Chopping It Up

Épisodes

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  Prime Cuts: 1980s Slasher Obscurity with Slasher Trash — Edge of the Axe 01.08.2026 54min

  It’s every axe murderer’s dream: 1988’s Edge of the Axe commits to exactly one weapon and never looks back. Jesse, Joel, and Jeannie welcome special guest Gareth ”Slasher Trash” Morgan (creator of the Slasher Trash page and an upcoming feature-length slasher documentary) to dig into this Spanish-American slasher obscurity — small-town paranoia, a shockingly prescient ”technology will ruin relationships” subplot, tonal whiplash between sitcom hijinks and pig decapitations, and a twist ending that has the crew split on who’s actually swinging the blade. Plus: video nasty talk and a masterclass in gaslighting your way into slasher-sequel status.
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  It's Not Even Named Lake Placid: Alligator and Lake Placid 24.07.2026 59min

  A sewer gator raised on hormone-jacked lab dogs takes on a CGI crocodile that cost six times as much and looks half as real. The crew pits 1980’s scrappy, John Sayles-penned Alligator against 1999’s big-budget, Stan Winston-adjacent Lake Placid — practical effects vs. CGI, indictment of big pharma vs. crazy old lady feeding cows to a lizard, and a fight over crocodile biology the movie’s own screenwriters apparently lost. Also: why is the lake in Lake Placid not named Lake Placid? Nobody in this movie can answer that, but we sure try.
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  Prime Cuts: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 — The Gayest Horror Sequel Ever 08.07.2026 1h 1min

  Freddy’s back, but this time he’s not avenging anyone — he’s just really into leather bars, apparently. The crew chops up A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), the film that’s basically the poster child for queer horror whether the studio wanted it to be or not. We get into writer David Chaskin denying the gay subtext for 25 years (then admitting it — sort of), star Mark Patton’s brutal real story, and why this rushed, chaotic sequel accidentally became one of the most beloved films in the genre. Pride Month respect paid, blowjob jokes mostly avoided. References: Horror Queers Podcast A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) LIVE! feat. Mark Patton, Robert Rusler & Kim Myers https://open.spotify.com/episode/31noqPrrc1EFk2S5vdMgU3?si=_8kK0RZUQayWI6bgR03RDg
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  The Babadook vs Hereditary: Grief Horror Showdown 28.06.2026 1h 10min

  Sledd’s back from his self-imposed ”sled season” break with maybe his most personal pairing yet: two movies about mothers who are, in his professional opinion, doing their absolute worst — and somehow still more sympathetic than the demon-summoning grandma in the attic. Jesse and Jeannie both watched The Babadook for the first time this episode and have feelings (mostly about insect chittering and never wanting to rewatch it). Joel attempts to defend Gabriel Byrne’s parenting. Sledd defends his own questionable childhood relationship with a dead bird. The crew gets into grief-as-monster metaphors, generational curses, postpartum horror, and a Franklin Award debate that’s not close (sorry, Samuel). Plus: the Babadook’s design has a 1920s silent film ancestor, hereditary made eight times its budget, and someone brings up Hack-O-Lantern unprompted. Two heavy hitters, zero good parents, and a demon named Paimon who’s just trying his best.
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  Prime Cuts: Something Is Very Wrong in Widow's Bay 18.06.2026 44min

  The crew couldn’t resist the hype — this week on Prime Cuts, Jesse, Jeannie, Joel, and Sledd dive into Widow’s Bay, the new Apple TV+ horror comedy series from Parks and Rec creator Katie Dippold. A cursed New England island, a hapless mayor, folklore that turns out to be terrifyingly real, and commercials that will genuinely unsettle you — it’s a lot. Jesse’s all in, Jeannie’s calling it horror comedy (not comedy horror, there’s a difference), Joel’s hoping it gets the Penny Dreadful treatment, and Sledd gives it a 3.75 while explaining exactly how you should run over a sea hag with your car. Ratings are preliminary and contingent on how they stick the landing. We’ll be back.
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  Friday the 13th Parts III & VIII — Birth of a Legend, End of an Era 10.06.2026 1h 28min

  Slasher Season is back, and we’re going all the way in on the greatest horror franchise of all time — no, Joel, you don’t get a say in that. Jesse pairs Friday the 13th Part III and Jason Takes Manhattan as the alpha and omega of the franchise: the movie that gave Jason his hockey mask, and the movie that sent him packing to the Big Apple. Jeannie watched both for the first time and would like her life back. Sled considers eight the last real Friday the 13th. Joel pulled out a map of New Jersey trying to figure out the geography. And Jesse has been freestyling over that disco opening since COVID. Hockey masks, heroin injections, biker gangs, Franklin Awards, and the hotly debated Mount Rushmore of horror — all that and a body count you have to respect.
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  Did You Know Oliver Stone Made a Horror Movie? 23.05.2026 46min

