Monthly Archives: June 2023

Praise for the Music Box Theatre

by in Movie Events and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As I near my 6th decade on this planet, most of that being an obsessive horror fan, it’s really easy to slip into the grumpy old man mode these days, telling younger horror fans to get off my lawn. Even conventions are nowhere near what they used to be, with more about paying for overpriced autographs and collecting toys than caring about the actual movies themselves.

See how easy that was?

But the other night, I witnessed something that made this grinch of a horror fan’s withered heart grow 3 times in size.

The Music Box Theatre in Chicago is a place I’ve been going to for over 30 years, mainly for midnight screenings but also to some of their film series they’ve done over the years. Back in the ‘90s when I would go to something like a midnight screening of Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond (1981) or Toshiharu Ikeda’s Evil Dead Trap (1988), there’d be maybe 10 people there, and most of them snickering during the screening.

Continue reading →

House on Haunted Hill at the Music Box!

by in Movie Events and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

This Wednesday and Thursday, June 7th & 8th, not only do you have the chance to see William Castle’s 1959 classic film starring Vincent Price, but you’ll get to experience EMERGO!!! Just like Castle did when the film first premiered, you’ll see the terror come right off the screen! Plus, it is from a 35mm print!

If you’ve never had a chance to see this (or any Castle film) on the big screen, then you are really missing out because in an audience setting, it really is a whole new experience. Also, Castle super-fan Matt Harding will have pieces of his William Castle collection on display! You don’t want to miss this event.

For all the info, head over the Music Box Theatre’s website HERE.

Mystery Photo 6-5

by in Mystery Photo and tagged | Leave a comment

Welcome to the first Monday of June. For most of us, that just means the Halloween season is just 4 months away. So as we avoid the sun and heat (okay, maybe that’s just me), before we know it, the leaves will turn and fall, the temps will drop (hopefully) and it will be Halloween before we know it. Got to focus on something positive, right? Speaking of positive, let’s get to last week’s photo and all the correct answers we got. The shot is from the film Targets (1968) from director Peter Bogdanovich. Very unsettling, with its feet both in the terrors in the reel world and the real world. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Scott Bradley, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Christopher Highland, Troy Howarth, Bryan Senn, William Wilson. Well done!

For this week’s photo, I decided to go with a favorite of mine. But I decided to go with a shot that might be a little obscure. I guess we’ll just see how good you are out there! Just remember, send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Music Box of Horrors 2023 Announced!

by in Movie Events and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chicago’s own Music Box Theatre has announced the date for this year’s 24-hour horror movie marathon, which will take place from noon Saturday, October 21st through noon on Sunday. We have missed this the last couple due to scheduling conflicts but this year we will be making our triumphant return!

They have just announced the first 3 features to be playing at this year’s marathon: James Cameron’s Piranha 2: The Spawning (1981), J.R. Bookwalter’s shot-on-video Ozone (1993), and Casper (1995), with plenty more to be announced.

You can already get your ticket by heading over the Music Box Theatre’s website by clicking HERE. If you order your ticket now, before October 20th, they are only $30 ($25 for Music Box Members). The day of the marathon, tickets will be $35 ($30 for members). But remember, last year the marathon sold out, so if you really want to go, then I would advise buying your ticket sooner than later.

In Search of Darkness: The Book!

by in Misc. Ramblings and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Back in 2019, director David A. Weiner, and a host of names involved in the horror genre, from actors, directors, makeup artists, to a slew of genre journalists that gave us In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic ’80s Horror. I remember watching his epic documentary, running close to 4 1/2 hours, and really enjoyed it. My only complaint was that they were skipping quite a few titles. Little did I know that there would be 2 more entries in this series to come over the next 3 years, with part 2 coming out in 2020 and running close to 4 1/2 hours, and part 3 coming out last year and running OVER 5-1/2 hours! So yeah, one could really say they really covered a lot of ground in these three documentaries.

Which really is a love letter to one of the biggest and best times for horror fans, because that decade just exploded with movies. Again, with 3 documentaries running over 14 hours, that just shows how much was out there.

Continue reading →