We know that we're a film podcast, but for this Halloween, our final treat is for the readers: S.T. Joshi, THE preeminent H.P. Lovecraft scholar in the entire world, takes time out of his busy schedule to stop on the podcast and take all things Lovecraft and horror. 

The author, professor, and all around enthusiast talks with Jim about how he first discovered the late weird fiction author, what drew him to the texts, why he loves the horror genre, how he reconciles his love of a racist author with being an Indian-American, and --- because it is a film podcast -- his thoughts on some of the best Lovecraftian films out there.

To keep up on all things Joshi is doing and has done, be sure to visit his website and read his blog!

Check out The Cast of Cthulhu on Twitter and email any questions or comments to moviesofmadness@gmail.com.

We're knee deep in Spooky Season, so it's about time that we stopped tricking everyone and delivering on the treats.

We loved Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham so much that we just had to bring on co-director Sam Liu to talk about his work and influences. The longtime comics and fan and director of many critically acclaimed DC animated titles talks about how he discovered Lovecraft through pencil & paper RPG games, his love of the tragedy of Batman, how to balance individual interpretation with fan service, and much more.

Keep up with Sam's work on Twitter and Instagram.

Check out The Cast of Cthulhu on Twitter and email any questions or comments to moviesofmadness@gmail.com.

"The expendable crew of a corporate space vessel must stop a murderous shape-shifting alien organism that somehow got on board." "The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating an unknown transmission."

One of those films is seminal horror film, Alien, and one of them is Japanese anime film, Lily C.A.T. Can you spot the difference? Since a discussion of one film is basically also a discussion of the other, this episode also touches a bit on the dubs vs. subs debate, including some discussion on the controversial character of Carl Macek and how he brought anime to the American mainstream in the 80s and 90s.

Who better to be the logical, unsentimental protagonist of a Lovecraftian journey into discovery than the world's greatest detective? This animated adaptation of a comic miniseries written by Mike Mignola demonstrates how seamlessly the themes of H.P. Lovecraft blend with, compliment, and --- at times -- even subvert  the age old themes and narratives that we've grown so accustom to with the Caped Crusader. 

If you're anything like us, then you saw the comments about this Portuguese-language horror film being called "one of the goriest films since Braindead" and laughed about it for the 20 or so minutes. Then they dragged Peroá's body into the cabaret in a fish net and boy, oh boy, do the blood and guts start flying!

You couldn't exactly call Dark Sea a good film, per se, but with writer/director Rodrigo Aragão very clearly wearing his Sam Raimi influence on his sleeve, you can't deny that it's pretty fun (and also, yes, very gory) despite the unexpected homophobia and seemingly nonexistent internal logic.

Check out The Cast of Cthulhu on Twitter and email any questions or comments to moviesofmadness@gmail.com.

If you have no interest in the boys discussing theoretical outcomes for Better Than You Bay Bay, then skip ahead to 12:28.

If you have no interest in a horror film with troubling sexual politics and which exploits the protagonist's vulnerability for wanting to be a mom to the point of making her a victim of creature rape, then skip ahead to the end of this film. The Deep Ones, weirdly attributed as "H.P. Lovecraft's" despite being based on no text or espousing any coherent mythology, may not be a Troma production, but writer/director Chad Ferrin certainly seems willing to live out some of its less savory traits.

Check out The Cast of Cthulhu on Twitter and email any questions or comments to moviesofmadness@gmail.com.

Sporting a 4.6/10 on IMDb and a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, Harbinger Down hasn't exactly imbedded itself indelibly in the public consciousness nor has it earned status as a cult classic. Still, costing just a shade over $380,000 via crowdfunding and created by Amalgamated Dynamics --  the guy's fucked over by the studio on 2011's The Thing -- is an admirable accomplishment, a film brought to life by effects artists who wanted to show the world what they could do. It shamefully wears its influences of The Thing and Alien on its sleeve, but if that's what brought Lance Henriksen to the project, we're here for it.

p.s. Could someone Photoshop us a movie poster for Harbinger White House Down?

Check out The Cast of Cthulhu on Twitter and email any questions or comments to moviesofmadness@gmail.com.

A horror anthology demands a discussion with someone who knows a thing or two about horror anthologies, so Jonathan Inbody of Gray Matter: An Acid Horror Anthology Podcast joins the podcast to discuss the truly weird and difficult to track down Necronomicon: Book of Dead from the long ago time of the 1990s when anthology films were still in vogue. 

Adapting 3 stories from Lovecraft -- very loosely -- Necronomicon is a quintessential 90s horror film filled with gnarly practical effects, troubling sexual politics, and important questions asked of the viewers such as "would you have sex with David Warner?" and "does Cthulhu want to have sex with that guy?" 

Listen to episodes of Gray Matter here and follow Jonathan on Twitter @graymattercast