Fun Box Monster Podcast

40 Episodes
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By: Tristan Gallagher

Matt and Tristan dissect schlocky eighties horrors with love and try to make sense of films that may have dropped a few plot threads due to time and budgetary constraints.

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Fun Box Monster Podcast #272 : Halloween Resurrection (2002)
#275
Today at 3:15 PM

Do you like a little "tainment" with your danger? Well, you're in luck. Busta Rhymes is here to sate your needs for Kung Fu, Danger, Tainment, and F bombs. Matt and Tristan talk about 2002's Halloween Resurrection. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #271 Near Dark W/ Special Guest DJ Foxy!
#274
10/16/2026

A listener and friend of the podcast, DJ Foxy heard that we had never seen Near Dark, and dragged us kicking and screaming into the metaphorical daylight of this 80's classic. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #270 Hellhound: Hellraiser 2 (1988)
#273
10/02/2026

You're probably thinking that this is going to be one of those episodes where we talk smack about a really good movie that we actually like. Well...yeah. Kinda. But we both really like it? Matt and Tristan get their horror cards revoked by talking Hellraiser 2. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #269 Sleepaway Camp (1983)
#272
08/28/2026

Man. The world is against Angela. Luckily she has an impressive set of coping skills. Matt and Tristan talk Sleepaway Camp. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #268 - Hellraiser 3 : Hell on Earth (1992)
#271
08/14/2026

Well, I guess Cenobites are just whatever their job on earth was now. In a better world there would have been one dude who worked at a pizzeria and shot evil pizzas at people.

Matt and Tristan talk about Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #267 Syngenor (1990)
#270
07/23/2026

This movie has at least three times more Syngenor than any other movie I can think of.  Matt and Tristan talk about the 1990 movie Syngenor. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #266 Piranha II: The Spawning (1982)
#269
07/02/2026

Sure you've seen a Piranha movie. But Spawning? That's something you're only gonna get in Piranha 2: The Spawning. Matt and Tristan talk about James Cameraman's most successful film ever. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #265 The Mutilator (1983) FIXED!
#268
06/19/2026

When you sit down to watch a movie called "THE MUTLATOR" with that cover, you pretty much know what you're in for. Late 70's sitcom music. And lots of it. Also, a token amount of mutilating. This week Matt and Tristan watch the classic indy-slasher, The Mutilator. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #264 Nightwish (1989)
#266
05/29/2026

College. The one place where you can get class credit for being tortured by a madman and his brute henchman. Where getting into a tub in your skimpy underwear and projecting your inner most fears onto a CRT television is taken as par for the course. If you like green lights, goopy aliens, and Brian Thompson being incredibly Brian Thompson-y, you may enjoy Nightwish. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #263 Shredder Orpheus (1990)
#265
05/08/2026

I know. You're sick of hearing about yet another huge Hollywood blockbuster about a skateboarding rock star who reenacts the legend of Orpheus in a possibly post-apocalyptic Seattle made of shipping containers. But I promise, this one is different. Matt and Tristan talk, Shredder Orpheus. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #262 Pinocchio's Revenge (19960
#264
03/20/2026

Hey...talk about your wooden performances? Huh? Eh. What do you want. The Podcast's ad-free. Anyway, Matt and Tristan talk about Pinocchio's Revenge. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #261 Nightbreed (1990)
#263
03/06/2026

If you took the Freaks, The X-Men, and Cats and mixed them up in a big bowl, you would get a big goopy mess not dissimilar to the movie Nightbreed. The studio totally screwed it over, it's an incomprehensible mess in places, but I still love it. Matt and Tristan go to Midian where the monsters live for Nightbreed. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #260 Skinned Deep (2004)
#262
02/04/2026

Somewhere between genius and absolute idiocy lies Skinned Deep. What a weird movie. I love it, you should watch this nonsense. Matt and Tristan talk Skinned Deep. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #259 Jack Frost (1997)
#261
01/14/2026

     Did you know that inside this amazing lenticular VHS box is an actual movie? It's true!

