[Podcast Review] ‘SWALLOWED’ a gut-wrenching terror (and love story) that must be consumed

Preston Barta // Featured Editor

SWALLOWED

Rated R, 94 min.
Director: Carter Smith
Cast: Cooper Koch, Jose Colon, Jena Malone and Mark Patton

Carter Smith’s nerve-frying terror, Swallowed, held its premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2022, and it ended up my personal favorite film at the genre festival in Austin. It’s a tight, well-constructed midnight thriller and love story — about two friends (a very good Cooper Koch and Jose Colon) who, after a drug run went south, must survive a nightmarish series of events.

However, these friends aren’t trying to move the kind of drugs that would excite Tony Montana. No, these “drugs” have a little more…bite to them, and it leads to some supremely satisfying results and one hell of a performance from Mark Patton (Scream, Queen!) as a backwoods crime lord.

On the horror podcast My Bloody Podcast, I joined High-Def Digest film critic Bryan Kluger to discuss Swallowed in more depth. So, pull up a chair and listen in, as we talk about why you should not let this one sneak past you.

Enjoy, and stay tuned for Fresh Fiction‘s video interviews with the cast and director next week!

My Bloody Podcast – available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen to podcasts!

Our Fantastic Fest Interview – director Carter Smith and stars Mark Patton & Jose Colon:

Preston Barta

I have been working as a film journalist since 2010, dividing the first four years between radio broadcasting and entertainment writing in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In 2014, I entered Fresh Fiction (FreshFiction.tv) as the features editor. The following year, I stepped into the film critic position at the Denton Record-Chronicle, a daily North Texas print publication. My time is dedicated to writing theatrical film reviews, at-home entertainment columns, and conducting interviews with on-screen talent and filmmakers, as well as hosting a podcast devoted to genre filmmaking (called My Bloody Podcast). I've been married for ten happy years, and I have one son who is all about dinosaurs just like his dad.

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