Turkey Day 2007

Another year and another trip down the slippery slope of cinematic mishaps, misfires, and just plan screw ups.  Joining me once again was Dr. AC, who has become my ally and trusted companion on these trips to the ends of good taste and good movies, watching each other’s backs while we trudge along this journey some would call madness.  But we feel that it’s our duty to tackle these turkeys by the giblets and show them just who is stronger!  But let’s get on to the movies!

KillDozerKilldozer (1974) – Growing up in the ‘70s, I was able to watch a lot of great made-for-TV movies that were being produced at the time.  As well as some…not-so-good ones.  A lot like the idea for Night of the Lepus, whoever thought that a bulldozer that becomes possessed by an alien force, causing it to seek out and kill workers on an island construction site, might have thought it was a great idea.  But sometimes that spark of genius needs to be thought out a little bit more.  Even more surprising when it was based on a short story by noted sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon, who ever worked on the teleplay.

The idea of a bulldozer being able to sneak up on anybody other than blind people who are too numb to feel the ground shake, it about as silly as you can get.  But that didn’t stop them from making Killdozer.  This is a great example of what could get back bade in that time.  Western regular Clint Walker stars as a foreman trying to get his life and career back after a bout with alcoholism.  So when the weird stuff starts to happen, he knows nobody will believe him.  The film co-stars future TV star Robert Urich, James Wainwright, and the always memorable Neville Brand.

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Movie Review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne

STRANGE_CASE_JEKYLL_2D_BD-500x500The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne (1981)

Directed by Walerian Borowczyk
Starring Udo Kier, Marina Pierro, Patrick Magee, Howard Vernon, Gérard Zalcberg

“Eroticism, sex, is one of the most moral parts of life. Eroticism does not kill, exterminate, encourage evil, lead to crime. On the contrary, it makes people gentler, brings joy, gives fulfillment, leads to selfless pleasure.” Walerian Borowczyk

That above quote really fits Borowczyk’s work, or at least of the little of his that I’ve seen. I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of what I’ve seen so far, but mainly because it is a little too…artsy for me, to be perfectly honest. Years ago, back in the grey market days, I had a title called The Bloodbath of Dr. Jekyll that starred Udo Kier. But the quality of the print was so bad, I never got around to watching it. But I had seen Borowczyk’s Immoral Tales, which featured a segment involving the Countess Bathory. So I knew somewhat the kind of strange and art-house type of films that he was known for, most primarily for The Beast (1975). But now, thanks to Arrow Video, this strange and for the most part lost film has not only been released, but in a great presentation, giving a whole new audience the chance to see it.

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Mystery Photo 5-11

Monday once again, so that means a new Mystery Photo. Our last one was from the highly underrated film Beyond the Door. While a lot of people consider this a rip-off of The Exorcist, I say that it is different enough to definitely stand on its own, and is well worth the watch. Kudos to Humberto Amador and Mark Turner for sending in the correct answer. This scene in particular is a great non-digital effect that I’ve always found highly effective.

On to this week’s photo. I think this one is going to be a tough one, so you’ll need to use some super powers to dig this one up from the grave. Take a look and see what you can come up with. Just send us an email at jon@kitleyskrypt.com with your guess. Good luck!

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Book Review: The Horror of it All

horrorofitallI first met Adam Rockoff in 2008 at a Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in Chicago. He was going to be there to help run one of the Q&A panels that was going to be in the evening at the Music Box Theatre. I knew of Adam because of his book Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, which was later adapted for the documentary of the same name, both of which are worth your time. So I was actually excited to meet him and have him sign my copy of his book that I had brought, which he graciously did once we did finally meet. Which in fact, was rather funny since I had no idea what this guy looked like. So when he came up to my table and started looking through the books I was selling, talking about different reference books, and then casually mentioning that he had written a book. Once he told me his name, I told him that myself and friend Aaron Christensen were the ones he was suppose to meet up with for the Q&A panel later. Small world. From that moment on, we became good friends. He’s been over the Krypt several times for some movie screenings and other get-togethers.

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Mystery Photo 5-5

Sorry folks…had every intention of getting this up yesterday but the time just slipped away. But no worries…here we are with this week’s Mystery Photo. Our photo from last week was from Jason X. I figured with a close up like that it might be a little harder to recognize it, and apparently it worked since I only got two people with the correct answer. They would be Hoby Abernathy and Aaron Christensen. And before you might snicker at the movie, if you haven’t seen it, you might want to. Pretty damn entertaining and one of my favorites of the series.

Anyway, let’s get to this week’s photo. Might be easy…might not. But don’t look too hard for too long or your eyes might end up like the woman’s in the photo! Just send your answer to jon@kitleyskrypt.com

Good Luck!

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Blackwood Soundtrack Review

blackwoodcdBlackwood
Released by Lakeshore Records
15 Tracks with a total running time of 57 min.
Music Composed by Lorne Balfe

It doesn’t happen often, but it does every now and then. There are those soundtracks that hook me after the first listen, but then there are those rare ones that get me within seconds of hitting the play button. Lorne Balfe’s score for Blackwood is one of those. Okay, so I am a sucker for ghost stories, which is what this movie is about. Never seeing it, or even hearing about it before this score arrived, I was immediately curious. But once the music started, with a beautifully haunting organ, then with a slow and eerie sound of some strings, it set the mood right away. Balfe has created one of those scores that is beautiful, sad, haunting, and creepy, all at the same time. That is talent.

Most of the score seems to be just piano or organ, along with a variety of string instruments, and for the most part are slow and moody. There are a few that have a little faster pace, such as #9 Paying a Visit, but for the most part, it is a nice relaxing score, one that is perfect for a nice quiet evening at home, working on the computer or reading your favorite book. It just breathes atmosphere.

Composer Balfe is a new name for me, but who’s work I will be looking more into. Highly recommend this one.