Modern Rubbish

It feels like it's been a minute since we've rambled on about the occult, so we used Clive Barker's 1995 film Lord Of Illusions as an excuse to get back into it.

This week we tackle a pair of...controversial...2000s video game film adaptations, Resident Evil and Silent Hill.

The thrilling conclusion of our list of favorites from the last 25 years.

Our favorites of the last 25 years.

We return to classic horror with this episode on 2001’s The Others.Notes:The Others by Alejandro AmenábarModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

As promised at the end of the last episode, we're talking about Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof!

We’re kicking off 2026 with this Zach Cregger double feature!Notes:Barbarian by Zach CreggerWeapons by Zach CreggerModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We’ve been threatening this since the very first episode of the show, but we’ve finally done it: we’re talking about Autechre for 90 mins.Notes:AutechreModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

This week we get into sci-fi / tokusatsu / creature-feature Zeiram, by Keita Amemiya.Notes:Zeiram by Keita AmemiyaModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We discuss Alex Garland’s (very loose) adaptation of Jeff Vandermeer’s novel Annihilation (one of Wyatt’s favorites).Notes:Annihilation, by Alex GarlandModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

This week we discuss unrelentingly bleak video game tie-in anime miniseries Cyberpunk: Edgerunners by Hiroyuki Imaishi!Notes:Cyberpunk: Edgerunners by Hiroyuki ImaishiModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Part two of our rave on 28 Years Later by Danny Boyle!Notes:28 Years Later by Danny BoyleModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

At Dave’s urging, we went to the theatre and saw a proper new release, 28 Years Later by Danny Boyle! This is part one of two.Notes:28 Years Later by Danny BoyleModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We cover a new release with our viewing of horror-comedy The Monkey by Osgood Perkins!Notes:The Monkey by Osgood PerkinsModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We finally get around to talking about a Wes Craven film, with this episode on urban fairytale The People Under the Stairs!Notes:The People Under the Stairs by Wes CravenModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We head into the zone with this episode on atmospheric sci-fi classic, Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky!Notes:Stalker by Andrei TarkovskyModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We wrap up John Carpenter’s “apocalypse trilogy” with this episode on 1994’s In the Mouth of Madness.Notes:Modern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We follow up our earlier episode on The Thing with this second installment John Carpenter’s “Apocalypse Trilogy”, Price of Darkness.Notes:Prince of DarknessRevelations by Elaine PagelsBart D. EhrmanHenry CorbinAnnie Hall “the universe is expanding” clipKitaro NishidaJoel BirocoProvidence by Alan MooreHalf-Life (game)Modern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We return to the BBC’s Plays For Today with Nigel Kneale’s legendary The Stone Tape.Notes:The Stone TapeQuatermassHalloween III: Season of the WitchBBC Radiophonic WorkshopDoctor Who theme songPepper’s ghostSteve RoachMatt Damon clipM.R. JamesThe VorrhYuval Noah HarariModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Many-time guest Sam Jones returns to the podcast to talk about Dracula and his varied appearances in cinema.Notes:Sam’s Venn diagramVenture Bros. Blackula hunter clipModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Dave’s still sick, but we’re still talkin’, this time about arch-millennial stylefest, The Cell.Notes:The CellNIN Closer videoMark RomanekThe Knick (series)Sehnsucht (Rammstein album)The Thirteenth FloorWorld on a WirePaprika (anime)Paprika (novel)Blood and Mistletoe by Ronald HuttonBerserk (manga)Paranoia Agent (anime)Deep ForestPure MoodsReturn to Innocence by EnigmaDark WatersImmaculateGhost (band)Artistic Inspiration in The Cell, from The Horror DigestThe Cremaster Cycle by Matthew BarneyKooKoo (Debbie Harry album)Body WorldsGunther von HagensJandekBurke and Hare murdersSleazy interview part one (relevant bit starts at 8:39)Sleazy interview part twoSquaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)Viennese ActionismLebowski quoteWolf Eyes on InstagramModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Dave was sick and had an existential panic while watching Smile 2, so Wyatt watched it too, and we talked it out.Notes:Smile 2Kyle GallnerInsomniac with Dave AttellBarbarianA History of ViolenceAphex Twin’s smileModern Rubbish Episode Twenty-One: PossessionSaul BassTruth or DareThey Look Like PeopleFootwork dance battleIma Dog by DJ NateGantz Graf by AutechreThe SubstanceTrapThe WatchersCuckooModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

If you heard we’re lookin’ for Candyman, you heard right. This week we get sweet with this 1992 Clive Barker adaptation. We also get into the regrettable 2021 legasequel...but don’t hold that against us.Notes:Candyman (1992)The Forbidden by Clive BarkerCandyman (2021)Cabrini-GreenPruitt-IgoeKoyaanisqatsiCyberpunk 2077EgregoreThe Midnight Meat TrainTed RaimiBernard RoseClive Barker’s Books of BloodThirty Helens AgreeGuy Fawkes NightRyuichi Sakamoto’s sushi playlistFunny GamesThe Wicker Man“Robo wants an oreo”How they shot the bee scenes in CandymanModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

