Morally Offensive

In Part 1 of our two-part episode on Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Morally Offensive takes a look at the Catholic Legion of Decency’s censorship records (courtesy of the Academy Film Archive) and the crew discover that James Whale’s classic Universal monster movie had some very specific problems for Joseph Breen and company. The objections include exposed breasts, a priest getting injured by Frankenstein’s Monster, a baby wetting its diaper, and the Monster attempting to pull Jesus off the cross. Apparently, even a family classic like the Bride of Frankenstein wasn’t safe from a little Catholic pearl clutching.

We...

Bill and Stephanie are joined once again by the winner of the Milwaukee Film Silent Auction, Bill's Sister-In-Law, Shannon, for episode two on Basic Instinct (1992), as part of the American Giallo series. They really try hard to make it through the plot of the movie, but when a movie is built around intense, often ludicrous, sex and violence, it’s hard to get very far without asking some uncomfortable questions about the people who made it. Doubly so, if your podcast is about Catholic moralizing and pearl-clutching.

Sharon Stone’s infamous interrogation scene becomes a sticking point as t...

For the next installment in their American Giallo series, Bill and Jess are joined by Shannon, Bill’s sister-in-law and the winner of the Milwaukee Film Silent Auction prize to guest on the show, to discuss Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct (1992). Starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, this erotic thriller inspired protests from the religious right, feminists, and the LGBTQ community, all for very different reasons. The question is: Was there overlap with the Catholic review from the Catholic Film Office? Why did THEY condemn the movie?

The crew get into the movie’s reputation, its depiction of bis...

When we initially released this episode, in the early days of the podcast, Cisco had temporarily returned to the Movie Buffs podcast, and film curator and writer Stephanie Sack stepped in to the fill the void. We had no idea if we would keep going, we had no clue that our Devils episode would help us reach an entirely new audience, and we certainly did not anticipate Warner Brothers FINALLY re-releasing an uncut, restored version of Ken Russell's vision. We were joined by film and TV producer/writer/ghost hunter/sex expert Ken Melvoin-Berg (Sex with Sunny Megatron on...

In Part Two of our discussion of The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), Bill and Kevin are joined by Ben Schneider from Reel Beans Podcast, and finally get into the movie itself. As part of the continuing American Giallo series, they walk through the plot, dig into the production and behind-the-scenes history, and see whether the Catholic reviews from Part One actually hold any weight.

The crew goes over Faye Dunaway’s performance, Tommy Lee Jones' moralizing detective, the film’s strange blend of murder mystery and 1970s thriller, and the Helmut Newton fashion photography at the center of i...

Bill and Kevin are back with another installment in the American Giallo series, and this time we’re staring directly into The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) with Ben Schneider from Reel Beans Podcast. In Part One, the guys dig through the Catholic reviews and internal memoranda on Irvin Kershner’s Faye Dunaway thriller, and apparently the “Catholics” had some thoughts. One reviewer dismissed the movie as “twaddle,” another wrote it off as grocery store schlock, and then there’s the surprisingly thoughtful review from one B.F. Dick. Yes...that's actually his name.

We also get into the bizarre sc...

Since the Spooky Season is upon us, and we've gained a LOT of new listeners over the summer, we decided to restore one of our best early episodes, which unfortunately experienced technical difficulties during the recording process. Our Exorcist episode was famously interrupted by demons that got into our recording gear and caused a host of tech issues (or so the TikTok Exorcists tell us). As a result, we were never fully happy with the finished product. Now, armed with the very same technology used to restore John Gielgud's big speech in Caligula, we have improved the audio as...

Bill and Jess continue their American Giallo series with Cisco Scartozzi for the second half of Brian De Palma’s Body Double (1984). Once again, Cisco is playing defense for De Palma, and Jess is dissecting some of the less savory subtexts within his films. This time, we dig into the behind-the-scenes stories surrounding the film’s second half, including the casting of Melanie Griffith, De Palma’s obsession with the Hitchcock blonde, and the unexpected Frankie Goes to Hollywood music video that splits the movie in half.

We also get into the movie’s wildly uneven tone, its mix...

