Cinema Shock

LIFEFORCE (1985) | Tobe Hooper: The Cannon Years

This new three-part series will act as a sequel to our previous series The Tragedy of Tobe Hooper. For these episodes, we'll be discussing Hooper's career immediately following his controversial directing gig on POLTERGEIST, a time during which he worked for the infamous 80s b-movie house Cannon Films.
For the first of three films that he directed for Cannon, Hooper tackled a little-known sci-fi novel called The Space Vampires, which would come to life as a film in 1985 under the title LIFEFORCE, with a screenplay written by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby (BLUE THUNDER).
In this episode, we'll explore the creation of that film and how its release and reception helped to shape the rest of Hooper's filmmaking career.
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Coming Up:
LIFEFORCE (1985)
INVADERS FROM MARS (1986)
THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE PART 2 (1986)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
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RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) | The Unsung Legacy of Dan O’Bannon

The epic conclusion to our series on the life and career of Dan O'Bannon, one of Hollywood's most under-celebrated creators.
After having an early success early on with ALIEN, Dan O'Bannon still struggled to find any true success in the film industry, partially due to forces working against him, and partially due to his abrasive personality.
But in 1985, a project fell in his lap that would allow him to finally have full creative control on a project: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, a film he was hired to write that, through a series of circumstances, would end up being his directorial debut, and would go on to become a beloved piece of zombie film history.
This week on the podcast, we'll explore the story behind RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, with special guest Dan Wipert of the Film Trace podcast.
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Coming Up:
LIFEFORCE (1985)
INVADERS FROM MARS (1986)
THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE PART 2 (1986)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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BLUE THUNDER (1983) | The Unsung Legacy of Dan O’Bannon

Next up in our exploration of the career of Dan O'Bannon, we'll be discussing the 1983 action flick BLUE THUNDER.
Though mostly forgotten today, BLUE THUNDER was a major hit upon release, spawning a short-lived TV series and video game. But the film that was seen by audiences at the time was a far cry from what O'Bannon had intended when he wrote the script.
In this episode, we'll track the film's genesis as an idea that formed in O'Bannon's head not long after the release of ALIEN, through its changes throughout pre-production and the eventual filming and release of the film under the guidance of director John Badham (SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, WARGAMES).
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Coming Up:
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)
Up next: Tobe Hooper: The Cannon Years
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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HEAVY METAL (1981) | The Unsung Legacy of Dan O’Bannon

When we say that Dan O'Bannon had his hands in a ton of iconic properties, we aren't kidding. In addition to his most well-known films like ALIEN and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, he also had his hands in everything from Jodorowsky's un-produced DUNE and even in STAR WARS!
He even made a significant contribution to the genre of animation by writing two segments for 1981's HEAVY METAL.
Based on the magazine of the same name, HEAVY METAL is an anthology film, with many of its segments based on comics found within its pages.
The film had a bizarre journey to the big screen (and a lengthy journey to home video). In this episode, we'll trace its creation from idea to release, discussing not only Dan O'Bannon's contributions, but the film as a whole, and where its legacy has led.
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Coming Up:
BLUE THUNDER (1983)
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)
Up next: Tobe Hooper: The Cannon Years
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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DEAD & BURIED (1981) | The Unsung Legacy of Dan O’Bannon

After the success of ALIEN, you'd think that Dan O'Bannon's screenwriting career would have really taken off, but due to a very public battle over the screen credits on that film, that unfortunately wasn't the case.
The good news is that O'Bannon's ALIEN co-writer Ronald Shusett had a project that he'd been working on prior to ALIEN about a small New England town that was overtaken by the undead, and he invited O'Bannon to help him out with the screenplay.
The resulting film was DEAD & BURIED, directed by Gary Sherman, although O'Bannon's contributions to the script are disputed (mostly by O'Bannon himself). In this episode, we'll discuss the extent of O'Bannon's involvement, plus the filming of the cult film itself, which featured early credits from genre stalwarts such as Robert England and Stan Winston.
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Coming Up:
HEAVY METAL (1981)
BLUE THUNDER (1983)
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)
Up next: Tobe Hooper: The Cannon Years
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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ALIEN (1979) Part 2 | The Unsung Legacy of Dan O’Bannon

