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Way back more than a decade ago, M.J. Preston—an author hailing from the great nation of Canada—became the very first author interviewed by the Dark Discussions News Network. His debut novel, The Equinox, unleashed a particularly nasty bit of supernatural trouble upon the world: the Wendigo. Having read the novel and discovered a wonderfully creepy story lurking within its pages, your host decided that the obvious thing to do was track down this promising new author and have him on the podcast for a chat. And thus, a beautiful tradition of talking monsters, mayhem, and all things dark and delicious was born! For those who may not have encountered one while wandering through the frozen wilderness, a Wendigo is a legendary supernatural figure rooted in the traditional folklore of several Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes and northeastern regions of North America. Associated with the horrors of winter, starvation, greed, and an insatiable hunger, the Wendigo represents the terrifying transformation of a person consumed by an unnatural appetite and stripped of their humanity. Popular culture has since given the creature all manner of skeletal, antlered, animalistic appearances, but the legend itself is considerably older and more varied than any single Hollywood monster design. In other words: be hungry, be greedy, but perhaps don’t become a Wendigo. Now, after all these years, M.J. Preston is back—and he has brought another Wendigo along for the ride! His brand-new 2026 novel, Windigo Plague, puts this sinister creature front and center once again, although Preston has opted for a slightly different spelling this time around. Naturally, Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews couldn’t resist inviting him back to the dark side of the microphone. M.J. joins your co-hosts, including the always entertaining Hollywood actor Dan Lench, to dig into this remarkable new novel, the legend behind it, and what makes the Wendigo such an enduringly creepy presence in horror. It’s a reunion more than a decade in the making—and one that proves that sometimes the monsters really do come back for seconds!

Once again, we’ve rummaged through the wonderfully weird world of genre news and returned with a whole bagful of goodies! There’s certainly no shortage of things to talk about, so rather than simply tossing a few headlines your way, we’ve gone digging through everything we’ve heard since our last episode and picked out some of the juiciest, strangest, and most intriguing stories to explore. This time around, we dive into the upcoming FRIDAY THE 13TH prequel series, CRYSTAL LAKE, take a peek at the highly anticipated GRAND THEFT AUTO 6, and wander down a few other entertaining rabbit holes along the way. And because the past has a sneaky habit of hiding some real treasures, we’ve also dusted off a few forgotten gems that may have slipped under your radar. So grab your headphones, settle in, and come take the journey with us through the latest twists, turns, surprises, and oddities from the world of genre entertainment. Give it a listen, and as always, let us know what you think!

We take a different approach to the podcast today with some genre news. Instead of reviewing a film or book, we instead go through some of the news of the past year and discuss in detail some of the most interesting things we’ve heard. We talk about some upcoming adaptations of like Tomb Raider, some crumbs John Carpenter mentioned at convention in the last quarter, news about the James Gunn DC Universe, and a whole bunch more. Listed also are some forgotten gems from the past that may have been overlooked. Take a listen and let us know what you feel.

Animated films seem to be as common as live action movies nowadays. But out of the blue, an immediate classic, brilliant in its own way, appears and transcends animation to just be one of the best films ever made. The Latvian film, FLOW (2024), happens to be one of those movies. Winning best Oscar for animated motion picture and nominated for foreign film as well, FLOW finally reached world audiences in Q1 of 2025 after the awards shows ended. From IMDB: “Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences.” FLOW is both an adventure film and a post-apocalyptic movie all in one. Directed by Gints Zilbalodis, and written with co-producer Matiss Kaža, the movie was remarkably done on a budget of only 3.5M Euros, during a time many animated films cross over 150M Euros to make. Your co-hosts decided to take a look at this fabulous film, give their thoughts, and praise its wonderful story.

The Fantastic Four has been brought to theaters multiple times, but each time the films have been critically panned … until now. The new Marvel Studio production, THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, has received fabulous reviews and is Disney’s hope to rebuild the comic book film franchise for their company. From IMDB: “Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, the Fantastic Four must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.” The movie is directed by Game of Thrones veteran, Matt Shakman, and stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as the Fantastic Four. Though the movie was a big box office success on opening weekend, the movie has dropped dramatically in revenue the follow up weeks since its release on July 25, 2025. You co-hosts take a look at the new film and its prospects as a franchise starter.

