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Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies presents the 62nd edition of Dead Man Still Walking, the Zombie Movie Podcast hosted by Dr. Walking Dead himself, Dr. Kyle Bishop! This episode offers a cinematic zombie twofer, beginning with Christopher Landon’s irreverent teen comedy, “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” (2015), followed by the main event: Destry Allyn Spielberg’s dystopian Gothic thriller, “Please Don’t Feed the Children” (2025).
First, Dr. Bishop briefly ventures into the realm of gross-out humor, zombie strippers and scouting skills put to apocalyptic use. Although the film offers a surprisingly earnest message about friendship, loyalty, and resisting peer pressure, Kyle finds its juvenile sex jokes, scatological comedy and deliberately ridiculous zombies considerably less rewarding. There is, however, some praise for David Koechner’s performance.
Then, Dr. Walking Dead turns his attention to “Please Don’t Feed the Children,” a slow-burning post-apocalyptic thriller in which young people are immune to a mysterious viral outbreak but are persecuted as suspected carriers. A group of fugitive teenagers takes refuge in an isolated farmhouse owned by the seemingly compassionate Clara, played by Michelle Dockery. Naturally, the safety of the house proves deceptive, and the movie’s cleverly misleading title takes on a much darker meaning.
Dr. Kyle Bishop examines the film as a COVID-inspired narrative about disease, social paranoia, generational conflict and the dangerous rumors that accompany public-health crises. He also considers its Gothic atmosphere, solitary zombie, exploration of motherhood and obsessive love, as well as its depiction of the “monstrous mother.” And what exactly is “Biddy Horror”—and how does it differ from Hagsploitation? Join the good doctor for a smart, spoiler-filled discussion of zombies, secrets, family, life, death and the unfortunate consequences of keeping an infected loved one locked in the basement.
Note: This episode contains major plot spoilers for both films, particularly “Please Don’t Feed the Children.”
Also, to view ALL of Dr. Bishop’s Dead Man Still Walking solocast episodes can USE THIS LINK. And to view ALL of Dr. Bishop’s episode-by-episode commentaries on The Last of Us – Seasons 1 and 2, with Jay of the Dead, then USE THIS LINK.
Dead Man Still Walking is a biweekly, short-form solocast hosted by Dr. Walking Dead Kyle Bishop, author of American Zombie Gothic and How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture. Dr. Walking Dead also presents a popular segment called The Dead Zone on regular episodes of this podcast. For his Dead Man Still Walking solocast episodes, Dr. Bishop will focus exclusively on zombie films, with the occasional exploration of zombie-related themes, zombie television, and other zombie media (e.g., comics, literature, etc.).
Dr. Bishop is an academic and professional scholar of zombie films and other zombie narratives. He has been teaching for 26 years. Dr. Bishop serves as an English professor, Film Studies professor, and he’s currently the English Department Chair at Southern Utah University.
You are welcome to reach out to Dr. Bishop with comments or questions via email: bishopk@suu.edu, X: @DrWalkingDead, BlueSky and Instagram (@DrWalkingDead). You can also watch the documentary, Doc of the Dead (2014), which features Dr. Walking Dead. Find more links below for Dr. Bishop.
Be sure to subscribe to Jay of the Dead’s new Horror movie podcast on:
You are welcome to email our show at HauntingYourHeadphones@gmail.com. You can also follow Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies on X: @HorrorAvengers
Dead Man Still Walking with Dr. Kyle Bishop is brought to you by Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies, an audio Horror movie podcast. It features nine experienced Horror hosts review new Horror movies and deliver specialty Horror segments. Your hosts are Jay of the Dead, Dr. Shock, Gillman Joel, Mister Watson, Dr. Walking Dead, GregaMortis, Mackula, Ron Martin, Dave Zee and Spawn of the Dead! Due to the large number and busy schedule of its nine Horror hosts, Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies will be recorded in segments, piecemeal, at various times and recording sessions. Therefore, as you listen to our episodes, you will notice a variety of revolving door hosts and segments, all sewn together and reanimated like the powerful Monster of Dr. Frankenstein!
SHOW NOTES
– Introduction
- Welcome to the 62nd Edition of Dead Man Still Walking with Dr. Walking Dead
- Dr. Bishop introduces a two-film episode
- Destry Allyn Spielberg is the daughter of Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw
- Before the main review, Kyle revisits a 2015 zombie comedy connected to his academic research
- Mention of Dr. Bishop’s paper about zombie narratives that overtly reference COVID
- Examination of zombie outbreaks that occur while the protagonists are sleeping or otherwise unaware
Modern Zombie Movie:
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
Dr. Walking Dead = 4 ( Avoid )
Premise: Three lifelong friends confront a zombie outbreak while struggling with whether to remain in their scout program.
