The Murder Podcast Review

PLOT: A podcasting duo gets more than they bargained for when they decide to investigate a local murder.

REVIEW: Writer/director William Bagley’s horror comedy The Murder Podcast begins with a man – who is described as being both an avid gamer and an avid drinker – taking a hike in the woods. He finds an old coin on the ground and pockets it… which turns out to be a fatal mistake. This coin doesn’t belong to the legendary horror icon the Leprechaun, but there is another supernatural being out there who has made it their mission to kill anyone who possesses the coin. So by the end of the night, the guy has literally lost his head.

After that, we’re introduced to the lead characters, Chad Thadwick (Andrew McDermott) and his best bro Eddie (Cooper Bucha). Chad doesn’t do much with his life other than sit in the basement of the house that belongs to his sister Martha (Logan Mariner) and smoke weed, which causes him to bump heads with Martha’s boyfriend Stephen (Brian Emond), but he does aspire to something greater. With Eddie’s help, he records a podcast that’s all about reviewing different ramen noodle dishes. Unfortunately, Chad’s passion for ramen isn’t enough to draw in listeners. So he decides to take the podcast in a different direction: true crime. There’s a topic that gets listeners. And fortuitously, a headless body has just turned up in Chad and Eddie’s hometown. The corpse of that guy from the opening sequence. Police don’t suspect foul play, but Chad is certain that this fellow didn’t just trip so hard that his head popped off. So he – with Eddie tagging along – takes it upon himself to investigate the death. And record a podcast about it along the way.

Chad and Eddie are expecting to help the police force, primarily represented by Levi Burdick as Officer Stacheburn, capture a flesh and blood killer. Instead, they make themselves the next targets for the supernatural being that destroys anyone who has the coin.

The Murder Podcast is a very entertaining movie that was clearly made on a minuscule budget, but overcomes any limitations with the strength of its comedic writing and performances. The moments of explosive bloodshed were also much appreciated, and at times made the film come off like a mixture of stoner comedies and the Evil Dead franchise. Scenes where people get possessed venture into Evil Dead territory as well… and when Chad and Eddie go into battle armed with squirt guns, The Murder Podcast brings to mind the likes of The Lost Boys and From Dusk Till Dawn. Scenes are presented almost entirely in a comedic light, but Bagley and cinematographer Alex Allgood also drop in some good “wander through the dark house” / “the dark woods” sequences that verge on creepy.

Chad is the character who really drives the story forward, and McDermott gives a fun performance that took me a while to get used to. He speaks the character’s lines in a uniquely boisterous way that made it difficult for me to feel any emotion from Chad. It was like he was always excitedly welcoming listeners to another episode of a podcast. But as the film went on, I started getting used to Chad and saw that McDermott was bringing depth and emotion to the character after all. It helps that the story also gets deeper as the movie goes along, with Bagley revealing that the threat has some ties to Chad’s father, whose life got rather tragic when Chad was a youngster.

McDermott has a great supporting cast around him, with all of the actors mentioned in this review doing strong work in their roles. McDermott and Bucha make for a great duo, and it’s fun to watch McDermott bounce off all the other characters that are frustrated with Chad, which is pretty much anyone he ever crosses paths with. Including douchey newscaster Burn Nightly (Chris Mayers).

The Murder Podcast marks the feature debut of Bagley, who worked his way up to this by making short films. It’s a solid start to what will hopefully pan out to be a lengthy career, because this movie has left me anxiously waiting to see more from the writer/director. And if what’s next would happen to be another horror comedy featuring Chad and Eddie, I wouldn’t object.

The Murder Podcast will be available to watch on digital platforms as of October 26th.

movie review

GOOD

7