Santa’s watching, Santa’s Waiting

Christmas Eve is slowly fading

Can you hear him in the night?

Close the door, turn off the light

Welcome to the Spill your guts Christmas Special!

In this episode we are taking the deepest of dives into two iconic Christmas horror classics, "Silent Night, Deadly Night" 1 & 2.

Joining me in this episode as my co-host is the esteemed Mr. Justin Beahm, as we explore the making-of and the legacy of these two holiday horror mainstays. I also sat down for in-depth one on one discussions with the stars of the two films, Robert Brain Wilson ("Billy") of "Silent Night, Deadly Night" and Eric Freeman ("Ricky") who starred in its sequel.

This is a particularly lengthy episode as we wanted to dig deep into why these two films have had such staying power and resonance since the first film was made 40 years go.

Also, we will be taking a bit of a hiatus for the month of January to put the gears in motion for the remaining episodes of season 4 but I promise you, it will be worth the wait!

I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas but sure hope you haven’t been naughty.

Now, sit back by the Christmas tree with a cup of cocoa and keep your axe handy as we look back at "Silent Night Deadly Night" 1 and 2!

In this episode we will be kicking off the first of two episodes celebrating Santa and the darkest evening of the year. This episode looking at the kick ass remake of a beloved Christmas horror classic and our next episode being our Christmas special where we have something very special under the tree for you. But I mustn’t say more than that right now.

On to the show!

My guest today makes lean, mean, kick ass horror films that get your blood pumping almost as much as it does on screen. His films often lean into the action side of the genre and are a ride from the the get-go. He’s one of the best in the business for staging a great set piece and his ability to move between action beats and scares works every time.

His new film “Werewolves” is in theatres now and I freakin’ love this movie. It has everything… werewolves, Lou Diamond Phillips, a child in danger, bodies ripped in half, shirtless Frank Grillo (I just turned into Stefan from SNL). Go see it! “Werewolves”… tell your friends!

Today we are joined by the unstoppable Steven C. Miller!

Steven and I get our jolly on by first discussing his loose remake of “Silent Night, Deadly Night” which was was just called “Silent Night”. A very different film than the beloved 1984 classic, it’s a balls to the wall killer Santa flick and we talk about how it all came together.

We also discuss how “Werewolves” came to be, how Frank Grillo is just as on point in intimate character scenes as he is at killing the fuck out of werewolves and how to walk the line of scares and action without leaning too much into one or the other.

So let’s sharpen our candy canes and howl at the super moon with director Steven C. Miller!

Apologies we’ve been out of commission for a couple weeks. Along with the cheer and merriment of the season comes flues, colds and coughs and basically our whole team was bed bound for a bit. If I still sound a bit scratchy, well hopefully it just adds to the shows creepy vibe. And having your voice drop an octave sounds good anyway right?

Well let’s get right into it shall we?

Our guest in this episode is one of the great visionary directors currently working in horror. His work bares the signature of a director who is not only a master of his craft but also someone has has never lost touch with an almost childlike sense of imagination, as he often explores the dark side of folklore and fantasy. Similar to a filmmaker like Guillermo del Toro (so it’s no surprise they have collaborated), his marriage of the fantastic and the macabre gives him a distinctive style.

With his first true feature, the modern classic “Troll Hunter”, he came out guns-a-blazing and hasn’t let up since.

In this episode we are joined by the virtuosic director Andre Ovredal.

Andre and I sat down to talk about why he chose to follow up the decidedly lighter in tone hit “Troll Hunter”, with the disturbing and almost chamber play like (not to mentioning absolutely terrifying) “The Autopsy of Jane Doe”. The challenges of adapting a beloved book like “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” for the screen and why a very brief section of the legendary Bram Stoker’s Dracula about the “Last voyage of the Demeter” was a story that HAD to be told on film.

Let’s visit the world of the strange and the fantastic with director Andre Ovredal!