PODCAST · tv
Unwatchables with Marc & Seth
by Unwatchables
On Unwatchables, we dive deep into the most controversial, disturbing, or just misunderstood films. From punishing art films to extreme horror to bizarre curiosities, Marc and Seth test their limits and try to pin down what separates the art from the trolling. At the end of each episode, we answer the same question: If you could, would you Unwatch this?Unwatchables is hosted by Marc Dottavio and Seth Troyer, produced by Tony Scarpitti, featuring artwork by Micah Kraus. Find us at unwatchablespod.com.
Episodes
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Ep. 118 - Batman Forever / Batman & Robin
Holy shitty movies, Batman! Unwatchables' 3-part series concludes with two of Marc's childhood favorites, films that almost killed not just Batman but superhero films in general. Joel Schumacher's gaudy, "toyetic" takes on the Dark Knight are a far cry from Christopher Nolan's or Tim Burton's; we...
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Ep. 117 - Could These Get Made Today? (Citizen Ruth / Tropic Thunder)
For Part 2 of our 3-part series, our producer Tony picks two movies that have us wondering: could these get made today? First we shine the harsh light of 2026 on Alexander Payne's 1996 satire CITIZEN RUTH, a comedy that dares to make a farce out of both sides of the abortion debate. Then it's on…
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SPECIAL RE-RELEASE: United 93 / 9/11
Today’s UNWATCHABLES looks back on two very different films about the September 11th terrorist attacks. Paul Greengrass’ UNITED 93 came out less than 5 years after the tragedy and was the first Hollywood film to dramatize the day that many people weren’t sure needed dramatized. We’ll discuss what...
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Ep. 116 - Without The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / Across The Universe / Yesterday)
Today we're kicking off a three-part series where Seth, Marc, and our producer Tony each take turns curating an episode. First up are Seth’s picks, three ill-fated attempts to make feature-length films out of the songs of the Beatles: 1978’s Bee Gees-starring musical SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS...
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Ep. 115 - The Rapture / Breaking the Waves feat. Jonathan Martin
Today UNWATCHABLES takes on the dark side of faith, and who better to help us than pastor and author Jonathan Martin? These films are highly unconventional but intensely emotional explorations of characters grappling with their devotion to an Old Testament-style God: Michael Tolkin's daring 1991...
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Ep. 114 - Afterschool / Red Rooms feat. Devan Suber
Film writer Devan Suber joins us for two oblique character studies about internet-warped minds and the technology they—we?—use to mediate reality. Antonio Campos' 2008 experimental drama AFTERSCHOOL and Pascal Plante's 2023 psychological thriller RED ROOMS may be from opposite ends of the…
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Ep. 113 - The Jaws Sequels feat. Richard Lawson
Today film critic Richard Lawson helps us take on the unwatchable franchise that followed from one of our most watchable classics. Steven Spielberg's JAWS is one of the most influential and enduring Hollywood blockbusters ever made, and its three sequels are... not. We take a look at what…
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Ep. 112 - Skinamarink / In a Violent Nature feat. Chris Evangelista
Today we welcome Chris Evangelista of SlashFilm.com for two recent experimental horror films that challenge our ideas of what a horror film even is. First up is Kyle Edward Ball's 2022 avant-garde creepfest SKINAMARINK, possibly the most un-commercial horror film ever to get a wide theatrical...
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Ep. 111 - Wolf Creek / Green Room feat. Ryan Verrill
Today we're joined by Ryan Verrill of Disc Connected Media to look back at two modern survival horror classics. Greg McLean's 2005 Australian horror film WOLF CREEK is one of the most notorious of the 2000's torture porn boom, featuring a small cast brutally fighting their way out of an isolated...
