Secret Handshake

KI-KI-KI! HA-HA-HA!

This Spooky Season we got hit with a metric fuckton of horror TV in both Mike Flanagan's CARRIE adaptation on Amazon, and the new FRIDAY THE 13TH prequel series, CRYSTAL LAKE, from A24 and Peacock. Do the boys think these new serialized entries stack up to their beloved works from the past? Grab your hockey masks and find out now.

NEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRDS!

Our DuoVision series on college comedies continues with a Marten Carlson Fave - 1984's REVENGE OF THE NERDS - along with Marten Carlson Discovery - the Crown International sex comedy curiosity JOCKS (1987). Are either of these movies still funny? Or are they simply rightfully forgotten byproducts of a bygone era? Get your ear goggles on, we're going on a panty raid!

We'd be great teachers...of what we have no idea. Two old guys go back to college to kick off a DuoVision mini-series with a couple of movies...about old guys going back to college. We paired the classic Rodney Dangerfield vehicle BACK TO SCHOOL (a professed Jacob Knight Classic) with the movie that basically gave us Will Ferrell, OLD SCHOOL (a certified Jacob Knight Hate Fest). So come out to the quad 'cause WE'RE GOING STREAKING!

Ciao boys! Marten's Eurocinema education continues, as fellas dive into the Italian underworld once again, exploring the trashy crime team ups between Umberto Lenzi and Tomas Milian. Scotch, machine guns and multiple car chases await!

Keep your eyes to the skies. The boys dive into the sci-fi driven portion of a young, up-and-coming filmmaker by the name of Steven Spielberg. Ever heard of him? In celebration of his late style masterwork, DISCLOSURE DAY, it's a dissection of all things alien, dinosaur, and robot. Dig in.

Someone (or something) has gotta keep us safe at night. Wrapping up this first round of DuoVision double features is a pair of aughts Jodie Foster thrillers from major auteurs: David Fincher's PANIC ROOM (2002) and THE BRAVE ONE (2007). Who knew the little girl from Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER would grow up to get her own vigilante blood bath? Not us.

We're back boys! Even when he's not donning cape + cowl as Batman, Michael Keaton is one of the weirdest and most interesting movie stars to emerge from the '80s, For their third installment of DuoVision, the fellas find themselves taking in the eccentric Pittsburgh actor's '90s thrillers: PACIFIC HEIGHTS and DESPERATE MEASURES.

Hellooooo baby! DuoVision returns with two Richard Gere thrillers (well, one's definitely a thriller and the other is...something else entirely. It's BREATHLESS and INTERNAL AFFAIRS, showing us the flipsides of one of Hollywood's most beautiful leading men. Jump in the car, we're getting all sweaty and nekkid with this one!

Welcome to DuoVision - a new, regular feature here at Secret Handshake where the boys pick a themed double feature and vibe out for an hour or so. Kicking the series off is a pair of "Kurt Russell gets cucked" '90s thrillers: 1997's BREAKDOWN and 1992's UNLAWFUL ENTRY! Will Kurt rescue his wife from an evil, truck-driving JT Walsh? And will his other spouse be seduced by slimy, scary boy in blue, Ray Liotta? Find out now!

Ciao Secret Handshake listeners! Marten's Italian genre cinema education continues with a crash course in gialli, courtesy of the undersung maestro of the genre, Sergio Martino. It's an episode filled with nothing but black gloves, razor blades, and beautiful ladies. Grab your bottle of J&B, it's gonna get very sleazy up in here.

"Look into the eyes of the Dragon...and DESPAIR!"

An episode long in the making, the boys dive into the wild filmography of John Boorman, as they watch the new documentary BOORMAN & THE DEVIL, travel to Chicago for Beyond Fest and see THE HERETIC on the big screen (via a beautiful 35mm print!), and finally devour his psychedelic King Arthur retelling on Arrow's terrific new 4K Blu. Fill up your pipe for this one, folks. We're getting super stoned.