Do you like dirty movies? Did you grow up Catholic? Did you not grow up Catholic, but dislike censorship? Are you passionate about the history of film? Do you enjoy discussing film in the context of the past as well as modern social issues? Do you enjoy hearing weird personal anecdotes about DIY Exorcisms, being condemned by your own parents, or having your entire high school banned from a cathedral? Are you looking for a film podcast made by a bunch of native midwesterners who unironically use the word "Ope"? Then, this podcast MAY be for you!

In this episode of Morally Offensive, Bill and Jess are joined by former co-host Cisco Scartozzi to take on Brian De Palma’s Body Double (1984), a voyeuristic erotic reimagining of Vertigo packed with Hitchcock references, murder, sex, bright red blood, and some of De Palma’s most controversial ideas about the male gaze, desire, and women.

We read the Catholic condemned review of Body Double and dig into De Palma’s career, his obsession with Hitchcock, and the ongoing debate over his treatment and sexualization of violence against women. Jess is firmly anti-De Palma, with Carrie as the no...

In Part 2 of Morally Offensive’s deep dive into Alice, Sweet Alice (1976), Bill and the gang look beyond the film’s Catholic imagery to examine director Alfred Sole’s career and the real-world religious and psychological ideas lurking beneath the movie’s murders, masks, and First Communion.

The episode explores Sole’s two later feature films and his career as a production designer, before turning back to the film’s depiction of Catholicism and mental health. The discussion digs into the Catholic fear of therapy and the recurring cultural idea that confession can serve as a substitute for psycholo...

In Part One of their two-part deep dive into Alfred Sole’s Alice, Sweet Alice (1976), Bill and Kevin are joined by Janecka Deer of Scream Queen Podcast to explore a now-classic Catholic adjacent horror films of the 1970s.

Set in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1961, Alice, Sweet Alice follows twelve-year-old Alice Spages as her younger sister Karen prepares for her First Communion. When Karen is murdered, a mysterious figure in a translucent mask sets off a disturbing mystery involving childhood, first communion, puberty, family dysfunction, and violence.

Bill, Kevin, and Janecka dig into the film’s reli...

This week on Morally Offensive, past guest Ophelia Crane returns for Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971), Roger Vadim’s deeply unpleasant high school sex comedy/murder mystery, written by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. We ask the question: Why does Quentin Tarantino LOVE this movie?

We get into Roger Vadim’s sleazy history, Roddenberry’s involvement and our subsequent ruining of Star Trek for ourselves, the curious casting of Rock Hudson, and Angie Dickinson shedding her Police Woman uniform. Or is it Lady Cop? Woman Cop!? Cop Woman!? Plus: Telly Savalas, every 1971 auntie's favorite sex symbol (eviden...

In Part 2 of Morally Offensive’s American Giallo deep dive into Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill (1980), Bill, Jess, and Ava Davis get into the cast, production, infamous shower scene, and the choices that made Dressed to Kill one of the most controversial films of Brian De Palma’s career. The discussion looks at the film’s place between Italian giallo, Hitchcockian thriller, erotic thriller, and American horror, while taking a closer look at what has and has not aged well in De Palma’s most provocative work.

The episode examines the controversial use of Victoria Lynn Johns...

Bill and Jess are joined by filmmaker and actor Ava Davis to kick off their discussion of Brian De Palma's highly controversial film Dressed to Kill (1980). Starring Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, and Keith Gordon, Dressed to Kill blends Hitchcockian suspense with the stylish murder mysteries of Italian giallo, helping define the American Giallo movement while becoming one of the most influential psychological thrillers of the 1980s. Upon its release, the film ignited fierce debate over violence, sexuality, gender, artistic freedom, and censorship, and more than four decades later it remains one of Brian De Palma's most celebrated...

Bill and Kevin are joined once again by Milwaukee journalist Michail Takach to conclude their discussion of American Gigolo (1980), the first film in the American Giallo series.

The conversation covers the film's second half, from Julian Kaye's downfall to its quietly redemptive ending. Bill argues that Paul Schrader's screenplay, informed by the filmmaker's strict Calvinist upbringing in rural Michigan and the spiritual questions that run throughout his work, ultimately tells a deeply Christian—and even distinctly Catholic—story of grace, redemption, and transformation. Drawing comparisons to Robert Bresson's Pickpocket, the hosts revisit the Catholic reviews discussed in Part...

