The Rad Revival House

The Rad Revival House returns to television with a look at 4 great episodes of the Western hit show, HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL!Our host, Professor Cesare Augusto, deep-dives in his favorite TV Western of all time. He reveals what makes this show so interesting, and how he first discovered it from, all things, STAND BY ME, his favorite film of all time, where the picture’s 4 young protagonists sing the show’s theme song on their way to see the dead body of Ray Brower! HAVE GUN-WILL TRAVEL the show is unique purely from its main protagonist, the gentleman soldier of fortune Paladin (played by, as coined by great crime writer George Pelecanos: “proto-badass” Richard Boone). Cesare explores what makes Paladin so cool: as a frontier mercenary, Paladin is motivated by two things, money, and justice. While Paladin does enjoy the finer things in life (including living in relative luxury in a swanky San Francisco hotel), our hero is also driven by a strong personal code of honor, a sense of righteousness he uses to dispense justice to ordinary folks in the West who need it the most. The show is greatly bolstered by star Richard Boone’s tough-guy demeanor, sharp sense of fashion, and intense, brooding acting skill!As part of his deep dive, Cesare reviews 4 of his favorite episodes of HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL that he feels deserves to be analyzed and be viewed by serious aspiring Western writers:THE MANHUNTERNO VISITORSFIRST, CATCH A TIGERGENESIS

The Rad Revival House explores the gruesome sub-genre of Italian Sci-Fi Exploitation cinema with the bonkers 1984 picture, RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR!Appearing for the first time on our show as Special Guest Lecturer is Sam Panico of the cool AF cult film website B&S About Movies. Along with our host, Professor Cesare Augusto, Sam offers his enthusiastic insight about RATS and its bizarre take on the post-apocalyptic sub-genre of Science Fiction.After a nuclear war devastates the world, the human race has been split into two: the surface world, and the subterranean world. Making their way through the barren surface world is a diverse gang of misfit bikers, scavengers grabbing everything they can get to survive and enjoying themselves, too. They stumble upon a deserted research facility that is grotesquely infested with hordes upon hordes of disgusting, diseased-filled rats! One by one, the bikers are killed by the genetically-enhanced vermin, until a small few are left to fight for their survival.Cesare and Sam discuss the nasty yet surprisingly compelling production within RATS, how director Bruno Mattei was able to masterfully create a grim atmosphere despite a low budget, and how the picture’s special effects are effectively performed WITHOUT the use of slick special effects. RATS, as Sam said, is a strong example of how filmmakers can excel at being weird and being memorable, without having otherwise prolifically artistic visions in mind!