Slums of Film History

No one understands the power of cinema more than a dictator. The way movies can manipulate filmgoers to laugh, cry, and jump out of their seats in fear can be quite an attractive tool for controlling hearts and minds. Hitler and Stalin knew how to push propaganda to moviegoers in an effort to gain support for their respective pursuits. But propaganda is easy, art is hard. And while Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany both had robust film industries, neither would ever reach the heights of the West. Yet in a small east Asian country lived a film lover and future dictator who thought differently. He believed that cinema could both serve the state and garner international attention and acclaim. On today's episode we’re going to discuss how one despot yearned to legitimize the film industry of his little nation state and the extreme lengths he would go to do so. So let's start up the projector for Dictator Cinema: the Films of North Korea.

Boats are a marvel. A human invention, mastered over thousands of years to provide food, travel and commerce to the ever evolving need of modern man. Boats are fun. They’re buoyant excuses for rich people to drink champagne, wear white floppy hats and have poor people serve them oysters. But boats are scary. There’s only a layer of wood and fiberglass keeping you from drowning, getting eaten by a sea creature and keeping you from catching hypothermia. And boats are traumatic. The slightest thing can go wrong and if you survive, will be left with a lifetime of mental anguish and trauma and maybe even some survivors guilt. Slate’s final episode of an elongated Season 7 will cover all of these topics, but mostly the traumatic ones in an episode he coined called BOATSASTER.

We have a complicated relationship with bears. In popular culture bears are often seen as fluffy, adorable friends in children’s stories, not to mention their representation in that timeless toy, the teddy bear. But make no mistake, bears will fucking kill you. We all know this, and the movies know this too.Whether they were seeking revenge, mutated, high on cocaine or just plain hungry these fluffy beasts scared and thrilled moviegoers for generations. In today's episode we take a long look at the legacy of this furry cinematic monster. So grab your flashlight and come deep into the woods with us as we search for some killer bears!

On a quick glance of this episode’s title, you may think we are talking about the Underground Film Movement. But that’s a highbrow topic and that’s not why you come to Slums of Film History. You come here for the actual horrible things that are underground. The mutant zombie CHUDs that climb out of the sewers to eat rich people’s dogs. You come for the early sci-fi films that somehow found dinosaurs and prehistoric monsters leftover from millions of years ago by drilling down into the earth. You come for the mutant praying mantises that disguise themselves as people in the subway tunnels of New York City. You come for alien killer clowns that emerge from underground to kill kids every 27 years. And of course you come for Sloth. Today we go deep down into the ground, all the way to the earth’s core and back to find out what’s lurking below, down in the Ugly Underground.

Everything changed in August 1945 when the first atom bombs were dropped in Japan ending WWII and introducing the world to the most destructive force man has ever known. We had officially reached the atomic age and this fact would radiate (pun intended) into every facet of our lives, including our politics and pop culture. Nukes would play a major role thrilling and horrifying moviegoers throughout the back half of the 20th century in many ways echoing the real life threat they posed during the Cold War and changing both how we viewed them as an existential threat and how movies repurposed them for entertainment. On today's explosive episode we’ll discuss the history of nuclear weapons in cinema, so be sure to duck, cover and kiss your ass goodbye because we’re about to launch NUKES!

Staying out after curfew. Backtalking to teachers. Drag racing. And worst of all, rock-n-roll music. What started off as a few greasers with leather jackets in the 1950s turned into a national panic every time a stuck up square uttered the term "juvenile delinquent.” Hollywood caught wind of this pretty quickly and responded accordingly with movies like “Blackboard Jungle and “Rebel Without a Cause.” And then the cheap exploitation knockoffs, slashers and cautionary tales came in droves. So join us for some good old fashioned sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. And rape and murder and STDs and switchblades and werewolves and sexy dancing and the potential murder of Natalie Wood and pedophiles that kill you in your dreams and teen lesbian murders and well, you get the point. All the things that teenagers love to do but hate the consequences of in today’s episode on Teensploitation.

The movie musical is a beloved film genre that has been a part of American cinema since the 1920s. For decades American audiences couldn't get enough of these films but in the 60s the movie musical fell on hard times. Was it due to changing movie and music tastes? Cultural and social upheavals? All of the above? Many musical films released after this decade would prove to be some of the most bizarre, ill conceived and downright terrible movies ever made. We're going to dig into the worst films this genre has to offer in an attempt to find out where it all went wrong. So let's all do this one more time with feeling as we belt out a little ditty called musical monstrosities.

We love to watch women fight. Whether a slap in the face on shows like Dynasty and Real Housewives or Uma Thurman and Lucy Lui in Kill Bill, women in combat have fascinated us for decades. But in the movies at least, many of these on screen feuds got their start from real life feuds, some that lasted 50 or 60 years. Today we get to the bottom of these Hollywood fights, squabbles, tiffs, brawls and scuffles that not only defined many women’s careers but also fueled them and sometimes destroyed them. Today, Slate plays referee in the fight between Woman vs Woman.

