Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Movie Review: The Untold Story

by in Misc. Ramblings and tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Untold Story (1993)
Directed by Danny Lee & Herman Yau
Starring Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Danny Lee, Emily Kwan, Siu-Ming Lau, Fui-On Shing, Eric Kei

Back in the early ’90s when I was really into the Honk Kong film genre, especially the horror titles, we were always on the lookout for any of the Category III films that were going to blow us away. For Hong Kong titles, Category III meant adult content, that could be sex and nudity, or gore and violence. Or both. While they never could top the gore coming from American films, Hong Kong would have some subjects that never would have made it past the MPPA, such as the murdering of small children. So when I came across The Untold Story, the violence was so over the top and grim, I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. Now, revisiting the film after many years to check out the new Blu-ray from Unearthed Films, I wondered if it was going to have the same impact. Continue reading →

Soundtrack Review: Lovecraft Country

by in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lovecraft Country
Released by WaterTower Music
62 Tracks with a Running time of over 2 1/2 hours!
Music by Laura Karpman and Raphael Saadiq

Wow. Talk about a soundtrack that encompasses just about everything!

The first 11 tracks are musical numbers from the show’s cast, that gives us the feel of the era of when the series takes place. After that, for the next 51 tracks, we get a mixture of music and emotions as we go down this long and winding road into a very strange story. Now, I have not seen any of the show, so this review is just going by the music alone. But I am more than interested in seeing it because of what the music is “showing” me. Continue reading →

Turkey Day Marathon 2020

by in Turkey Day Marathon | 1 Comment

Once Halloween is over, here at the Krypt there is one thing on our mind: Turkey Day! Our bi-annual celebration of the finest in cinematic shipwrecks! I started doing these Turkey Day Marathons back in 2003, and it has slowly grown into something insane. Crazy enough that in 2015 we started Turkey Day in May, holding another onslaught of some of these gems!

But then Covid hit and in May, we couldn’t really have the usual get together. So we held our first Turkey Day online, which I think was somewhat successful. It wasn’t the same, but at least we were still able to enjoy the event. We were hoping that by November things would have calmed down, but alas, we find ourselves still in the thick of it, as they say.

Which brings us to our big announcement today. Since we’re going to have to hold our Turkey Day Marathon online once again, we have decided to open it up to the world! Now, some of you might not fully understand exactly what is our Turkey Day Marathon, so let me give you a brief summary. Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 11-9

by in Mystery Photo | Leave a comment

Sorry about missing last week’s photo. Guess with Halloween and all, I just got a little too busy. I know, no excuse. But I will say I was pretty impressed that anybody sent in the correct answer for our last photo because it was pretty obscure. It was from the 1976 film Sisters of Death.  So well done to Doug Lamoreux, Michael Shields, and Nick Wilson for recognizing this little title.

So today’s photo might be a little easier… if you like underwater monster movies! Take a peek and see what you can come up with. Remember, don’t post your answers here so that others can have a guess. Just send us your answer to us via email, at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Phantom of the Movies – Rest In Peace

by in Rest in Peace and tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Writer and columnist Joe Kane, more known under his long time pseudonym The Phantom of the Movies, passed away on November 1st, at the age of 73. Being a lifelong movie fan, he was one of those that strived to inform other movie fans of all the wonderful titles out there waiting to be discovered. One of his favorite quotes was “Keep Watching the Screens!”

He was an editor for The Monster Times in the early to mid ’70s, before working as a columnist for The New York Daily Times, under the moniker The Phantom of the Movies, where he wrote about the strange and cult films that he loved, amongst other film titles. In 1993, he started a fanzine/newsletter called The Phantom of the Movies’ Videoscope, which later evolved into an actual magazine. In 2000, he published a massive volume of reviews in a book under the same name as the magazine. Continue reading →

Horror History: Pamela Franklin

by in Misc. Ramblings | Leave a comment

Pamela Franklin
Born February 3rd, 1950

The first movie I rented after buying my first VCR was The Legend of Hell House (1973) and it has remained one of my all-time favorites to this day. One of the reasons for that is because of one of the stars of that film, Pamela Franklin. I would learn and discover more of her work in the genre, especially the one she made her screen debut in, as little Flora in Jack Clayton’s The Innocents (1961), where she was only 11 years old at the time. But she also appeared in other titles such as Hammer’s The Nanny (1965), Necromancy (1972) and Food of the Gods (1976) both for Bert I. Gordon, and the original versions of both And Soon the Darkness (1970) and Satan’s School for Girls (1973).

Franklin always seemed to play the woman in peril, probably because of her beautiful innocent eyes and face. But no matter what she was in, we have always found her very memorable and entertaining, and still remains one of our favorite actresses from that period. Shame she left the business in the early ’80s. We highly recommend seeking out some of her films if you haven’t seen them already. And go watch The Innocents again. If only because it really is THAT good! 

Curse of Frankenstein 2-Disc Blu-Ray!

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

Coming to Blu-ray for the first time in the U.S., Warner Archives has announced a new 2-disc special edition of Hammer’s The Curse of Frankenstein, the movie that really put the Studio that Dripped Blood on the map. This new release will contain 75 minutes of new documentary work, audio commentary by Screenwriter/Film Historian Steve Haberman and Filmmaker/Film Historian Constantine Nasr. You’ll get to hear from some of Hammer’s best scholars, such as Richard Klemensen discussing the history of the film, cinematographer and producer David J. Miller discussing Hammer’s underrated cameraman Jack Asher, as well as hearing from Christopher Frayling, Christopher Drake, and so much more.

The disc will contain a 1080p HD Restoration Masters from 4K scans of Preservation Separation Elements, but also a newly re-mastered 1.37:1 open-matte version as well. Continue reading →

Friday Favorites: A Time for Teaching

by in Friday Favorites and tagged , | 12 Comments

In an email conversation with a friend, Mark Turner, a fellow writer and horror fan, he asked me a question about starting the younger generation on older and classic films, and how do we go about it. He gave me a couple of examples on how he’s tried to pass on the love of some films, especially in the black and white variety, and whether it was successful or not. And it got me thinking. I’ve already told him I was sort of stealing his idea, so a quick thanks to Mark for planting the seed! Continue reading →

Discover the Horror Book Sale!

by in Book News and tagged , , | 1 Comment

With the holiday coming up, we know that we all have a horror-loving fiend out there that you’re on the lookout for a unique gift for. Well, we are here to make an offer that will be hard to pass up. Until the end of the year, I am cutting the price of my book, Discover the Horror by 25%! That’s right, if you order the book directly from me, you can get your copy for only $15! Plus the fact that I will gladly autograph it and personalize it to whomever you wish, so it would be an even bigger surprise for the person on the receiving end!

Or, maybe you want to be a little selfish and pick up your own copy!

Please remember there still is a $3.00 shipping cost, so for one copy, your total would be $18.

You can send a check or money order (made payable to: Jon Kitley) or you can send payment through Paypal. Continue reading →

November Kryptic Army Mission: Turkey Time!

by in Kryptic Army | 14 Comments

Yes, Halloween 2020 is done and gone. So while we start counting down the days to next year, now that it is November, that means it is time to start talking Turkeys! And no, I’m not talking about the kind you eat, but the kind you watch! Those who are veterans of the previous Krytpic Army will know well of this dangerous terrain I’m about to send you through, but trust me, you’ll be a better person because of it. Or end up locked up in a padded room. Continue reading →