Hello and welcome to a creepy, spooky special edition of Retrospection. It's time for eerie thrills and spooky chills because Paul has bought a round. He moves like lightning and quickly reburries his wallet back underground, dirt stays and it's coffin it lays only what's the year as it's seen on that dark and ghastly spooky night that they call Halloween. Wow.
My name's Colin and I've had a little turbulence all day. I don't quite know what to say though and I'm Paul and what kind of a man would be interested in stuff like this. Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, also using the term man. What you saying? Nothing. Nothing.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. So this time we're haunting the first episode of Friday the 13th, the series that ran for three seasons from 1987.
Three. Count them. Three seasons. Oh trust me I did.
IMDB says two cousins, Ryan and Dillian and Mickey Foster inherited Antiques shop from their uncle. Together with his partner, they must track down cursed objects that the devil worshiping uncle had created. The first object is a demonic killer doll. Well that's pretty accurate I would say.
Well I don't know. It says objects that the devil worshiping uncle had created. He didn't create the objects. No, that is true.
He didn't create the objects. No, no. From what we gather from what we gather from the episode doesn't Jack Marshuk give him the objects or procure them for him. Yes.
Yes. Yes. But then he makes them demonic. Yes.
Maybe. Who knows? Even the writers. Okay.
The plot's an upset maybe if he could wear a house for a team. Oh, it makes it makes you think of lots of different things, doesn't it? Not the least of which is probably from Beyond the Grave which we covered in a previous episode. Yes.
Yes. But I read that. I started watching. I lean back and I wish I was watching where I was 13.
Well that's that's that's that's entirely your opinion Colin. Mm hmm. This episode and I guess the series two stars John D. Lamey as Ryan Dillian.
Louise Robius, Mickey Foster, Chris Wiggins as Jack Marshuk. Erjee Armstrong as Lewis Bonder today, Sarah Pallee as Burry. So does this series have any connection to the film? Yeah, well John D.
Lamey. Actually started as a completely different character in Friday the 13th. Jason goes to hell. So I guess that's a link.
Ah, that's a link. But I mean the interesting the interesting thing was that it wasn't actually originally going to be called Friday the 13th anyway. The show was exposed to be called originally the title was going to be the 13th hour. But the producer Frank Mancuzo Jr.
changed it just to trade off on the movie franchise on the on the recognition that the movie franchise would have also. But what does the 13th all of me? It doesn't mean anything does it? Oh, it's terrible time.
Yeah. Okay. There was going to be there was going to be an episode at some point towards the end of the series because they planned for five seasons rather than three and that was very optimistic. In the last season they were going to have a cursed object which would turn out to be Jason's hockey mask.
Okay. Well, that never materialized obviously because it got canceled. Yeah. Do you remember when this was shown in the UK?
Wasn't it like half 11 at night on ITV? Oh, if it was lucky it was half 11. Yeah, it was very late at night or Friday night. Sometimes it was three o'clock in the morning.
Like sometimes just before hit man and her. And I was probably watching it. Yeah, probably. You'd come back from a pub and you sat there in a state similar to now.
These episodes probably looked amazing back then. They all look amazing now. We'll get into that in a bit. Yes, we will.
We will. Yeah. Do you have any other little tidbits? Well, apparently the level of violence in the series did push the envelope for the time and it caused quite a bit of controversy, especially amongst the quote unquote crusaders of the time.
What the actual crusaders? The crusaders. Yeah. They'd be heading people and stabbing.
Yeah, I mean, they should be used to it. Really? But the thing was that they took against it instantly because they believed it was an extension of the movie series and they hadn't even seen a single episode. Okay.
So they were thinking, how do you do a TV version of this horror film? Exactly. Exactly. The series was canceled abruptly during the 20th episode of season three.
Apparently they never got to have closure. Although they did plan closure, but they never got to do it in the end. Right. And that was kind of something that happened a lot better than that.
It shows we'd come and go quite quickly. That's true. Especially these ones of this type of this type. Yeah, which is very cheap, shot on video and we would see them in the ITV in the middle of night.
