This episode of Cinema Junkie serves up a Halloween Double Dare, playwright Michael Mizerany and I dare you to listen to a pair of his one-act horror plays. So turn out the lights, put on some headphones and enjoy an audio treat while sheltering at home this Halloween. Please note the plays contain explicit language and mature content. "Johnny and Babs Versus the Apocalypse" by Michael Mizerany Babs: Sydney Joyner Johnny: Marc Caro Stage Directions: David Janisch Inspired by the film "Night Of The Living Dead," "Johnny and Babs Versus the Apocalypse" chronicles a terror-filled evening replete with COVID chaos, civil unrest, flesh eating zombies. and sibling bickering. "Die Already!" by Michael Mizerany Branigan: Tyler Lloyd Chase: Quincy Bazen Jordan: Kevin Phan Gary: SeeJay Lewis Stage Directions: David Janisch A spoof of every horror film ever made where the killer just won’t stay dead, "Die Already!" tells the bloody tale of a one-night stand gone horribly, horribly wrong. Music for both plays was composed by Phil Nenna, who also created the Cinema Junkie theme music.

San Diego Asian Film Festival's artistic director Brian Hu gives Cinema Junkie a preview of the most exciting films from Johnnie To's new boxing romance to Lav Diaz' epic Philippine melodrama to zombies in the Taiwan parliament. Festival runs Oct. 23 through 31 with Mystery Kung Fu Theater streaming live on Twitch!

Can films help us remember history so that we don't repeat it? That's the question Cinema Junkie poses to Kimber Quinney, professor of history at Cal State San Marcos, and Antonio Iannotta, artistic director of the San Diego Italian Film Festival. We look at the rise of fascism in Italy in the 1920s, 30s and 40s to see what lessons we might be able to learn that might apply to the U.S. right now. We discuss films such as "Rome, Open City," "Anni Difficilli," "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis," and "Christ Stopped at Eboli."

The 27th Annual San Diego Latino Film Festival streams its first virtual edition now through Sept. 27 and the film choices push the envelope in terms of diversity and cinematic styles. I speak with festival founder/executive director Ethan Van Thillo about the challenges of moving the event online and with exhibitions manager Moises Esparza about showcasing emerging filmmakers drawn to themes of unrest and revolution.

As the real world feels scarier each day with a pandemic in full swing, police brutality and people just behaving badly filling social media, and a president fanning the flames of hate and unrest, the horror genre has had to adjust. This year's Horrible Imaginings Film Festival has had to move online for its annual showcase of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. Festival founder and executive director Miguel Rodriguez says that the films this year serve up less gore and tales of physical harm and instead focus on horror relating to undefined dread, to not being able to distinguish what's real from what's not, and to stories where you just can't figure out what it is that is trying to hurt you. We discuss the diverse array of shorts, features and documentaries available through Sept. 7 as well as discuss the role horror can play in a world that makes us increasingly anxious.

Get a first look, I mean, listen, to Troma Entertainment's latest film "#Shakespeare's Sh--storm." Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman talks with me about finally being old enough to play Prospero in his 100% Troma-tized adaptation of the Bard's "The Tempest." We also talk about being kicked off YouTube, starting a streaming channel, and surviving more than four decades outside Hollywood as a truly independent film studio. But be warned, this podcast contains potentially offensive material because, well, it's all about Troma, which specializes in gross-out, gore-filled, politically incorrect yet somehow endearing z-grade films. But if you don't know Troma, maybe don't listen. You've been warned!

As if the zombies knew a real pandemic was heading our way, there was a surge of undead films in 2019 with more than a dozen infecting cinemas. So as we deal with a real pandemic Cinema Junkie gets its annual check up with the Doctor of the Dead, Arnold T. Blumberg, whose diagnosis is that COVID is ruining the fun of the zombie apocalypse by giving us something far scarier in the willful ignorance of humans facing the coronavirus in the real world. So to celebrate the 200th episode of the podcast we discuss zombies in the time of coronavirus, and what we might learn from them. Blumberg has written books on zombies, film, and pop culture, and teaches courses using zombies as well as superheroes.

Everything you need to know you can learn from zombies. Author Max Brooks pretty much laid out a lot of what we're been dealing with during this coronavirus pandemic in his novel "World War Z" that came out in 2006. He will have a virtual panel at this year's Comic-Con@Home called "Zombies and Coronavirus: Planning for the Next Big Outbreak." Brooks says of his panel, "People can expect to hear us discuss this real plague that we're dealing with. But through the metaphor of zombies, because the best tool of education is pop culture." His panel is at noon on July 24 but the YouTube link will remain on the Comic-Con Channel even after the convention ends, which allows anyone to watch the discussion any time. We also discuss his new book "Devolution." I know this is not cinema but it is zombies, which I love, and Brooks is the son of filmmaker/comedian Mel Brooks and film actress Anne Bancroft so there is a cinema connection! In addition to his writing, Brooks holds duel fellowships at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and the Modern War Institute. Check out a podcast that aims for the head.