In Part 1 of our big double episode on ALIEN, we traced the film’s journey as a simple concept that was discussed by Dan O’Bannon and John Carpenter during the production of DARK STAR to its procurement by 20th Century Fox and the involvement of writer/producer Walter Hill.
When we left off, a young up-and-coming director by the name of Ridley Scott had been hired as the film’s director. In this episode, we’ll discuss the casting and production, as well as the enduring legacy of the film.
And we’ll figure out… just how did ALIEN’s success affect the future career of Dan O’Bannon?
NOTE: Due to the sheer amount of information out there about ALIEN, we've decided to do something different and split this into two episode. Be sure to listen to episode 1 of our ALIEN discussion before listening to this one! You can find it here or on any of your favorite podcast apps!
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Coming Up:
DEAD & BURIED (1981)
HEAVY METAL (1981)
BLUE THUNDER (1983)
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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ALIEN (1979) Part 1 | The Unsung Legacy of Dan O’Bannon

As we continue Dan O'Bannon's story, we're now arriving at the film that truly put him on the map, a film that would ever be synonymous with his name: Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror film ALIEN.
But although the film was massively successful, its success didn't translate to Dan O'Bannon being one of Hollywood's go-to screenwriters, thus continuing his streak of being highly undervalued by the studios.
In this episode, we'll trace ALIEN's origins from an idea that was hatched during DARK STAR's production, to its transformation from a low budget Roger Corman film to its eventual fate as a big budget studio tentpole.
NOTE: Due to the sheer amount of information out there about ALIEN, we've decided to do something different and split this into two episode. ALIEN episode 2 lands next week!
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Coming Up:
DEAD & BURIED (1981)
HEAVY METAL (1981)
BLUE THUNDER (1983)
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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Cinema Shock Roundtable #1: Discussing ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE (2021)

The guys all sat down for four hours to watch the new Snyder Cut of JUSTICE LEAGUE and they decided that they might as well talk about their thoughts. Enjoy!
 
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Coming Up:
ALIEN (1979)
DEAD & BURIED (1981)
HEAVY METAL (1981)
BLUE THUNDER (1983)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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DARK STAR (1974) | The Unsung Legacy of Dan O’Bannon

In our new series, we'll be exploring the career of the late Dan O'Bannon.
O'Bannon's name isn't well-known among casual fans, but fans of genre cinema know him as the mastermind behind ALIEN and the director of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD.
But as we'll explore in this series, he brought so much more to genre film than just those (not insignificant) contributions. O'Bannon has had his hand in franchises that have made billions of dollars at the box office, and worked with directors ranging from George Lucas to Tobe Hooper.
For our first episode, we'll go all the way back to the beginning, to  discuss O'Bannon's upbringing and his days as a student as the USC film school, where he met fellow film student John Carpenter. Shortly after meeting, the two found that they had mutual interests in sci-fi and fantasy films, and it wouldn't be long before they found themselves collaborating on a student film.
That film was DARK STAR, and this is its story. 
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Coming Up:
ALIEN (1979)
DEAD & BURIED (1981)
HEAVY METAL (1981)
BLUE THUNDER (1983)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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POLTERGEIST (1982) The Tragedy of Tobe Hooper

In this episode, we're going to explore the film that really gave this series its name. In the early 1980s, Tobe Hooper was given the chance of a lifetime — he was invited by Stephen Spielberg, the biggest director in the world at the time, to direct a movie for Universal Pictures.
The resulting film was POLTERGEIST, and it ended up being the most successful film of Hooper's career, but also the most controversial. 
No discussion about POLTERGEIST is complete without discussing that controversy, one that questioned whether Hooper actually directed the film, or whether it was actually helmed by Spielberg himself.
This week, we'll discuss how the film came about, where the controversy came from, and how it affected Hooper's career going forward (spoiler alert: not in great ways!). And we'll give our own opinions on who we think really directed POLTERGEIST.
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Coming Up:
THE FUNHOUSE (1981)
POLTERGEIST (1982)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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