Bill and Kevin kick off a brand new season of Morally Offensive with American Giallo, a series exploring American thrillers from the 1970s through the 1990s that borrow the style, themes, and visual language of Italy's legendary giallo films.

Their first stop is American Gigolo (1980), Paul Schrader's sleek and controversial neo-noir starring Richard Gere in the role that transformed him into an international star. Joining them is Milwaukee journalist and LGBTQ historian Michail Takach to examine how the film blends erotic thriller, crime drama, psychological character study, and high fashion into one of the defining American films...

Bill and Stephanie are joined once again by author and screenwriter J. Patrick Hanley for part two of their discussion of Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45 (1981), the controversial cult classic revenge thriller starring Zoë Tamerlis Lund. This episode focuses on the film's second and third acts as Thana evolves from a traumatized garment worker into one of the most infamous vigilante figures in 80s exploitation cinema. The conversation explores Thana's origin story as a female vigilante, and how Ms. 45 fits within the rape-revenge subgenre alongside other landmark exploitation and horror films of the 1970s and 1980s. 

More than forty ye...

Bill and Stephanie are joined by author and screenwriter J. Patrick Hanley to discuss cradle Catholic Abel Ferrara's cult classic Ms. 45 (1981), one of the most controversial, influential, and widely debated revenge films of the 1980s.

The conversation explores the film's place in New York exploitation cinema, Ferrara's early career, and the unforgettable performance by Zoë Tamerlis Lund as Thana, a mute garment worker whose life is shattered by violence and her autonomy reclaimed through bloody revenge. Patrick, Bill, and Stephanie dig into what makes Ms. 45 so unsettling decades later: its refusal to offer easy catharsis, its grim p...

Co-Hosts Dr. Jess and Bill are joined again by Tif Robinette for part two of their series on The First Omen (2024), focusing on the film’s third act, religious horror themes, and connections to the larger Omen franchise.

They get into the film’s cinematography, the obvious influence of Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, and the way director Arkasha Stevenson blends psychological horror, Catholic horror, and themes of bodily autonomy, pregnancy, and church control. The conversation also turns toward modern politics, the Antichrist as a political figure, and why certain strains of reactionary Catholicism seem less concerned with mor...

Bill and Jess are joined by horror author and screenwriter Tif Robinette for the first of a two part discussion on The First Omen. What starts as a conversation about the newest entry in the Omen franchise turns into a much larger discussion about Italy in the 1970s, institutional power, the antichrist, apocalypse, conspirituality, and what this films does to differentiate itself, while still being part of an iconic horror franchise.

The episode covers the Years of Lead and the atmosphere of political violence hanging over the period the film is trying to recreate, along with discussions...

Bill and Stephanie are joined once again by returning guest Christopher Hoppe, previously heard on the show’s Stigmata episode, to discuss the notorious 1979 nunsploitation film Killer Nun starring Anita Ekberg and Joe Dallesandro. Inspired by a real, true crime case, the film follows Sister Gertrude, a morphine dependent nun whose grip on reality steadily collapses inside a convent hospital.

The episode covers the strange intersection of Catholic imagery, Italian exploitation cinema, psychological horror, and late 1970s grindhouse filmmaking, along with Anita Ekberg’s career after La Dolce Vita and the larger wave of controversial religious horror film...

In Part II, Bill and Stephanie get into the plot of Benedetta, and break down the story, the performances, and why this film stirred up so much controversy around Catholic mysticism, sainthood, visions, and miracles. They are once again joined by co-host of the Leave, Laugh, Love Podcast, Veronica Novotny, who once contemplated convent life.

In this episode, the three address Benedetta’s ecstatic visions, the plague backdrop of the film, they address THAT Virgin Mary statue, and ask whether or not the Pear of Anguish was actually a commonly used torture device during the witch trial an...

Bill and Stephanie are joined by Veronica (Leave, Laugh, Love) to talk about Benedetta—starting with her own experience discerning religious life, and the moment that path ended when she was denied entry to a convent because she’s a lesbian.

