Author Archives: Jon Kitley

New Frightfest Guide!

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It’s been a while since the last edition of FAB Press’ Frightfest Guides, but now they are back! This time tackling Japanese Horror! Starting a decade ago, FAB Press started publishing these guides to different sub-genres, with gorgeous layouts and plenty of incredible information, from a variety of authors. In the previous editions, they’ve covered exploitation films, Grindhouse, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, monster movies, and mad doctors, which was their last edition, which came out in 2023. In their latest edition, it is all about the Japanese horror genre, which is one of the oldest horror film genres around!

Author Tom Mes, who has written books on people like Takashi Miike, Shinya Tsukamoto, Kinji Fukasaku, Tai Kato, and even actress Meiko Kaji, so let’s just say, the guy knows his stuff, so what better person to tackle titles from Kwaidan (1964) to Ringu (1998), from cat demons to mushroom people, and so much more. This volume will over more than 200 film titles. Filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa provides the foreword to the book.

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Reggie Bannister – Rest in Peace

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I’ve been going to conventions for over three decades and have met a lot of celebrities. But I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like Reggie Bannister. I would watch him interact with fans coming up to see him and every single one walked away like they have a new best friend. Reggie was about as genuine as you can get, and one of the nicest humans ever to grace this planet. He also happened to be the biggest bad-ass, 4-barrell toting, mutant dwarf-killing, ice cream man you’d ever hope to run across. 

As most fans knew, Reggie had been battling a few issues over the last several years, but always kept his head held high. He is now at peace, driving that black Cuda into the next world, with the tunes blasting. While I always say that when our movie heroes pass away, they will live on in the wonderful movies they left us. But I think even more than that, Reggie will be missed for all the human connections he made with those that knew him, even if that was just spending 5 minutes chatting with him at a convention. We have lost a great one here. They really didn’t make too many like Reggie, so this loss hits harder than most. So bust out your favorite Phantasm entry, play one of Reggie’s music CDs, and remember how so damn cool he was.

Rest in Peace, my friend. We’ll see you on the other side. Our thoughts go out to his wife Gigi, and the rest of his friends and family during this difficult time.

Mystery Photo 8-10

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We are back from our long-ass drive down to Atlanta for Monsterama Con but I had to make sure I got in today’s update with the new photo! We had a blast at the show and I’m sure we’ll have more details later, but for now, let’s get down to business. Last week’s photo was from Horror Hospital (1973), not the film Psychomania aka The Death Dealers, that came out the same year. I think it was the motorcycle helmet that threw a few people. But congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Dada Debaser, Kevin Hart, and William Wilson. Well done.

Now on to this week’s photo. Take a peek and see if you can recognize this one! Just remember to send me your answer in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And good luck!

DtH Episode 128 – Cryptids (From the Last Decade)

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The Hallow (2015), The Ritual (2017), and Antlers (2021)

Cryptids occupy a couple of different categories in modern life. One of them is fun, if a bit kitschy and silly: think concrete bigfoot statues sitting in whimsical gardens or funny little Mothman plaques hanging on the wall. But another is truly terrifying, buried down deep below the surface of our culture and our geography, a place where most people refuse to even touch the soil, much less dig. On this episode, we are going to dig deeply into those terrifying cryptid myths and uncover some wonderful horror films. Because in the last decade or so, a handful of filmmakers have chosen to put spade to soil and go deeply into that taboo territory and yielded some wonderfully horrific results.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Jim Krut – Rest in Peace

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We have lost another character that is forever immortalized because of playing not just a zombie in George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978). Jim Krut was known as the “helicopter zombie”, the one that stands up and has the top of his head chopped off from the helicopter blades. It’s a scene everyone remembers once they’ve seen it.

