Episode 14: Messiah of Evil (1973) & The Fog (1980)

Episode 14: Messiah of Evil (1973) & The Fog (1980): "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside....."Welcome To episode 14 of the horror double bill the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their partsThis week we are exploring coastal horrors and the terrors that lurk in the liminal space between the land and the sea. First up we have Messiah of Evil from 1973 a surreal almost Lovecraftian indie horror from the writers of American Graffiti Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and, somewhat bizarrely, Howard the Duck. Then we jump forward to 1980 for the fog, John carpenter's follow up to Halloween, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Adrienne Barbeau and Janet LeighBoth of this week’s movies depict terrors from the past returning to menace supposedly idyllic seaside California towns, but behind the scenes both have their roots in  the rise of American independent cinema in the 1970s and also share some very interesting and rather troubled post production stories. Along the way we'll also be exploring the nature of coastal horror, including just a few of my favourites of the genre, the death of the Hollywood studio system, the rise of independent film making in the 1960s and 1970s, and much more. William Hope Hodgson ReadingsThe Derelict - https://youtu.be/x44h5oeVoM0?si=V4mLlwl2DIfcWH6kThe Voice in the Night: https://youtu.be/ASIfPcyTAH0?si=VNJDiwQoJfa5Lb0sReferences - IntroductionThe Birds by Daphne DuMaurierCornish Tales of Terror ed. R. Chetwynd Hayneshttps://nmmc.co.uk/2023/07/maritime-superstitions/https://www.sailingeurope.com/blog/sailors-superstitionsReferences - Messiah of Evil"Nightmare USA -  the untold story of exploitation independents" by Stephen ThrowerThe mini documentary "Remembering Messiah of Evil" form the Code Red DVD Release of the moviehttps://creepycatalog.com/messiah-of-evil-movie/#:~:text=released%20the%20movie%20under%20the,%E2%80%9Dhttps://www.dreadcentral.com/editorials/336575/messiah-of-evil-a-criminally-overlooked-piece-of-1970s-strangeness/References - The FogExtras from the Studio Canal Blu-ray restoration release including the documentary "Retribution - Uncovering John Carpenter's The Fog" and the audio commentary from John Carpenter and writer producer Deborah Hill.https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1980/01/28/people-start-runningInstagram: @thehorrordoublebillemail: [email protected]: @thehorrordoublebillartwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr_illustration.com)