David Christopher Bell

Aside from a couple original standouts, horror movies seem to trot out the same 5 or 6 monsters/killers/haunted board games each year. It’s The Fourth Life-Partner of Chucky (they’re not putting labels on things). Saw 3.14: Circular Saw! Oui-3: Revenge of the Ouija!

The ‘Saw’ joke isn’t even a joke. The 8th ‘Saw’ movie is coming out this year. There are no remaining Hollywood actors who haven’t been murdered by the Jigsaw killer.

To end the stale repetition put forth by the horror industrial complex, Alex Schmidt is joined by a panel of Cracked’s David Christopher Bell and Brett Rader, as well as comics Hallie Cantor, Greg Edwards and Danielle Radford to talk about 15 real life urban legends and folk monsters that deserve their own horror franchise that runs about four films too long.

Footnotes: https://goo.gl/Ra9XKN

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace (www.squarespace.com code: CRACKED).

The year was 1982, and John Carpenter was white hot. Coming off a string of successes like Halloween and Escape From New York, Universal Studios approached him to direct a remake of Howard Hawkes’ The Thing From Another World. The result was The Thing, a landmark sci-fi horror film that set the bar for practical special effects, creature design, and tin-can tension. And everyone hated it.

This week, Tom is joined by Cracked’s David Christopher Bell and comedian David Huntsberger as they discuss the construction of the incredible special effects for The Thing, the lengths Carpenter went to create a constant feeling of paranoia in the film, and how fantastically little of a shit Wilford Brimley gave about the whole operation.

Steven Spielberg month continues on Cracked Movie Club! Dinosaurs. Jeff Goldblum. A delightful old man in a linen suit. These are all key elements to the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, the biggest movie of all time (at the time). A movie so successful it changed movies. But Jurassic Park wasn’t the sure-thing success you might expect, because in the early 1990s, computer effects in movies were at a very rudimentary stage (think “cutscene from a Playstation 1 game”). Steven Spielberg and Co. knew that a dinosaur movie could be huge, but they had no idea how to actually create convincing dinosaurs. And they only had two years and about a quarter of the budget of the latest Transformers movie to figure it out.

On this episode of Cracked Movie Club, hosts Tom Reimann and Abe Epperson are joined by Cracked writer David Christopher Bell as they discuss the technical wizardry and near-supernatural ingenuity that went into making Jurassic Park. From the insanely layered sound design of one of the industry’s most famous sound effects creators, to the gigantic robotic dinosaur that encountered a problem eerily reminiscent of the difficulties Spielberg experienced with a certain mechanical shark, to the near-miss casting of Jim Carrey, we cover every aspect of Jurassic Park worth dazzling your friends with at your next party.

Believe it or not, the idea of the summer break wasn’t invented until very recently. Before kids got the summer off, school basically was the break from months of grueling farm work or any of the other countless horrors we subjected children to before modern labor laws. As people moved out of farming jobs into the cities and modes of transportation out of the cities became cheaper and more efficient, the travel and recreation industry took flight. 

By the end of the twentieth century, resort towns, roadside attractions and theme parks were a main staple of the summer vacation and a huge source of money for local economies. Or at least the ones you’ve heard of were.

On this week’s podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Cracked writers and editors David Christopher Bell and Tom Reimann to discuss the origins of the summer break, how Disneyland was built, and a weird catalogue of failed theme parks lost to history.

And if you’re in Los Angeles in July, make sure to come to our next live podcast taping. On Saturday July 8th at 7:00pm at the UCB Sunset Theatre, former zoo tour guide and current Cracked Podcast host Alex Schmidt will be joined by Cracked’s Daniel O’Brien and Katie Goldin as well as comedians Caitlin Gill, Joey Clift and Matt Kirshen as they discuss snakes, hippos, octopuses and every other animal that could Planet-0f-the-Apes us if they tried. Tickets are only $7 and available here: https://goo.gl/rVhzPC

Also, be sure to get caught-up on our Cracked Podcast mini-series ‘Looking the Part’ co-hosted by Soren Bowie and Daniel O’Brien. Each Friday, Soren and Daniel are taking a deep-dive into the theories and hidden meanings behind movie hair, costumes and make-up. They examine the cryptic psychological reason behind Superman’s dueling haircuts, why Ledger’s Joker has scars and Leto’s Joker has tattoos and a whole lot more. 

Check out episode 1 here: https://goo.gl/hwuUvB

Check out episode 2 here: https://goo.gl/81qZk3

And stay tuned to the Cracked Podcast for episode 3 this Friday.

Footnotes:

Article: Cracked: 8 Amusement Parks That Died Surreal and Bizarre Deaths: https://goo.gl/62P2xQ

Article: Slate: Do Kids Need a Summer Vacation: https://goo.gl/uVc9DB

Article: PBS: Debunking the Myth of Summer Vacation: https://goo.gl/ieCCvs

Article: Smithsonian Magazine: Where Was The Birthplace of the American Vacation: https://goo.gl/hiHiK8

Article: LA Times: How Disney Used Shell Companies To Start Its Magic Kingdom: https://goo.gl/1n8Lfj

Article: Disney Parks: Bob Foster and the Founding of a Disney Kingdom: https://goo.gl/wg5ArV

Article: Washington Post: This S.C. roadside attraction is garish, tacky and un-PC — but I stopped anyway: https://goo.gl/H3b4iV

Photo: Six Flags Over Texas: Map With Confederacy Land: https://goo.gl/r1b6ew

Photoset: Weather Channel: You Can Rent This ‘Wizard of Oz’ Them Park: https://goo.gl/1FkNwq

Article: Cracked: 6 Insane Summer Camps That Will Make You Wish You Were a Kid: https://goo.gl/CidkkH

Article: Cracked: 5 Disney Park Attractions You Won’t Believe Existed: https://goo.gl/uqFJ43

Article: Cracked: 6 Ways Fourth of July Used To Make ‘The Purge’ Look Tame: https://goo.gl/5Sthd1

Wikipedia: Shania Twain: https://goo.gl/3DvgrU