It's the Spooktacular 2026 finale! Gene and Big D close out horror season with Wes Craven's 1991 social horror comedy The People Under the Stairs, commissioned by listener Chris H (aka Trucker Seaman). A young boy breaks into his landlords' house and discovers a dark secret in the walls — but is this movie a horror film, a kids adventure, a social satire, or an unholy mix of all three?

Big D had never seen it. Gene hadn't watched it since childhood, when it scared the hell out of him on VHS. Together they unpack whether Craven's ambitious mashup of gentrification commentary, Goonies-style treasure hunting, and R-rated gore holds up — or collapses under its own weight.

In this episode:

• Did Tarantino steal the gimp suit scene for Pulp Fiction? Gene makes the case that Ving Rhames' casting traces directly back to this film
• Big D argues the entire movie was written backwards — the ending came first, and everything else was engineered to service it
• Gene reveals The People Under the Stairs is basically The Goonies: "You don't need the Fratellis, you don't need the body in the freezer, you don't need Sloth"
• The R-rating debate: should a movie starring a kid looking for gold coins really feature skinned bodies and severed hands?
• "Fuck Prince" — the first movie where Gene actively rooted for the dog to die
• A wild tangent on War Hound, Palmer Luckey's genetically engineered military dogs
• The Do the Right Thing song hidden in the credits — and what it means
• Listener email from George, a 17-year-old social justice warrior who's been listening since age 14, with a thoughtful take on our Sleepaway Camp episode and whether it's a pro-trans film

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This week on Shat the Movies, we're seeing dead people with The Sixth Sense (1999), the supernatural thriller that made M. Night Shyamalan a household name and had audiences questioning everything they just watched. Gene and Big D revisit Bruce Willis playing against type, Haley Joel Osment's unforgettable performance, the creepy encounters, and one of the most famous twists in movie history. Does the movie still deliver when you already know the secret, or was the surprise doing most of the heavy lifting? Tune in and find out.

Full movie info below:
The Sixth Sense (1999) is a supernatural psychological thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, and Olivia Williams. The film follows child psychologist Malcolm Crowe as he tries to help Cole Sear, a troubled young boy who claims he can see and communicate with the dead. Blending ghost story scares with emotional drama, the film became a massive box office success and earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Osment. Its famous ending helped establish Shyamalan as one of Hollywood's most talked about filmmakers.

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When listener John S. commissioned the 1983 cult slasher Sleepaway Camp, Big D had zero expectations. Gene was cautiously optimistic after two disappointing summer camp films. Neither was prepared for what they got.

What starts as Meatballs with murder — beehives, boilings, and drownings — escalates into something far darker, culminating in one of cinema's most shocking twist endings. Gene calls it his favorite slasher finale of all time. Big D says it's up there with The Terminator, Empire Strikes Back, and Back to the Future Part II.

In this episode:

• How Sleepaway Camp earned its 82% Rotten Tomatoes score despite being dismissed as a Friday the 13th knockoff
• The legendary practical effects of Ed French (Terminator 2, Star Trek, Buffy) — going way harder than the budget demanded
• Robert Earl Jones (James Earl Jones' father!) as the camp cook who looks the other way
• The most authentic New York swearing since your last family gathering
• A thoughtful debate on whether the film's famous ending is transphobic or a tragic story of a child failed by the adults around him
• Why both hosts agree: watch this movie before you listen to this episode. The twist is that good.

Sleepaway Camp is available free on multiple streaming platforms including Plex. Go watch it first — seriously — then come back and join the conversation.

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