This week, we discuss a thoroughly wonderful (and thoroughly horrifying) film, Adrian Lyne’s massively-influential Jacob’s LadderNotes:Jacob’s LadderHow Did This Get Made? (podcast)Rabbit In Your Headlights by U.N.K.L.E. feat. Thom YorkeMeister EckhartEmanuel Swedenborg13 AssassinsYukio MishimaOvidMagick (Book 4) by Aleister CrowleySpace Is The Place by Sun RaPsychopompThe Nice GuysVatican ShadowModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

It’s a good day to die on this episode, as we come up with some stuff to say about Joel Schumacher’s 1990...film?...Flatliners.Notes:FlatlinersThe CellWhat Dreams May ComeHatoful BoyfriendCandymanModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

This week, we trip balls along with Ken Russell’s psychedelic body horror touchstone, Altered States!Notes:Altered StatesFleischer StudiosCab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher” from Betty BoopJohn C. LillyGunbuster (anime)Joel BirocoPattern Recognition by William GibsonEpigeneticsRupert SheldrakeModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We return from our hiatus with this episode on Don Hertzfeldt’s couch gag for long-running animated series, The Simpsons!Notes:Don Hertzfeldt’s Simpsons couch gagSadness Sets Me Free by Gruff RhysSmashing Pumpkins 1979 music videoTeam America Everyone Has AIDS songRejected by Don HertzfeldtHomer’s Phobia (Simpsons episode)The Cartridge Family (Simpsons episode)City of Quartz by Mike DavisThe World of Tomorrow by Don HertzfeldtKo Un (poet)Modern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Wyatt joined Arden & Casey at their art space / venue, Trade School, in Altadena, California, for a screening of Saw X!Notes:Modern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

And on this, the last day of X-Mas, we discuss another Darin Morgan classic, the wonderfully absurd Jose Chung’s From Outer Space!Notes:Modern Rubbish on Discord!Music by HoofwerkSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

For the fourth week of X-Mas, we give you our favourite cicadaman, Eugene Tooms!This one begins with a long (but fun) preamble on other topics, so if you’re itching for X-Files content, skip to around 30 minutes in.Notes:ToomsSqueezeDave’s paintingFélix Labisse (painter)Simpsons Australia coffee/beer bitWyatt hates OPNThe Lillywhite Sessions by Ryley WalkerIt’s My Life by Talk TalkDonal Logue (actor)Dandadan (anime)The Ghost Whisperer (series)Paper waspVenture Bros. “ignore me” guyStasi (DDR secret police)Conner HabibModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by HoofwerkSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

X-Mas continues with this satanic panic classic.Notes:Die Hand Die VerletztSatanic panicIlluminatus!Rain of animalsBart vs. AustraliaMichelle Remembers by Lawrence Pazder & Michelle SmithSatan Wants You (documentary)Pennyroyal (podcast)Hellier (TV Series)Heaven’s GatePan’s Labyrinth (film)Modern Rubbish on Discord!Music by HoofwerkSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Podcast patron saint Steven Warwick returns for a lovely chat about infamous X-Files episode Home. Merry X-Mas to us all!Notes:HomeSteven WarwickFear Indexing the X-Files by Nora Khan and Steven WarwickControl (video game)Child of God by Cormac McCarthyAll the Beauty and the Bloodshed by Nan GoldinA Modest Proposal by Jonathan SwiftChris MorrisSutcliffe Jugend (band)Modern Rubbish on Discord!Music by HoofwerkSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

We’re kicking off “X-Mas”, our all-December-long celebration of all things X-Files! First up is legendary season 3 episode, Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose.Notes:Clyde Bruckman’s Final ReposeSplit (film)The Exorcist (TV show)Darin MorganJerusalem by Alan MooreMama (film)Whitest Kids U Know auto-erotic asphyxiation sketchModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by HoofwerkSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Five-time guest Sam Jones returns to the show to talk about infamous j-horror nightmare, Takashi Miike’s Audition.Audio notes: Dave was sick, Sam’s cleaner was present, and Wyatt’s heater was (still is) broken, so he was huddled in a closet for the duration. Apologies for any auditory oddness.Notes:Audition by Takashi MiikeArrested Development “and that’s why you always leave a note” bitThe Care and Keeping of the Male Slave (Kids in the Hall sketch)Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike by Tom MesModern Rubbish Episode Five: GozuBad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans by Werner HerzogConny PlankSteve AlbiniModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

All October, we released extra episodes wherein we narrated some of our favourite Weird stories, and now that it’s November, we thought we’d set aside some time to discuss those stories in greater detail.Notes:The Weird, edited by Jeff & Ann van der MeerModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Join us for a somewhat disorienting and delirious chat about a disorienting and delirious movie, 1986’s thriller/killer/road movie, The Hitcher.Notes:The Hitcher by Robert HarmonWolf Creek by Greg McLeanRoadgames by Richard FranklinJoy Ride by John DahlBlood Meridian by Cormac McCarthyC. Thomas Howell as the ‘Soul Man’ by BotchBatman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore / Brian BollandMark IshamWindham Hill (record label)Desert Solitaire by Steve Roach / Kevin Braheny / Michael StearnsNear Dark by Kathryn BigelowModern Rubbish on Discord!Intro & outro by Annelise BaerMusic by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

All October long, we've been narrating some of our favourite Weird stories, and sharing them with you each Tuesday! For our final entry in this series, Wyatt reads Harlan Ellison's The Function of Dream Sleep. If, as we've said in an earlier episode, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse is a perfect depiction of depression, then this story is a similarly perfect depiction of grief. Enjoy!Narrated by Wyatt Keusch, with music by David Paha.

