Hammer Unleashes X

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Two years before The Blob emerged from a meteor that landed in Pennsylvania and started devouring very old teenagers, over in Scottland, a very similar creature started attacking the locals. Except this one didn’t come from outer space, from within the bowels of the earth. In X – The Unknown (1956), during some mine detection training with the army, the radioactive material used drew the attention of some creature that breaks loose onto the surface, leaving a couple of soldiers with severe radiation burns. Except with no witnesses, and the creature going back down underground, nobody can figure out what could have caused the burns on the men. That’s when you call in the scientist, Dr. Royston, played by American star Dean Jagger, which was a common thing to do for British pictures to help with foreign distribution. You also have Michael Ripper as one of the sergeants in the military.

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Carpenter Fest 2 at the Midway Drive-In

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That’s right folks, the Midway Drive-In is doing it again, holding a Dusk-to-Dawn event screening 4 different films from John Carpenter!!! And unless you’re wearing your special sunglasses, you’re going to need to come to this event, buy some popcorn, corn dogs, and cheeseburgers, and spend money on the vendors. OBEY! CONSUME! All of this takes place on Saturday, May 16th. The doors open at 5pm with the pre-show starting at 8pm, so make sure you get there early to not only get a good spot, but also to enjoy a wonderful night at the drive-in!

For those that get there early, we’ll be handing out free sunglasses to the first 100 people in line to get in! Now, we’re not saying that you need to wear these glasses to see what is really going on, but one never knows…. Right before the gates open, we will be out there passing the sunglasses and maybe even some eye patches (in case you’re more Snake Plissken fan than Roddy Piper!) to those in line until supplies last. In other words, make sure you get there early!

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DtH Episode 121 – Made-for-TV Horror: Dan Curtis

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As a horror fan growing up watching TV in the early ’70s, you may not know or remember the name Dan Curtis, but you know his work. From his early gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, where one of the main characters just happened to be a vampire, to the countless adaptations of classic novels, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and Jekyll and Hyde, to even more throughout the ’70s. Curtis continued to give TV viewing audiences plenty of nightmares during that time, always using a blend of classic monsters, as well as bringing new and unique ones to the small screen, all with the same results.

While some of his work might be lost on modern day audiences, his influence has never gone away, and his body of work is still one that is more than worth revisiting to, or if you’ve never experienced it yet, then now is the perfect time to start down that journey.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Mystery Photo 4-27

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We went a little artsy on our last photo, but I was thrilled to see a few people recognize which movie it was from. It was from Walerian Borowczyk’s 1973 anthology film Immoral Tales. It was one that was featured a more than a few times in some of the earlier horror movie reference books. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Todd Barwick, Erik Martin, Lee Nattrass, Chris Richmond, and Emily Worthley. Well done!

This week’s photo might be a little more obscure. In fact, until I stumbled upon it online, I’m not sure I even knew of it. So, there you are… always more titles to discover! Give it a look and see if you can recognize what movie it is from. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And most of all, Good Luck!

Movie Review: White Zombie

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(1932)
Directed by Victor Halperin
Starring Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorn, Robert Frazer, John Harron

This film starring Bela Lugosi tends to get overshadowed by the one he made the previous year, Universal’s Dracula (1931) since that was the film that made him a star. It is unfortunate because I feel that he gives a much more memorable performance here in White Zombie, as the voodoo priest Murder Legendre, than he did as the famous Count. And while it might not be an all-around classic title in the annals of horror history, it does have more than enough to give it more credit than it gets, besides being the namesake of Rob Zombie’s first band.

This does have the honor of being the very first feature zombie film, taking ideas from William S. Seabrook’s novel The Magic Island, which was where American audiences first heard of tales of voodoo and zombies. These were somnambulist or automatons, humans moving without will, or at least without their own will. These were not the flesh-eating, living dead kind, which we wouldn’t see until 1968. Based mainly on voodoo rites, these were not actual dead that have come back to life, but more likely just under a spell, as well as possibly caused by drugs of some sort. No matter what the belief is, it is the first film dealing with them. This kind of zombie would remain in horror films for the next 3 decades until George Romero changed the game with Night of the Living Dead.

