In Film We Trust

This week I'm joined by Chris Babalis, frontman of Greek doom metal band Acid Mammoth, so it's only appropriate that we discuss one of cinema's most doom-laden and oppressive sword and sorcery epics, Conan The Barbarian!
Written by John Milius and Oliver Stone, with Milius behind the camera, Conan The Barbarian stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as an orphaned Cimmerian boy, who rises from slavery to avenge the death of his father, figure out the Riddle of Steel and confront his arch-nemesis Thulsa Doom!
If you're a long time listener, or new to this podcast, you'll know it has been Patreon-free and ad-free for it's several year duration. But I've just started a Buy Me A Coffee (www.buymeacoffee.com/ifwtpod), for those who'd like to support the podcast. All contributions appreciated.

Filmmaker Kansas Bowling exploded onto the scene as a mid-teen, directing the first ever pre-historic slasher B.C Butcher for Troma. Since then she has acted in everything from Murdercise, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and being cast in Neil Breen's upcoming film Dire Duplicity.
But today Kansas drops by to discuss her film Cuddly Toys, a genuine mondo film, influenced by the likes of Mondo Hollywood and Faces of Death. Cuddly Toys is a warning call to all parents about their teenage daughters - a scattershot cinema verité film about abuse, runaways, anorexia, drug abuse and everything else your parents warned would lead to your destruction.
And because this is a new film - at least on home release - we keep this episode spoiler free, as we dive into the peripheral: the making of, the cast, financing and plenty of humorous anecdotes that happened throughout the making of this film. And of course, we deal in certain plot elements and themes along the way!

IFWT is taking a trip to Mexico with Satanic witch and burlesque performer Szandora LaVey - a surname synonymous with counter-cultural diabolism since Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan in 1966 - as we attempt to decipher Juan Lopez Moctezuma's 1977 vampire oddity Alucarda.
Alucarda, a loose adaptation of Le Fanu's novel Carmilla (that predated Stoker's Dracula by 25 years!) tells the story of the titular Alucarda and Justine. Two orphaned girls who are placed into the care of a Catholic convent. Part folk-horror, part possession movie, part nunsploitation - in fact, this film, still underseen by many horror fans, contains a multitude of elements with many thematic injections that make it a multi-layered experience, and one that is ripe for the IFWT treatment.
So lock up the chastity belt and say a few Hail Mary's as Szandora and I discuss, dissect and deepdive 1977's Alucarda.

IFWT is back after a short hiatus, and we're back in style. We're joined by "The Rock 'n' Roll Champion With Curly Hair", THE PHANTOM A.D., this generations answer to the iconoclastic Mojo Nixon. The Phantom A.D's music is a monstrous conglomerate of horrorr movies, pop-culture, trash and everything else us groovy hepcats dig, all backdropped by Chuck Berry rhythms and three-chord righteousness.
The Phantom A.D has just dropped his new ominously frightful titled album The Revenge Of... The Phantom A.D, with it's lead single Spider Baby, taken from Jack Hill's 1967 comedically macabre cheapie Spider Baby, starring an aging and alcoholic Lon Chaney Jr. So it's truly a privilege to host the Phantom for a dive into this enduring cult classic about a family who suffers from a disease that causes them to regress as they age....WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF CANNIBALISM!

You can find The Phantom A.D.:
thephantomad.com
Instagram: iamthephantom_666
Songs used in this episode all come from his latest record The Revenge Of...
Phantom's Rumble
Spider Baby
Chainsaw Rock

On this episode I'm joined by musician and writer Tony O'Neill. Tony rose from working class Blackburn to playing keyboards with Marc Almond, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Kenickie. But that's only the beginning of his story. After falling into serious drug addiction, he pivoted and became a respected man of letters, writing underground classics such as Digging The Vain and Sick City - and Tony and I delve into his work, his crazed Hollywood experiences that involve Courtney Love and a memorable night with Ron Jeremy!
So it's appropriate that he jumps aboard IFWT to discuss Matthew Brights, often maligned, arthouse meets trashterpiece, Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trickbaby, starring Natasha Lyonne as 'White Girl', a young woman thrust into the penal system, before escaping with fellow inmate Cyclona, and heading on a twisted road trip filled with murder, necrophilia, drug abuse and a sinister Sister Gomez, played but the iconoclastic Vincent Gallo.

You can find Tony online at: Tonyoneill.net
Instagram: @tony_oneill_writer
And you can pick up his latest short story collection Forged Prescriptions wherever you buy your books.