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Ep. 110 - Howard The Duck (Live at Nightlight Cinema)
Big thanks to Akron's Nightlight Cinema for hosting the second live Unwatchables recording! We had a lively back-and-forth with the audience of a sold-out screening of HOWARD THE DUCK, the notorious 1986 flop that's since gained a cult following. We hear from some vocal defenders as we discuss…
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Ep. 110 - Howard The Duck (Live at Nightlight Cinema)
Big thanks to Akron's Nightlight Cinema for hosting the second live Unwatchables recording! We had a lively back-and-forth with the audience of a sold-out screening of HOWARD THE DUCK, the notorious 1986 flop that's since gained a cult following. We hear from some vocal defenders as we discuss…
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Ep. 109 - Michael
Today Unwatchables tackles the most controversial hit of the year, a film about the one celebrity we can all agree on with nothing complicated whatsoever. We discuss our experience seeing Antoine Fuqua’s MICHAEL with a sold-out crowd, how it stacks up against other biopics, what its success tells...
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Ep. 108 - Man Bites Dog / Natural Born Killers feat. Jesse Hassenger
Film critic Jesse Hassenger stops by UNWATCHABLES for two movies about serial killers and the media that loves them. These blood-soaked satires stirred up controversy for their graphic violence and dark senses of humor when they were released two years apart in the 90’s: 1992’s black comedy...
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Ep. 107 - Afternoons of Solitude feat. Roman Pessarov
In an UNWATCHABLES first, today’s episode captures our real-time reactions to 2025’s most gruesome documentary. In honor of our guest Roman Pessarov’s podcast CINEMA STROLLS, we finished watching Albert Serra’s bull-fighting doc AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE minutes before hitting record; we discuss the...
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Ep. 106 - Birth / The Trouble With Being Born feat. Guy Lodge
Variety’s Guy Lodge returns to UNWATCHABLES for two films that faced similar controversies over their supposedly "irresponsible" use of child actors. Jonathan Glazer’s 2004 drama BIRTH made some viewers uncomfortable with certain scenes between Nicole Kidman and the ten-year-old boy claiming to…
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Ep. 105 - Nothing But Trouble feat. Nathan Rabin
UNWATCHABLES welcomes back film critic and author Nathan Rabin to discuss one of the most bizarre and reviled so-called comedies of the 90’s. Dan Akroyd’s first and to date only directorial effort was a big-budget bomb that asked the burning question, “what if Chevy Chase starred in THE TEXAS…
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Ep. 104 - Worst Best Picture (Crash / Green Book)
UNWATCHABLES kicks off Season 5 with our pre-Oscars special, where we ask the question: are these the worst Best Picture winners? Both of these films caused controversy when they unexpectedly took home the statue, and both happen to be white liberal filmmakers’ attempts at healing racism in...
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Ep. 103 - Cannibal Holocaust / The Green Inferno
For today’s season finale, we're joined by author Caleb Bethea for possibly our longest-awaited episode. Ruggero Deodato's 1980 video nasty CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is on the shortlist for the most controversial films ever made, from its onscreen animal cruelty to the widespread bans and obscenity...
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Ep. 102 - Private Parts / Ringmaster feat. Anthony Crislip
Today we're joined by Anthony Crislip of Akron, Ohio's THE NIGHTLIGHT cinema for the vanity projects of the two most controversial broadcasters of the 90's. Both Howard Stern and Jerry Springer helped reinvent their respective mediums, whether for better or worse, but they only ventured onto the...
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Ep. 101 - Two by Godard feat. Nathan Gelgud (La Chinoise / British Sounds)
Today we're joined by cartoonist Nathan Gelgud to tackle the most polarizing and some might say Unwatchable period of a legendary filmmaker's career. Jean-Luc Godard was one of the leading figures of the French New Wave, at least until he abandoned narrative filmmaking for experimental political...