     When a truck of "Genetic Material" hits a truck carrying notorious serial killer "Jack Frost" in the sleepy little town of Snowmanton, an immortal killer snowman is born, and orgy of Christmas themed mayhem is set off.

     (Also, this was great for the video store prank where you'd swap all the Michael Keaton movies with it, and traumatize some little kids.)

 Matt and Tristan talk Jack Frost. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #258 : Gingerdead Man (2005)
#260
12/31/2025

This eye opening documentary show the true dangers inherent in running an independent bakery. If it's not rats and shady business men, it's a murderous Gary Busey turned into cookie golem by black magic. Matt and Tristan talk Gingerdead Man!


Fun Box Monster Podcast #257 Return Of Swamp Thing (1989)
#259
12/05/2025

One of the standout characters of the muck-man invasion of the seventies, Swamp Thing has been many things to many people over the years. He was a monster, an environmental activist, but most importantly a plant. Watching him punch monsters, punch goons, and punch scientists, I couldn't help but think to myself...what incredibly plant-like behavior. Matt and Tristan answer the eternal question, is Swamp Thing a rubber suit who dreamed he was a man, or a man who dreamed he was a rubber suit? 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #256 - Endgame (1983)
#258
11/14/2025

The year is 2025. The only entertainment is Endgame. It's like the Running Man, but boring. Plus, you can just take off half way through and nobody says anything about it. Matt and Tristan enjoy the dirt-bike and machine-gun-fight delivery vehicle known as, Endgame. 


Halloween III: Season of The Witch (1982)
#257
10/31/2025

We check in on what new shenanigans our old buddy the shape gets up to this time. This week Matt and Tristan pick up every stitch for the Samhain masterpiece, Halloween III. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #254 : Newlydeads (1988)
#256
10/17/2025

Would I say that Newlydeads has a modern sensibility that really speaks to an enlightened audience? Not really. Would I say that it has several exposed breasts and someone running neck first into a two person wood saw? Yes. Matt and Tristan talk about the movie with the least GLAD nominations for 1988, Newlydeads. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #253 Severed Ties (1992)
#255
10/03/2025

Severed ties was originally called "Army". Which is the kind of pun that works way better once you've already seen the movie. So Severed Ties it became. The specific ties being severed are limbs. They then grow back with a magic serum. Plus, they're evil and kill people. Matt and Tristan talk about one of 1992's best killer limb movie, Severed Ties. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #252 Virus (1999)
#254
09/12/2025

Virus is a movie directed by an FX legend. Directing...maybe not so much. Matt and Tristan talk Virus. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #251 Tales From The Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (1995)
#253
08/29/2025

When it comes to weird Christian themed monster movies featuring Billy Zane and a guy from Wings, it just doesn't get much better than this. Matt and Tristan talk Demon Knight. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #250 Night Life aka Grave Misdemeanors (1989)
#252
08/08/2025

Sometimes you see a movie that is so close to being a classic that it makes you sad. This is one of those movies. There's so much to love in this movie, but somehow it just never reaches its potential. Just like me. Matt and Tristan talk about the 1989 zombie sex-comedy-zombie-horror, Night Life. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #249 Superstition (1982)
#251
07/25/2025

Based on the Stevie Wonder song of the same name, Superstition fills in all the parts of the song where nobody was getting cut in half by sentient window frames. Matt and Tristan talk about the surprisingly fun 1982 haunted pond movie, Superstition. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #248 Revenge of the Red Baron (1994)
#250
07/11/2025

Do you like puns in a bad German accent? Well, tough. Revenge of the Red Baron is ostensibly a kids movie, but has a massive body count and the teen protagonist is a sociopath, but he is played by Toby McGuire, so he's a charming sociopath. Matt and Tristan talk about the kids(?) horror movie,  Revenge of the Red Baron. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #247 Stepmonster (1993)
#249
06/20/2025

You think you have problems...this family has to live with Alan Thicke! If that isn't bad enough, all the good comics about Trepopkins are $500. Matt and Tristan talk about Stepmonster,  the best movie that Amy Dolenz made that year. Probably. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #246 : Poltergeist III (1988)
#248
06/06/2025

In the third installment of the Poltergeist series, we're going to double down on the mistakes made in the second one and make them even bigger and more confusing. Are there moments of magical brilliance? Totally. Are there big swaths of walking up stairways and calling out someone's name like a lesser 70's Hammer movie? You betcha.  Matt and Tristan talk Poltergeist 3.


