The story behind the North Korean kaiju film Pulgasari is so incredible it's in danger of overshadowing just how interesting the film is itself. In this episode we are joined by Travis Workman, Associate Professor of Korean Studies at the University of Minnesota, to try and cover both the making of Pulgasari and what it might all mean. His chapter "Parodies of Realism at the Margins of Science Fiction: Sin Sang-ok's Pulgasari and Jang Jun-hwan's Save the Green Planet," in Simultaneous...

Yes, it's Second Features, and we're back with a long-awaited episode with Dr Pete Turner of Oxford Brooks University, where we talk Robocop (1987, Paul Verhoeven) and watching inappropriate films when we were underage. Who watched the worst possible film at the youngest age: Pete, Laura or Adrian? Listen to this discussion to find out! You can find the article Pause and Rewind: Memories of Age-Inappropriate Film Viewings in the 1980s here. You can also follow the project Memories of Underage...

After almost two years of using the Edgar Wallace theme we finally get around to covering one of Merton Park studio's early Wallace thrillers, The Clue of the Twisted Candle (Allan Davies, 1960), paired with another low-budget second feature, The House of Mystery (Vernon Sewell, 1961). We take this opportunity to discuss Dr Laura Mayne's article 'Whatever happened to the British ‘B’ movie? Micro-budget film-making and the death of the one-hour supporting feature in the early 1960s', which was...

It's been a loooong summer break, but we are finally back with a new episode. Join us as we talk 'Namsploitation with the University of Lincoln's Dr Neil Jackson. He chose the 1980 classic The Exterminator (James Glickenhaus) as our point of entry, but the conversation covers many classic, and relatively obscure, Vietnam war-themed movies. So join us as together we experience massive explosions, decapitations and industrial mincing machines. Do get in touch with us via Twitter...

To celebrate the recent publication of the book Norman J. Warren: Gentleman of Terror, we invited Dr Adam Locks back on the show to discuss his memories of the much-missed British director. As co-author, Adrian has basically used this podcast as an excuse to plug his own book, but hey! If he doesn't, who else will? Laura is made to watch the sci-fi/ D.H. Lawrence mashup Prey (1977) but does find some redeeming features. If you would like to get your own copy of the book (and why wouldn't...

Diamonds are Forever may not be considered one of the better James Bond films, but there is still much to love about Sean Connery's return to the franchise, as Laura and Adrian discover. Also on the podcast is Dr Llewella Chapman, whose excellent new book Fashioning James Bond: Costume, Gender and Identity in the World of 007 is available now. Do get in touch with us via Twitter - @secondfeatures - or by email - [email protected] - if you have any feedback or suggestions. We would...

This time we're delving into the dread-infused gothic world of Italian maestro Mario Bava with writer, academic and Italophile Dr Leon Hunt. His new book Mario Bava: The Artisan as Auteur, is out now as part of Blomsbury's fabulous Global Exploitation Cinemas series. Do get in touch with us via Twitter - @secondfeatures - or by email - [email protected] - if you have any feedback or suggestions. We would love to hear from you! Please also leave us a rating and a review wherever you...

Marty was the dork of Doddsville High. One day he got mad... then he got even! Join us as we enjoy the British slasher doing its best to be American, Slaughter High. Our guest for this episode is horror historian Dr Johnny Walker, Associate Professor in the Department of Arts at Northumbria University and expert in eighties horror and the VHS rental boom. You can find out more about Johnny's research on his website. You can find details of his current exciting research project 'Raising Hell:...

We start the new year by taking a swim with Argentinian superstar Isabel Sarli. Dr Victoria Ruétalo joins us to talk sexploitation, censorship, and the amazing thirty year filmmaking partnership between Sarli and her director Armando Bo. We mention several sources in the episode, so as promised here is a list of things to check out: "Violence and Sex in the Work of Armando Bó and Isabel Sarli" by Victoria Ruétalo "Temptations: Isabel Sarli exposed" by Victoria Ruétalo Violated Frames: Armando...

It's Christmas and what better way to celebrate than with Hammer's first festive film, Curse of the Werewolf (1960, Terence Fisher). Joining the podcast this month is the University of Nottingham's Dr. Kieran Foster, who spent his PhD days in the dusty, cobweb-enshrouded vaults of the Hammer script archive at De Montfort University and survived to tell the tale. He is currently working on a monograph on the unmade Hammer films of the 1970s, and has recently co-edited a collection on unmade...

