Stroll with us through the misty veils of blackened back alleys and beware of bullets and bandits as we explore the guts and ‘gory’ of cinematic shoestring thrillers. Our guide, Christopher Lombardo, is eager to lead us on a tour of the best of the worst in big-screen, low-budget entertainment in the Really Awful Movies podcast.
Our February Podcaster of the Month, Lombardo launched the weekly podcast in 2015. It offers movie buffs killer insights into low-budget horror and action flicks, along with other genres of cinema, such as musicals, monster movies and sci-fi gems – films Lombardo says “get no love or have been relegated to the far reaches of YouTube, Tubi or Netflix.”
Lombardo is a Toronto business journalist, author and film critic, and has written for the CBC, Toronto Star, Globe & Mail and other publications. With former podcast co-host Jeff Kirschner, he authored Mine’s Bigger Than Yours: The 100 Wackiest Action Movies, Death by Umbrella! The 100 Weirdest Horror Movie Weapons and other offbeat books.
Really Awful Movies offers the following categories, making it easy for even the snobbiest of cinephiles to quickly find their fetish:
- Action films
- Comedy
- Cult and indie horror
- Documentary
- Horror films
- Interviews
- Musicals
- Science fiction
- Thriller
Creep with Lombardo down the dimly lit corridors of the oft-abandoned non-blockbusters:
How would you describe your audience? When you’ve received feedback, what are some fan favorites?
For whatever reason, our audience is vastly and disproportionately British and American, and not so much Canadian where I’m based. But then again, podcasting is a truly global medium and people don’t need to be parochial in their listening habits. And it’s not for lack of trying! I routinely talk about low-budget Canadian horror cinema like Pin, Rabid, Rituals and My Bloody Valentine and wax poetic/philosophic about their individual merits.
We have a select group of diehards and engage with them on a regular basis through Insta. I’ve sent out copies of the two nonfiction books I’ve co-authored to SoCal, London, and Calgary. And it’s been crazy getting cult film recommendations (and even physical movies) sent to us from around the world. In one notable instance, a longtime fan in the Pacific Northwest suggested that we cover a terrible movie from the 80s, Longshot, with a plot based around, of all things, foosball!
Have you ever used or explored the inclusion of clips, audio, etc. in your episodes that would fall into fair use as you’re reviewing the content?
I have a busy day job: I’m a business journalist. So even finding time to podcast and edit can be trying. In the rare instance, I have a free afternoon to do more thorough editing, I’ll definitely add a small portion of a film trailer into the podcast intro, especially if it’s something with irredeemably cheesy dialogue.
You have interviewed producers, writers, etc. of the shows in these genres. Have you ever heard back from anyone associated with the films after publishing your review? And/or have you ever partnered with anyone to promote a show?
For better or for worse, my podcast show name sounds click-baity and I’ll bet it’s disappointed people googling and looking to see a film trashed that I’ve given plaudits. This was not my intention. It was a phrase my mom used when she asked a teenaged me, why I watched those “Really Awful Movies.”
Occasionally, I will have indie filmmakers post my reviews on their social pages, with the inevitable comment from someone who’s not read (or heard) my positive review, saying “What are they talking about, it’s not really awful!” In a way, Really Awful Movies is a good pod and blog handle, as you can weed out people with low attention spans who have not actually engaged with what I’ve said, and just assume it’s an excoriation.
I don’t do nearly as many partnerships as I could/should, and last did one mid-pandemic with Killer B Movies. If I do anymore, I am going to do video casts, with the added benefit now of being able to freely get a haircut in preparation.
As a longtime Blubrry customer, what made you decide on Blubrry? What advances are you looking forward to or hoping for moving ahead?
There were two well-regarded choices, Blubrry and Libsyn. I’ve used both and find the user interface far better for Blubrry. In fact, Libsyn was a real pain in the ass as they were in between regular and I think beta-tested versions. It just wasn’t intuitive and had a dated backend look. For the future, I’d like more design options for the site, and perhaps integration with a standard blog or other URLs.
You’re using programmatic advertising. Awesome! Have you found this an effective way to monetize? Are there others you’re using, have tried or would like to try?
The jury’s out on whether it’ll be effective. It’s simply too new! And besides, my numbers tend to take a dip around Christmas, when people (shocking, I know) have better things to do than listen to movies about ninjas, zombies, masked psychopaths, and South Asian drug cartels. I am a bit reticent about Patreon, as I’ve often held the view that to support the show, listeners should just buy my cinema books instead of donating. But I could lean into that eventually.
What are your next steps as you ascend the stairs of screams or explore the emerging annals of action?
I would like to get to newer horrors, faster. But I have a young child at home, and it’s not nearly as easy to rush out and catch the latest offerings in cinema. Also, the ‘90s represent a bit of unexplored territory for me on the podcast, for both horror and action, but for different reasons. While the ’90s can boast some of the craziest, ridiculous, and entertaining action films of all time, it is my contention that the same cannot be said about the ’90s for horror. It was a bit of a weak decade, Candyman excepted. Thus, I’d like to put that thesis to the test and see if it holds up.