Nobody knows anything about The Strangers, and that's what makes them scary. Nor does anyone know why you would reboot The Strangers into a min-requel trilogy of films that have been, to put it mildly, disliked by all (which makes the proposition of watching them terrifying). Still, despite the bad reviews, the boys dive into both this new iteration of the slasher franchise, as well as the wild career of its director, genre bad boy Renny Harlin.

Mass shooters! Religious cabals! Alien invaders! Despite their promises otherwise, the boys dive down another rabbit hole, exploring the wild, cerebral, and insanely irreverent filmography of Larry Cohen. Was the greatest voice of the '70s exploitation era? Find out here!

"A MAN WHO IS FREE NEVER DIES!"

Marten begins his journey through the annals of Italian exploitation cinema, with Jacob giggling along for the ride. His first stop: the violent, entertaining, marinara genre collaborations between Enzo Castellari and Franco Nero, including the acid trip spaghetti Western, KEOMA. Pick up a six-shooter and throw a tab on your tongue, we're going to Genoa!

Happy New Year! We took a quick break to settle in, but now we're back with all the killer monkey movies in celebration of Johannes Roberts' badass creature feature PRIMATE. A movie that answers the question: what if Cujo was a rabid chimp? Find out in our latest Bonus Episode.

Another one in the books! To celebrate a truly special year in cinema, the boys count down their favorite films of 2025. Did your personal picks make the cut? Find out!

Silly Caucasian boys like to play with samurai swords. With the unedited edition of KILL BILL finally hitting theaters, the fellas sit down with their buddy James Emanuel Shapiro to talk about Quentin Tarantino's magnum opus. Is it the best movie ever made, or the most movie ever made?

Ho ho ho motherfuckers, It's Christmas Time at Secret Handshake, so we fired up some of our favorite holiday set neo noir shoot 'em ups for old time's sake. Shane Black has always been one of the best, and it's time to tell you why.

It's not a podcast about Guillermo del Toro...it's a podcast with Guillermo del Toro in it. To commemorate the release of FRANKENSTEIN, the boys look back at El Gordo's artsy creature feature filmography, starting with one of Marten's all-time favorites: THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (2001). You might be surprised where their taste overlaps (and radically differs)!

Let's party! They boys head to their local mortuary (not to mention the Exhumed Films Horror Thon) to throw a Halloween party and end up getting menaced by some dirty, horny monsters with NIGHT OF THE DEMONS (1988). Are there razor blades hidden in those candy apples? Take a bite and find out.

BITCHES LEAVE! The boys break down the filmography of one of Jacob's heroes: the Mad Dutchman himself, Paul Verhoeven. How many Facemelters does one man have in his body of work? We're not sure, but we'd certainly buy them all for a dollar!

I am everyone. No one. Everywhere. Nowhere. Call me...Darkman. The boys talk about their favorite comic movie that's not actually adapted from a real comic: Sam Raimi's Darkman. Is it as good as they remember? And where does it place in their Raimi rankings? Find out.

Never stop recording, for fuck's sake! The boys delve deep into the found footage phenomenon, starting with Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza's deeply unsettling Spanish sensation, [REC]. Will anyone put the camera down, or will we see the last things they ever did before their untimely demises? Find out here.

WHY YOU CHASING ME?

WHY YOU RUNNING?

The boys are in hot pursuit of the filmography of Bad Boy Billy Friedkin, using his coked out '80s crime opus TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA as a jumping off point to discuss one of the great bodies of work in American cinema history. Will they catch Rick Masters in the process? Find out now.

If they move...kill 'em! The boys jump on their trusty steeds and make sure their iron's loaded as they head toward Mexico to interrogate the nasty, violent works of "Bloody" Sam Peckinpah, starting with his watershed transitional Western, RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY ('62). Saddle up for a long ride filled with booze, women, and many, many dead bodies as they bond over this essential filmmaker's output.

G'Day boys and girls! On this installment, the boys go Down Under to explore the wacky, wild world of Ozploitation, starting with Russell Mulcahy's psychedelic killer pic flick, RAZORBACK. Grab yer beers, as this one of those jam packed episodes with a bunch of titles you can't miss.