From there, the conversation moves through fundamentalist Catholic spaces and the charismatic movement, touching on ideas like vocation, discernment, religious orders, and what it actually means to be “called” in a system with hard boundaries.

We also get into the reaction to Benedetta, including a harsh condemnation from Tradition, Family, Property and a more favorabl...

This week on Morally Offensive, Bill, Jess, and special guest Syd King dive into The Little Hours—a medieval comedy where the nuns are anything but devout. Set in a 14th-century convent, the film follows a group of wildly unrestrained sisters who drink, swear, and terrorize the local help…until a fugitive posing as a deaf-mute handyman shows up and turns everything sideways.

What starts as a chaotic character study quickly spirals into a mix of lust, power plays, religious hypocrisy, and naked dancing in the woods. Along the way, the crew unpacks how the film pulls from...

This week, Bill and Jess are joined by comedian, actor, and writer Syd King to talk The Little Hours—a movie where nuns drink too much, swear constantly, and ignore basically every rule they’re supposed to follow. Loosely based on The Decameron, it’s equal parts historical weirdness and modern comedy. We get into the Catholic angle, the controversy (or lack of it), and why this kind of story keeps coming back. 

In episode one, find out why Bill Donahue called the movie "Pure Trash", why a fringe Catholic Cult protested the movie (with bagpipes!), discover the exi...

In Part 2 of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), we get into what happens when Jesus stops being a mere prophet, and is named "king" by his followers. Bill, Kevin and guest Orion Couling talk fame, ego, pressure, and why nobody in this movie seems to have a handle on what’s a-happenin' (including Jesus).

Diversions include: stealing from David Brubeck, why the Apostles have a Hobbit problem, what you would buy with your 30 pieces of silver, and St. Peter actor Paul Thomas' storied adult film career post-JC Superstar.

This is another episode in our Filthy Habits series, wh...

Jesus Christ Superstar is the musical that dared to ask: "What if the Gospels...but hippies?"

This week on Morally Offensive, Bill and Kevin are joined by actor, filmmaker, ghost tour guide (and former Judas) Orion Couling to break down Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). Along the way, expect some truly off-key singing as we dive into one of the most controversial religious films ever made.

We read through Catholic reactions ranging from outright condemnation to surprising praise, including claims that even the Pope was a fan, and unpack what made the film so divisive. Then we...

Bill and Jess continue their two part deep dive into the classic film Black Narcissus (1947) as part of the new Morally Offensive series Filthy Habits. Joining them, once again, is film director Dalila Droege (No More Time).

In part two - they discuss the film’s back half, where everything starts to come apart. Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) loses her grip on the order, while Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) finds her commitment to her vocation quickly disintegrating. The crew and their guest discuss Byron’s performance and how it reads today, especially in the context of dated portra...

Bill and Jess begin a two part deep dive into the classic film Black Narcissus (1947) as part of the Morally Offensive series Filthy Habits, where the show examines religion, repression, and scandal in films about nuns and clergy. Joining them is film director Dalila Droege to help unpack one of the most visually stunning and psychologically intense films of the 1940s.

This episode also introduces a new format for the show. Before diving into the movie itself, the hosts examine Catholic reactions and reviews of Black Narcissus. Religious critics have long been divided about the film’s th...

In this episode of Morally Offensive, Bill and Jess are joined by horror author Ophelia Crane to dig into the Oscar-nominated film Sinners—and the very different reactions it’s sparked. The trio wades into Catholic reviews of the movie and what they reveal about how religious critics approach controversial art, while also exploring the film’s bigger ideas about religion, colonization, and the long history of cultures borrowing—sometimes stealing—stories, music, and folklore.

Along the way, the conversation touches on Catholic film criticism, horror traditions, cultural ownership, and the strange moment when theology collides with awards sea...

In this episode of Morally Offensive, co-hosts Bill and Stephanie continue their series on X-rated films with Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Originally released with an X rating, the film remains one of the most controversial titles in cinema history, raising enduring questions about violence, free will, censorship, and state power.

Guest John Enroth, composer (Regular Show, Interior Chinatown), joins the discussion to examine Wendy Carlos’s electronic score, Kubrick’s use of Beethoven, and the role of music as psychological control and moral irony.