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Fond of His Mother: Queer-coded Hitchcock

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No matter how you want to, or not want to, read into the subtext of some of the films from Alfred Hitchcock, he no doubt was pushing the limits of certain subject matters in some of his films. Whether it be sex, violence. or queerness, Hitchcock was not only a master of suspense, but subtext, getting different things past the censors and studio heads without them even realizing it. Next month, the Music Box Theatre is celebrating 4 of those films: Strangers on a Train (1951), Rebecca (1940), Psycho (1960), and Rope (1947). While Rebecca will be from a DCP, the rest of the films will be screening from 35mm prints.

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House that Hammer Built

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Back in the late 90s, there was a magazine put out by Wayne Kinsey called The House That Hammer Built, with each issue devoted to all things Hammer Films. Because these were put out in England, they were not the cheapest or easiest to find. But now that Kinsey is one of the guys behind Peveril Publishing, starting in 2022, he has been taking all the info from those magazines, plus plenty more gathered in the years since then, and is putting them out in a series of books, appropriately titled The House That Hammer Built. Peveril has already published the first 3 volumes, covering the studio’s work from 1934 to 1958, but have now released the cover of Volume 4, which will cover from 1959 to 1962, and will be released hopefully this year.

I know I’ve posted before about these, and yes, they are not cheap, especially if you’re in the US, shipping from the UK is not cheap. But each volume is incredible, filled with some amazing photos, both black and white and in blazing color, and filled with so much information about the famous Studio that Dripped Blood, that if you are a serious fan of movie reference books, this on-going set are a must. Even if you don’t get the Scrapbooks they put out, I would consider this series as essential. Thankfully, all volumes are still currently available, but I wouldn’t hold out if you have any inclination of getting them. Each one has a run of only 750 copies, so that is not a lot. You can get all the information by heading over to Peveril’s site HERE.

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Movie Review: Crawling Hand & Slime People

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While Mystery Science Theatre 3000 brought a lot of films to a whole new audience, which is a good thing, the problem is that they told that same audience that these were bad movies and should be made fun of. And that is not a good thing. Sure, the movies didn’t have a huge budget, probably not the best script, and maybe even a cheesy monster, but the people involved making it gave it their all. And for that, you have to give some credit. Plus, as I’ve stated many, many times, if you were entertained once it’s over, then it is not a bad movie!

The two titles recently released by VCI Entertainment, The Crawling Hand and The Slime People, both from 1963, are two perfect examples of that. Both were produced by Joseph F. Robertson, who got his foot in the door in Hollywood by these two films. A short time later, he started producing and directing adult features, under the name Adele Robbins. He came back to the horror genre to produce Dr. Caligari (1989) and directing Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies (1992). But we’re here to discuss those first two titles!

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Mystery Photo 4-20

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Welcome to another fun filled Monday. Yeah, I know. I feel the same way. But could be worse, so always need to keep that in mind. But let’s get to the business at hand. Last week’s photo was from Lamberto Bava’s Delirium (1987) and what a trip that one is, right? Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: J. Blake Fichera, Richard Garica, Kevin Hart, Michael LeBlanc, Erik Martin, Lee Nattrass, Tim Palace, Chris Richmond, William Wilson, Greg Wojick, and Emily Worthley. Well done!

This week’s photo might be a little tougher, depending on your tastes. Take a look and remember to send me your guess in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

DtH: Episode 120 – Michele Soavi

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StageFright (1987), The Church (1989), and Dellamorte Dellamore (1994)

Most horror fans know of the Italian horror genre, if not being huge fans of it in general. From Bava, Fulci, Argento, D’Amato, and the rest, they have helped the Italian horror genre be one of the biggest output of classic films for over three decades. And then in the mid ’90s, it bottomed out. But thankfully for us fans, at the end at that “era of terror”, we got four horror films from a young director named Michele Soavi. From starting his career as an actor, helping him getting on set and moving his way up to assistant director to finally calling “action” himself. He’s worked under the tutelage of directors like Joe D’Amato, Lucio Fulci, Lamberto Bava, and Dario Argento, all working to form his own identity as a director.

In this episode, we’re covering 3 out of the 4 of his titles, which should give you reason to seek them out if you’ve never seen them before or maybe bust them out once again for a revisit. Because sometimes we can forget just how damn good they are.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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