Here are a few other highlights from the year that I think are worth mentioning. Mainly to show that there was indeed, some highlights, from new discoveries, new friends, or connecting with older friends in newer ways, there is plenty to be happy about. So let’s get this final post done so we can start this 2021 off right!

2020 saw the return of the Kryptic Army, which I had originally ran from 2010 to 2015. For those that might know what the Kryptic Army is, let me give a brief explanation. It is a monthly challenge that I put out on the first of every month, where you have to find and watch two horror films that you’ve never seen before, that fall under whatever the month’s particular mission subject might be. Could be something simple as films with vampires or maybe titles that has the word “blood” in it. Then after watching them, you have to report back here on what films you watched and what you thought of them. The point is to give followers a chance to seek a couple of movies out that either they may have missed otherwise, or maybe have a title or two that they’ve been meaning to get to and never got around to it. But also, I hope to bring out the conversation between fans.

I originally ended it after 2015 because it was getting more and more challenging to come up with different subjects, trying to tie them in with some sort of historical event that happened during that particular month. Plus, while we did have a few people participating, it wasn’t as many as I was hoping for. After hearing from more than a few people after I ended it, that they really missed it, I decided to bring it back for 2020, figuring I’d see if there was an increase in people wanting to participate. Once again, we’ve gotten a few people that have joined up, but not as many as I’ve hoped.

But again, it is more than just a monthly challenge. It is a challenge to get you to watch more films, but it is also to also to bring a band of horror fans together to discuss these films. Even a couple of sentences back and forth can start a friendship, it can inspire someone to check out a film they might not have heard of before, or just a positive comment back, shows that all of this is more than worth it. Because we all know this genre is never going away, and that it is so huge that many titles will get lost in the shuffle. It is our job to keep fighting that fight and maybe keeping some of these titles alive and remembered.

We are going to continue the Army another year, and see if we can get more fans out there to take a bit of time and take our monthly challenge. I mean, it’s not like we’re asking you to do something you’re not already doing in the first place, right? All we’re doing it asking you to give us your thoughts.

See you on the front lines, soldier.

Sinister Cinema

These guys have been around as long as I can remember, way back to the VHS days. If you were looking for a title that hadn’t been released on video, or in an uncut version, chances are, Sinister Cinema might have it. Most of their catalog were older titles, usually the classic era into the ’60s and ’70s. While I had gotten my share of titles that indirectly came from them, I never ordered from them. All of that changed in January of 2020. After hearing about an movie from 1952 from Finland, called Return of the Witch, I looked to see if it was available and found it on Sinister Cinema’s website. At the time, they were also having a sale that you could get 12 titles for only $98. Since they had Return of the Witch, I started browsing through their huge catalog to see if I could find anything else that I “needed”.

As I went through, I would come across a title and thought “I’ve never heard of that one before”, which after looking up the title, it was usually followed by “How the hell did I never hear about this one before?” It didn’t take long before I found a few more than a dozen that I realized I needed. From a few Japanese ghost stories from the ’60s to a low budget take-off on The Most Dangerous Game starring Mike Brady himself, Robert Reed, called Bloodlust! (1961). I was so impressed with their selection of titles, finding so many that I wanted, I actually placed a second order with them before my first order was delivered! Any worrying that the quality wasn’t going to be worth it went quickly out the window when the first order showed up and I quickly popped in each of the titles to see how they looked, and was very happy with what I saw.

Since then, I have placed three more orders with them and have yet to be disappointed. It is amazing at some of the titles they have, not just rare but ones I’d never heard of. One title, Alias John Preston (1955) starred Christopher Lee, two years before his rise to stardom with Hammer Films. Then there was A Place of One’s Own, a ghost story from 1945 starring James Mason, or The Vengeance of Lady Morgan (1965) with an all-star cast of cult figures like Gordon Mitchell, Paul Muller, and Erik Blanc. It once again showed me that no matter how long you’ve been collecting and watching films, there are SO many titles left for you to discover. And Sinister Cinema is a great place for that.

I’m not sure how long the company will still be running because they keep hinting that they might be closing their doors. And that amazing $98 sale still keeps popping up. So if you’re looking for some lost classics, head over to the their website and take a few minutes to browse and see if you don’t come across anything interesting. They do good work over there, helping keeping these almost lost films alive and available. If you want to check them out, head over to their website by clicking HERE.

Turkey Days – Pandemic Style

Because of the pandemic, we couldn’t hold our annual Turkey Day Marathons this year, or at least not the usually way. Instead we went online, actually allowing more people to participate than we normally do since we only have so many chairs here at the Krypt! While it just isn’t the same (not to mention no pizzas) it was still a lot of fun and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. Thank you to all that attended our two Turkey Day events this year. You guys make it worth all the work trying to come up with a variety of titles that will entertain you lot! Not an easy task, but it still seems to be working because you keep coming back!

While I’m not entirely sure exactly how I can make it work, but I’m thinking I’m going to have to continue the online version of Turkey Day in the future, even once things get back to normal. I think with this modern technology, to be able to share this event around the globe, and do it pretty easily, I think it would be a shame not to continue that. I’ve got a few more months to figure it out, so we’ll see. Stay tuned.

Discovering Karel Zeman

Another great discover this year was the work of Karel Zeman. Once again, the beauty of cinema is that no matter how long you’ve been an avid and passionate fan, there is always something to new for you to discover, even if they came out 50+ years ago. Also, another reason to have fellow cinephiles as friends because they can be the ones to alert you on such things, such as a phone call or email that say “Have you ever heard of Karel Zeman?” Because as cinephiles, we know that discovering something on our own is great, but sharing that with someone else makes it even better.

Karel Zeman was a Czech film director, writer, and animator, who created amazing pieces of art. While some of his titles, like A Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955) that features stop-animated dinosaurs, there are others, such as Invention for Destruction (1958) that is an incredible cinematic journey, using a combination of animation, illustrated backgrounds, with human actors, that will just blow your mind. You will immediately tell how much of an influence Zeman’s work was to Terry Gilliam and his style of animation. But Zeman’s films are one of the reasons people can fall in love with cinema and become avid cinephiles.

You can find some documentaries on him on Youtube, and Criterion has released a box set of his work, containing 3 films and some documentaries, so please seek them out. You won’t be disappointed. Then you’ll be the one contacting your friends saying “Have you ever heard of Karel Zeman?” And the circle continues…

It’s Not Over, My Friends

That is our recap of 2020. See? Wasn’t that terrible, was it? At least not as long as the last year seemed! All I can say is that I hope for those out there that are really struggling right now, that things start to turn around sooner than later for you. This reminds me of the song Never Forget by Judas Priest. That no matter how dark the times can get, we still remember our friends, never forgetting the good times that we’ve had, and that there will definitely be more of them still yet to come.

Here’s to 2021.