The episode places A Clockwork Orange within the history of the...

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) is an X-rated studio film written by Roger Ebert, directed by Russ Meyer, and still more culturally radioactive than most modern movies. So we had to talk about it.

This week on Morally Offensive, the ex-Catholic hosts are joined by Matt Harding of Severin Films to dig into Meyer’s psychedelic cult classic and its strange place in American film history. We unpack Roger Ebert’s involvement in the script, Russ Meyer’s obsession with buxom women, and how that fixation shaped both the visual language and politics of his films.

...

This week on Morally Offensive, Bill and Kevin dig into the origins and impact of John Waters’ Pink Flamingos. The crew is joined by Bryan Wendorf of the Chicago Underground Film Festival and Thomas Bottoms of Bottoms of the Barrel to trace Waters’ early years making films in Baltimore, from DIY shorts and church-basement screenings to cultivating an audience far outside the mainstream.

We break down the production of Pink Flamingos, the creation of Divine as a transgressive screen icon, and how the film’s deliberate provocation helped spark outrage, fascination, and the rise of the midnight movie...

In this Christmas episode of Morally Offensive, Jess and Bill take a deep dive into Black Christmas (1974), the landmark horror film that helped define the slasher genre several years before Halloween. Joining them is Professor Eric D. Wesselmann, who brings an academic lens to Bob Clark’s deeply unsettling and surprisingly nuanced film.

The conversation covers the film’s complex female characters, the origins of the “the call is coming from inside the house” trope, and how Roe v. Wade and second-wave feminism shaped the movie’s themes and cultural reception. 

A holiday episode about horror, dep...

This week on Morally Offensive, everybody's talking (okay its just Kevin and Bill) with singer/songwriter (and former film student) Stefanie Joyce about the ONLY X-Rated Film to win Best Picture, Midnight Cowboy. The film features a young Jon Voight as an aspiring sex worker who runs from his past in a small Texas town, toward the bright city lights of Broadway and 42nd St. While unsuccessfully attempting to get into the game, he runs into Ratso Rizzo (a young Dustin Hoffman), a small-time hustler who gets by on petty theft and squating in an abandoned apartment building.

Bill and Stephanie sit down with Thomas Negovan to discuss the restoration of Caligula: The Ultimate Cut and how he and an editor pieced the film back together. Thomas explains how they uncovered hours of never-before-seen footage and used it to assemble a version of Caligula that reflects what was originally filmed, offering a clearer look at the movie’s intended narrative.

The episode also explores Bob Guccione’s controversial attempt to reshape Caligula in the edit, the bizarre choice to make an additional R-rated release, and of course the Catholic Reviews from the time. The crew gets...

Warning: This episode covers an actual adult movie, and contains discussions about graphic sexual topics.

In this episode of Morally Offensive, the first in our "X-Rated" series, we explore the cultural earthquake sparked by the 1972 film Deep Throat with special guest Mark Covino, director of the award-winning documentary A Band Called Death. We dive into the rise of 1970s “porn chic,” the collapse of the Hays Code, the creation of the X-rating, and how a low-budget film became a mainstream phenomenon seen by public figures like Jackie Onassis and Truman Capote.

We also examine the Cath...

Stephanie and Bill head on up to the lab, to see what's on the slab...and it turns out it's The Rocky Horror Picture Show (celebrating it's 50th anniversary!), a cult classic that started as rebellion and transformed into a midnight movie ritual. With special guest props expert and technical theatre professional Jeffrey Rockey, they dig into the history of the movie that became a cultural touchstone, especially for Catholic school kids who found they didn't quite fit in.

Jeff talks coming out, Bill shares the story of how he originated the first stage role of the...

In this episode of Morally Offensive, we revisit the 1995 cult classic Mortal Kombat, the movie that brought video game violence, bad CGI, and 90s martial arts chaos to the big screen. We dig into Catholic reviews of the film, including one that blames stuffed-crust pizza and child day planners for the future downfall of civilization.

We talk about the movie, it's place in 90s pop culture, our mutual experiences with the game series, the panic surrounding video game violence, the mammoth status of its CD soundtrack, a brief history of Belgium New Beat, and a tangent about...