Bloody Pit of Rod

Monday, December 30, 2024

The Bloody Pit # 208 - GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN and SHE DEMONS (1958)

Author Mark Clark joins me for the first of two episodes focused on director Richard Cunha’s genre films. In 1958 Cunha directed four horror/sci-fi movies that have stood the test of time and entertained millions. This episode focuses on the first two of these little gems, GIANT OF THE UNKNOWN and SHE DEMONS which were originally released as a double feature.

We both love these movies and have a good time digging into them. We end up discussing some production background and the casts as well as the reasons we think they are so charming. Each of them is a typical black & white 50’s monster movie but with some peculiar choices made in presentation. As independent productions these films show a quality we refer to as feeling ‘handmade’ that gives them a different vibe from other movies of the times. The stories are similar to the b-movie hits of their decade but a number of the creative choices made are what makes them unique. If you’ve never seen the Cunha films, two of them have been released on Blu-Ray recently and they are available on YouTube as well. Our next episode will focus on the final two films.

If you have any comments on the four Richard Cunha directed monster movies thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening!

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Naschycast - More Emails for 2024!

Just in under the wire – a Naschycast episode! We wanted to get at least one more show out to everyone before 2025 strikes so here is our latest run through several emails.

The concept of Naschycast goat plushies is submitted and both Troy and I love the idea! See the image attached to this episode for an example from Don Cunningham. Don also brings up the idea that perhaps all of the Daninsky werewolf’s victims are deserving of their fates but we think that requires some deep surmising. We then discuss the strange origin story of the show’s theme music complete with our clueless wondering about a CD release. Then Stephen Follows writes in to point the way toward his incredible and fascinating Horror Movie Report! This amazing study of (all?) horror films and the various revealing and noteworthy pieces of information that can be gleaned from even a surface examination of them is endlessly eye-opening. I recommend the curious to check out the full report here and Stephen’s website here. And Zach Lewis writes in to point all good Naschy fans to his excellent article about our beloved filmmaker on MUBI called Werewolf of Madrid. It’s well worth a read and could serve as a good introduction for newcomers curious about our hairy subject.

We end the show with an unexpected pleasure – Troy presents his book report on the legendary novelization of WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN! This begins a discussion of film novelizations in general and possibly points the way toward a future aspect of shows over on The Bloody Pit. As soon as Troy finishes the doorstopper version of Hell of the Living Dead!