In dreams, I walk with you. In dreams, I talk to you. The boys return to say goodbye to the late, great David Lynch, celebrating one of his crowning achievements as America's foremost avant garde pervert: BLUE VELVET. Things get just as wistful as they do weird.

The Grim Reaper is quite active in 2025, so the boys decide to do the first of a few tribute episodes, this one in honor of the great character actor-cum-leading man, Mean Gene Hackman. Was he the greatest actor of his generation and why did he inspire so many of his colleagues (not to mention audience members)? The boys investigate one of the greats on this Bonus Episode.

It's Handshake, Secret Handshake. The boys are back after a brief hiatus and they brought one of their best buds, James Emanuel Shapiro (formerly of XYZ Films, Drafthouse Films and NEON), with them to talk 007. Now that the franchise is in the hands of big tech villains, will the world's greatest spy ever truly be safe? Find out now.

Another year in the books! For this Bonus Installment of SH, the boys break down their ten favorite films of 2024 (and may have already picked at least one film that will make their 2025 list!).

Big Nick Fever has hit Secret Handshake! To celebrate the release of DEN OF THIEVES 2: PANTERA, Jacob tries to convert Marten into being a Butler Boy and even makes him watch Gerard's HAS FALLEN trilogy (OLYMPUS/LONDON/ANGEL) for good measure. How does the first experiment of 2025 turn out? Tune in and find out!

Braaaaaaaains! For our last episode of 2024, the boys bust out what the consider the second best zombie movie of all time: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Send more cops! These things are hungry!

You have the right to remain silent...FOREVER! It's getting chilly out, so the fellas have decided to tackle NYC Grime Godfather Bill Lustig's winter nightmares, the MANIAC COP trilogy! Serve. Protect. KILL. Is this the finest collection of urban slashers? Find out now.

YAHHHHHHHHHHH! In celebration of his latest psychotic Facemelter (THE SHADOW STRAYS), the boys throw down over their favorite action filmmaker in the world right now: Timo Tjahjanto; tracing his roots back to his partnership with fellow Indonesian asskicker Gareth Evans. How much bodily damage can you endure? Find out here.

One of Marten's favorites is the focus of our 70th spine: Keith Gordon's anti-authoritarian prep school fantasy THE CHOCOLATE WAR. We pair it with three other Adam Baldwin-starring coming of age classics to highlight an underseen subgenre of American teen cinema. Crank up the Peter Gabriel, this is a weird one, folks.

The boys say the dreaded hook killer's name five times in front of the mirror to conjure...CANDYMAN. To close out Spooky Season '24, Jacob and Marten dissect what's arguably their favorite Clive Barker adaptation, not to mention one of the scariest films of all time.

You will not be saved by the Holy Ghost.

You will not be saved by the God Plutonium.

In fact, you will not be saved.

The boys debate whether John Carpenter's '87 anti-God particle exploring weird out is one of his secret masterpieces, while also diving into the enduring influence Nigel Kneale's QUATERMASS XPERIMENT. Stuffy guys contemplating the nature of evil in cramped rooms? What's more cinematic than that?

Bigfoot's comin' gonna getcha, gonna getcha! Spooky Season continues with a bevy of weird ass Bigfoot movies, including the all-time psycho monster movie transmission NIGHT OF THE DEMON (no, not that one...the other one!). What happens when a gay porn director is allowed to let Sasquatch tear a man's penis off onscreen? Well, somehow even weirded shit than that transpires in this gnarly classic. Let's roll into the woods, y'all.

We're your boyfriends now, Nancy! To kick off both the start of Season Six and Spooky Season, the boys dive into the filmography of Wes Craven and the last big slasher franchise they haven't covered in depth: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. How does Freddy stack up against the other slasher icons in SH's estimation? Tune in and find out.

For the final episode of our Summer of Brat(s) mini-series, we cover the films of the Brat Pack's defining nerd: no, not Anthony Michael Hall, but the Duck Man himself, Jon Cryer! Sure, you've seen him star in one of the worst sitcoms ever, but have you seen him in possibly the best teen movie of all time? Let's bring this one home with one of the boys' favorite movies: PRETTY IN PINK (plus HIDING OUT and Penelope Spheeris' DUDES!).