Tracks Of The Damned

Tracks of the Damned is a horror podcast hosted by Patrick Ripoll, in which every episode takes the form of a commentary track for a horror film.


James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

Bonus Episode Update

Patrick's already started recording Season 2. There will be 5 or 6 episodes already complete by the time July 7th rolls around. So if you'd like access to Season 2 episodes before they air, all you need to do is send a one-time donation of 20 dollars to one of the charities listed below and send proof to tracksofthedamned@gmail.com

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

S.1 E.18 - Blood Feast (1963) with Never-Before-Heard Herschell Gordon Lewis Interview

In 2016 the streets of Chicago are full of celebrations but in 1963 the streets of Miami were full of blood. Anyone can walk into a nudist camp and point a Bolex at some breasts, but it took a mad professor (Herschell Gordon Lewis) and his carny friend (David F. Friedman) to think of ripping a sheep's tongue out of a Swedish model's face in screaming color. Enter Blood Feast.

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

S.1 E.17 - Scream 4 (2011)

New decade, new cast, new blood, new rules? Well wait, let's pump our brakes a sec here, what are the rules of remakes? What do the remakes of The Fog and A Nightmare on Elm Street share, other than the fact that they both suck? So maybe the whole "someone's trying to remake the events of the original" angle is a bit clumsy, and maybe there's no actual reason for this movie to exist. But the Final Chapter (until the New Beginning) of this seminal slasher series does have some merit to it. At least, that's what Patrick would have you believe. Tessa Racked of Consistent Panda Bear Shape, on the other hand, remains unconvinced. And with no Parker Posey teeth-acting to admire, will they see eye to eye on anything?

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

S.1 E.15 - Scream 2 (1997)

Is there no justice in the world? There is no justice, there's just us. And what we have for you this week is a dive into the most frenzied shoot of Wes Craven's career, a movie with a tortured production that nonetheless managed to win over crowds and critics alike. A movie that dared to ask: Can a sequel be better than the original? The answer is: Yes, it's especially common in the horror genre, but not this time.

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

S.1 E.14 - Scream (1996)

Scream (1996) has many die-hard fans and many die-hard detractors, but it's impact on the horror landscape of the late 90's is undeniable and it's status as a slasher movie touchstone is untouchable. To celebrate the greatest month of the year, Patrick decides not just to celebrate one of the greatest slasher movies ever, but also all it's sequels of diminishing quality. Every Friday this month join Patrick on an odyssey down the rabbit hole that is the final years of Wes Craven's career.

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

S.1 E.13 - Jacob's Ladder (1990) feat. Jim Laczkowski of Directors Club

Who is that on the subway muttering to himself? The shell-shocked vet or the man with the tail or the faces you can't make out. Is it just me or is that bag twitching? Who said that? Who are these people at this party, why can't I breathe and who is my girlfriend dancing with and why can't I breathe and where lurks the Vibroman? Natural questions if you're the main character of Jacob's Ladder (1990). For Patrick and guest Jim Laczkowski of Director's Club, the questions are a little more specific: How does a director like Adrian Lyne make a movie like this?

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

S.1 E.12 - City of the Living Dead (1980) feat. Gabe Powers of DVDActive

Grab your best blow-up doll and get ready to puke your guts out. You can learn all the horror movies rules, grab a crucifix, holy water, and silver bullets, but none of it will help you. An undying hanged priest don't care about your logic. An undying hanged priest just wants you to suffer. Lucio Fulci really knew how to reach out and squeeze the audience's brain, and there's few films that prove that better than City of the Living Dead (1980). Bravely in lockstep with DVDActive's Gabe Powers, Patrick explores the finer points of the seminal Italian film and asks the big questions.

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

S.1 E.11 - 1st Annual Tracks of the Damned Short Horror Film Festival

Among the twisted sights you'll witness in these seven films are blood-drinking Barbies, cats hiding in men's bodies, nightmarish altered-states, blood soaked ventriloquist dummies, ants crawling out of hands, and James Mason losing his goddamned mind. With the help of Jim Laczkowski, Daniel Baldwin, Chris Olson, and Samm Deighan, Patrick takes you on a journey through some of the weirdest and wildest short horror films ever made, all of which you can watch right here, on the internet.

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James Laczkowski James Laczkowski

S.1 E.10 - Troll 2 (1990) feat. a merry band of drunken delinquents

Ho boy. Ok folks, this one is a little different. Patrick took a five day trip to Salem, Massachusetts with his partner Tessa Racked to visit their friends: actress Jess Conger-Henry and theater programmer Nick Henry. He fully intended to spend all five days steeping in the rich history of Salem to return with a 4 hour lecture on witchcraft, witch hunts, the effects of historical tourism on modern day neo-pagan landscape, and the broader sociological and metaphysical implications of polytheistic cultural preservation in Western society.

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