Advertise on podcast: Once Upon A VHS - 80s and 90s Fantasy

"Don't call it violence, call it action. Kids love action! It sells!" Bustin' out of the box, we're prepared to defeat the Commando Elite in this sanded down but still bitingly satirical romp about AI toy warfare. Life in plastic? It's fantastic. Joe Dante giving us Susan Sontag camp sensibility, the Everything Is Terrible Jerry Maguire video pyramid, transmascs loving shark movies, Action Man vs G.I. Joe, corporate synergy, Aladdin's nipples, Martika's Kitchen, the Toy Story of it all, Spinal Tap turning it up to 11 as assorted Gorgonites, the Frankenstein throwback of the Gwendy doll conversion, Sarah Michelle Gellar being sued by Burger King, contraband Furbies, the pronunciation of Kirsten Dunst, the Barbie Liberation Organisation, surprise Spice Girls connections, the diva doll herself Dead Meat's James A Janisse, Phil Hartman's big TV, loving Archer loving Encarta, Gremlins comparisons, putting away childish things, Led Zeppelin, the Creatures life simulator PC games and Titanic references await. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. Why did we decide to cover this when there's no magical or supernatural element involved? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Now you will see a film made for children... perhaps." An experimental little solo episode from Callum, exploring this Czech surrealist stop motion dark fantasy from Jan Švankmajer. It's an extra weird one, but that's what happens when you talk to yourself... Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're off on a fruity adventure with stop-motion animated insects in yet another dark delight discarded by Disney, an adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel helmed by Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The Stinky Cheese Man, a very c***y spider, Tim Burton drama, suprisingly sobering themes, Revolting Recipes, the power of Pete Postlethwaite, a mechanical shark, Andy Partridge from XTC vs Randy Newman, a fabric rhino puppet in a tank, Joanna Lumley, the New York City set looking like a pop-up book, Microsoap and Callum's Miriam Margolyes story await. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. If we were bugs, what kind of bugs would we be? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A real horror show aimed at a younger audience, this very 80s Canadian kindertrauma classic opens a portal to Hell in the backyard - and demons both fun-size and massive are coming to disrupt the pizza party with disturbing visions of death! We're not "f***ing off"! The Satanic Panic, supernatural experiences, Stephen Dorff in his debut, swear words, spectacular stopmotion animation and special effects, and the Stranger Things of it all await. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. What's tres uncool? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Will you turn that bloody racket down?" Time for some Girl Power! Who said anything about Space Ghettos? We celebrate the British pop phenomenon with a great big episode about their smash hit turned cult classic feature film Spiceworld and the Lynchian video for their single Viva Forever in which two children are spirited away by Aardman animated tin-toy fairies resembling Scary, Sporty, Ginger, Baby and Posh Spice. Our renditions of notable ad libs, Michael's pitch for a biopic centred on Geri Halliwell, the presence of literal aliens, Spice Force 5, Trap Door, the socialist community in Liverpool, Rupert the Bear annuals, the Playstation game, Robb Stark getting his bum out, A Hard Day's Night vs The Monkees' Head, Chupa Chups lollipops, the clones of S Club Seeing Double, the coolness of Richard E. Grant and hot twink Alan Cumming, turbulent times on The Island of Doctor Moreau, deciding which Spice Girl would play various roles in Doctor Who, dreamfasting, the French and Saunders Mamma Mia sketch, high femme drag, toilet horror, the comedic timing of Victoria Beckham, buying the VHS tins in Woolworths, and a camera sticking out of a cow await. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. Why the double bill with The Borrowers? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're crashing into our new season with an action-packed adaptation of Mary Norton's classic children's books. Comparisons with the 1992 and 2011 TV versions and Studio Ghibli's 2010 anime The Secret World of Arrietty, the Trocadero Centre, post-war allegory, the incredible filmography of visual effects supervisor Peter Chiang, ice cream made of mashed potato, Penelope Wilton delivering an impassioned speech in Bob & Rose, product placement, a hat on a hat, Celia Imrie's enormous Chappell Roan wig, an officious Ruby Wax, a cheese-eating dog, John Goodman getting tied up by a ceiling fan, Smack the Pony, Jane Norman carrier bags, The 10th Kingdom, life in a dystopian steampunk Hovis advert, and a young Tom Felton's chinchilla named Stanley await. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. Why the double bill with Spice World? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for a Christmas VHS classic - the first instalment of the BBC's adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Thank you so much to all our guest contributors on this special episode: Richard, Daniel, Cullen, Sophie, Paul, Rob, and Daniel Boxyteeopatra. We share our thoughts on the series and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. Which weapons would Father Christmas hand out to us? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time to wrap up the Season of the Witch by opening a magic bag full of listener questions, updates and also-rans. Ursula K. Leguin's Carrier Bag Theory, Tilly from Tots TV, the population of Iceland, Bette Davis, Halloweentown, Poison for the Fairies, Hilary Duff, Grotbags and Wizadora await. Want to find out our favourite fantasy novels? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've heard it said that podcasts come into our lives for a reason... SPOILER ALERT! This epic bonus episode features our extended and detailed discussion of the new movie Wicked: For Good, scene by scene. Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for one of the most infamous entries in the 80s dark fantasy canon - Disney's boldly ambitious animated epic, The Black Cauldron. Joining our discussion of the film's merits and shortcomings is actor, writer and horror icon James Swanton. Three wayward witches, an oracular pig, green mist, Welsh mythology, Elmer Bernstein's ondes martenot-heavy score, and one bonechilling villain in the Horned King await. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. How do we feel about Gurgi? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anything can happen on Halloween... Celebrating Once Upon A VHS icon Fairuza Balk, we have a special double-dunter! First up, an addendum to last year's episode about our beloved Return to Oz. We saw the 40th anniversary screening of Return to Oz at the DCA in Dundee as part of the Dundead horror and cult film festival lineup, and give our reactions to seeing on the big screen as well as expanding on our thoughts and theories about this gothic and gorgeous movie. Then we join Mildred Hubble for a whole lot of trouble in The Worst Witch, a TV movie adaptation of Jill Murphy's book series set at a magic boarding school with a wild cast including Charlotte Rae, Diana Rigg and Tim Curry. Oh, and some "remarkable" songs and visual effects. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. Has anybody seen my tambourine? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As you're pretty, so be wise - wolves may lurk in every guise... Rachel Lydia Barker, film critic, video essayist and creator of the Girl on Film YouTube channel joins us in straying from the path to discuss a truly wild film. It's not just a dark and edgy reworking of Little Red Riding Hood, but a surreal and sensual gothic fairytale overflowing with symbolism, feminist allegory and sharp commentary about gender and power dynamics. Literary trailblazer Angela Carter and The Bloody Chamber, roadtrips with a Brothers Grimm soundtrack, a boy named Howell, having a Sylvia Plath phase, Una's Becoming Unbecoming and the shadow of the Yorkshire Ripper, the truly baffling filmography of Neil Jordan, production designer Anton Furst's trees on wheels, a beautiful but flimsy puppet theatre, the unmade medieval musical fantasy MidKnight, the darker elements of coming of age narratives, The Village People, cyclical mother-daughter relationships, Rachel's Rat King Halloween costume, a very Doctor Who meets Skeksis banquet, a basketball court made of Sprite, Terence Stamp in an anachronistic Rolls Royce, Alison dressing up as Lady Gaga on Pretty Little Liars, a hedgehog running around the house, Grandmother Angela Lansbury's smashed porcelain head and puppet ermine, a very Jareth from Labyrinth bedazzled jacket, sexual transformation, Rose Tyler being chased by Bad Wolf, Amanda Seyfried, an Evanesence music video, a frightening picture of Oliver Reed as a werewolf, the ITV player, forbidden Nesquik, pink knickerbockers, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, food colouring magic, glamorous day beds, gorgeous art direction, the 80s fantasy dream logic prelude to A Nightmare on Elm Street, the eroticism of passing script notes back and forward and plenty of wig discussion await. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. How many references to The Life of a Showgirl will be made? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Michael lost in the woods, Callum calls upon returning guest co-hosts Pete and Scott from the fabulous Movies That Made Us Gay podcast to dive into discussion, dissection and dissemination of the Cannon Films "package" of fairy tale films, focusing in on Hansel and Gretel - it is the season of the witch, after all! We also discuss a few other adaptations of Hansel and Gretel including Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre, Tim Burton's kung fu influenced 1983 short, the 2020 horror film Gretel and Hansel from Osgood Perkins and a nightmare-inducing episode of the 1987 anime Grimm's Fairytale Classics. The SurLaLune Fairytales website, the documentary Electric Boogaloo, being gauche at the Cannes Film Festival, briefly revisiting Masters of the Universe, the dinosaur puppets in the Super Mario Brothers Movie, Chuck Norris, Ninja III: The Domination, Cannon's bizarre expansion of Red Riding Hood, more than one Engelbert Humperdinck, mother giving us kitchen sink drama, Simon and the Witch, the hazards of leaving a trail of breadcrumbs, Ariana Grande in a donut shop, a notably awful bowl cut, David Warner's bag of meat, Griselda's disgusting carpet, red licorice wigs on the gingerbread child fence, Cloris Leachman being dunked in batter, the importance of a good magical staff, an Ibiza foam party explosion, Debbie Harry in Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, a pioneer woman in the woods, Gandalf taking out his pipe and popping in a crystal, Meg Mucklebones, spooky voices, aspic salads, and Michael's visceral reaction to styrofoam await. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. How many deep cut RuPaul's Drag Race references do we manage to squeeze in? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Witches of England... you are a disgrace! Robert Berg, writer and copy editorial director of Bona Books, a queer press specialising in fantasy, science fiction and horror, joins us to peel back the layers of weirdness with this unsettling adaptation. The complicated legacy of Roald Dahl, loving a sad wash, the performance of gender, gay gasps at the long list of women who might have played the Grand High Witch, feminist filmmaking pioneer Mai Zetterling and her missing finger, feelings about the different endings of the book and film, the children's horror space, Jim Henson's mouse unit, bad ADR dubbing giving a giallo feel, Anne Hathaway saying "gooorlic" in the remake, British seaside hotels, being a grandma's boy, Chicken and Mushroom Pot Noodle, a girl being stuck in a painting, purple eyes, another snake, Creature Shop excellence, a monstrous striptease, distressing transformations, wet puppets, cock-a-leekie or cress soup preferences, and of course Anjelica Huston doing everything. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. Who loved the mum's shawl and who hated it? Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are the weirdos, mister. Light as a feather, stiff as a board. I bind you, Nancy, from doing harm... It's October, it's an iconic performance from Fairuza Balk, it's time to celebrate Fairuzaween with THE millennial mall-goth high school witch horror, 1996's The Craft.  Our special guest Juno Dawson, bestselling author of the bewitching Her Majesty's Royal Coven series, screenwriter, actress and cohost of So I Got To Thinking podcast, joins us to call the corners. Sarah's cement-front wig, invoking Manon from KATSEYE, comparisons between The Craft: Legacy and The L Word: Generation Q, a pearl of wisdom from Rita Ora, living in a "Spanish", music video DVDs, Rachel True appreciation, queerness radiating out no matter what, Sex and the City, girl group chemistry, inconsistent elemental coding, Kath & Kim, cyberpunk earrings, sleepover shenanigans, Doctor Who companions, Neve Campbell's hideous satin blouse, giving the gays more than they wanted, multiple Buffy the Vampire Slayer tangents, the Jezebel Etsy witch curse, gaslighting, Heidi Klum, finger-snakes, young Hollywood in the 90s, the pronunciation of athame, manifesting a Bratz dolls collaboration and the best outro we've ever recorded await. We share our thoughts on the movie and its themes, some behind the scenes gossip, delve into the nightmarish moments and dream up some ridiculous merch. "Then why are you still bleeding?!" Listen and find out! Art by Ashleigh Jane Cosgrove. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. https://linktr.ee/onceuponavhs Join our Clamshell Club on Patreon to support the show and gain access to exclusive Once Upon A VHS bonus episodes updated monthly: Boxset - reviewing 80s and 90s fantasy TV (including Jim Henson's The Storyteller)Rewind - looking back at fantasy films from before 1980 (including Star Wars)Fast Forward - our thoughts on fantasy movies from 2000 onwards (including The Lord of the Rings) https://patreon.com/onceuponavhs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.