This week we discuss Ben Wheatley’s 2013 period psychedelic trip, A Field In England.Notes:A Field In England by Ben WheatleyGarth Marenghi’s DarkplaceThe Mighty BooshThe League of GentlemenValhalla Rising by Nicolas Winding RefnModern Rubbish on Discord!Intro & outro by Annelise BaerMusic by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

All October long, we're narrating some of our favourite Weird stories, and sharing them with you each Tuesday! This week's story is the brilliantly terrifying The Séance by Lynda E. Rucker.Narrated by Wyatt Keusch, with music by David Paha.

In this “mini” episode, we take a stroll through the legality of sampling, the inevitability of madness in the pursuit of fame, and end up at the darkness that dwells in all mankind. So, overall, a fun little chat.Notes:John OswaldThe HubNegativland - U2Burroughs Nike adBritney Spears South Park episodeEarwig by Brian CatlingJon RonsonModern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

All October long, we're narrating some of our favourite Weird stories, and sharing them with you each Tuesday! This week's story is a classic of the uncanny, The Belonging Kind, by William Gibson & John Shirley.Narration and music by David Paha.

This week we fawn over what is unquestionably the greatest zombie movie of all time, George Romero’s 1978 masterpiece, Dawn of the Dead!Notes:Dawn of the Dead by George A. RomeroWhere Were U in ‘92? by Zomby“Six million ways to die” sampleThe Arts of Death in Albion by Wyatt KeuschVesica piscisE2-E4 by Manuel Göttsching“Yangmaxxing”The Joy of the Worm by Drew Daniel“That’s a problem for future Homer. Boy, I don’t envy that guy.”Modern Rubbish on Discord!Intro & outro by Annelise BaerMusic by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

All October long, we're narrating some of our favourite Weird stories, and sharing them with you each Tuesday! This week's story is an ominous and dread-filled drift through childhood, The Specialist's Hat, by Kelly Link.Narrated by Wyatt Keusch, with brand new music by David Paha.

This week we get into another Koji Shiraishi found-footage / mockumentary experiment, 2009’s Occult.Notes:Occult (film) by Koji ShiraishiDandadan (manga) by Yukinobu TatsuOccult word etymologyNotes on Evil by Steven WarwickHeaven’s Gate (space death cult)Eno hammocksFrom Beyond (film) by Stuart GordonFrom Beyond (story) by H.P. LovecraftModern Rubbish on Discord!Intro & outro by Annelise BaerMusic by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

All October long, we're narrating some of our favourite Weird stories, and sharing them with you each Tuesday! This week's story is the wonderfully eerie maritime tale, A Redress For Andromeda, by Caitlín R. Kiernan.Narrated by Wyatt Keusch, with brand new music by David Paha.

This week we talk about Dave’s favorite horror movie, John Carpenter’s 1982 masterpiece of cosmic-polar horror, The Thing!Notes:The Thing by John CarpenterWho Goes There? by John W. CampbellThe Thing From Another World by Christian NybyAt the Mountains of Madness by H.P. LovecraftSimpsons “Lenny’s brain coin” gagMichel Foucault & AIDSKenneth Grant (occultist)KAOS 14 (including Alan Moore’s Kenneth Grant article)Modern Rubbish on Discord!Intro & outro by Annelise BaerMusic by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Part two of our rambling discussion of the “grunge” moment in culture.Notes:Modern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

Casey Anderson returns to the show to discuss Wyatt’s favorite movie, Pulse!Notes:Pulse by Kiyoshi KurosawaCasey AndersonChime by Kiyoshi Kurosawa“J-Horror”Conway’s Game of LifeFuture Shock by Alvin TofflerJapanese economic miracleDeath Stranding (game)“Siloing”Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott AbbottHuman Shadow Etched In StoneHibakushaMemoria by Apichatpong WeerasethakulButoh (dance)Stalker by Andrei Tarkovskya wave pressKAOS NetworkModern Rubbish on Discord!Intro & outro by Annelise BaerMusic by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

The first part of our rambling discussion of the “grunge” moment in culture.Notes:Modern Rubbish on Discord!Music by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!

A Dark Song is both a wonderfully effective horror film and also an uncommonly realistic representation of the actual occult experience.It’s been a while since we’ve done an explicitly occult-oriented film, so we hope it’s understandable that we go a bit hard on the magick talk for this one.Notes:A Dark Song by Liam GavinThe Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the MageThe Magick of A Dark Song by Duncan BarfordThe Abramelin Diaries by Ramsey DukesModern Rubbish on Discord!Intro & outro by Annelise BaerMusic by David PahaSupport us on Patreon or Ko-Fi!