This past weekend, Terrifier 3 stunned studio executives by supplanting Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel at the box office. The fact that this was accomplished by a sleazy, UNRATED exploitation film was the icing on a cake made of indie grit — a commitment to pushing boundaries, and redefining what horror can do.
This is groundbreaking filmmaking, and, in my opinion, only independent cinema can accomplish this. Which brings me to the focus of this month’s Izzy’s Eerie Indies – a filmmaker whose work I consider to be equally as innovative as the Terrifier movies: Joshua R. Pangborn.
Who Is Joshua R. Pangborn?
Hailing from upstate New York, Joshua R. Pangborn traded the birches and beeches of the Adirondacks for the bright lights of the big city two decades ago, and he’s been making movies, TV shows, and plays at a prolific pace ever since.
Joshua R. Pangborn is a renaissance man. Not only does he make movies, but he also acts in them. As an actor, Pangborn has performed in series like The Art of Blowing It and NBC’s Poker Face; and he’s recently completed shooting for an episode of a show on Max (formerly HBO Max). He’s been in several short films, TV movies, and he even performs – often as the lead – in his own films and series.
As a writer, director, and editor, Joshua R. Pangborn has created many short films and gained a significant following for his series Skeleton Crew and Demon Doctor, both of which were informed by his love of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi. And this month, he will premiere not one, but TWO feature films: The Brooklyn Butcher and A Taste of Youth.
Oh, and he just published his first book, a collection of queer, fat-positive stories about the joys and horrors of the quest for love called Homo Phobias.
Did I mention that he has a PhD in Literature?
What Is SideKick Productions?
If it sounds like Joshua R. Pangborn is kind of a superhero, it’s because he kind of is. Just check out the logo for his studio, SideKick Productions as proof! In our conversations, Pangborn has revealed that he feels an urgency to create, and he credits his “Crewniverse” — the found family comprised of the actors and crew of SideKick — for helping to bring his crazy visions to life.
SideKick movies and shows heavily center queer, fat characters in a way that’s never been seen before: They’re portrayed as complex humans that fear, love, worry, hope, dream, have sex… and occasionally commit murder!
In our recent conversation, Joshua R. Pangborn discussed the absence of queer, fat characters in the mainstream media and how they’re often relegated to harmful stereotypes and reductive storylines. It’s rare to see a fat character take center stage in any form of media, and there are virtually no examples of lead characters being queer, fat, and sexual. The team at SideKick Productions boldly and joyfully subverts this trend.
Skeleton Crew and Demon Doctor
SideKick’s flagship series Skeleton Crew is a genre mashup, highlighting its creator’s sense of whimsy, dark humor, and camp through the story of Hunter and Anthony, a Bear couple who confront life’s challenges together – and with the help of their friends and family.
Pangborn describes the Skeleton Crew as “horror lite,” but nevertheless, it’s a wild ride and plumbs the depths of genre storytelling to talk about queer love from every angle. There’s a Cheers spoof, a serial killer, and a musical episode inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer that includes a song called “The ABCs of Kink.”
Demon Doctor also pays homage to Buffy by telling the story of Detective Mark Besim (Mark-Eugene Garcia) and demonologist Derek Jediael (Joshua R. Pangborn), an unlikely duo who team up to solve mysteries. The show is totally thrilling from the very start, and compliments must be paid to Pangborn’s sharp writing, ability to interweave storylines, and pull off a great twist. Garcia and Pangborn’s chemistry is another element of what makes this show so fun to watch,
A Taste of Youth
Mark-Eugene Garcia and Joshua R. Pangborn further explore their on-screen dynamic in A Taste of Youth, one of two SideKick features premiering this month.
This time, they play couple Mateo and Calvin. Mateo is going through a midlife crisis, exacerbated by the fact that he misunderstands Calvin’s asexuality. A new elixir of youth promises to solve all of Mateo’s problems… or perhaps only create new ones.
A Taste of Youth is a balanced blend of drama and horror, and it has lots of comedy as well, particularly with the banter between SideKick regulars Rev. Yolanda and Barbara Thomas.
The Brooklyn Butcher
Joshua R. Pangborn is at the height of his game and firing on all cylinders in this slasher-cum-high-rise murder mystery with Lovecraftian terrors, zombies, psychosexual psychiatrists, and so much more.
When an apartment building finds itself in the throes of a mysterious serial killer known as The Brooklyn Butcher, the residents hunker down and become suspicious of one another. Stuck in their apartments as the investigation unfolds, they each face their individual fears, and the question of “Who is The Butcher?” becomes increasingly complicated and puzzling. Once again, Pangborn constructs a story that’s captivating from start to finish and The Brooklyn Butcher is initially deceptive in its simplicity.
There’s great care with the practical effects, lighting, and sound design; and the acting in this is fantastic. The Brooklyn Butcher is funny, bloody, twisted, and filled to the brim with joy for being queer and fat (oh, there’s LOTS of sex!).
Joshua R. Pangborn and his Crewniverse are only getting better with each new release, and The Brooklyn Butcher is without a doubt their finest achievement thus far. I’m so excited to see what’s next for them.
Discover more about Joshua R. Pangborn and Sidekick Productions at SideKickProductionsNY.com!
Images provided by Isaiah Swanson via Joshua R. Pangborn. The Featured Image at the top was labeled “thicc’thulhu” and that made me smile -L*