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Ep. 100 - Sick / In My Skin feat. Mike D'Angelo
UNWATCHABLES celebrates its 100th episode with film critic Mike D'Angelo, who joins us for two films about the ecstasy of agony. These movies are all about pain of the self-inflicted kind, one fiction and one non-fiction look at the line between self-harm and self-care: Kirby Dick's…
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Ep. 99 - Halloween Special feat. Christopher Norris (Exorcist II: The Heretic / Beyond the Door)
On today’s Halloween special, we’re joined by author and visual artist Christopher Norris for two films that are decidedly NOT The Exorcist. William Friedkin's 1973 phenomenon inspired plenty of imitators, but few rode its coattails as closely as these: 1974's Italian-made knock-off BEYOND THE...
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Ep. 98 - Unwatchables Down Under feat. Laura Venning (Wake in Fright / The Nightingale)
Today UNWATCHABLES goes Down Under for two grim Australian thrillers with the help of film critic Laura Venning. These films faced controversy for their upsetting depictions of brutal violence—in one case, the unsimulated kind—but that's nothing compared to what they say about human nature: Ted...
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Ep. 97 - Last Tango in Paris / Blue Is the Warmest Color feat. Steven Bernstein
Today we're joined by filmmaker/author Steven Bernstein for our tribute to intimacy coordinators, none of whom were present for these films. These painfully raw relationship dramas courted controversy not just for their explicit sex scenes, but also for the conditions under which they were shot:...
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Ep. 96 - Two by Doris Wishman (Bad Girls Go to Hell / Double Agent 73)
Doris Wishman has been called the Queen of Sexploitation, and the most prolific female filmmaker of the 1960’s and 70’s. But did she ever learn how to make a movie? Today we’re joined by Jetta Weinstein, aka theironcupcake, to discuss two peaks of her inimitable brand of trash cinema: 1965's...
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Ep. 95 - The Idiots / Tiptoes feat. Dr. Ethan Lyon
Hollywood has come a long way in depicting individuals with disabilities with candor and respect… these are not those films. Dr. Ethan Lyon joins us for two movies it’s hard to imagine getting made today, though they say a lot about changing ideas of representation and political correctness: Lars...
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Ep. 94 - Kissed / Amer feat. Frank Ritz
Today we’re joined by filmmaker Frank Ritz for what Freud would call our “Eros and Thanatos” episode. These two films blur the line between sex and death, including the rare look at necrophilia that’s… actually kind of sweet? The films are: Lynne Stopkewich's 1996 necrophiliac romance KISSED, and...
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Ep. 94 - Kissed / Amer feat. Frank Ritz
Today we’re joined by filmmaker Frank Ritz for what Freud would call our “Eros and Thanatos” episode. These two films blur the line between sex and death, including the rare look at necrophilia that’s… actually kind of sweet? The films are: Lynne Stopkewich's 1996 necrophiliac romance KISSED, and...
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Ep. 93 - Showgirls feat. Grace Winburne
Today we’re joined by Cinematary's Grace Winburne to help us chart one film’s course from THE defining flop of the 90’s to midnight cult classic to the unlikely subject of critical reappraisal. But one question remains: does SHOWGIRLS actually not suck? You can find more from Grace at...
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Ep. 92 - Two by John Boorman (Deliverance / Zardoz)
Today we're joined by Cinematary's Zach Dennis for the wild, weird, and (in one case) horrific films of director John Boorman. We take a look at his harrowing Hollywood breakthrough, 1972's disturbing survival thriller DELIVERANCE, and then its truly bizarre cult sci-fi follow-up: 1974's Sean...
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Ep. 91 - Family Annihilators feat. Elena Lazic (Natural Enemies / The Stepfather)
Film critic Elena Lazic joins us for two films about “family annihilators,” the real-life phenomenon of husbands and fathers who kill their entire families. We discuss a long-unavailable 70’s downer, as well as it’s darkly comic slasher-film counterpart: Jeff Kanew's bleak 1979 drama NATURAL...
