It is our pleasure to bring to you our very first GUEST WATCHLIST – A series of watchlists where we invite our friends and guests to go through our WATCHLIST FROM HELL and select at least 10 films that stand out for them as particular favorites or films that they would recommend specifically from the films that we have discussed on the show. They are also invited to offer up any candidates that we have not covered on the show that they think would be contenders to be discussed on the show and added to the LIST.

John Arminio’s Watchlist from Hell

Hi, I’m John Arminio, you may know me from The Internet by my insistence on mentioning heavy metal and Catholicism in every conversation, and from me giggling at my own jokes. “Jokes.” Anyway, Bradley and Dan very graciously invited me to compose my own personal Watchlist From Hell out of the movies from their own Movies From Hell Letterboxd list. This is a great honor, as being a guest on Movies From Hell is an unbridled joy and I will always jump at the chance to talk about fucked up movies, and even more fucked up childhoods, with Dan and Brad. For this list, I decided to concentrate only on movies I have personally discussed or talked about on Movies From Hell, otherwise I would be forced to pick between David Lynch films, Cronenberg films, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Exorcist III, etc. before even getting to the movies the podcast introduced me to! If you are a listener, or, God help you, reading this list, you are probably well aware of the legacy of The Fly and don’t need me to tell you how good it is. With that, let’s get fucked up together! 

THE FILMS

film notes courtesy of John Arminio

I Walked With a Zombie (1943)

Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur turn their subtle gaze to the horror that is colonialism and the complacent, rich, alcoholic assholes that it breeds. Maybe the real zombies are all the white people?!

Krakatit (1948)

A fascinating, dark Czech nightmare that comes from a Karel Capek novel written well before World War II, but functions as an incredibly effective tale of nuclear terror. 

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Mike Hammer is a real piece of garbage, so to see this story of a misogynist bully turned into a tale of Cold War paranoia is fascinating and thrilling. It was an absolute pleasure to discuss this and Krakatit with Bradley, Dan, and the brilliant Martin Kessler. 

The Intruder (1962)

Perhaps the peak of Roger Corman’s work as a director, and a perfect vehicle for young William Shatner, who delivers a terrifying performance, The Intruder is a combative, bare-bones, fire-and-brimstone film that pulls open your eyelids and forces you to gaze at the festering wound that is racism in America. 

Onibaba (1964)

Both an excoriation of the horrors of war and an incredibly horny piece of horror cinema, Onibaba is a wild nightmare of masks, reeds, sweat, and artifacts of death.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

I mean, hell, everyone knows this movie for a reason. It remains a truly disturbing piece of cinema that changed the nature of horror. However, I include it here because my first appearance on Movies From Hell was what began as a “quick” phone call on an episode with Hellbent for Horror’s S.A. Bradley, but it turned into a 45 minute conversation. It was a special evening… of terror!

The Vampire Doll (1970)

This includes the others in the Bloodthirsty Trilogy, (along with Lake of Dracula and Evil of Dracula), three thematically and aesthetically linked vampire films from Japan made in the early 1970s. They’re like Hammer vampire films, each bleeding together (pun intended), processed through Japanese horror. They may be light fare compared to, say, Onibaba, but they’re luscious fun and 100% a discovery I only made because Movies From Hell pointed me to them.

 

Todo Modo (1976)

My favorite Elio Petri film, because it’s Catholic as hell while excoriating the Church for its hypocrisy, as well as stridently leftist (as is Petri’s usual perspective when crafting his art). Discovering Petri’s work along with (and because of) Movies From Hell was an absolute privilege.

Lifeguard (1976)

Sam Elliot is the titular charismatic layabout, spending his adulthood avoiding responsibilities and basking in the glory of adulation from adolescents. It’s a surprisingly deep exploration of the equally important and equally perilous labors of adulthood: growing up and finding your purpose vs. staying true to yourself and doing what you love.

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Look, this is one of my favorite movies of all time, and the breakout role of the greatest icon of 80s cinema, Arnold Schwarzenegger. This film is as philosophically rich as it is aesthetically gorgeous. I don’t know if certified crazy person and Right Wing goon John Milius really intended such profundity, or if the film stumbled upon it in a singularly glorious artistic miracle, but I just thank Crom every morning for this film’s existence.

Beastmaster (1982)

Perhaps the best of the post-Conan sword and sorcery celluloid tales, bolstered by the cinematic eye of director Don Coscarelli and the 2% body fat of star Marc Singer. What a joy it was to bring my friend Trevor Stottlemyer to Movies From Hell to discuss this, along with a bevy of 1980s fantasy entries.

Repo Man (1984)

Alex Cox’s classic of Reagan-era ennui, impotent adolescent rage, punk rock, and aliens is a radioactive knife to the gut of 1980s consumerism. Funny, strange, and a total blast, with one of the best soundtracks of the decade.

 

Dead Ringers (1988)

One of the many “Horrors of 1988” that I saw for the first time because of Movies From Hell, a bizarre psychosexual thriller about twin gynecologists told in the mannerly twisted fashion of David Cronenberg. If Jeremy Irons did nothing else in his entire career, he would be a legend for this performance.

The Blob (1988)

One of the many excellent remakes in 1980s horror that lives comfortably alongside, if not exceeds, the originals, The Blob is a Lovecraftian invasion from beyond the stars, with practical effects that digest bone and ooze effluvia. Both disturbing and a riotous good time.  

Black Roses (1988)

Heavy metal schlock born out of the Satanic Panic that says, yes, rock n’ roll is evil and the devil is corrupting you through music. The only thing more gratuitous than the nudity is the altitude achieved by the lead singer of the titular band’s hair.

Lair of the White Worm (1988)

Some gleefully anti-Christian imagery, horny stiff-upper-lipped Brits, and ancient serpents determined to resurrect themselves in rural England. An archeological foray into director Ken Russell’s mytho-history of ancient Albion. 

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1988/1989)

The sweatiest 67 minutes in horror cinema is also the movie that lets us watch metal drill-dicks rotate their way to our deepest and most hidden pleasure centers. A pure cinema tale of the dread of urban living, commercialism, and the loss of the human soul.

Akira (1988)

The slicker, sexier cousin of Tetsuo, it plays on similar themes of urban alienation and loss of self in a future of corporate malfeasance and fascism, but taken to a mind-bendingly apocalyptic scale. The brainchild of creator and artist Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira is an animated horror masterpiece. KANEDAAAAAAA!!!!! 

THE CANDIDATE/S FOR THE LIST

Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

A guilt-ridden stress trip in which Martin Scorsese takes us on a manic ride-along with Nicolas Cage as an on-the-edge ambulance driver. All the stress of After Hours, but the protagonist also has to save the lives of drug addicts and pregnant teenagers.