Author page: Doug Tilley

Cinema Smorgasbord – Halloween Horror Special – Working Class Goes to Hell (2023) & Black Eyed Susan (2024)

It’s the 2025 Cinema Smorgasbord HALLOWEEN HORROR SPECIAL and as usual we’re taking a look at two underloved horror (or, in this case, horror adjacent) films that deserve a little more attention. We start with the Serbian 2023 socio-political satire WORKING CLASS GOES TO HELL from LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG director Mladen Djordjević about a group of exploited workers who turn to Satan for some help battling corrupt businessmen and political leaders. We follow that up with Scooter McCrae’s BLACK EYED SUSAN, which features Yvonne Emilie Thälker as a sex doll designed for punishment, and tackles some iffy moral questions about the future of artificial intelligence and.. Hey! This isn’t very spooky at all! Oops!

Cinema Smorgasbord – George Kennedy is My Copilot – The Delta Force (1986) (and Murder on Location – Part 2)

On the last stirring episode of GEORGE KENNEDY IS MY COPILOT we covered the first half of the George Kennedy-penned mystery novel MURDER ON LOCATION and on this episode.. WE REACH THE END! Who is the killer? What is their motivation? Does George Kennedy get an Oscar? All will be revealed! And then we talk about the odd disaster movie/jingoistic action movie hybrid THE DELTA FORCE from 1986 starring Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin (and also George Kennedy). ENJOY!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Cinema Smorgasbord Sells Out – One Battle After Another (2025) (/w Luke Higginson)

When Paul Thomas Anderson drops one of the year’s most anticipated movies you know THE BOYS gotta get their opinions down on.. uh.. tape, so on this episode of CINEMA SMORGASBORD SELLS OUT we’re watching the lengthy action thriller ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER! But this three hour epic about an ex-revolutionary stumbling his way through a search for his daughter requires EXTRA FIREPOWER so we’ve been joined by the great RELAX, I’M FROM THE FUTURE director Luke Higginson to talk about the triumphs, controversies and everything else tied to PTA’s triumphant return. Listen!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Eric Roberts is the Man – Nobody’s Fool (1986)

We’re back in CLASSIC ERIC ROBERTS era with the darkly comedic romantic drama NOBODY’S FOOL from 1986 featuring Rosanna Arquette as a quirky, traumatized waitress who finds her life turned upside-down when a troupe of Shakespearean actors arrive in her small Arizona town, including a handsome, equally messed up stagehand played by – wait for it – ERIC ROBERTS. There’s plenty of odd charm, thanks to a strong script from Pulitzer Prize-winner Beth Henley, and a great supporting cast including Mare Winningham, Louise Fletcher and Stephen Tobolowsky! We’re joined by NOBODY’S FOOL superfan Dan Gorman, making his long-awaited return, and the show is JAM-PACKED with the latest Eric Roberts news. ENJOY!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Serpent’s Path: The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Sweet Home (1989) & The Guard From Underground (1992)

After a bumpy and controversial start to his career, that bumpiness would continue for Kiyoshi Kurosawa with 1989’s SWEET HOME, a unique videogame/film collaboration that is colorful, entertaining and full of goopy FX by the legendary Dick Smith, but after a post-theatrical re-edit things would go sour between Kurosawa and producer Juzo Itami. It would be a few more years before Kurosawa would direct another feature, returning with the slasher-y office thriller THE GUARD FROM UNDERGROUND which has a number of hints at what would become his trademark style. Let’s check it out!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Praising Kane – Sticky Fingers (1988)

2025 is the YEAR OF CAROL KANE! From Star Trek to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to a documentary about her relationship with her mother (CAROL &JOY, coming soon!), to appearing in the latest Darren Aronofsky movie, it’s a busy time in the world of PRAISING KANE and we’re loving it. We break down all the latest news on this episode, followed by a look at the strange Caitlin Adams-directed crime-comedy STICKY FINGERS starring Helen Slater and Melanie Mayron as two down-on-their-luck street musicians who are saddled with a bag containing almost a million dollars! With supporting turns from Christopher Guest, Eileen Brennan, Stephen McHattie and – of course – CAROL KANE! Enjoy!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Wild in the Streets – Bloody Payroll (aka Violent Milan) (1976)

Two gang members pull a double cross on Claudio Cassinelli’s Raul Montalbani after a bank robbery in Mario Caiano’s occasionally spirited 1976 film BLOODY PAYROLL (aka VIOLENT MILAN). BIG MISTAKE! Cassinelli spends most of the film tracking them down to get a little revenge, helped by the sympathetic sex worker Leila. It’s bookended by some terrific action (especially the car and motorcycle chases in the first thirty minutes, but then settles down into some Noir-ish score settling buoyed by a terrific, jazzy soundtrack. But what did we think? CHECK IT OUT!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Further Reeding – Z.P.G. (1972)

Your Oliver Reed-loving pals are BACK on a brand new episode of FURTHER REEDING and we’re checking out the filmed-in-Denmark 1972 science fiction oddity Z.P.G., where Reed and Geraldine Chaplin play a couple in a dystopian near-future where childbirth has been outlawed. Instead people cling onto weird child-like automatons while slowing losing their minds and eating steak-flavored paste. That’s good eating! When Chaplin’s Carol decides she wants to have a baby anyway things get.. pretty goofy, especially when the neighbors discover the couple’s not-very-well-hidden secret. It’s strange! Check it out!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Bartel Me Something Good – Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

Uh oh! The gang is back talking all things Paul Bartel on another episode of BARTEL ME SOMETHING GOOD and this time not only are we yacking about 1976’s HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, the made-for-a-bet directing debut of both Joe Dante AND Alan Arkush (and featuring Paul Bartel, Dick Miller and Mary Woronov among many other familiar faces), but we also start with a very special episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 1985 directed by Tim Burton(!), featuring music by Danny Elfman(!) and starring Griffin Dunne, Laraine Newman and – wait for it – Paul Bartel as a pretentious art critic. It’s even.. uh.. sort of an adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story. All that and so much more, so enjoy!

Cinema Smorgasbord – How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? – The Last Outlaw (1993)

One this rootin’-tootin’ episode of HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS? we’re checking out the made-for-HBO western THE LAST OUTLAW from 1993 featuring a murderer’s row of early 90s character actors: Mickey Rourke, Dermot Mulroney, Ted Levine, John C. McGinley, Keith David and – of course – Steve Buscemi! Not only that, it was written by Eric Red (who wrote THE HITCHER and NEAR DARK) and directed by THE QUIET EARTH/YOUNG GUNS II/FREEJACK’s Geoff Murphy and features plenty of ultra-violence in a (transparently) WILD BUNCH-inspired revenge tale. All THAT and the latest Steve Buscemi news!