Movie Review: The Black Raven

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The Black Raven (1943)
Directed by Sam Newfield
Starring George Zucco, Wanda McKay, Noel Madison, Robert Livingston, Bryon Foulger, Charles Middleton, Robert Middlemass, I. Stanford Jolley, Glenn Strange

Because I grew up watching a lot of old movies on TV in my early teens, seeing titles like this always gives me a feeling of nostalgia. Almost like I’m a kid again watching these, always hoping for something dark and sinister. And while The Black Raven is really just a mystery melodrama, a couple of the cast ties it into the horror genre which makes it even more fun.

George Zucco plays Bradford, known to the underworld as the Raven, who runs a out of the way motel called The Black Raven, near the Canadian border. During the night, all sorts of guests arrive that are somehow all connected. The first is an old partner of Bradford that escaped from prison and now wants revenge on him. Then there’s another gangster on the run, as well as a young couple that are trying to get across the border so they can be married, because the young woman’s father, a corrupt politician, won’t allow it. Of course, he then shows up at the hotel as well! Then throw in a bank thief, a bumbling sheriff, and Bradford’s dim-witted helper Andy, and it’s going to be a night full of thrills.

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Still Kicking

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Sorry for the lack of updates last week, including our Monday Mystery Photo, but I’m still dealing with a freaking cold/virus/infection/plague or whatever you want to call it that I’ve had since the beginning of January. I thought it was going away at the end of that month, but nope! Came back even stronger. No fever or anything like that, but a raging cough that just won’t quit. After hitting Walk-In care twice in those two months, finally went to see my normal GP for some tests to try and pinpoint what it is. But after everything coming back negative (which is a good think I suppose), just got another round of drugs that hopefully this time will finally kill this damn thing. It’s just enough to kill your mood and motivation, where you just don’t feel like doing much of anything. But on a good note, I have spent quite a time in front of the TV, knocking out over 90 films over the last two months. So, there’s that. But I’m just starting to get a little desire to spend time in front of the computer, so hopefully we’ll be back on our normal track real soon.

In the meantime, in just a couple of weeks, we head to Michigan for our first show of the year, Michigan is Dead event! You can get more information by clicking our Kryptic World Tour link at the top of the page. If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello!

Books, Books, and More Books!

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In case you weren’t aware of it, I’m kind of a book collector. And by that, I mean I collect horror reference books, or books that discuss or cover the horror film genre, from film guides, biographies, deep dives into different sub-genres, and even those titles that I call psycho-babble. I love them all. Maybe because I’m more old school and books are where I first learned about movies, way before the internet was a thing. I know I’ve said this probably a few times here over the years, but I think it is worth mentioning again, possibly for new readers, or just to remind regulars on how important I feel it is to learn more about the genre.

Because this horror film genre is so huge, going on almost 130 years, there are more films already made then we’ll ever get to see in one’s lifetime. Some might consider a fact like that a little overwhelming, others might consider it a challenge! But either way, it means that there is an ever-ending pool of discoveries for us fans. No matter how long you’ve been down this dark and twisted path. Perfect case in point, the recently release from Severin Films, Exorcsmo box set of Spanish films made in a time when it was rather difficult to get them made, let alone released. I consider myself a huge fan of the Spanish genre, but this set has quite a few titles I’d never heard of before. But what does this have to do with books? It’s all about learning more about what we love. And I’ve always found books are a great way of doing that.

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Movie Review: Stranger on the Third Floor

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(1940)
Directed by Boris Ingster
Starring John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet, Elisha Cook Jr., Peter Lorre, Charles Waldron, Charles Halton, Ethel Griffies

This film proves once again that no matter how long you’ve been a film fan, there are always more titles to discover that you might not have known about. Now thanks to Warner Archives, I have to the chance to see a film starring (well, sort of) one of my favorite actors from the classic eras, Peter Lorre.

Now even though Lorre is top billed, he is barely in a supporting role. While he is the title character, he only appears in a few scenes, but they were obviously using his name to hype of the film, especially since the rest of the cast didn’t have any of the star status needed to promote it. But while it’s not one of the best of that era, there is still more here to be appreciated.

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Tom Noonan – Rest in Peace

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There are a lot of actors that made an impact with a particular role, but Tom Noonan did that a few times in his career. And while he was in the first adaptation of where we first get to see the character of Hannibal Lecktor (the way it’s spelled in the film), Manhunter (1986), playing the Tooth Fairy, Francis Dollarhyde, is one of those performances. Nothing against Ralph Fiennes, but Noonan was just incredible in his performance. But then the following year, he played a completely different kind of monster in The Monster Squad (1987), bringing the heart of the character to the screen again. While he was an imposing figure, he always gave such good performances, no matter how small they might be.

In looking up a little on him for this piece, I came across a quote from him that I will now be quoting going forward. A lot of fans of film saying that it is a nice escape from reality, something I’ve said and believed in many times. But Noonan said, “I don’t think you go to a play to forget, or to a movie to be distracted. I think life generally is a distraction and that going to a movie is a way to get back, not go away.” I just love that.

So, thank you once again, Mr. Noonan, for making me think outside the box, and to see you much more than just a tall actor. Rest in peace. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

DtH Episode 116 – Corman / Price / Poe

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House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), and The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

In the beginning of his career as a producer / director Roger Corman was known for cranking out cheap and fast black and white pictures that always made money. He worked in all genres, but it was mainly the horror and sci-fi pictures in the mid to late ’60s he was known for. All that changed in 1960, when he convinced AIP to let him adapt a story from Edgar Allan Poe, but in color, with a bigger budget, and longer shooting schedule. That started a new phase of Corman’s career, which also made an even bigger star of Vincent Price.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into three of these Poe adaptations, and not necessarily looking in the faithfulness of them, but in their production, the incredible casts, the look, the style, as well as the feel of them. They really do get better each and every time you watch them. Hopefully after listening to this episode, you’ll decide to either venture down this dark path for the first time or take a revisit to admire the doom and gloom they all have.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Mystery Photo 2-16

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Our photo from last week must have been a little too new for most out there, since we only got one correct answer, which was from Kevin Hart. Well done, Sir! The shot was from the 2021 film The Deep House, directed by Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury. They are the ones that gave us 2007 film Inside, as well as some other good titles since then. The Deep House is the first haunted house film I’ve seen where the house is completely underwater. Worth your time.

But let’s get on to this week’s photo. Going with a classic but not a pic that you might recognize. But isn’t that the whole point? Take a look and see what you come up with. Just remember to send me your guess in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And most of all, Good Luck!

Book Review: The Ghastly One

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The Ghastly One: The 42nd Street Netherworld of Director Andy Milligan
Revised Edition Published by FAB Press, 2022. 256 pages.
By Jimmy McDonough

This has been one long journey. I started reading this revised edition back in 2023, but for some reason, I kept putting it down for a variety of reasons. There were other projects that got in the way, books I needed to get to that were sent to me to review, and life in general. But first and foremost, it was probably just because it is such a depressing story!

I knew of Milligan from seeing a few of his movie titles on VHS back in the day, namely The Rats are Coming! The Werewolves are Here! (1972) but never watched too many of them. In 2021, when Severin Films released their box set, The Dungeon of Andy Milligan, that featured 14 of his films, I knew I would pick it up. By that time, I had really become interested in a lot of these different low budget filmmakers, such as Steckler, Adamson, Buchanan, and knew that Milligan was one that I really wanted to learn more about. And I wasn’t let down by what I saw.

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Mystery Photo 2-9

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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

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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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