Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Kryptic Army Mission: July 2021 – Reading is Fundamental!

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One of the things that I’m always preaching here is to open up your comfort zone to different types of movies. I know to most of you reading this, I’m probably preaching to the choir, but there are newer fans to the genre, or film in general that don’t care for subtitles. “I want to watch a movie, not read it!” is the best response that I’ve gotten over the years. But the funny thing is that the more subtitled movies you watch, the faster you read them, to the point where you’re not even reading them but just glancing at the words at the bottom of the screen and your brain does the rest. True story. Well, at least I believe it. But it will get easier.

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Movie Review: Caveat (2020)

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(2020)
Directed by Damian Mc Carthy
Starring Jonathan French, Leila Sykes, Ben Caplan, Conor Dwane

A man who had recently suffered from an accident causing some memory lost, is hired by a friend to watch over his recently orphaned niece for a week, who by the way has some mental issues. Did I mention that the house is on a secluded island? And that because of her bouts of paranoia, the guy must wear a leather vest that is on a chained leash? While I was watching this, I even said out loud, “there’s no way you’d get me to put that vest on”, but if you can get past that obvious hurdle that most people would walk away from, then the rest of the movie will be worth it.

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A Pictorial History of Hammer Horror

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The time is now! You can now order your copy of the latest book from the fine folks of We Belong Dead, this time tackling all things Hammer! The book, A Pictorial History of Hammer Horror is over 450 pages, in full color, with essays on every Hammer horror title from The Mystery of Mary Celeste (1935) all the way to The Lodge (2019). Just like their previous publications, this one is packed with rare photos, posters, and lobby cards from all over the world.

The book is available in both hardcover and softcover. But if you’re ordering from here in the US, when you add in the postage, it is a bit pricy. For the hardcovers, it is £45, which is about $62, and the softcover edition is £35, which is about $45.50. Throw in $40 to $50 for postage, it does make for one expensive book. But here is the thing, I’m guessing that like a lot of their books, they go out of print rather quickly and will be a nice collector’s item, especially since is on Hammer Films. But more important than that, it is a pretty nice size book with a ton of essays about one of our favorite film studios and the films they produced. So while this might a great investment, and will be well worth the price, the real key is to read and learn more about one of our favorite British film production companies. Because at the end of the day, that is the purpose for any book, to educate and entertain. Can’t wait for my copy to arrive!

For all the information and how to order, just click HERE.

Mystery Photo 6-28

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I must be getting soft in my old age and using too many easy photos! This was another week where we got a lot of correct answers. Although, since this is a classic title from the genre, I’m always thrilled when people recognize it because it means we know our history! The film is the 1945 British film Dead of Night, usually known for the segment about the ventriloquist dummy, so kudos to the following for knowing another segment: Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Troy Howarth, Erik Martin, Gary McGuire, Charles Miller, Bryan Senn, Vincent Simonelli, and Greg Wojick. Well done!

So this week’s photo is a little more modern but I’m sure will have a lot of different guesses because it really could be from a dozen or some titles. So take a good look and see if you can figure out the correct one! Just send us an email at jon@kitleyskrypt.com or simply click HERE.

Katzman Honored on Blu-Ray

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Since The Giant Claw is one of my all-time favorites from the ‘50s, the announcement of this being on released on Blu-ray had my attention. Then to find out it would be in a special edition box set celebrating the works of low budget producer Sam Katzman. This guy was a producer that spanned just shy of 40 years that produced 239 pictures. In the decade of the ‘50s, he produced 105 titles, averaging out to almost 1 a month! He made everything from horror and sci-fi films to westerns, musicals, rock and roll, and just about every other exploitation genre out there.

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Charles Band Tells It All

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Whether or not you’re a fan of his movies, you can’t be unimpressed with his legacy, from the movies he produced back in the Empire Pictures to his Full Moon empire, he definitely had his hand in the creation of direct-to-video film production. From titles like From Beyond (1986) to the Subspecies and Puppet Master series, he has continued to put his stamp in the world of low budget film production.

Now, coming this November from Harper Collins, you will be able to read how it all started, and what Band went through, all the ups and downs, to get where he is today. Priced at $27.99 for the hardcover edition, Confessions of a Puppet Master will be released on Nov. 16th and gives us all the juicy bits from Band and co-author Adam Felber, through his 40-year career in the business, working with a wide variety of talented directors, actors, and movie magic creators, learning of all the wins and losses that he has taken over those four decades, all covered within the 320 pages.

For all the details, just click HERE.

Movie Review: Boys from County Hell (2020)

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Directed by Chris Baugh
Starring Jack Rowan, Nigel O’Neill, Louisa Harland, Michael Hough, John Lynch, Fra Fee, Morgan C. Jones, Robert Nairne, Lalor Roddy

Creating a vampire movie these days is extremely difficult without treading on the footsteps of the countless titles already in this done-to-death sub-genre. When a filmmaker not only does that, but creates a very entertaining, humorous and still an effective picture, he, along with the cast and crew, need to be applauded. Because of that, I felt I needed to post a review, hoping to draw more people to it.

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Accademia Giallo

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I’m not sure why I haven’t posted about these earlier (Sorry Ian!), but over the last several months, I have been honored to be invited to participate in this podcast done by Ian Simmons, from Kicking the Seat, in which Ian is learning about the Italian giallo, but picking a new movie each month and discussing afterwards. Now before we go further, let me back up a bit. Mr. Simmons has been running his Kicking the Seat podcast since 2012, after starting his blog in 2009. You can quickly tell how much of a passionate film fan he is, and is always entertaining to listen to. You might not agree with him all the time, but that is the whole point to being a movie fan, discussing our different thoughts on the motion picture industry.

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Mystery Photo 6-21

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We’ve had a few more recent photos so with this week’s pic, I thought I’d go a little old school. But before we get to it, let’s go over last week’s photo. It was from Tobe Hooper’s 1995 film The Mangler, based on the Stephen King short story. While the movie itself isn’t stellar, it is fun to watch Robert Englund. Plus, working around machines most of my life, seeing scenes like in the photo can be a little unnerving for me. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answers: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron AuBuchon, Scott Bradley, Aaron Christensen, Peggie Christie, Craig J. Clark, Karl Hanks, Kevin Hart, Erik Martin, Gary McGuire, Charles Miller, Jason Siegel, Alan Tromp, Nick Wilson. Quite a few this time out, so well done to the lot of you!

Okay, lets get to this week’s photo. It’s a classic and obviously in black and white. Just send your answers by click HERE or to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Creepy Bitches: Essays on Horror from Women in Horror

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Now if that title doesn’t tell you exactly what this book is about …

While we haven’t read this one (yet), I know we will be adding it to our library. One of the most important things one can do as a fan of this genre is listen to other voices. Not everyone thinks the same way you do so even if someone has a difference of opinion, you still should listen to them. Might not change your own feelings but maybe it will open your eyes a bit so at least you can see and understand another point of view. Women in horror is one voice that has been struggling to be heard for years, namely because most won’t listen. So let’s fix that. One step would to simply buy this book and read some essays on the genre by female writers, from the film industry, fandom, growing up in a video store even more in depth like exploring the gender roles in The Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy. It also covers the “therapeutic benefits of watching horror” that I know a lot of us have been preaching for years!

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