Pop Screen's Halloween month concludes with this cult '80s horror comedy, in which a standard plot for the decade's teen movies - two wannabe frat boys go on a trip to find the perfect stripper, with Gedde Watanabe in tow playing a racial stereotype - is gatecrashed by Grace Jones as a genuinely imposing queen vampire. Silent, seductive, and prone to chewing people's throats out with her teeth, Jones's character here probably haunts Russell Harty's nightmares.

Rob Spencer of Caliber 9 from Outer Space joins Graham again to discuss this curious artefact, which seems to lie in between about three or four classically '80s subgenres that are never combined. We also reveal which legendary graffiti artist provided Jones's body paint, discuss the different grades of '80s sleaze movie, wonder whether horror directors understand their own movies' subtexts, and more. Get your teeth into it!

If you want to help us get into the best frat house on campus - actually, please don't - you can donate to our Patreon, where we've just released the latest of our monthly bonus episodes of Pop Screen about Bad Hair - the movie, not the early morning problem. Plus Graham's other podcast The Arts Hole, weekly articles on classic science fiction, our end-of-month round-up show Last Night... and more. Follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook to find out more.

You'd think any movie with the stars of Bill and Ted that came out in 1993 would be a sure-fire hit. You'd think so - but that would reckon without how hard Alex Winter tries to alienate the audience in Freaked, the cult horror-comedy he co-directed, co-wrote and starred in. As arrogant teen comedy star Ricky Coogin, Winter delivers an unforgettably grotesque performance even before he's turned into a half-human half-gremlin thing by mad scientist Randy Quaid, playing himself.

But wait - where's Keanu? He's in here, but you won't spot him, unless you listen to Graham and Rob unpick the film's many hidden cameos. Find out which classy character actor plays a talking cow, and which future blockbuster director got his start as one of the puppeteers. Plus, we reveal which celebrity cameos were cut at the scripting stage, discuss the cult Austin punk outfit Butthole Surfers' history with the film, and Rob's confession about his former screen name makes Graham properly lose it.

If you don't want to see us sacked for greenlighting too many weird podcasts, you can back us on Patreon where we're about to release a Patreon exclusive episode of this show - Graham and Rob reunite for Justin Simien's hirsute horror Bad Hair! Plus, Rob looks at the history of the Muppets in They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, Graham and Mark talk their dream adaptations in The Arts Hole, weekly articles on The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who, and much more. Follow us on Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook to find out more.

Is it time to reassess the '90s Street Fighter movie?

That's right, Pop Screen is entering the arena of public opinion and fighting for the death this week as we attempt to persuade you that Steven S. DeSouza's 1994 Street Fighter adaptation is both an intentional comedy and a good one at that. That doesn't mean everyone is in on the joke - but some of the people who aren't are the ones that justify us doing an episode on this in the first place, so thanks Kylie!

Join Graham and Simon as they discuss the film's justly legendary Raul Julia performance, DeSouza's place in the '80s action screenwriter hierarchy, and the singers and rappers who star in the upcoming remake. We also accuse a major contemporary artist of plagiarising this very movie - tune in to find out who we slander! - and talk about our video game nostalgia. Press X to continue.

Our Patreon delivers a roundhouse kick to the face of extra content, with a bonus episode of this show every month - Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the latest one - plus Rob's franchise review podcast They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, Graham's self-explanatory The Arts Hole, weekly articles about The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who, plus our end-of-month round-up show Last Night... Follow us on Bluesky, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date.

You wouldn't think a film with a name like Steve would prompt such a wild variety of tangents, but it's all here, from Graham's hatred of eggs to Mark's attempt to restart the War of the Roses. Yes, we're talking about Steve, the Netflix film starring Cillian Murphy and co-starring everyone from Tracey Ullman to Little Simz, the latter fresh off the back of making Graham's Album of the Year 2025 with Lotus.
As well as giving you the 101 (FM) on Simz, we also talk about what the film does and doesn't get right about its '90s setting, and its pre-fame cameo for a currently-big British comedian. And since Mark and Graham are currently over on Patreon running The Geek Show's arts and culture podcast The Arts Hole, they also talk about Max Porter's source novel and the many interesting changes made in adapting it for screen. Don't worry if that sounds a bit highbrow, we also insult Ricky Gervais's terrible new cartoon.
As mentioned, Patreon backers get podcasts not available anywhere else, like The Arts Hole and Rob's franchise review show They'll Love Me when I'm Dead, plus our end-of-month round-up Last Night... There's also a Simbi-themed bonus episode of this very show coming up, as well as weekly articles about The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who. Follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, Twitter and Facebook to find out more.

