Mystery Photo 2-9

Hopefully the weather is breaking a little for everyone out there. We almost got to the 40s this week. Damn near shorts weather for us in the Midwest! But let’s get down to business. Our photo from last week was from the very first movie from Jerry Warren, Man Beast from 1956. This was before Jerry learned he could save money by using footage stock footage and sequences from other films! This one also starred Rock Madison, who isn’t a real person, but Warren figured that name would have some box office draw! Gotta love the old days of film PR. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Charles Miller, and Mike Shields. Well done!

Now on to this week’s photo, which is a little more current. Take a look and see if you can recognize what movie it is from. Just remember to send me your guess in an email, to jon@kitleyskyrpt.com. Good Luck!

Columbus Moving Picture Show

February 7, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Conventions and tagged Bloodlust, Boris Karloff, Columbus Moving Picture Show, Fitzy's Old Fashioned Diner, Hitchcock & Herrmann, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, Steven C. Smith, The Man Who Lived Again | Leave a comment

While this isn’t a new show for us, last year the Columbus Moving Picture Show moved from downtown Columbus to the northside of the city, which I have to say was a huge improvement, if just on the cost alone! Downtown was really nice but just a bit too pricy. I do miss our regular visits to Dirty Franks, but we’ve found a new great place. But more on that in a bit!

The main reason for this post is to remind some movie collectors about this show. It is old-fashioned memorabilia show, with tons of posters, lobby cards, half-sheets, 8×10 stills, and so much more. What it doesn’t have is a ton of celebrities with overpriced photo-ops and autographs. That is what sets this apart from most conventions these days and is one of the reasons why we love setting up there. And even though it’s not just horror, there is still a lot of cool stuff to find, though you may have to do some searching. Then again, that is part of the fun.

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Soundtrack Review: Dark Touch

February 5, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged Christophe Chassol, Dark Touch, Marina de Van | Leave a comment

Dark Touch
Released by Tricatel, 2013
18 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 43 min.
Original Music by Christophe Chassol

It didn’t take but a few minutes into the movie for this score to get my attention. Right from the very beginning, we hear this haunting piano tune, which will always get my attention. But it continues on, drawing the listener in even more. The sound of the piano almost has a slight distortion, or like weird vibration to the notes, which gives it even more of an eerie sound to it. And right at that moment, I knew I had to look for this score after the film was done. Which is exactly what I did, and why we are here now!

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DtH Episode 115: New French Extremity Films

February 4, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Discover the Horror Podcast and tagged Alexandre Bustillo, Alysson Paradis, Beatrice Dalle, In My Skin, Inside, Julien Maury, Marina de Van, Martyrs, Morjana Alaoui, Mylene Jampanoi, Pascal Laugier | Leave a comment

In My Skin (2002), Inside (2007), and Martyrs (2008)

While the French aren’t known for their horror films, when they do move into that genre, there is something to be said. Perfect example is Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face (1960), with its stark realism and dark themes, it is still a powerful film even today. But in the early 2000’s, a bunch of younger filmmakers pushed the boundaries even farther, making viewers even more uncomfortable as they view these newer entries into the genre. They were often graphic, some over-the-top, and others dealt with darker subjects that were just as disturbing, even though the violence and/or gore wasn’t onscreen. It was the subject and the way it’s shown was what was hard to watch.

In this episode, we decided to take on 3 titles that show the different ranges of that, from the very subversive and uncomfortable subject matter to taking the gore through the roof, but also making you think more than you thought you could, even leaving you in a distressed state for days after the movie ends. That is powerful filmmaking.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Monsterama in Atlanta

February 3, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Conventions and tagged Alie Marie Matheson, Anthony Taylor, Clayton Landey, Dan Curtis, Dark Shadows, Jeff Thompson, Jim Storm, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Lloyd Kaufman, Monsterama, Richard Christian Matheson, Richard Matheson, The Twilight Zone, Tim Bradstreet, Troma Enterainment | 2 Comments

Ever since I heard about this show, we wanted to attend. But being in Atlanta, which is about a 12-hour drive, is a bit too long for us. Sure, might be easier to fly, but if we were going, we’d want to be vendors there, which means we’d have to drive. So, I would just sit and look at the events, the guests, and all the fun it looked like everyone was having. But not this year!

Because I wanted to try some other shows that were a little different than the huge convention with massive guests lists, to those where fans were coming to have fun and maybe learn something about the genre. Monsterama, which has been running since 2014, is the brainchild of Anthony Taylor, who I’ve known for a few years since we both attend Monster Bash every year. Just hearing about the way the show is put on, with all the different panels they have, plus the steady stream of films being screened from actual film prints, I knew at some point, I was going to have to make it someday. And this is the year.