But it was all over the internet that Krut has recently passed away. He was a guest at the very first Cinema Wasteland show back in Sept. of 2000 and was such a friendly guy. He will be forever remembered to so many horror fans, both old and newer ones because of this one character. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Mystery Photo 8-3

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Welcome to August! Just one more month until (hopefully) the heat starts to lighten up a bit! And of course, we’re then closer to the Halloween season! Then again, we also know that EVERYDAY is Halloween, right? We survived our weekend at Flashback Weekend and had a lot of fun, as usual. This week we’ll be heading to Atlanta for our first time at Monsterama and really looking forward to that one! But let’s get to business. Our photo from last week was from the classic big monster film Them! (1955), the one that started it all here in the states. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Jennifer Pike-Cruz, Christopher Dyer, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Charles Miller, Bryan Senn, Vincent Simonelli, and Mickey Thompson. Well done, folks!

Now take a look at today’s photo and see if you can recognize this one. Might be a little tough, so don’t think too long or get stuck in the mud! Remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And most of all, Good Luck!

BAVA-THON!

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For those of you closer to the Eastern side of Pennsylvania, and love the work of Mario Bava, then you have the opportunity to see 10 of his films on the big screen, all showing from 35mm! As much as I love the Chicago area and the amazing programming the Music Box does, seeing these events on the far side of the country really makes me jealous!

Brought to you by Exhumed Films and The Gap Theatre, located in Wind Gap, PA, they will have two nights of Mario Bava features, 3 on Friday, Aug. 7th, and then 7 (!) on Saturday, Aug. 8th. Having the opportunity of seeing 10 titles from the master is just amazing. From the man who pretty much invented the giallo, then set the standard, but then giving fans so much more in the way of some incredible cinematography, you hit some of the best in Italian cinema right here. And seeing these on the big screen is so different than watching them on your TV. Here are the titles:

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Mystery Photo 7-27

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Yeap. Today definitely was a Monday. Granted, since we’re off Friday for the Flashback Weekend convention, I’ve always said that just means 20% more crap for each of the four days prior! And today was a perfect example. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to miss out on posting today’s photo!!! Our last photo was from the amazing made-for-TV movie Satan’s School for Girls, from 1973, when you could have teleplays about Big Lou trying to entice young girls at school. Great cast too, with Pamela Franklin, Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd, and Roy Thinnes. Fun stuff. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, AJ McIntyre, Mike Shields, Vincent Simonelli. Well done!

Now on to this week’s photo. Going with another black and white classic, but maybe not too easy to recognize from this particular shot. Take a good look and see if you can figure it out. Just remember to send your answer to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Dick Warlock: The Shape of My Career

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It’s funny how there are some stuntmen that have done some incredible work over their careers, yet for the most part, they go unnoticed. Unless they portray a famous movie monster, such as Jason Vorhees or Michael Myers, and then their fan base explodes. That’s great and all, but it’s a shame that it takes something like playing Jason to bring attention to their career, that could be amazing in its own right! But again, whatever helps, right? I’ve talked to many stuntmen over the years, and it always amazes me the work they do with little or no credit, so I am always excited when the spotlight gets put on them. That is the one thing that playing famous movie monsters can do, so for that, because when you work in the horror genre, us fans take notice!

To help with that education even more so, Harker Press has announced their latest book, Dick Warlock: The Shame of My Career by Warlock, along with John Copeman and Kevin Dennis. Warlock has over 200 credits in the stunt world, playing in just about every type of genre out there, but also doing plenty of work in the horror genre. From his work with John Carpenter to even before that working with Spielberg and even Alfred Hitchcock, Warlock’s career that has spanned over 40 years is just epic. And now you will get to read all the details about it.

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Chuck Russell – Rest in Peace

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My very first horror convention was a Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, in California, in April of 1988. At that show, promoting their latest film, the remake of The Blob, were screenwriter Frank Darabont and director Chuck Russell. They talked about being told that they can’t kill a kid in their version of The Blob. Chuck said, “Watch me.” And let’s not forget that the previous year, him and Darabont helped catapult Freddy Kruger into real stardom with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Years later, here in Chicago during a screening of The Blob, he gave another great Q&A after the screening, which is where I took this photo.

But it is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Mr. Russell, who left us on Wednesday, July 22nd. While he didn’t have a huge filmography, what he did do was always pretty damn entertaining. A talent that will truly be missed. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.