  This week on Prime Cuts, the crew watches a forgotten slice of early Oliver Stone — The Hand (1981), starring a very committed Michael Caine as a comic strip artist who loses his hand in a car accident and slowly loses everything else. His marriage, his sanity, and apparently several people in his vicinity. Jesse, Jeannie, Joel, and a special guest who definitely watched Conan the Barbarian instead break down the film’s double-swerve ending, hand-POV cinematography, the very real question of whether Oliver Stone cast himself as a bum with a missing hand, and whether Michael Caine has ever actually seen any of his own movies. Body horror, messy divorces, and at least one prosthetic hand squeezing raw hamburger meat. You know, a chill one.
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  Siege Horror, Satan in a Jar, and Reshoots: Prince of Darkness with guest, ActorThom Bray 06.05.2026 1h 44min

  This week we’re chopping up the second entry in Carpenter’s Apocalypse Trilogy — and we brought backup. Actor Thom Bray joins us to talk about landing the most memorable kill in the film, what it was actually like to get impaled by a bicycle with Alice Cooper, and why Carpenter told him to dial it back on the blood. We also get into the theology, the theoretical physics, the goo, and whether Prince of Darkness deserves a higher spot in the Carpenter canon than it gets. Spoiler: it might.
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  Jesse's 70s Art House Obsession Strikes Again: Let's Scare Jessica to Death 10.04.2026 46min

  What does it look like to live deliciously on the wrong side of sanity? Jesse brings the crew to 1971 Connecticut for John D. Hancock’s haunting folk horror gem. Part psychological thriller, part vampire mythology, part counterculture eulogy — Let’s Scare Jessica to Death is the kind of movie that asks you to do the work, and rewards you for it. The CIU crew unpacks Charon and the underworld, the Baudelaire connection, polyamory among the hippies, and why the inner monologue shouldn’t work but somehow does. Ratings are divided. Joel wants to live in the farmhouse. Sledd was a little sleepy.
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  He Just Moved Boroughs: Blacula and Vampire in Brooklyn 01.04.2026 1h 7min

  We recorded this one back in February to close out Sledd Season, and we’ve been sitting on it — but good things are worth the wait. A Black History Month double feature that earns its place: both films follow the same blueprint — a Black vampire dropped into a modern urban landscape, chasing a reincarnated love and dragging a Renfield-type ghoul behind him. The parallels are undeniable. Blacula is historically significant and cinematically rough. William Marshall is genuinely commanding, but the ADR is a disaster and the pacing will test you. Vampire in Brooklyn has the cast (Murphy, Bassett, Hardison, Witherspoon at peak Witherspoon) and still squanders it — a Wes Craven-directed Coming to America with fangs and no teeth. The real conversation goes deeper: blaxploitation’s double-edged legacy, what Blacula actually got right, and how Vampire in Brooklyn ends up undermining everything it seemed to stand for. Plus a hook hand nobody else saw and a very compelling shared cinematic universe theory.
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  Blair Witch Put Germantown on the Map, Babies: Blair Witch Project and Hell House 19.03.2026 1h 19min

  In this episode of Chopping It Up, the crew dives into the origins of found footage horror with The Blair Witch Project and Hell House LLC—and this one hits especially close to home. Literally. Jesse, Joel, and Jeannie all grew up in the Maryland area where Blair Witch was filmed, adding a personal layer to the conversation as they reflect on seeing the film during its original release and the very real confusion around whether it was… actually real. From there, the crew breaks down the genius of Blair Witch’s marketing, its use of unknown actors and “missing footage” storytelling, and how it completely changed the horror landscape. They compare that foundation to Hell House LLC, exploring how it builds on the same techniques—found footage, folklore, and realism—while carving out its own modern identity. Along the way, they dig into film influences, the limits of the subgenre, and why these stripped-down approaches to horror can be so effective. It’s part nostalgia, part film analysis, and part “we were there for this moment,” with the usual mix of insight, humor, and CIU chaos.
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  The Investors Spent the Budget on Their Roofs: Messiah of Evil (with Final Girls) 04.03.2026 1h 25min

  The Chopping It Up crew teams up once again with Kellie and Sarah from The Final Girls to dig into the dreamy, unsettling cult oddity Messiah of Evil (1973). What starts as a missing-father mystery in a creepy coastal town quickly turns into a discussion about art-house horror, eerie atmosphere, and some truly unforgettable scenes (looking at you, supermarket). Along the way we debate whether this cult classic is a hidden masterpiece or a beautifully weird movie that doesn’t quite stick the landing—before handing out our cleaver ratings.
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  Puss in Boots Gave Rimmick His Eyes: Sinners 25.02.2026 1h

  In this Prime Cuts episode, we sink our teeth into **Ryan Coogler’s *Sinners* (2025)** — a Southern gothic vampire tale set in 1932 Mississippi. When twin brothers return home to open a juke joint, the night spirals into bloodshed, forcing us to ask: is this elevated horror with bite, or a beautiful mess? We debate the film’s themes of race, religion, and cultural theft, argue about its pacing and vampire lore, and wrestle with whether the story needed more room to breathe. It’s stylish, ambitious, and definitely divisive. Come for the blood. Stay for the argument.
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  The Throuple Made Them Do It: Heart Eyes 14.02.2026 34min