James Gunn is one of the most prolific and successful screenwriters and directors out there. After bringing the Marvel films, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, to the big screen, he was hired as the head of DC films to set up and bring to life the world of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. After successful products like THE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021) and PEACEMAKER (2022), he’s back with the true kickoff to the DC Universe with SUPERMAN (2025). From IMDB: “Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as reporter Clark Kent. As the embodiment of truth, justice and the human way he soon finds himself in a world that views these as old-fashioned.” The new Superman film stars David Corenswet as the lead with Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. The aggregate website Rottentomatoes has given it great reviews from both audiences and reviewers alike. Your co-hosts take a look at this big budget beginning to the DC Universe and give their thoughts.

Some pretty solid independent horror films are always the surprises each year. A small budget horror film from Connecticut, USA, just arrived entitled CANDLEWOOD, based off local legends. From IMDB: A mixed family moves from the city to a remote village, buying a house unseen. Unwelcoming locals and a real urban legend threaten their new life as they confront the property's dark history. Your podcast hosts were able to interview the director, Mike Furhman, along with Kristi Schoonover who had a small part in the film. After its limited theatrical release, it is now available on VOD everywhere.

They say the stunt man gets no respect.  Out of all the things that are in movies, they are unrecognized at the Oscars.  Many times folks have tried to push for an award and category for the stunt men and women and yet each year it never happens.  THE FALL GUY, a film from 2024, actually turns the stuntman into one of the main characters. From Rotten Tomatoes:  “He's a stuntman, and like everyone in the stunt community, he gets blown up, shot, crashed, thrown through windows and dropped from the highest of heights, all for our entertainment. And now, fresh off an almost career-ending accident, this working-class hero has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. What could possibly go right?” THE FALL GUY is directed by former stuntman David Leitch, who is best known for directing JOHN WICK (2014), ATOMIC BLONDE (2017), DEADPOOL 2 (2018), BULLET TRAIN (2022), among others.  Written by Drew Pearce and starring Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling, the movie received fantastic reviews from critics and audiences alike.  Though it wasn’t the phenomenal box office success the producers had hoped, the movie has gotten a second life on streaming.  Your co-hosts take a look at the film and give their thoughts.

With January 2025 underway, it is time to visit what is coming this year to cinemas, video-on-demand platforms, as well as those genre films that are going straight to disc. Also, what's new in video games, television, and genre novels? Last year, 2024 was a heck of a good year and there were a lot of great flicks. This year once again there seems to be a lot of great ones coming. Plus also more superhero flicks. Reboots and remakes and sequels are also arriving too. Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews once again is back with their look forward to the new year and what seems to interest them most. Some of the more high profile items spoken of include TRON ARES, BALLERINA, ANDOR Season 2, THE MONKEY, and THE HOUSEMAID. But it doesn't end there. Other items talked about include DAREDEVIL, THE CONJURING LAST RIGHTS, THE BRIDE, and ALIEN EARTH. And then at the very end we list off other films and talk about some of the latest news about movies and genre cinema.

We take a different approach to the podcast today with some genre news. Instead of reviewing a film or book, we instead go through some of the news of the past year and discuss in detail some of the most interesting things we've heard. We talk about some upcoming adaptations of Red Sonja, Tomb Raider, Swan Song, among others. News about Lord of the Rings and the James Gunn DC Universe. Listed also are some "sleeper" science fiction films from the past that may have been overlooked. Take a listen and let us know what you feel.

So the Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews podcast decided to do an episode on the 2009 movie WATCHMEN but our discussion went a bit long as we discussed the background to the movie, and its source material. So we decided to break it into two episodes. The second is all about the movie itself. Directed by Zack Snyder, written by David Hayter and Alex Tse, and starring Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Good, Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, was not the success that the studio had hoped. With the usual debate between the fans of the graphic novel and superheroes in general, backlash and praise were both the norm. Now fifteen years later, the movie has become somewhat of a cult classic. With its fabulous special effects, splendid acting, and changes to the story to make it fit within a movie length, the film, though polarizing, continues to find audiences through streaming. Your cohosts take a look at the film itself and give their thoughts.