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Mystery Photo 2-2

February 2, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Mystery Photo and tagged Mystery Photo | Leave a comment

Man, those last 4 weeks sure did seem like it lasted a lot longer than a month. Being that I’m STILL dealing with the remnants of whatever cold/virus that I got at the very beginning of January, I am one that is glad that month is finally over. Hopefully February will be a little better! But on to business. Our last photo was from the wonderfully entertaining and scary 1987 film The Gate. While it may be a PG-13 rating, there are plenty of things in here to get to most viewers. Not only does a very young Stephen Dorff do a great job, but we also have to give a special shout-out to Randall William Cook for his visual special effects work. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct title: Hoby Abernathy, Todd Barwick, Chris Dyer, Kevin Hart, Lee Nattrass, Jeff Owens, Tim Palace, and William Wilson. Congrats, my friends!

This week’s photo is a wee bit older, and while nowhere near as frightening, unless you consider the budget! Take a look and see what you think. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

National Film Registry Adds The Thing

February 1, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Alan Spencer, John Carpenter, John W. Campbell, Library of Congress, Robert R. Newlen, Roger Ebert, The Thing, Vincent Canby, Who Goes There? | Leave a comment

When you think about a film that has initial reviews that said it was “foolish, depressing” and its actors are “used merely as props to be hacked, slashed, disemboweled and decapitated, finally to be eaten and then regurgitated” and the film overall, “is too phony to be disgusting. It qualifies only as instant junk,” which was from the New York Times Vincent Canby. Or when Roger Ebert called it, “a great barf-bag movie.” But it wasn’t just these types of film critics that hated John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), his adaptation of John W. Campbell’s novella entitled Who Goes There, first published in 1938. Even Alan Spencer, writing for Starlog magazine wrote that the film, “smells, and smells pretty bad. It has no pace, sloppy continuity, zero humor, bland characters on top of being totally devoid of either warmth or humanity.” He went on to write that Carpenter should not be directing films, but instead, would be “suited to direct: traffic accidents, train wrecks and public floggings.”

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Andy Milligan Rises Again!

January 31, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Andy Milligan, Grayson Tyler, Gutter Auteur, Jimmy McDonough, John Johnson, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me!, Severin Films, Stephen Thrower, The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan, The Degenerates, The Ghastly One | Leave a comment

If you would have told me a decade ago that I would be praising the work of Staten Island bottom of the basement auteur Andy Milligan, I would have said you’re crazy. I had known about him and a few of his titles but just wrote him off as another low-budget schlocky filmmaker. But a couple of years ago, Severin Films did an amazing thing by releasing a massive box set of Milligan’s work, with a ton of extras. These films looked better than they probably did if/when they played in theaters. As I started to go through the set, I realized that while they are still very low budgeted films, and weren’t the best on the technical side, there was a charm to them that I really started to enjoy. I’ve always said that the more you know about an artist, it will make you appreciate their work a little more. And between that box set and Jimmy McDonough’s book The Ghastly One, I really started to enjoy what I was seeing.

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Kryptic World Tour 2026 Starts Soon

January 30, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Conventions and tagged Cynthia Rothrock, Darcy the Mail Girl, Joe Bob Briggs, Michael Berryman, Michigan is Dead, Static Tape Video | Leave a comment

While we’re in the middle of a deep freeze here in the Midwest, what better time to think ahead to when convention season starts! We’ve got a couple of new shows that we’re going to be hitting this year, plus some that I really wanted to highlight in the incoming months just to keep getting the word out.

On March 14th, we are going to be heading to Muskegon, Michigan for the Michigan is Dead show, which is just a 1-day event that actually takes place in a mall. The people that run Static Tape Video have been doing this little tape trade, sort-of flea-market style event that looks like it might be fun to give it a try. So, we’ll be set up there with our usual array of horror reference books, maybe some magazines, movies, and of course some horror pillows and tote bags from my lovely wife.

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Mystery Photo 1-26

January 26, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Mystery Photo and tagged Mystery Photo | Leave a comment

Before we get started, I wanted to make sure everyone knew that I wasn’t referencing Martin Luther King’s holiday last Monday, but in fact it was Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday. Obviously two very different people and especially what they contributed to the world. Wasn’t trying to imply one was more important than the other, but this is the Krypt, where we try to celebrate those that had made some contributions to the world we love. And Poe definitely did just that. And on that note, the film was from Premature Burial, the one Poe film Corman did without Vincent Price, but starring Ray Milland instead. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Erik Martin, and Charles Miller. Well done!

Now on to this week’s photo. No birthday tie in this week. Just a creepy little film for decades past. Damn does that make me feel old! But take a peek and then send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And most of all, Stay Warm, and Good Luck!