  This week on Prime Cuts, we’re talking Heart Eyes (2025) — a Valentine’s Day slasher that mixes rom-com charm with masked-killer chaos. When the “Heart Eyes Killer” targets couples in Seattle, marketing exec Ally and her suspiciously charming coworker Jay find themselves fighting for their lives… and maybe catching feelings along the way. It’s self-aware, fast-paced, and packed with holiday-themed carnage. Does it reinvent the genre? No. Is it a fun seasonal watch? Absolutely.
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  Saturday Afternoon Movies: Big Trouble in Little China and The Golden Child 04.02.2026 1h 33min

  This week on Chopping It Up, the crew revisits two ’80s cult favorites with shared DNA but very different execution: Big Trouble in Little China and The Golden Child. The discussion explores why Big Trouble thrives as a confident genre mash-up—subverting the action hero, embracing mythological chaos, and fully committing to its weirdness—while The Golden Child often feels held back by studio expectations, despite Eddie Murphy’s charisma and a few standout performances. Along the way, the crew digs into ’80s blockbuster formulas, practical effects, representation, and what happens when a movie either commits to the bit… or doesn’t. Two movies with similar setups, wildly different results—and plenty of laughs, side tangents, and meat-cleaver ratings along the way.
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  Prime Cuts 23 - Welcome to Derry 19.01.2026 1h 5min

  n this Prime Cuts episode, the crew heads back to Derry, Maine to slice into Welcome to Derry, the newest dip into Stephen King’s ever-expanding IT universe—minus Jesse, who we’re told was “busy,” but we assume was avoiding homework and timelines. The gang breaks down how the show smartly uses Derry’s long history of trauma, structuring the story around past atrocities while keeping the “every 27 years” cycle intact. Highlights include some genuinely gnarly set pieces (that car scene, the theater, and a few images you won’t shake anytime soon), plus praise for Bill Skarsgård, who continues to prove that Pennywise works best when he’s unsettling, playful, and barely on screen. There’s also plenty of King-verse nerdery—connections to The Shining, Dark Tower lore, “thin places,” and why Stranger Things may have crossed the line from homage into full-on borrowing. The episode wraps with speculation about future seasons, historical eras, and whether this thing knows when to quit (a rare but powerful skill). Short, sharp, and delightfully obsessive—welcome back to Derry. 🎈
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  Prime Cuts 22 - Bloodbeat 02.01.2026 58min

  This week on Prime Cuts, we tackle Blood Beat—a holiday-adjacent regional horror oddity that defies explanation. Featuring telekinetic samurai armor, psychic trauma, wooden performances, and vibes that feel more manifested than written, this film exists in a category entirely its own. We break down what Blood Beat is (and definitely isn’t), why it barely functions as a slasher, and how its surreal earnestness somehow makes it unforgettable. If you enjoy confusing, slow-burn cult horror that commits fully to its nonsense, this one’s for you.
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  Episode 27 - Hellraiser and Nightbreed 10.12.2025 1h 40min

  The CIU crew dives into the dark imagination of Clive Barker with a double feature of *Hellraiser* and *Nightbreed*. We unpack Barker’s beautifully twisted worlds, iconic creature design, and the themes of desire, identity, and monstrosity that made these films cult classics. A sharp, funny, schlock-loving breakdown of two genre-defining nightmares.
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  Prime Cuts 21 - The VVitch 26.11.2025 45min

  On this Prime Cuts mini-episode, the Chopping It Up crew dives beak-first into Robert Eggers’s 2015 Puritan-nightmare masterpiece, The VVitch. The team revisits the bleak New England homestead, unpacking the film’s slow-burn tension, its suffocating dread, and the brutal unraveling of a family exiled for being too devout for the Puritans themselves. From baby-paste broomstick lore and “wet” witchcraft sequences to Calvinist paranoia, apple-laden symbolism, and that infamous goat with a taste for evil bargains, the episode explores how Eggers builds terror through atmosphere, sound, and historical detail. The hosts reflect on how the film weaponizes isolation, faith, and patriarchal control—and whether Thomason’s final choice is a tragedy, liberation, or both. With comparisons to The Shining, discussions of folklore accuracy, and the crew’s typical blend of humor and horror-nerdery, this Prime Cuts installment celebrates The VVitch as a near-flawless piece of folk horror that only gets richer on rewatch.
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  Episode 26 - 28 Days Later and 28 Years Later 12.11.2025 1h 49min

  We’re back with a full episode and a double dose of rage. This time, it’s Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and the long-awaited 28 Years Later. From fast zombies to slow burns, we dig into the fear, the filmmaking, and the very British end of the world.