that. Luna Guthrie at Collider treats the movie much more kindly than we do, if you want a different take.

Finally, please watch Jen’s video mashing up R.O.T.O.R. with Midi, Maxi, and Efti, and follow us on YouTube if you’re not sick of us already!

203 – Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

Karen Carpenter (actual weight)

Jen and Tim contextualize the band that ruled Nixon’s America, The Carpenters, for Todd Haynes’s early dollhouse biopic, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story.

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Watch the film on the Internet Archive, but don’t tell Richard Carpenter you did!

Entertainment Weekly took a look back at the film in the aftermath of the unstoppable cultural juggernaut that was the Barbie movie.

Friend of Todd Haynes and producer Christine Vachon spilled some info on the restoration of Superstar in 2023.

195 – That One Amazing Movie

It isn’t.

K. Thor Jensen makes a triumphant return to the show to help Jen and Tim make sense of a nice young man’s three-hour-long passion project, That One Amazing Movie!

Get this episode and 100+ bonus episodes from our back catalog and access to our Discord for just $5/month on Patreon!

See the movie for free with ads on Crackle, or rent or even buy it on Amazon!

Watch Deception on Demand, a short documentary laying out several grievances against Adler &Associates Entertainment, the entity which distributed That One Amazing Movie.

“The true story of how the grifters and con artists from Adler & Associates Entertainment hired O.J. Simpson’s lawyers, and spent a small fortune, futilely trying to intimidate, harass and rip-off a very determined filmmaker. “

Hear Thor talk about Sass Girls X, the novel (!) from the auteur who brought us That One Amazing Movie, on the I Don’t Even Own a TV podcast.

Listen to Thor’s first appearance on our show, to discuss a movie just as baffling as the one we talked about in this episode, Wonder Boy. 

117 – The Town That Dreaded Sundown

The killer claims another victim in The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

Jen and Tim discover two Arkansas originals: The Town That Dreaded Sundown from 1976, and indie film pioneer Charles B. Pierce!

Hear the entire episode over at our Patreon!

Amanda Squitiero, daughter of Charles B. Pierce, corrects some misconceptions about him in this fine article from Filmmaker magazine.

089 – Zen Filmmaking

Scott Shaw and some unpaid actors in Roller Blade Seven (1991)
Scott Shaw and some unpaid actors in Roller Blade Seven (1991)

Would you like to make a movie and just don’t know how? Why let that stop you? Try concocting a pseudo-spiritual method called Zen Filmmaking out of your own failings and refusing to pay your cast and crew! On this episode, don’t miss Jen slipping into mania about Hollywood sex criminals and Tim getting confessional about his own indie filmmaking sins!

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We highly recommend perusing Scott Shaw’s website, where many of his books are available for purchase. Scroll down for about seventeen hours to find the book we discuss in this episode, Zen Filmmaking!

“If you have too many crew people, they all want silly things like story boards, shot lists, and stuff.” -Scott Shaw

073 – Crocodile Fury

Tim saves Jen’s bacon by explaining a Frankenstein’s monster of a thriller: Crocodile Fury! And this one was brought to you by cut-and-paste filmmaker Godfrey Ho. Explains a lot, doesn’t it?

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

If you’re curious about the auteur, read the interview we mentioned in the episode, in which Mr. Ho/Hall/Chan/Cheung/Lee/Kingsbrook explains himself. 

For more head-scratching horror, listen to our episode about Canadian home-brew weirdness Things!

060 – Truth or Dare: A Critical Madness

Tim and Jen tell you all about an unironically delightful slasher film made by a literal child! From 1986 and director Tim Ritter, it’s Truth or Dare: A Critical Madness! Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

Yeah I know I said on Twitter (@HYSTpod if you’re not already following us) that this would drop Sunday, but hey, I got it done a day early. Enjoy!

Tim Ritter on the set of Twisted Illusions in 1985
L’auteur Tim Ritter on the set of Twisted Illusions, 1985

For more homebrew chills and slashers, try our episode on shot-on-video horror from the 80s!