In this episode we go in search of Dracula's treasure with a Mexican masked wrestler and Dr Dolores Tierney, head of Film Studies at the University of Sussex. You can watch El Vampiro y el Sexo with English subtitles on Archive.org if you want to play along at home. Dolores wrote an excellent article on this film for the journal Porn Studies which you can find HERE, and the book chapter referred to in this episode can also be found HERE. Do get in touch with us via Twitter @secondfeatures or...

In this episode we are joined by Dr Adam Locks as we enter the sweaty world of bodybuilding and witness the birth of a Hollywood legend care of the fascinating documentary Pumping Iron (1977, George Butler & Robert Fiore). The documentary can be streamed via Amazon Prime, and the other documentary we mention, Raw: The Making of Pumping Iron, is available on YouTube. You can get in touch with us via Twitter @secondfeatures or our email [email protected]. We would love to hear...

For this episode we are exploring the wild world of Turkish exploitation cinema with the help of Dr Iain Robert Smith. If, like Laura, you have ever struggled to get through The Man Who Saved the World (Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam, 1982, Çetin Inanç), perhaps this deep dive will help encourage you to have another go! You can find the film in full, with English subtitles, on YouTube Ed Glaser's really great short documentary can also be found on YouTube This article on The Guardian is also pretty...

Join us and our special guest Professor Melanie Williams of the University of East Anglia as we discuss a somewhat forgotten 1960s classic! Be warned however, that some of the songs from Smashing Time will get stuck in your head for days... If you would like to find out more about the 1960s British Cinema project mentioned in the show you can find their fascinating blog here: 60sbritishcinema.wordpress.com You can get in touch with us via Twitter @secondfeatures or our...

Stagger out of your hibernation pod and join us in a dystopian Polish future world where all men have been wiped out as the result of an experimental chromosome bomb. In an underground world run entirely by women, what are two guys from an extinct age supposed to do? Listen to this latest Second Features episode on Sexmission (Seksmisja, Juliusz Machulski) to find out! To understand this unique post-apocalypse we are joined by Michal Oleszczyk, a teacher in film at the Liberal Arts department...

Just what exactly is a feminist slasher film, and do these two fit the bill? Get your pyjamas on, order yourself a pizza, lock all the windows and doors and then join us and our guest Dr Alice Haylett Bryan as we dissect Slumber Party Massacre and Slumber Party Massacre 2 and try to figure this out! You can get in touch with us via Twitter @secondfeatures or our email [email protected]. We wold love to hear from you! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join us for a blood-soaked discussion on this classic video nasty, an American remix of two equally classic Japanese films Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance and Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (both 1972, Kenji Misumi). Our guest this month is Dr Jonathan Wroot, an expert in Japanese cinema, and he gives us a fascinating overview of the history of this film, the original Lone Wolf series and its brother-in-arms, Zatōichi. Along the way we talk hip hop, blood pressure, Andy...

This month we discuss the Roger Moore-starring The Man Who Haunted Himself, which leads to us talking about eyebrow acting, James Bond (naturally), safari suits and knitwear modelling. We also welcome Dr Carolyn Rickards to tell us about her involvement in the AHRC-funded project 'The Eastmancolor Revolution and British Cinema, 1955-1985)', and the striking use of colour in this month's film. You can read Dr Rickard's excellent chapter "The Rise and Fall of the Colourful Corporate Fantasy in...

Here at last is the second episode of Second Features, featuring a lengthy discusion on Eskimo Nell (1975, Martin Campbell, UK), being embarrassed easily, the British sex comedy and whether it really was all that bad for the British film industry in the 1970s. Our guest is Professor Sue Harper, who has been involved in some fascinating research projects in this area. Her book, co-written with Justin Smith, is called British Film Culture in the 1970s: The Boundaries of Pleasure, and is...

Welcome to the first episode of Second Features, where we discuss the British horror classic Death Line (1972) and wonder why more people don't talk about how great it is. We are also joined by Paul Dobraszczyk, a lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, who has written and researched the spaces under London extensively. Could cannibals really exist down there? Just what is going on in those dozens of abandoned train tunnels and tube stations? Join us to find out. You can...