Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Mystery Photo 11-9

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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

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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

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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!

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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

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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!

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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!

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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 →

Happy Halloween from Kitley’s Krypt

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Today is the day we’ve been waiting for all year. The day where we fit in with the rest of the “normal” people! Where we can wear our usual horror t-shirts and not get the look we get when we were them the same around Christmas time! What? A Maniac T-shirt that says “I Warned You Not to Go Out Tonight” isn’t appropriate for midnight mass? Granted, for us, we all know that every day is Halloween and our love and passion for the horror genre is not something we celebrate once a year, but every single day. Hopefully everyone has still be able to enjoy this season, even with all the craziness going. I do miss the parties and get-togethers, but I really feel those will come back soon enough. Continue reading →

Friday Favorites: What Sacred You the Most?

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As we’re only 1 day away from Halloween, for this week’s Friday Favorite, I want to you to dig into your deepest, darkest, depths of your soul and let us know… what film scared you the most? It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t get to you now, but during that first time, at whatever age you were at the time, it just reached into your soul and cut down deep. Maybe it was one that just terrified you, maybe even so much that you couldn’t even finish it the first time around. Or one that kept you awake that night, haunting your dreams if you dared to fall asleep? Or maybe it wasn’t a particular film as a whole, but one scene that did the trick. Continue reading →

Movie Review: Fulci for Fake

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Fulci for Fake
Written and Directed by Simone Scafidi

Starring Fabio Frizzi, Paolo Malco, Sergio Salvati, Michele Soavi, Sandro Bitetto, Enrico Vanzina, Berenice Sparano, Michele Romagnoli, Davide Pulici, and Camilla and Antonella Fulci.

When I first read of this new biography being made on Lucio Fulci, of course, I was skeptical. A lot of biographical films tend to exaggerate things to tell a better story, instead of sticking to the truth. But after watching it, I now realize that it is something completely different. It is like if someone is going to make this biographical film, hires an actor to play Fulci, then the actor decides to go out to talk to the people that knew and worked with him, to give him some insight to this enigmatic man. And they did it brilliantly. So it is really more interviews and stories, interlaced with tons of photos and home movies showing a side of this director that we hadn’t seen before. Continue reading →