I'm thinking the War of the World series, Highwayman, definitely. Freddy's Nightmare's that was another one as well. Yeah, they came and went quite quickly. Although I'm not this one.
Three years apparently. And I'm pretty sure that in the UK, we only saw season one. Maybe if they rerun it, but I know it was still on ITV in 1991 and it ended in 1990. I would suspect that ITV probably just kept rotating the same episode.
Can't imagine that they bought three seasons of this. Oh, I think they did it. Yes, because they needed content at this point. They had just started in like, I think around the 89, they just started this extended hours because ITV used to finish at midnight.
And so they now extended up to 5am. They had no shows. They had so they were buying anything and everything that was going on. Because they were doing US Top 40 and hit manner things like that.
And so they needed to not move. The movie Top 10. Yes. So I think this was just one.
I think they bought it all and they probably did. I think they showed it all. Okay. All right.
The series was filmed in Toronto, but it doubled for Chicago. That's how we're supposed to be. Okay. It's supposed to be Chicago, apparently.
Yeah. They did episodes that dealt with time travel, demonic possession, and they even did an episode. And this is this is bizarre that featured a possessed mulcher. Do you know what a mulcher is?
It turns trees into paper like mulches it up and yeah compost as well. Yes. I possess mulcher. How's that a threat?
What does it do? What's it's like? I don't understand how that would be a problem. Oh, I can't stop mulching.
Oh, okay. Mulcher way. Apparently it was. It was a problem.
The third season premiere was originally broadcast as a two hour TV movie. But John Dilla May wanted to leave after season two, surprisingly. But he made an arrangement to appear in the season three premiere just to give his character some sort of closure. That's nice of it.
We'll talk about it. Yeah. I'm sure we will. I'll talk to a lot of the people in this.
Oh, yes, we will. Each episode had a 10 day production schedule. I mean, the fact that they needed 10 days to knock this out is quite surprising really. Yeah.
I mean, there's a lot of effects maybe. Isn't it? I mean, you know, they're attempted effects. I was going to say, where would I?
I didn't say any. There's some of this first one. Could you call them effects really? I'm being generous.
They look like something from 1972's Doctor Who would, you know, but not as good. Well, that's harsh. It is harsh. To Doctor Who.
I know. I know. And the only other thing is that I find that David Cronenberg directed an episode apparently. I was just a little minute that week.
He must have been. He must be desperate. Maybe he just likes working in that genre. Oh, wait, he's Canadian though, right?
He is. Yeah. Okay. It was just a job, I would imagine, in between doing the stuff that he really wanted to do.
There pays the bills. All right. So let's get on with the show. A piano plays.
We float through a keyhole into a gothic room, field of antiques, lightning flashes outside as we drift across various objects. We come to rest on something that looks like a crystal, the title's Friday the 13th appears. The crystal shatters and the Friday the 13th words are transformed into orange with the series added underneath. Just a case, use a mistake and these top party effects are one of the films.
It could be. It could be. You know, some people might. I'll tell you what, this, this, this title sequence you're minding of.
Do you remember Mancuzo FBI? Oh gosh, yes. It was like a man in vice replacement after my vice had finished. That's right.
Do you remember the opening credits where the camera would zoom around? Oh, yes. Of stuff and he's gone and he's bad. Yes.
Yes. Yes. I do. Yeah.
Reminding me of that. Doesn't Sledgehammer have a similar opening sequence? I can't remember. I can't remember.
No. Okay. Yeah. I mean, that's a deep pull, isn't it?
I'm cool. Yeah. I like that shot at the time. Never seen it.
Yeah. So did I. Yeah. We black out after the credits.
Or maybe I did. Who knows? It's a mystery. Much like the stories in this show.
I can ask you about that. I want an explanation. You want an explanation from you? Yes.
Regarding this episode? Yes. All right. Okay.
I'll give it a rest. I'll give it a rest. The camera pans across the streets as the episode title appears. There are inheritance.
It's still nighttime and it's still raining. Two people cross the streets as the ever present lightning knives across the sky. They seek cover from the rain under the sign of an antique star. Seems like it's been raining for a while.