Dr. Bishop’s Discussion Points
– Directed by Christopher Landon
– Discussion of the film’s teen gross-out and sex-comedy sensibility
– Slapstick action, gore, body humor, scatological jokes and zombie strippers
– The zombies are intentionally silly and rarely feel genuinely threatening
– Kyle finds little meaningful commentary about zombies or zombie outbreaks
– The film does contain themes of friendship, loyalty, resisting peer pressure and remaining true to oneself
– Discussion of the film’s infamous elderly zombie encounter
– Praise for David Koechner as the Scout leader
Modern Zombie Movie:
Please Don’t Feed the Children (2025)
Dr. Walking Dead = 7 ( High-priority Rental )
Premise: A viral outbreak has devastated the adult population, while children appear to be immune, the surviving adults believe that immune children may still carry and spread the virus.
Dr. Bishop’s Discussion Points
– Directed by Destry Allyn Spielberg
– Written by Paul Bertino
– Michelle Dockery plays Clara, a nurse who initially appears compassionate and helpful
– Discussion of Dockery playing against her prim and proper “Downton Abbey” image
– Giancarlo Esposito plays Fitz, a law-enforcement officer and friend of Clara’s absent husband
– Dr. Bishop disputes the film’s online classification as an adventure or comedy
– Kyle describes it primarily as a dystopian thriller that becomes full-fledged horror during its final act
– The movie operates as a slow burn and withholds its zombie elements until late in the story
– Gothic elements include the isolated farmhouse, strange noises, a suggested haunting and a terrible family secret
– Discussion of “Biddy Horror” or “Biddysploitation”
– Kyle distinguishes Biddysploitation from Hagsploitation
– Hagsploitation specifically involves older women or witches
– Biddysploitation centers an adult woman within the horror without necessarily making her elderly or supernatural
SPOILER Discussion
Next time for the 63rd Edition: Nightmare City (1980)
Special thanks to website developer Jaxon Carroll and graphic designer Trump Widdop for their excellent work in helping Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies to have a nice, new website. Thank you! And big shout-out and thanks to Mister Watson and his son, Skylarr, for composing the music for Mister Watson’s Horror Hierarchy segment.
LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:
Links for Dr. Walking Dead Kyle Bishop:
Follow Dr. Walking Dead on Letterbox’d
Email Dr. Bishop here: bishopk@suu.edu
Dr. Walking Dead’s Bio Page
Book: American Zombie Gothic
Book: How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture
— Kyle’s Amazon Author Profile
— Doc of the Dead zombie culture documentary
— Kyle’s re-animated Twitter: @DrWalkingDead
– Learn more about Dr. Walking Dead
– Faculty Friday: Meet Dr. Kyle Bishop, English
– TEDx SUU Talk on YouTube: Why Zombies Matter
– YouTube: Zombies: An idea worth spreading about how ideas spread
– YouTube: 50+ Shades of Gothic: Zombies, Bodies and Boundaries
– YouTube: Why zombie culture is so popular?
Jay of the Dead’s NEW HORROR MOVIES podcast links:
Email: HauntingYourHeadphones@gmail.com
Voicemail: (801) 980-1375
Twitter: @HorrorAvengers
YouTube Channel: Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies
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The soundtrack music for Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies is composed and performed by musicians Fred Ingram; Nate Johnivan; Mister Watson and his son, Skylarr; and Jason Pyles himself. Please support our talented musician friends by checking out more of Nate and Fred’s links below:
Links for musician Frederick Ingram:
Website: FrederickIngram.com
Frederick Ingram’s new album Initial Exposure (includes “Voltairine,” the theme music for Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies)
Frederick Ingram’s YouTube Music Channel
Listen to Frederick Ingram on SoundCloud
YouTube Music Video: “Voltairine” by Frederick Ingram (the theme music for Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies)
Interview: Hear Fred Ingram on Jay’s Songwriting Podcast
Frederick Ingram’s Fish Bowl (Funky Margarita Mix)
Links for musician Nate Johnivan:
Spotify Playlist
Quarantine Dream iii
Thank you for listening to Dead Man Still Walking with Dr. Walking Dead, proudly brought to you by Jay of the Dead’sNew Horror Movies, The Gold Standard of Horror Movie Podcasts.
Dr. Bishop – IMDb lists genres and sub-genres alphabetically not necessarily by genre weight.