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Ep. 90 - Straw Dogs / Elle feat. Amy Hensarling
Amy Hensarling of WATCH THIS LIST returns to discuss two films mired in controversy for their depictions of victims of sexual violence. Sam Peckinpah's 1971 thriller STRAW DOGS has been both criticized and defended for decades for its notorious depiction of a woman seemingly embracing her…
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Ep. 89 - Conservative Media feat Sami Gold (What Is a Woman? / Lady Ballers)
Today we’re diving deep into the bowels of THE DAILY WIRE’S film imprint with help from writer and conservative media expert Sami Gold. Our subjects are one “documentary” and one “comedy” that truly test the title of our podcast: 2022's WHAT IS A WOMAN?, a piece of transphobic propaganda hosted…
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Ep. 88 - Megalopolis feat. Bilge Ebiri
Francis Ford Coppola is no stranger to highly publicized cinematic debacles, but few have been as long in the making as MEGALOPOLIS. The GODFATHER director put up $120 million of his own money to fund this decades-old passion project, a philosophical sci-fi epic plagued by trouble all the way…
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Ep. 87 - Two by Joel Schumacher feat. Jason Bailey (Falling Down / 8mm)
Critic Jason Bailey, author of Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend, returns to UNWATCHABLES for two controversial films by the late, um, great(?) Joel Schumacher. 1993's FALLING DOWN may be THE angry white man vigilante thriller, a Rorschach test that either examines or celebrates...
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Ep. 87 - Two by Joel Schumacher feat. Jason Bailey (Falling Down / 8mm)
Critic Jason Bailey, author of Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend, returns to UNWATCHABLES for two controversial films by the late, um, great(?) Joel Schumacher. 1993's FALLING DOWN may be THE angry white man vigilante thriller, a Rorschach test that either examines or celebrates...
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Ep. 86 - Targets / Tower feat. Vikram Murthi
Today we’re joined by film critic Vikram Murthi for two very different films inspired by the 1966 University of Texas tower shooting. First up is 1968's Boris Karloff-starring TARGETS, the directorial debut of Peter Bogdanovich that featured a fictionalized version of the shooter just two years...
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Ep. 85 - Beauty and the Beast / Alice
Today we go down the rabbit hole of the Czechoslovak New Wave with two dark, grimy, surreal versions of beloved fairy tales. First up is the 1978 horror fantasy BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (or literally, THE MONSTER AND THE VIRGIN), from THE CREMATOR’s Juraj Herz; then Jan Švankmajer's demented...
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Ep. 84 - The Films of Andy Warhol feat. Will Sloan (Kiss / Blow Job / Vinyl)
Writer and podcaster Will Sloan of THE IMPORTANT CINEMA CLUB joins us today as our guide through the early underground films of Andy Warhol. We’ll be covering some of the legendary pop artist’s most radical and (for at least one of us) punishing cinematic experiments: 30 minutes of couples…
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Ep. 83 - The Cable Guy feat. Matt Singer
Today author and ScreenCrush editor Matt Singer returns to discuss one of the oddest detours in a legendary Hollywood career. When THE CABLE GUY came out in 1996, Jim Carrey was on one of the hottest streaks in cinema history; fans just didn't know what to do with a dark comedy/thriller that made...
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Ep. 82 - Two by Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo / The Holy Mountain)
Today we welcome Bryan Loomis, host of the film podcast WHAT A PICTURE, to discuss the work of polarizing surrealist filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky made some of the most bizarre and controversial cult films of the 1970's, and we'll be discussing perhaps his two most notorious: 1970's...