Not sure why these people are not prepared for this weather. It's Chicago. Is it rain along in Chicago? Isn't it called the Windy City?
No, it's called the Rainy City. All right. Okay. Just go with it.
Okay. We're back in the store now. The camera moves along until we see a man. He seems agitated and slams an old book shot.
The bell downstairs jangles and a woman and a man and a child enter. The proprietor tells him to close, but she argues that the sign of the door says he's open until 8 p.m. The proprietor says he has to do inventory. The man replies that they thought they'd browse and dry off.
Reluctantly, the proprietor lets them stay. The mother tells her daughter that she doesn't want to pee part of her and not to touch anything. This girl, out acts in mother with just a look. She is pretty bad.
But then again, in a whole episode of bad performances, where do you start? Well, we'll talk about that one too. I'm going to say as well that this guy that runs this door, this Lewis Vondredy guy, needs to be a bit firmer with his customers, doesn't he? Yeah, yeah.
Definitely. He's doing inventory. Oh, just coming. Fine.
He's not even looking what they're doing. But also, take the sign off your door. That is true. That is a classic mistake.
Lock the door. Lock the door. Yeah. I have to say, I've been in shops like this, but they're usually water well comics and vintage me go figures.
For a reason, I thought you were going to say water well gag balls and dill dogs. That was the way with that. Well, that was too. They're in the niche corner.
Yeah, yeah. You have to go through the weird little curtain to get to that bit. You fight as you go through. That's because they're usually beads.
Yes. Well, I thought they smelled a bit funny. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
I hope you watched them, especially these days. Yes. Yeah. Don't know what you're catching.
No, what we do is all over the news bar. I've been paying attention. I thought there was something going on. Yeah.
The mover and fiver of wonder off the little girls. He's a spinning top and stats. It's spinning. The proprietor tells her no.
She opens a jack in the box. He tells it the things are not meant to be played with. All right. But the toys, if you don't want people to touch them, don't put them on display.
In fact, don't open an antique star. What you really should do is put these objects in a warehouse. Get the warehouse a number. Do you think they were aware of this when they did work?
Do you think that they're they're aware of this show? Yes. I think so. Okay.
All right. I think they were like, look, what you can do with charismatic actors. Well, if you had charismatic actors. Yes.
All right. Okay. What were you can really achieve? I don't know.
There's one or two actors in this. They've got some good points. Are you being rude, Bob? No.
We'll see. The parents tell the daughter off. We learn her neighbor's Mary. You really should listen to your mother's sister, dad.
She's not like mother's says Mary. At first, I thought, oh, she doesn't know she's acted. She just forgot where she is. Well, no, it turns out that her real mother is dead.
And she continues. The woman asked if the fairies go to let Mary talk to her like this. I mean, it's basically a stereotypical step-mom deal here. He is.
I mean, in a show of one-dimensional characters, she's not, he's barely one-dimensional, really. Yeah, she's 0.5-dimensional. That's right. Yeah.
You're going to get technical about it, yeah. But he says to his wife, who's called Irene, that Mary will be good. And then it distracts Irene with her music box. Yes.
He's like, oh, look at the twinkly object. What works with kids, trust me. No, but he distracts his wife that way. Yeah, I'm saying it works with kids.
The proprietor climbs the stairs, watching Mary as he goes. Mary sees a doll. She smiles and picks it up. She looks, sees a parent's head distracted.
She runs and takes a doll outside, unseen by anybody. She runs across the street and two guys working on a curd a watcher. She pulls a string at the back of the doll and it laughs. Mary loves it.
She pulls a string again. Hello, Mary. My name is, and I've no idea what named this doll says. It sounded like she said, hello.
My name is Piedo. Oh, it might have been Peter, which puts a very different spin on the show. Let's just call it Devil Doll or the Doll. Okay.
I think you're a Piedo. I think there's a couple coming up. Is it? Well, these two mechanics are a bit shifting, aren't they?
Anyway, Mary's surprised. You can talk. I can do lots of things. So can you.
We're going to be the best of friends. The two mechanics approach her and ask her where her parents are. Mary says, you better leave them alone. We got a smurnt little mouse, he's one of the mechanics.
