(Originally posted on our old site January 3rd, 2010)

2009 Year End Review

Okay folks, here’s what you’ve all been waiting for. This turned out a quite a bit longer than I originally imagined, but I guess that just means the year was jammed packed. Let’s take a look back…..shall we?

ALWAYS REMEMBER – NEVER FORGET

There were several high points last year, as well as a few low ones as well. One of the lower one that hit me the most was the death of Paul Naschy at the end of November. The horror genre really lost one of the last remaining icons that day. But even with his passing, it is making me strive even more to get his work out there to people that are not aware of his massive filmography, let alone talent. So while we are still sadden by this lost, we do know that we will also keep his memory alive and can even bring him back to life, each time we pop in one of his movies. And this is something that we will continue to do so, on a regular basis.

Another passing that really hit home was that of Clayton Hill. Clayton was most known as the “sweater zombie” in Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978), among other job titles. If you ever had the chance to meet Clayton at a convention, you’d remember him. Between him and his wife Sharon, they were a lot of fun and just great people.

Here is a list of other great talent from the genre that we lost last year:

Chas. Balun, Jack Cardiff, David Carradine, Don Edmonds, Clayton Hill, Tony Kendall, Paul Naschy, Lou Perryman, Dan O’Bannon, Edmund Purdom, Robert Quarry, Ray Dennis Steckler, and Harry Alan Towers.

We didn’t want to end last year on a sad note and dwell on the passing of these people, but to use it as a reminder to make sure that these people, and their work, remains alive and well in our hearts and minds. We are the ones that can truly make them and their work immortal. So make sure you’re doing your part!

HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

But let’s get to the higher points from 2009. Where to start? It was great to see two filmmakers finally get noticed and awarded for their work in the film industry. Jess Franco received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Goya Awards (Spain’s version of Oscars), which still boggles my mind. Not that he was giving this award, because he surely deserves it, but I just never thought I would see a montage of his films being screened at a big event like the Goya’s, showing some of the cheesiest films, tons of nudity, and the rest of insanity that is Jess Franco. So for him to be recognized and given this award shows the talent in this man.

The other filmmaker was Roger Corman who received an “honorary” Oscar for all of his work. I was thrilled to see him finally get the official recognition that they have deserved years ago. The man not only cranked out tons of movies, which were always successful, but he also tutored hundreds, if not thousands of people in the filmmaking business. Granted, it would have been even better to see him receive this award during Oscar night, but when you think about it, Corman has never been about the big Hollywood thing, and really wouldn’t have fit there anyway. But we are thrilled for both him and Franco.

Another highlight of this year was that after searching for this film for over 30 years, I was finally able to get a copy of The World Beyond, a TV-movie that I had only seen once before, back in January of 1978, but it had stuck in my mind since then. Was it as good as I remembered? If you’re seeing it again through the eyes of a 12 year old, then yes, it was great. It’s so great when those childhood memories are not spoiled so many years later. Even if we might be viewing them from a slightly skewed point of view. Its also great when you can find something that had such a powerful impact on you as a child, that might be a little piece of the puzzle as to  who we are today.

But I have to say that the biggest highlight for me personally this year was joining the writing staff at HorrorHound magazine. I was honored to be asked to join and have been having a lot of fun. The staff at HorrorHound are not only a bunch of great people, but are dedicated to putting out a great magazine for horror fans. If you would have told me back in my high school days that I would actually be writing for a nationally syndicated magazine, I would have thought you were on crack. Wait… we didn’t have crack back then… It just shows that you never know what you’re going to use later on in life. So pay attention out there, kiddies! Just a little word of advice from your ol’ Uncle Jon…

It was also a real thrill to see that the Horror 101 book received a Rondo Award nomination. Sure it didn’t win, but the fact that it was even nominated shows that people not only understood what we were doing, but enjoyed it as well. Still proud to be involved in such a project, and still get a kick when people mention how much they’ve enjoyed the book. It shows that people still are reading!

I also had another first for me and that was being involved with Fanex Files: Hammer Films DVD that came out this year from Midnight Marquee. Aaron Christensen and I had the chance to participate in this back in while in Baltimore back in 2007. The final product turned out pretty good. For someone who was at those Fanex shows conventions originally, it was really great to be able to see some of those Q&A’s again. Fans of Hammer Films, whether new or old, should get a kick out of this DVD.

KRYPTIC WORLD TOUR 2009 CLOSES

We had a pretty good tour this year, even though we really didn’t make it out of the Midwest. But we hit plenty of shows and always had a good time. From the Wasteland and HorrorHound shows, to the smaller film fests here in Chicago from the likes of Movieside and Horror Society, we want to thank you guys for all the hard work that you put into making sure all of these fans have a great time at your events. These shows really are the highlights of our year. As we’ve said many times before, these are like mini-family reunions, and it’s always a blast to see all of our friends. And we plan to do it all over again in 2010, especially with some of the shows that we are already planning on attending.  See you there!

BEST OF WHAT WE WATCHED IN 2009 LIST!