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Ep. 81 - Pink Films feat. Bob McCully (Violated Angels / Muscle)
Today we’re joined by SPLIT YOUR HEAD’s Bob McCully to discuss a cinematic movement entirely new to our hosts. The Japanese “pink films” of the 60s, 70s, and 80s were part lurid exploitation flicks and part transgressive art films, like arthouse video nasties. We tackle two of its most…
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Ep. 80 - Two by David Lynch
The late David Lynch explored the line between the watchable and the unwatchable as distinctively and mysteriously as any filmmaker ever has. UNWATCHABLES kicks off Season 4 by tackling his first and (sadly) last films, his two most alienating avant-garde works separated by almost exactly 30…
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Ep. 79 - The Virgin Spring / The Last House on the Left feat. Keith Phipps
Film critic Keith Phipps returns for his second UNWATCHABLES season finale, and how better to close out the year than with a harrowing arthouse classic and its unlikely grindhouse remake? Ingmar Bergman’s THE VIRGIN SPRING is a stark, unsettling adaptation of a 13th century folk ballad; 12 years...
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Ep. 78 - Two by Dennis Cooper (Like Cattle Towards Glow / Permanent Green Light)
Today we welcome author, filmmaker, and (retired) performer Christopher Zeischegg for two films by notorious transgressive author Dennis Cooper. Cooper’s queer, graphic, sex- and death-obsessed fiction is disturbing enough on its own. Now he’s ventured twice into filmmaking: first with 2015’s…
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Ep. 77 - Zero Day / Elephant feat. Steve Erickson
Today we’re joined by critic Steve Erickson for two films that dared to dramatize the 1999 Columbine massacre—both in 2003, barely four years after the tragedy. Ben Coccio’s ZERO DAY and Gus Van Sant’s ELEPHANT each encountered controversy, though only one would win the Palme D’Or while the other...
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Ep. 76 - Halloween Special feat. Zach Butcher (Maniac / Angst)
It’s the UNWATCHABLES Halloween special, and we’re dissecting two films that helped pave the way for last year’s subject, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER. With help from return guest Zach Butcher, we consider how two earlier, less “respectable” horror movies deglamorized serial killers by...
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Ep. 75 - Two by David Cronenberg (The Fly / Dead Ringers)
Today we’re kicking off Horror-tober with two classics from the undisputed master of body horror, David Cronenberg. And who better to help us than filmmaker and novelist Bobby Miller, the director of horror films like CRITTERS ATTACK! and 2016's THE CLEANSE starring Johnny Galecki and Angelica...
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Ep. 75 - Two by David Cronenberg feat. Bobby Miller (The Fly / Dead Ringers)
Today we’re kicking off Horror-tober with two classics from the undisputed master of body horror, David Cronenberg. And who better to help us than filmmaker and novelist Bobby Miller, the director of horror films like CRITTERS ATTACK! and 2016's THE CLEANSE starring Johnny Galecki and Angelica...
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Ep. 74 - Unwatchables Live (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.)
For the very first Unwatchables live event hosted by Akron's Nightlight theatre, Seth and Marc introduce a special screening of THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T, the only film ever written by Dr. Seuss— one deemed too dark and strange for family audiences when it flopped in 1953, but now rightfully...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
On Unwatchables, we dive deep into the most controversial, disturbing, or just misunderstood films. From punishing art films to extreme horror to bizarre curiosities, Marc and Seth test their limits and try to pin down what separates the art from the trolling. At the end of each episode, we answer the same question: If you could, would you Unwatch this?Unwatchables is hosted by Marc Dottavio and Seth Troyer, produced by Tony Scarpitti, featuring artwork by Micah Kraus. Find us at unwatchablespod.com.
HOSTED BY
Unwatchables
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Unwatchables with Marc & Seth have?
Unwatchables with Marc & Seth currently has 114 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Unwatchables with Marc & Seth about?
On Unwatchables, we dive deep into the most controversial, disturbing, or just misunderstood films. From punishing art films to extreme horror to bizarre curiosities, Marc and Seth test their limits and try to pin down what separates the art from the trolling. At the end of each episode, we answer...
How often does Unwatchables with Marc & Seth release new episodes?
Unwatchables with Marc & Seth publishes regularly with 114 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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Unwatchables with Marc & Seth is created and hosted by Unwatchables.
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