Review of Live At The Death Factory - In a class of its own

In a class of its own

☆

“I have enjoyed every episode of this. I really appreciate the intelligence and humour of both hosts, I think they work together really well. A lot of the time I find podcasts make me feel like someone listening in on a pair or group of friends laughing amongst themselves but I don’t feel like that with Live at the Death Factory. Maybe it’s surprising given the type of cinema that is largely under discussion here (certainly you should be aware of what you’re getting into beforehand) but I find it, episode by episode, actually very inviting and warm. There’s an appreciation for a wider audience here, I think. Even if particular titles are pretty esoteric there’s enough introduction and explanation that I, as a proper layman, never once feel like I’m being excluded from some clubhouse. Put another way, would I want or trust anyone else I could think of to discuss Megan is Missing for over two hours? Can’t say that I would. Here, though, it’s tremendous. Both hosts refer to that film as essentially an evil force that occasionally breaks looses. It says something to the skill and sensitivity of Sean and Astrid that over the course of a couple of hours they are able to totally dispel its power. It’s a thin line to tread but they use humour to puncture the film and it’s director’s reputation and supposed intentions without ever making light of the subject matter. They break it apart in interesting, articulate ways and get to dishonesty at the heart of it. I think it’s really masterfully done. Most of the time an individual episode leaves you with a list of a dozen new films to track down and watch. That episode, an absolute all-timer for me, left me with one I never need to see. Usually if you hear an “entertaining” rant about a bad film you’re left with a residual curiosity about it. Not here. They lifted the curse. Elsewhere, there’s a lot to appreciate in the broader, coalescing themes of the series as a whole and in the details. I’m pretty pleased anytime Sean impersonates an English person or Louis Theroux but, to pick out a couple of examples, I really enjoyed their discussion of Penda’s Fen. Even if the tone of the episodes is generally consistent, the energy here does go up a notch and the sheer gratification of that film and its climax really shines through. It left me buzzing. Picking out Cop and the way it anticipates the development of Ellroy as a writer is basically an episode made for me. It includes the most concise, spot-on analysis of the death dog with the hog log you’re going to find. Astrid says, almost as aside, that having every cop individually being a terrible person is functionally the same as having a systemic critique of the police force even though Ellroy isn’t actually writing the latter and there you go - the Demon Dog deboned, dethroned and disowned in two almost throwaway sentences. If it can casually be this incisive then what more is there to say?”

Jachap via Apple Podcasts · Great Britain · 09/01/21

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☆

“loving this new project, the perfect hosts to cattily roast new movies and dissect underrated obscure films”

Erreyday via Apple Podcasts · United States of America · 05/26/21

It's about scum cinema!

☆

“Loved by me, a person who likes this sort of thing”

Fugazoid via Apple Podcasts · Canada · 11/14/21

🔪

☆

“Astrid and Sean burn the place down”

Ghost/Turkey Man via Apple Podcasts · United States of America · 05/25/21

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