Episode 53: Fade to Black (1980) & Starry Eyes (2014)

He's the best skate around.

She's the hottest date in town.

Together, they're love on wheels in...

Welcome to episode 53 of the Horror Double Bill, the podcast where, nearly every week, we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

I'm Craig Johnson, and this week we are off to Hollywood with two films that explore the horrors of the silver screen, from obsessive fandom and fantasy to the darkest depths of ambition.

First up, we have Fade to Black from 1980.

This was written and directed by Vernon Zimmerman and stars Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomason, Linda Kerridge and Eve Brent.

Then we jump forward to 2014 and Starry Eyes, written and directed by Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmeyer.

This stars Alexandra Esso, Amanda Fuller, Noah Segan and Fabienne Therese.

Along the way, we'll be discussing the career of producer Erwin Yablans, depictions of Hollywood in the horror film, film directors Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmeyer, and much, much more.

But before we do any of that, though, as always, I'd just like to mention the key sources I've used in researching this week's episode, and all sources will, of course, be listed or linked in the show notes.

So, when discussing Fade to Black, I have referred to the book The Man Who Created Halloween by Erwin Yablans, interviews and extras on the Blu-ray special edition of the movie from 88 Films, the book Falling to Pieces, The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film by Adam Rockoff, and interviews on the websites latimes.com, itcamefromblog.com, and dreadcentral.com. And when discussing Starry Eyes, I have referred to several interviews with the directors, cast and crew that are available on YouTube and will be linked in the show notes, as well as interviews on the websites BrokeHorrorFan.com, Fangoria.com, SciFiNow.co.uk, AnthemMagazine.com, TheHollywoodNews.com, TheWolfmanCometh.com and Flickfeast.co.uk. And as always, I have also referred to the IMDb and Wikipedia pages for the movies, writers, cast and crew.