In Film We Trust

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.

If you're a regular listener to this podcast you will know we (alongside Rolo Tony) dived into each of the directorial works of Larry Fessenden - from No Telling all the way to Blackout. We discussed the polemics, the recurring themes, his use of, and subverting, classic monster movie tropes.
But now the time has come to talk with the man himself. How did the environment of his youth form his taste, his polemics and his drive for a sense of justice. The very nature of filmmaking, being the unofficial Godfather of the 'Mumblecore genre', all the way down do his acting roles.
Oh, and he definitely drops some teasers on his upcoming film Trauma, Or Monsters All, that brings together his monster movies Habit, Depraved and Blackout.
Enjoy!

Author of Psychedelic Cults and Outlaw Churches, Mike Marinacci joins the show this week to discuss Pierre Sogol's, unfinished, and officially unreleased documentary, Aquarius Rising.
Aquarius Rising charted the counterculture scene - communes, psychedelics - of California circa 1967, filmed very much in a home video style, with the director often inserting himself into the documentary. But who exactly is Sogol? Most know that 'Pierre' Sogol' is a pseudonym, but luckily Mike drops the details who exactly this enigmatic director is.
And because this film is technically unfinished, and somewhat scattershot, we use Aquarius Rising, more as a jumping off point, to discuss the lineage, influences and and the disparate figures that popped up in the counterculture of the 60s, and its lasting effect on the larger culture.
You can find the full documentary at PsychedelicSangha.org, and you can find Mike on Instagram at: @PsychedelicCults