This isn’t going to be like most people’s list, since I don’t confine my list to just movies that came out in one particular year. Mainly since we don’t see every movie that comes out each year. Then there are some foreign movies that don’t see an official release here in the states until well after it came out outside the US. So this is our list of “Best of what we’d seen in 2009”. Read and enjoy. And of course, we always like to hear feedback.

BEST OF 2009

In 2008, we had finally started keeping a record of what horror movies we watch during the year . That year we only got to about 175 movies. Our goal for 2009 was to at least break 200, though we would have liked to hit 225. Well, the finally count is 218. I can’t tell you how much easier it is to go back what you’ve watched over the year, especially if you’re reviewing it for some sort of “best of list”… but who’s dumb enough to do something like that…

Strangely enough, as I was going through my list of what I watched in 2009, writing titles that I thought impressed me the most, it seemed a lot of them came from outside the US. Wonder why that could be? We did revisit a lot of great classics in 2009, like the Blood Island trilogy from the Philippines, and a nice chunk of Jess Franco films (highly recommending his 1966 film The Diabolical Dr. Z to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.) throughout the year. But let’s take a look at some newer films first.

Actually there were two films from the US that did make my list. The first one was My Bloody Valentine 3-D. Yea, I know. I can’t believe it as much as the rest of you, that an American remake of a favorite ‘80s slasher film would have been that entertaining. I enjoyed it so much that I actually caught this in the theater twice when it came out. I thought the 3-D effects were great and very effective. They used it throughout the movie, not just for the typical 3-D gimmicks. It had plenty of blood and guts. Now, I haven’t seen it on video since it came out, so I’m not sure how it might hold up in a regular 2-D format, but I just know that I was pretty impressed in the theater.

The other American film that I would consider one of the top of my favorites list was a film that was actually made 2 years before it finally came out. That is Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat. Usually when a film builds up this reputation of how great it is, with internet rumors and reviews squeaking out from special screenings and what not, it is really tough to have the movie pay off when it has been built up so much. But this film does just that. A great homage to the good old fashion anthology films, but also done a little differently. It was funny, scary, gory, creepy, and everything else one could want in a movie. This film brought back the fun and tradition of the Halloween holiday. I know that this film will be pulled out at least once every Halloween from now, making it a holiday requisite.

Our next two films were both made in countries known for cold and wintery settings. The first one was Pontypool, a Canadian film that was one of the most original horror films that I had seen in a very long time. It is also a film that creeped me out more than a film has done in a very, very long time. And the best part it was all done with style. The use of close-ups and audio really set the chills loose for me. Plus the fact that they took a very old and tired sub-genre and really gave it a nice fresh twist.

The other film came from way over in Norway. When we first heard about a Norwegian horror film that deals with Nazi zombies, we were pretty excited. Tommy Wirkola’s Dead Snow proved to be one of the most entertaining and fun movies that I’ve had in a long time. From the over-the-top use of gore, but also using some great camera style and atmosphere, it proved to be one of my top films this year. Seemingly very influenced by the early work of Peter Jackson, this is the type of film that could be watching countless times and still be enjoyed.

Another film was one that fans had been waiting for over 40 years for this film to be made. It was for the return of Zé do Caixão, better known as Coffin Joe, in his film Embodiment of Evil. This film finally completes the trilogy that Brazilian filmmaker José Mojica Marins started back in 1964 with At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul, and followed with This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse three years later. After many false starts over the years, Marins was finally able to get this third film made. It was amazing that even though it was made 40 years later, it still had the same feeling and atmosphere as the first two. There were plenty of scenes in this movie that just blew me away.

Some other films that we want to highlight from last year are not necessarily new films, but ones that we had seen for the first time that we think are worth mentioning. The Children was a British film that technically came out in December  of ’08, but most didn’t see it until 2009. I’m not a big fan of killer child movies, mainly because they can be pretty disturbing. And this one really is. It’s a great movie, but one that I probably won’t find myself watching again.

I’ve always said that no matter how long of a horror fan that you’ve been, there are always some undiscovered gems out there waiting for you. And last year proved it time and time again. The Witches’ Hammer is a Czechoslovakian film made in 1970, based on the actual transcripts of witch trials that happened in the late 1600’s. While not as graphic as Michael Reeves Witchfinder General (1968), the film still packs one hell of a punch and leaves the viewer in a grim mood. The fact that it’s based on actual events is even more frightening.

Lastly, we want to mention to Spanish films that we got to last year. The first one was Alejandro Amenábar’s first feature lenght film, Tesis (1996). Not sure why it took me so long to get to it, but it was well worth the wait. Great thriller about a film student that while doing research on violence in the media, stumbles across what looks to be a real snuff film. The other film is called Timecrimes and came out in 2007. The movie does deal with time travel, but that really is not the main part of the movie. Highly entertaining and immediately keeps the viewer guessing, but is not one of those where you need a M.I.T. graduate to explain it to you.   

So that’s our list, and our Year-End-Review, for what it’s worth. As always, we’d love to hear your opinions and thoughts. And here’s to hoping that 2010 is going to be an even bigger and better year. I know I am looking forward already to some of the conventions that we have scheduled for the early part of the year. We hope to see our old friends there, as well as make plenty of new ones.