You can have anything you want, whispers the doll. Somehow, the doll slices a neck of one of the mechanics. Um, yeah. Explain.
Yeah. Now it's cut in such a way that you can't see what's happening because clearly they went, how does this work? Was it saying the script? Just as doll slices with what?
Oh, just do a fast cut back of the doll, throw it at the guy and it'll be fine and then just do some blood. But the thing is, I mean, all these dolls done so far is look out for this little girl's well being. Because those two men were up to no good is what you're saying. Okay.
All right. See it that way. Makes sense. Sort of dolls are here.
Well, in this episode, it could well be. I mean, we're lacking for anything resembling a hero in this episode. Really, aren't we? That's true.
There's no nice memory. No. Okay. So, uh, Mary then runs back into the antique star.
We see the proprietor placing his book back into a safe at it in the floor. The Mary returns her favorite ass where she's been, but they were worried about her. Irene is more annoyed about Mary's dress being ruined. And then to like calm things down, the favorite ass, how much is the doll that the proprietor snatches it away?
It's not for sale. Nothing in here is for sale. Okay. You know what?
Nothing in my apartment is for sale. And do you know how many people wondering asking to buy my things? Nobody. Do you know why?
Because I don't slap an antique star on the door and make it a shop. Yeah, I'm not sure I understand this guy's business model. No, no, no, no, no. Nothing to sale.
Don't make it a show. Yes, absolutely. Make it a, um, placed at star things like a warehouse. Yeah, you're really going for this one.
You tell them, get out quickly. Get out. He's my kind of star owner. He puts the doll of a stuff in a sack heads down to the basement.
He opens a strong door and up on the story's windows are blown out. The wind froze objects around me. While this man pulls the doll out of the sack, he puts it on a shelf thing goes through a heavy dart, shutting behind him. There's one in steps and flame like footprints appear moving downwards.
At least I think that's what they're supposed to be. It was a nice effect. I thought it was a nice effect. It was a nice practical effect.
Puff a flame from a step. Oh, yeah. I thought you looked good. I'm sorry.
We hear a hollow laugh. And now the footprints appear to be hooves. The man screams and runs away. Oh, he hates fiery hooves.
And it's a scream as well. It is one. I've seen you do. It's some of the finest scream acting.
I think I've seen. He tries to get out of the rooms. They just went in for no reason at all. We cut to keys on a typewriter randomly typing, probably the script for this show.
Maybe if they hit enough of those keys, maybe not. We cut to barometer and we see on a formometer. Those are different. Barometer gets pressure for mama tickets temperature.
Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you for that. I didn't know we were doing that. That was what our podcast is now.
Yeah. Barometer off a mob. Which is it? Only good for one episode though, really.
Yeah, because it's obvious. What is it? What is it? What is it?
Come on. Barometer. We have a winner. On the formometer, see that the temperature is a rising.
It's a rising, is it? All right. Very classical. Yeah.
Piano starts to play. The doll begins to move. The heavy door opens and we see ghosts flying through the portal. Although it seems to be ghosts of appliances.
It is. It's a I think I say all radio and what was some of the other things? A pogo stick or something? I don't know.
Just objects. Do they have spiritual afterlife? Well, it's all the cursed objects, isn't it? I suppose.
I say, I say that he's cursed. Yes. I think so. Yes.
So what would be the most mundane cursed object that he could sell? Do you think? Feather duster? Feather duster.
What year are we in, Paul? I've got a feather duster. Have you? I'm sure you have.
I do. Like do a little bit of feather duster. I do. Yes.
Yes. It could tickle you to death. That could be its curse. That tickles you to death.
Obviously, we don't even work if it was held by Ken Dodd. All right. So now we've got a ghostly Ken Dodd with a tickling stick. You're telling me that I wouldn't scare the shit are you?
I don't think I need the tickling stick to be scared. Would you? Not really. No.
When he was kind of scary when he was alive. And I think it was famous for his like what five hour concerts? That would be a very slow death. The man catages the scream across the pier.
