With friends like these…
Wimplash review
Rating – 
Aren’t local gigs great? There is a whole music scene on your doorstep just waiting for you to discover it and support local bands. Or, if you are like me, then you will meet someone who makes a podcast, and your evening will take a turn into that instead.
That’s what happened to me, dear readers. An amazing night out watching some great bands ended up with a discussion about horror movies, and a promise to review this show once it hit episode ten. However, I have been on holiday, my deadline is fast approaching, and this review was closest to getting finished. So here we are, despite me starting to write this when episode four had only just dropped, and when most of you read this, episode seven is hot off the press. Seven is close enough to ten though right?
So what’s it about?
Wimplash sees two self confessed horror addicts try to introduce/torture their friend who hates horror, by making him watch a randomly selected film from a “wheel of fortune” like device. He then has to watch the film on his own, in the dark. Then they meet up and record a podcast based on what happened.
The hosts, Zach and Grizz are the two addicts, while Webborne is the “wimp”. Each film is given with as little background as possible, just so that Webborne has as little idea what he’s getting himself into as possible.
Now, it would be easy to just load the wheel with as many examples of extreme cinema as possible, just to give the poor guy PTSD. The films on offer here are genuinely diverse, and all have their merits rather than just being a test of psychological endurance.
Is it any good?
As you’ll know from my reviews of the Miserable Metal Mind Podcast, I have a real affinity for podcasts that sound like pub chat over a pint. This podcast is casual in the extreme. Three long time friends getting together and having a laugh at the expense of one of them is surely an ancient tradition, and one that is difficult to do well.
Having said that, this isn’t some superficial show dedicated to winding up poor Webborne. There is some real depth to the knowledge here. In an age where anybody can start a YouTube channel, podcast or blog (ahem), and call themselves an “expert” (ahem), Zach and Grizz really do know their stuff. A case in point, one episode covered the film “Talk To Me”. There were things in there they discussed that I hadn’t noticed when I saw it. So much so I am going to go back and watch it again. This isn’t isolated either. There are many points I’d missed in a lot of the films covered.
I know that this is before my ten episode watershed, but it will be nice to see how far back into cinema history they go. So far 1982 (with the original of Poltergeist) is the earliest they’ve done, because it was one of Zach’s all time favourite horror films (mine too). There are certainly some very good films that predate this though, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Final thoughts
There have been a few shows that cover horror films, but this is one of the best (and I’m not just saying that because Zach likes my band!) I was really surprised how good it was. People in Swansea (me included) are very self deprecating, and as a result, you never really know what to expect. This was a nice surprise, and it’s a podcast I will be listening to every episode on release day.
Also, (in the interests of self publicity) if you want to read a rare review of mine that isn’t about podcasts. This is my account of the gig where this whole adventure started…
https://musipediaofmetal.blogspot.com/2026/03/a-view-from-back-of-room-froglord-gregg.html
You can get Wimplash here:
For more great reviews, I recommend GreatPods