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Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys. On this episode we’re discussing two films directed by women: 1990’s The First Power and 1998’s Fallen.
First and foremost we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks!
We start by talking about what we’ve seen or done lately in the field of horror. We talk about a few of the recent events at the Mahoning Drive In (CarpenterFest, Vampyrty, and their Umberto Lenzi tribute) Exhumed Film’s Class of ’88 screening, the new documentary on Monster Squad entitled Wolfman’s Got Nards, and the films A Quiet Place (which Liam and Justin have rather lengthy and detailed discussion on) Hereditary, The Endless, Devil’s Gate, and we talk about the trailers for Halloween, Mandy, The Predator, and Tau.
Up first is The First Power. We talk about how it’s a combination of late 80s/early 90s “Satanic panic” films and “buddy cop” films from the same period. We talk about the brisk pace of the film, Lou Diamond Phillips’ inexplicable wardrobe choices, and the films inclusion of another ‘90s fad: psychic detectives!
We spend some time talking about the sort of ‘go to’ interpretation of Satanism in the late 80s/early 90s which was do Christian stuff backwards or upside down, and how none of that has any real theological basis. We discuss the concept of the films titular powers. We touch upon how the film came out right around the time that the idea of ‘psycho killers are scarier than supernatural things’ in horror fiction, and how the film manages to combine those two aspects with supernatural serial killers. The film’s almost laughable depiction of policework is touched upon, as is the films uncharacteristic of the time showing of the real world consequences of Dirty Harry style policework. The similarities between this film and The Omen are touched upon. The film’s uncertainty in what genre it wants to be is discussed.
The horror trope of “homeless being scary” unfortunately succeeding in this movie is discussed. The ending of the film not following it’s own internal set of rules is touched upon, as is the plots very by the book progression.
Up next is Fallen. The films similarities with our first film are discussed, although this films superiority in almost every aspect is discussed at length.
We dissect how the ending of the movie somewhat takes away from the rest of the movie for a variety of reasons. We have a brief “horror vs thriller” discussion. Some of the more effective scenes of the film are touched upon. The concept of “the living past” being represented by the character of Azazel is talked about.
Some of the performances are discussed. The films specific nature vs the first films vague concept of the occult is discussed, and Liam refers to the film as “the least supernatural possession film” he’s ever seen.
As always thanks to everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, Alexis, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com), and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers! Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!