The merciful god. He says and grabs it. But the cross burns his hand. He staggers backwards into a cargo lift with the big wooden shutters that come down the lift starts to rise.
A symbol burns into the floor. Demand for some reason grabs the side of the elevator which then electrifies him. But there's no floor and he falls down the red and burning elevator shaft and he fades to black. The end of the episode.
You wish. So what's going on here, Pa? Well, he's obviously he's he's decided that he doesn't want to to the pack that he's made with the devil. He doesn't want to carry on with it anymore.
And hence why he's picking up all the cursed objects and putting them in the sack and he's gonna lock them in the vault. And he's screaming no more, no more as he's doing it. So the devil says, you know what, you you've reneged on your deal. I'm gonna have you now.
So he sucks him down to hell. Okay. So putting them in a sack in a locked room that stops these objects. Obviously he doesn't.
Well, well, only the ones that he's actually locked away. Maybe it's a special, a special vault objects. Oh, it's a special vault. Yeah.
Maybe he's inscribed mystic runes on the walls. I mean, we don't see them. I mean, obviously, but you know, okay. Yeah.
Yeah. That's good. Yeah. Yeah.
That works for me. That's fine. So we cut to a prom and add shots of outdoor restaurants and then we got to two 80s style yuppies. One way of putting it.
Yes. The guy is upset because he's going with him on a company picklet because she has somewhere else to go. She says she'll be back in time. And he says good because he's going to announce her engagement at the picnic.
But why is he so angry? She just she says she's going to be back in time. He's angry because of one important factor. What's that?
He's an 80s stereotype. Oh, okay. He's the he's the yuppie business guy. Yeah.
What kind of loser announces their engagement at a works party? People don't care at a works party. They're just there for the hot dogs. Yes.
Yes. Getting engaged. Oh, really? That's nice.
Who's that? I think that's Bob. He's a lawyer on, you know, on floor 13. I don't know.
But why is he telling me to get engaged? Oh, maybe he's pleased about it. It's like, no. Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. No. You got to say as well that as far as she's concerned, her's doing about 90% of the performance, isn't it?
I was thinking Carol Decker to pal. It's huge, isn't it? Yeah. It's some of the biggest hurt I've ever seen.
I've seen some hurt. Obviously not. That recently, no, but not for 30 years. Oh, he agrees.
I think that had its own trailer. It would certainly need an entourage, wouldn't it? I think. Yeah.
Yeah. Doing the act to hold up filming because I heard I wouldn't leave the trailer. Yeah. It was it was throwing a throwing a bit of a hissy fit that day.
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. The guy says it behooves you to be the hooves.
The hooves. Oh, don't many times say how to do that live because this guy's never used that word in his life. Eating probably doesn't even know what it means. Probably doesn't.
He starts to apologize, but he wishes she'd get this down and tick star business over with. Aha. A plot. Well, it's going.
But now we get some serious exposition because the giant her lady says, I don't know why this uncle Lewis left me with the star. I haven't even met him at long. It's because I'm not supposed to be sharing everything with. And she says it almost exactly the way that you did it as well.
Are you implying that she slightly wouldn't call in? It's one of my issues with this episode is just something to say at the end of the round. Yeah. That was fine.
That was fine. Yeah. That's keeping people on teddy hooks. I'm sure.
They've no idea where we're going with this at all, have they? Well, I want to go one way. The other could go with the other direction. Right, true.
Yes. The kiss. Maybe I could see her cousin from one and half the inheritance and I can get in some litigation experience. She rolls her eyes.
I was still high, but for a very different reason. What would that be? Well, is this supposed to be a joke? Are we supposed to go?
I would imagine that's the case. Yes. I did. So I gather.
Yes. Did you? No. We got to the woman arriving in a taxi at the antique store.
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Are you just going to keep describing her as this woman?
No, I was going to introduce a name when Ryan finds out. All right. Okay. All right.
All right. All right. All right. Carry on.
Playing it like the episode does. Okay. All right. Well, you start the going, who is this woman?
No. No. I'm sorry. You're going to carry on referring to her as this woman the whole way through.