Over the years there have been several topics that we thought might just cross the line, yet each time it turned out our listeners were just as deranged as we are. This time might be a little different because our topic is animal death in movies and we don't know anyone who isn't just a little bit affected by seeing an animal killed on screen. On today’s episode we're going to discuss this cinematic phenomenon in what may be our darkest episode yet...but don't worry, no animals were harmed in the making of this episode! So come along with us today as we take up Critter Killin’ .

For a decade starting in 1984, all film critics, late night talk shows and entertainment news could talk about was Madonna’s film career. There were hits like “Desperately Seeking Susan” and “A League of their Own” but there were plenty of misses like “Shanghai Surprise” and “Who’s That Girl.” So how could she get it so right and so wrong all at the same time? For all the good and all the ugly, we're going to talk about Madonna’s hit and mostly miss film career.

Bruce Lee single handedly made the kung fu movie an international phenomenon, so it's understandable that the world was rocked by his untimely death. The international film market also found themselves in a conundrum, because where could they go from there? Do they move on and try to find the next big name in kung fu pictures? Fuck no! Film producers just started hiring a bunch of martial artists and stuntmen that looked similar to Bruce and attempted to get them to adopt his mannerisms and style hoping film audiences wouldn't notice. Join us as we punch, elbow and kick our way through Brucesploitation!

Welp, it’s been a year and a half of being stuck inside and Slums is finally back with an episode that’s all about the joy of being outside, at the beach specifically...until something grabs you and kills you. It could be a genetically mutated fish, a hot teenage vampire, an underwater zombie or just a plain old Humanoid from the Deep, but either way, no one gets out alive after today’s episode... “Beach Party Massacre.”

Today we take on a big, fat topic. Whether they’re sad people, loveless people, farting people, food loving people, farting people, unhealthy people, farting people or just farting people, the overweight have been the targets of screenwriters for many years. So sit back, grab some pizza and chips and cake as we talk about the horrible treatment of large people with Fatsploitation.

Today we present the second part of our two part series on bad parents that started with Despicable Dads and is now turning its gaze to those malicious matriarchs. If you think dads cornered the market on psychosis, murder, and incest, well think again. Cuz as they say, hell hath no fury like a woman, or mother scorned, and there's plenty of scorned mothers in this episode. Join us as we discuss Maniacal Moms.

“Only a dad, but he gives his all - To smooth the way for his children small - Doing, with courage stern and grim - The deeds that his father did for him - This is the line that for him I pen - Only a dad, but the best of men.” That’s a poem by Edgar Albert Guest about the duties of being a good, respectable and honest father - none of which we’ll talk about today. Today we talk about mean fathers that are murderers, psychopaths, and incestuous assholes from hell. We laugh at some of them, fear others and learn some lessons, albeit not in the way that Ward Cleaver would have intended. Today we talk about Despicable Dads.

Automobiles have long been symbols for personal freedom. They took us places where we couldn’t otherwise travel. It’s this freedom to go anywhere and do anything that made us feel that behind the wheel we were in complete control of our own destiny. But what happens when we lose that control? What if someone or something takes that symbol of American individualism and transforms it into a harbinger of death and mayhem? Today we’ll look at the films where vehicles get a mind of their own and go on a path of destruction and discuss how those movies subvert and exploit America's love affair with the automobile. Come ride shotgun with us today as we take a joyride in some Killer Cars!

Amputations are a serious medical procedure and amputees are usually victims of an accident, health issue or a casualty of war. But you wouldn’t know that from watching the majority of the movies we talk about today with topics like psychotic surgeons, circus freaks, amputee kung fu masters, prosthetic chicken feet and Bruce Campbell with a chainsaw attached to his bloody stump arm. And all that happens before we even get to the 90s! Today is all about a topic that some say should be sacred but doesn’t even come close in today’s nutso episode on Amputees.

Show business is notorious for being a demeaning, cruel, and humiliating industry, even under the best of circumstances, but for someone affected by various forms of dwarfism, the situation can be especially grim. While admittedly, there have been inroads within the last few decades for little people to achieve success in film and tv, but the public image of them has scarcely improved since and neither have the roles. Why is that? On today's episode we’ll attempt to find out. So join us today as we have a big discussion on little people.

Like my previous episode on Castration, sorry in advance. Actually, double sorry because today two men are going to mansplain periods of which we clearly know nothing about. But only in the movies so hopefully it’s ok? If anyone is still reading, get ready as we discuss some surprising early women’s health films, Grease, Blue Lagoon, My Girl and the mother of all period movies: Carrie. Today’s episode is a listener suggested episode called Period Piece.

Just when you thought it was over. Just when you thought there was no more revenge to be taken. Then comes a different form a retribution. These avengers aren't violated women, they aren't war weary vigilantes, they aren't even human….. they are the animals with which we share this planet. Today we resurrect our Revenge Series to look at the terrifying possibility that the animal kingdom might be just a little too human when it comes to revenge. We’ll separate fiction from reality and identify just who amongst our fine feathered, furry and fishy friends we don't want to fuck with. So get ready for Critter Vengeance because this time, it's personal.