In the same year, Nick Cave sang The Mercy Seat and appeared in this brutal prison drama, the first film from his regular music video collaborator John Hillcoat. You'd ask if he was OK, but it's late-'80s Nick Cave: he absolutely wasn't. A brutal, shocking look at a near-future prison accelerating towards a riot, Cave's cameo as a new inmate who decorates his cell walls with his own blood is by no means the bleakest thing on offer.

This week, Pop Screen welcomes Rob Spencer of Caliber 9 from Outer Space to talk about Cave's varying levels of fame across the world - including in his, and Rob's, birth country Australia - plus Hillcoat's career all the way up to his current planned adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. (Good luck there, John!) We also discuss whether artists have to be good people, why Australian films are so often really grim, the unusual musical career of one of Cave's co-stars and pitch a soap opera about the Bad Seeds.

You can break a whole host of exciting things out of their confinement by donating to our Patreon, including a bonus episode of this show every month - we're about to release one on Venom: Let There Be Carnage - Graham's other podcast The Arts Hole, franchise review show They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, weekly articles on Doctor Who and The Twilight Zone, and more. Follow us on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more info.

Can you believe this is the first Spike Lee movie we've covered on the podcast? Lee is a director who's always had something to say about music, not always complimentary, and his Akira Kurosawa remake Highest 2 Lowest copped some flack for its take on modern hip-hop. It's the story of a legendary record label boss, played by Lee's recurrent collaborator Denzel Washington, who springs into action when his colleague's son is kidnapped.

On this week's show, Simon reteams with Graham to talk about this complex, uneven but rewarding film, comparing its narrative priorities to Kurosawa's High and Low and exploring where it sits in Lee's canon. We also discuss its multiple musician cameos, including the weirdly negligible Ice Spice appearance and meatier roles for Princess Nokia and ASAP Rocky. You should listen to it as soon as possible.

For the price of an extremely small ransom, you can get a bonus episode of this show - we've just dropped one on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey - as well as other goodies like the end-of-month round-up podcast Last Night..., weekly written articles on The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who, and Graham's other podcast The Arts Hole.

For more on that, come back for our next episode in two weeks' time, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Bsky and Facebook.

After the inevitable Christmas number one, the life of an X Factor winner isn't always easy. But Shayne Ward, of 'That's My Goal' fame - stop pretending you don't know it - had something unique to fall back on. A stint on Coronation Street gave him enough acting cred, and willing co-stars, to star in his own murder mystery series where he plays an ex-cop turned cruise ship singer with a murder to solve in every port.

Listeners, it is insane. This week, Graham is joined by Mark Harrison of Film Stories and the forthcoming First Question quiz podcast to discuss his chance discovery of a series that has become an obsession. We also talk about the strange world of straight-to-VHS soap opera spin-offs, the show's Guy Ritchie-inspired poker tournament episode, the other shows and films that could benefit from The Good Ship Murder's earworm of a theme tune, and how the show might end up doing an episode about Morrissey.

If you'd like to go on an adventure with us in mind, you can donate to our Patreon. We're currently working on a bonus episode of this very show about Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, as well as keeping our two new podcasts - They'll Love Me When I'm Dead and The Arts Hole - running. Backers also get an end-of-month round-up podcast, weekly articles about The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who, and more - follow us on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to find out more.

Have you ever seen a hitman movie and thought "It's good, but it needs to be shot entirely in infra-red?" No, because no-one has - except Harmony Korine. After looking at his most famous film Spring Breakers a couple of years back, Robyn and Graham now reunite to talk about the first film from his excellently-named production company EDGELRD, a film whose strangeness is not limited to the fact that Travis Scott gives the most sensitive performance in it.

Along the way, we'll discuss Scott's unexpected role in The Odyssey, and talk about that time when Korine wanted to make a whole film of people beating him up. We'll also talk about the film's, uh, distinctive promotional roll-out, its use of generative AI and its video game influences. There's also a long detour about how great the new Boards of Canada album is. That's nothing to do with the film, it's just really good.

The old world is collapsing, but our Patreon remains strong - backers will get a bonus episode of this show every month, along with Graham's other podcast The Arts Hole, about all the silliest happenings in the world of arts and culture. There's also a review of classic franchises in They'll Love Us When We're Dead, weekly articles on The Twilight Zone and Doctor Who, and more. Follow us on Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook to find out more.