Chris Landon

This episode's subtitle should be, So many movies, so little time.

We start in Chris' childhood where he describes sneaking into his parents' room to watch Hitchcock's "Psycho" around the age of five, making short films in high school with his friends including a zombie sequel to "Xanadu" (which became a cult college favorite), feeling underwater after "Another Day in Paradise", leaving Los Angeles (and writing) before beginning to approach his work "like a job", "Disturbia" as a mix of Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and a John Hughes movie, "Happy Death Day" and "Happy Death Day 2U" as mash-ups of "Groundhog Day" with horror tropes, writing his most recent movie "Freaky" with Michael Kennedy, working on the adaptation of "My Best Friend's Exorcism" by Grady Hendrix, and signing up to help reboot the "Paranormal Activity" franchise.

But it's not just movies — though there are a ton of movies that we talk about — it's also about how all horror films aren't all about slash, blood, and gore. Chris talked about one of his aims to use the "genre as a Trojan horse" and how he's going to "smuggle much weightier themes inside of a movie that just looks cute and fun and scary", citing "Get Out". We also get into how 'best of' lists or a list of favorites can be problematic, how there are so many films to choose from. Chris also talks about how he discovered his authentic voice, not taking criticism personally, and focusing on being a better listener which has improved his life as a husband, a father, and made him infinitely happier with his solo and collaborative work.

Stay tuned after the outro music to hear Skipper say, "I see" — which kicks off Siri and reaks some frustration. This is a good reminder that voice user interfaces (voice UI) are always listening. And we're talking about you — Siri, Alexa, Cortana, etc.

This episode was edited and mastered by Troy Lococo.

Special Guest: Chris Landon.

Links:

• The Science Behind How We Taste
• Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960) — With Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.
• "I Spit on Your Grave" (1978)
• "Halloween" (1978) — Directed by John Carpenter. Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
• "The Exorcist" (1973) — Directed by William Friedkin and produced and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Blatty. With Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller and Linda Blair. When a 12-year-old girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her.
• "The Shining" (1980) — The movie follows a writer (Jack Nicholson) and his family who agree to watch over a hotel while it is closed for the winter.
• "Xanadu" (1980) — With Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly, Michael Beck, James Sloyan. A struggling artist living in Los Angeles meets a girl who may hold the key to his happiness and converts a dilapidated auditorium into a lavish rollerskating club.
• Cary Woods — A film producer best known for producing worldwide blockbusters such as "Scream" and "Godzilla", the beloved independent films "Kids", "Cop Land", and "Gummo", and modern classics like "Rudy" and "Swingers".
• Larry Clark — An American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his film "Kids" (1995) and his photography book "Tulsa" (1971). His work focuses primarily on youth who casually engage in illegal drug use, underage sex, and violence, and who are part of a specific subculture, such as surfing, punk rock, or skateboarding.
• Current and online version of L.A. 411
• "Another Day in Paradise" (1998) — With James Woods, Melanie Griffith, Vincent Kartheiser, Natasha Gregson Wagner. In the hope of a big score, two junkie couples team up to commit various drug robberies which go disastrously wrong leading to dissent, violence and murder.
• MTV's "Making the Video"
• "Disturbia" (2007) — Directed by D. J. Caruso, written by Chris Landon and Carl Ellsworth. With Shia LaBeouf, David Morse, Sarah Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss. A teen living under house arrest becomes convinced his neighbor is a serial killer.
• "Rear Window" (1954) — Directed by Hitchcock. A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
• John Hughes — A writer, producer, and sometimes director known for "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987), "The Breakfast Club" (1985), "Sixteen Candles" (1984), "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986), "Pretty in Pink" (1986), and "Weird Science" (1985) among other films.
• "Freaky" (2020) — Directed by Chris Landon, written by Michael Kennedy and Chris Landon. With Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Celeste O'Connor. A mystical, ancient dagger causes a notorious serial killer to magically switch bodies with a 17-year-old girl.
• "Happy Death Day" (2017) — Directed by Chris Landon. With Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Charles Aitken. Caught in a bizarre and terrifying time warp, college student Tree finds herself repeatedly reliving the day of her murder, ultimately realizing that she must identify the killer and the reason for her death before her chances of survival run out.
• "Happy Death Day 2U" (2019) — Directed by Chris Landon. With Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phil Vu. College student Tree Gelbman wakes up in horror to learn that she’s stuck in a parallel universe. Her boyfriend Carter is now with someone else, and her friends and fellow students seem to be completely different versions of themselves. When Tree discovers that Carter’s roommate has been altering time, she finds herself once again the target of a masked killer. When the psychopath starts to go after her inner circle, Tree soon realizes that she must die over and over again to save everyone.
• "Groundhog Day" (1993) — Directed by Harold Ramis. With Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott. A narcissistic T.V. weatherman, along with his attractive-but-distant producer and mawkish cameraman, is sent to report on Groundhog Day in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where he finds himself repeating the same day over and over.
• "The Thing" (1982) — Directed by John Carpenter. With Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David. In remote Antarctica, a chain of events is set off when a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog.
• "Rosemary’s Baby" (1968) — Directed by Roman Polanski. With Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer. A young couple moves into an infamous New York apartment building to start a family. Things become frightening as Rosemary begins to suspect her unborn baby isn’t safe around their strange neighbors.
• "Terms of Endearment" (1983) — Directed by James L. Brooks. With Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito. Aurora, a finicky woman, is in search of true love while her daughter faces marital issues. Together, they help each other deal with problems and find reasons to live a joyful life.
• "Game of Thrones" (HBO series)
• "Mother's Day" (1980) — Directed by Charles Kaufman.
• "Don’t Go in the Woods" (1981) — Directed by James Bryan.
• "Theatre of Blood" (1973) — Directed by Douglas Hickox. One of Vincent Price's first films.
• "Madman" or "Madman Mars" (1981) — Directed by Joe Giannone.
• "Get Out" (2017) — Directed by Jordan Peele. With Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener. Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
• Watch Freaky on iTunes
• "My Best Friend's Exorcism" by Grady Hendrix
• "Stand by Me" (1986) — Directed by Rob Reiner. With Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman. It's the summer of 1959 in Castlerock, Maine and four 12 year-old boys - Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern - are fast friends. After learning of the general location of the body of a local boy who has been missing for several days, they set off into woods to see it.
• "Paranormal Activity" Getting Reboot From Will Eubank, Christopher Landon
• Intro and outro song: "Zombie Nation" by Jose Travieso