Fun Box Monster Podcast #245 Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
#247
05/23/2025

In the original Poltergeist a happy likable family, through no fault of their own, become the victims of a malevolent spectral force. In part two, the spectral force is there, but the happy likable family...is not quite as happy or likable. By adding too much Amityville and Shining to the mix, plus a tiny dash of xenophobia it misses the mark a bit. But there's still a lot to like about it. Matt and Tristan talk Poltergeist 2 : The Other Side. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #244 Grim (2005)
#246
05/02/2025

There's like a troll or something? I guess his name is Grim or maybe not. There's some caves. People walk a whole bunch. I guess there's a talisman that does something, but they lose it. Sometimes people's eyes go red.  Matt and Tristan talk about it for some reason. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #243 Firestarter (1984)
#245
04/18/2025

My toxic trait is that I would totally sign up for the lot 6 tests, even after that dude clawed his eyes out.  Join Matt and Tristan for the closest thing we got to an X-Men movie in the eighties, Firestarter. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #242 The Carrier (1988)
#244
04/04/2025

Ok. Big old trigger warning. If there's a thing that bothers you to hear discussed even in less than graphic detail (SA, animal deaths) this might not be the one for you. This is a pretty mean movie in places, and pretty incomprehensible in places so be forewarned. That said, on the good side it's a very impressive low budget movie that did a whole lot with not much. On the bad side, some of the not much was comprehensible dialogue and character motivation.  Matt and Tristan talk about the biggest little melt movie ever, The Carrier. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #241 : Exorcist 2 : The Heretic (1977)
#243
03/22/2025

Without a doubt, this is the best movie ever to feature James Earl Jones wearing a Locust mascot costume. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #241 Highway To Hell (1991)
#242
03/14/2025

This movie is a case study in how a generic title combined with a bad poster can sink even the best of movies into obscurity. How this thing isn't talked about CONSTANTLY is a downright tragedy. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #240 Curse 2 : The Bite (1989)
#241
02/28/2025

Turns out that the real Curse was the movie we all watched together. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #239 My Bloody Valentine (1981)
#240
02/15/2025

A special Valentine's Day episode! 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #238 976-Evil (1988)
#239
02/07/2025

Remember telephones? Well, if you do, there were these numbers you could call for psychics, sex talk, or drunken Santas. As it turns out, like the majority of capitalist enterprises, they were run by the devil. Join Matt and Tristan for the eighties best phone-based-satan movie, 976-Evil. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #237 : Cobra (1986)
#238
01/24/2025

Crime is the disease, he's the cure. He's going to inoculate society with a vaccine made of bullets. He's putting a cast on society's broken leg. A cast of punching. He's going to treat society's plantar fasciitis by pouring gas on it and setting it on fire. Matt and Tristan watch the Cannon films masterpiece, Cobra. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #236 The Lawnmower Man (1992)
#237
01/10/2025

In a town where lawnmowers are outlawed, one outlaw rises to cut lawns to a uniform height. Matt and Tristan talk about Lawnmower man. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #235 Graveyard Shift
#236
12/27/2024

In this Stephen King classic, several terrible Maine accents battle for supremacy in a mill full of rats. 


Fun Box Monster Podcast #234 Head Hunter (1988)
#235
12/06/2024

Evil Dead wind travels from Africa to Florida (Actually still Africa) to pop the heads off some folks who are just trying to enjoy their Voodoo in peace. Also, a guy is going through a divorce. Surprisingly more is said about that than the head popping.