Detective Comics, better known as DC, has delivered some of the most iconic superhero characters of all time such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Harley Quinn. In 1986, the first issue of Watchmen appeared which was something altogether different. A violent, transgressive, political, and sexual take on superheroes, the series (now a graphic novel), was troubling to some but loved by others. The talents behind the graphic novel include write Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins. Since its debut, the popularity with its alternate timeline has only grown as it became a movie simply titled Watchmen, written by David Hayter and Alex Tse, and directed by talented and enigmatic Zack Snyder. Receiving mixed reviews, the movie may have been before its time as comic book films were just at the cusp of dominating the movie box office. In this first of two episodes, your co-hosts talk about the backstory of source material and the dream of Zack Snyder trying to make what many thought as an impossible source material to adapt into what is now considered a beloved cult film by many.

Pride month is wrapping down. So for the last film for our theme month where we are reviewing lesbian arthouse movies, we take a look at the definition of an arthouse film. The movie, ELENORE MAKES LOVE, from 2015, is a short hour long feature with the feel of the type of film that showed daily in New York City during the heyday of black and white erotic films. And yet, like many of them, it presents itself the esoteric and complex arthouse feel that turned erotism into avante-garde or artifice. From IMDB: A young, tall, blonde, female photographer, Dee (Dee Herlihy), meets a pretty brunette model, Eleanor (Audrey Kovar), in an upscale hotel suite in New York City for a private photo shoot. They soon romantically connect and spend the weekend together in the room. As the film progresses into a non-linear dream-like mix of conversation and making love, it is slowly revealed that the two women have a past together. In the end, that past may be more present than we think. In the different flashbacks, the photographer’s brother (Ryan Balas) tells her that he disapproves of her dating Elenore, while Elenore the model has another lover, a married man, whom she spends time with on the side. The film was directed and written by Ryan Balas while also starring as Dee’s brother. A cast of only four, the film stars Dee Helihy, Audrey Kovar, Ryan Balas, and Richard Buonagurio. Being shorter in length, and as deeply arthouse as a film can be, the movie has little reviews by press or websites. Your co-hosts, however, decide to take a look at this little film and give their thoughts.

For our theme month where we are reviewing lesbian arthouse movies for pride month, we take a look at a very interesting film about the creator of Wonder Woman and the women in his life. The film is a well received film entitled PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN (2017) Professor William Marston (Luke Evans) is a professor at Harvard University with his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall). When student Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote) becomes his assistant, the three become entangled in a love triangle. Using his ideas entitled DISC theory, he begins to live his life that way, as well as invent the character of Wonder Woman following the same hypothesis. The film is written and directed by Angela Robinson. Since it did not contact the family and estate of Marston, Elizabeth, and Olive, the film is very much fictional about actual individuals. However, is the film any good and does it have compelling plot points to standout? Your co-hosts take a look at the movie and give their thoughts.

Pride month and lesbian arthouse films continues. For our second film in the themed month of the podcast, we take a look at a 2017 release called BECKS (2017). Rebecca (Lena Hall) is an aspiring folk singer. When her girlfriend has an affair, Rebecca, broke and apartmentless, heads back home to St. Louis to live with her widowed mother, Ann (Christine Lahti). Soon Rebecca gets a music gig at her old friend’s bar where she meets Elyse (Mena Suvari), a married woman who comes to listen to music with her friends. Soon Elyse takes up guitar lessons from Rebecca. And as always, life doesn’t follow the expected past. The movie stars Lena Hall, Mena Suvari, Christine Lahti, Dan Fogler, and Michael Zegen; a very impressive group of character actors and actresses. The film was co-directed by Daniel Powell and Elizabeth Rohrbaugh and made the festival circuit back in 2017 during its release. Your co-hosts take a look at the movie and give their thoughts about the film.