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PODCAST

Dissect the Direct

We seek out the gory, the violent and the ridiculous films that we remember from our childhood in the 80s and 90s and pick them apart with fondness and catharsis. buymeacoffee.com/dissectthedirect

tv & film film reviews

All Episodes

01:20:23

William Friedkin's 1973 The Exorcist

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/11/11

We accidentally broke our 'no high art' rule for our 39th episode. Oh well. Join us for blasphemy, foul language and many other faux pas in our latest edition of Dissect the Direct. The power of Christ compels you...

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01:11:50

Newt Arnold's 1988 Bloodsport

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/10/31

For our 38th episode we pick apart the film that launched Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career, inspired Mortal Kombat, and immortalised one of Hollywood’s most dubious “true stories” — the legend of Frank Dux.

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00:53:54

David Worth's 1989 Kickboxer

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/10/15

On the slab for our 37th episode we put the film that made 'the muscles from Brussels'; Jean-Claude Van Damme, a household name. Assuming that your household contained a spotty teenage boy at the time anyway.

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01:01:46

Russell Mulcahy's 1986 Highlander

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/10/01

Decapitations, immortals and terrible Scottish accents. Geoff joins me in the movie morgue for our 36th episode.

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00:59:05

George Miller's 1981 Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/09/17

A gyro-copter, a boomerang and a scarcity of fuel. George Miller's dystopian classic goes under the knife for our 35th episode.

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01:02:13

George Miller's 1979 Mad Max

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/09/03

Road rage and revenge in an almost post-apocalyptic world. We take a scalpel to the film that started a 45 year long franchise and shaped our culture's view of what the end of the world would look like.

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01:16:51

Clive Barker's 1987 Hellraiser

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/08/20

Pleasure and pain. Angels and daemons. We put Clive Barker's phenomenally successful supernatural horror on the slab for our 33rd episode.

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01:24:28

Simon West's 1997 Con Air

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/08/06

We complete the Nicolas Cage trilogy with this gloriously silly popcorn action flick for our 32nd episode.

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01:16:42

John Milius 1982 Conan the Barbarian

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/07/16

We put this ultra-violent sword and sorcery tale of old on the slab for our 31st episode.

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01:12:04

Mike Hodge's 1980 Flash Gordon

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/07/03

For our 30th episode we put the campiest superhero film of all time under the knife. Hawkmen, a villain with a Fu Manchu moustache and booming performance from Brian Blessed.

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01:08:28

Steven Spielberg's 1982 Poltergeist

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/06/19

Supernatural terror in 80s suburbia. We examine this iconic horror classic and the rumours of the curse that plagues its franchise in our 29th episode.

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01:09:05

Ted Kotcheff's 1982 First Blood

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/06/04

Dobermans, booby traps and a shared national trauma. Hollywood's most famous fictional Vietnam war veteran is placed lovingly on the slab for our latest episode.

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01:36:04

Paul Verhoevan's 1990 Total Recall

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/05/22

We drill into this 90s Arnie classic to complete the Verhoevan sci-fi trilogy for our podcast collection.

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01:26:00

Rob Reiner's 1987 The Princess Bride

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/05/07

Heroes. Giants. Villains. We put a quotable comedy adventure on the slab for our 26th episode.

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01:35:12

John Hughes' 1985 Weird Science

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/04/16

We put this silly sci-fi comedy under the scalpel in our 25th episode.

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01:15:37

Stuart Gordon's 1985 Re-Animator

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/04/02

A severed head, a dead cat and a useless security guard. We dissect the Lovecraftian video nasty that drew snorts of derision before it commissioned two sequels and its own Broadway musical.

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01:25:54

Gary Goddard's 1987 Masters of the Universe

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/03/18

Swords, sorcery and silliness. The Go-Go brother of Cannon flew too close to the Mattel sun with waxy wings in this critical and commercial failure that sank their company in the late 1980s.

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01:15:35

John Carpenter's 1988 They Live

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/03/04

We do our part to reclaim this cinematic artefact from the clutches of Neo-Nazis and wide eyed conspiracy nuts in our autopsy of this low budget science fiction horror.

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01:09:56

Robert Zemeckis's 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/02/11

Disney and Warner Bros go under the scalpel in our trip down memory lane to Toon Town.

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01:16:51

John McTiernan's 1988 Die Hard

Dissect the Direct ·

2025/02/10

We meant to get this out before Xmas but were busy with other projects. We pick apart the Christmas movie that became the template for most of the action films between 1989 and 1996.

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51 results

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