I'm just going to call her as big her the entire episode. Big her short trousers. Yes. That's how you like him, right?
She ends up the antiques, darn calls out. Hello. Anybody here? She glances around at the stuffed animal heads on the wall and she heads up the stairs.
She pulls her sheets revealing her grotesque statue. She rubs the dust from her hands. As a scream and a figure and a mask jumps up, she panics, grabs an objects and smashes him over the head. Turns out this is the cousin Ryan.
Ryan the lion. Yes. Now, is this possibly one of the most annoying characters you've ever seen in anything? Um, yeah, pretty much.
Yeah. I'm quite just not just me. Well, the woman's name is Mickey Michelle Foster. Thank you.
You're welcome. They shake hands. Ryan likes the place. Mickey finds there's an electricity and she also tries to call her fiance, but the phone is not working.
It'll be connected tomorrow when the electricity is turned on. Ryan says it seems she had a little turbulence on her flight. Mickey says she said to him it's all day, but which sucks because the toilets out of order is well. Ryan finds a spiked cage.
And Mickey wonders what kind of man would be interested in this stuff. Yes. Don't look at me like that. Oh, I thought you'd know.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, carry on. And she wonders why they would leave it to them.
She grabs a flashlight, heads into the shop with Ryan Leeringata from behind. So their cousins, right? That's right. Yeah.
Okay. Wait, shall we leave that one there? Like you would. Like what?
If you were a cousin. That's a, that's a, that's a, I take issue with that one Colin. I can look at her objectively because she's not my cousin. No, you'd think it'd be a bonus because it makes things easier.
That's just wrong. That's just wrong. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm loving that. That's just wrong.
You could cut it out for your world. Oh, we'll talk to you. The founder garage with a cloaked car. I mean, there's a, you know, a sheet of it.
I don't mean it's clocked. It's not even, we're not, we're not going really strange at this point. We're not going to die now. We're not going to run you.
We're not going to run you. We're not running on cat right now. Oh, and die another day. That's true.
Because, you know, what you look at this, he says, I want Ryan, but the show is so dark, brown and murky. I can hardly see anything. What is it with the color choices in this episode? It's just brown.
Everything's brown. It looks slightly better on my DVD set that I have. Oh, it's less brown version that you probably watched on YouTube. Okay, but it is still quite brown.
Okay. I'm dark and murky. Do I find that a lot of, like more of the worlds, Highway Man, they all had this kind of really weird color? I don't think being shot on that really cheap videotaped help to either, I don't think.
No, probably didn't. It tended, it tended to, not wash everything out, but kind of just make everything look very, very grungy and uninteresting. Yeah. Yeah.
I guess we should point out that also back then we were seeing an empty a sea conversion to power. Yeah, and that didn't help either. So, no. Doesn't explain why it looks terrible now, though.
Ryan pulls the cover off revealing the Mercedes, and Ryan gets in the driver seat. Mickey says this place gives it the creeps, but Ryan says you should get in the back and she does. A cat is thrown onto the back seat. I mean, jumps, they're completely on its own.
Felicia just jumps and the owl's like, Okay, looks terrified. But you've just been chucked. You've been sat in a box for like 12 hours while they filmed their lines and got them right. And then some guys drags you out, probably wearing gloves because you're scratching and spitting and then thrown you on a back seat up from Mercedes, you don't know why you're there.
Yeah. And then shoved you back in a box. Probably exactly how it happened as well. Yeah.
She screams and gets out. You know what that means? Almost certain death. Can you have something that's almost certain?
Well, I suppose I'm almost certain that I'll have a hangover tomorrow. But you're not certain? I'm almost certain. To be honest, though, if it's almost certain death for these two, I'm on board.
You know what? At this point in my notes, I looked down and I wrote God, he's annoying. Well, at this point, I was like, I assume these two are going to get killed and like the main characters of the show are going to come in. Well, we do get someone in a bit that is infinitely more interesting than either of these two.
Yeah. All right. Oh, you got convinced. All right.
Mickey heads downstairs while Ryan tells it was just a cat. I don't curse. She says, let's get down to business. Oh, shows.