Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Horror History: Vic Diaz

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vicdiazVic Diaz
Born in 1932

If you have watched any movies from the Philippines, especially in the exploitation genre, then you’ve most likely seen Vic Diaz’s face somewhere. He has been a staple of the Philippine film industry since the late ’50s and had continued to work quite a bit through the ’90s. Whether he was just a bit player or given a bigger role, he was always recognizable and memorable.

He made 12 movies alone with director Eddie Romero, titles like Beast of the Yellow Night (1971), Black Mama, White Mama (1973) with Pam Grier, Beyond Atlantis and Savage Sisters (1974), both with Sid Haig and John Ashley. Not to mention other cult titles like Blood Thirst (1971), The Big Bird Cage (1972) which was directed by Jack Hill, Superbeast (1972), Daughter of Satan (1972), co-starring Tom Selleck, Vampire Hookers (1978), and many other delightful titles.

So the next time you’re watching a movie from the Philippines, keep your eye out for our pudgy little friend, Mr. Diaz. I’m pretty sure he will be in there somewhere.

Friday Favorites: H.P. Lovecraft

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Yes, Friday Favorites is back. Been a very busy these last couple of weeks working on a project but that is done so I can get back to rambling on here! I would also blame WordPress for changing their editing format for their site, making me have to learn new stuff. I’m old now dammit, so I don’t have time to try and learn new things! Change is bad. Anyway, let’s get to why we’re here, and to discuss a favorite.

Yesterday was the birthday of Howard Philips Lovecraft. An American writer that created new worlds of gods and monsters, just giving his readers a glimpse here and there, only to save their sanity. My first introduction to the works of his literary master was due to Stephen King’s Danse Macabre, where I quickly started seeking out stories from Lovecraft and wondered where this guy was coming up with this stuff?!?! But the movie world has not been too kind to his work when it comes to faithful adaptations, mainly because it is one of those things that is really the reader’s interpretation of what lies on the pages. But even with all of that, I think there have been several filmmakers that have taken Lovecraft’s inspiration and vision enough to create some damn fine features and a ton of different short films.

In honor of this master of the unsaid, the indescribable, the unexplainable, let’s hear what your favorite feature or short film adaptation of a H.P. Lovecraft story. I’m not talking what you think is the most faithful (because we all know that is about as subjective as you can get), but a personal favorite of yours, for whatever reason. So what say you?

Discover the Horror….at the Drive-In!!!

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With all the conventions cancelling for the year (and with good reason), it seems the only places we’re going to be hitting are the drive-ins! We’re looking into a few more events, but right now, we have 2 different Drive-In events that we’re going to be at.

The first one is next weekend, at the Skyline Drive-In in Shelbyville, IN, for their annual Super Monster Movie Fest! Taking place on Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th, with this year’s theme being BUGS!!! Here’s the schedule of what is screening and the other events:

Friday, August 28th:

Friday, August 28th:
8:15 pm Sammy Terry
9 pm – The Deadly Mantis (1957) – Giant Praying Mantis!
11:15 pm – The Swarm (1978) – Killer Bees with an all-star cast
1:30 am – Mimic (1997) – Guillermo del Toro’s mutated cockroaches
3:30 am – Bug (1975) – William Castle’s flaming cockroaches
5:15 am Don Z’s 35mm Madness
Saturday, August 29th:
8:15 pm – Sammy Terry
9 pm – Them (1954) – The giant monster movie that started it all
10:30 pm – Sammy Terry
11:15 pm – Eight legged Freaks (2002) – David Arquette battles giant spiders
1:15 am – Starship Troopers (1997) – Join the Troopers!
3:45 am – The Black Scorpion (1957) – Giant scorpions in Mexico!
5:15 am Don Z’s 35mm Madness

Not only will we be there for this amazing event, but we will be selling copies of my book, Discover the Horror, which I will gladly sign for FREE! I’ll be somewhere where the vendors will be set up. Not sure the when and where exactly, but I’ll be there all weekend, so we should be pretty easy to find, unless I’m off getting a corndog!

For all the latest information, head over to the Skyline’s Facebook Events page HERE.

Then next month, on September 19th, we will be at the Midway Drive-in in Sterling, IL for their annual From Dusk Till Dawn Horrorfest. They have only announced two of the four features playing, but so far it looks like a great night of fun.

They will be screening a 4K restoration of George Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead (1968). If you’ve never had the chance to see this on the big screen, then you are truly missing out on an amazing experience. Also on hand for a book signing will be author Daniel Kraus who will be signing copies of his book The Living Dead, which is based on the story that George Romero started on before his death.

The second feature they have announced is John Carpenter’s The Fog (1980), another personal favorite of mine!

UPDATE! They have announced the other two features: David Cronenberg’s Rabid (1977) and Humanoids from the Deep (1980)! Really going to make sure I can stay up for all four of these great features!

There will be vendors there, including Kitley’s Krypt and Horror Slave, along with Jill & Gregg from Lix, featuring so many amazing shirts and hoodies, and so much more! For all the latest information about this event, just click HERE for the Midway’s website or HERE for their Facebook Events page.

So all that money you’ve been saving up for conventions, bring on out to the drive-ins! We hope to see you there!

Book Review: 1000 Women in Horror

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1000 Women in Horror1000 Women in Horror: 1895 – 2018
Published by BearManor Media, 2020. 600 pages.
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

This book is amazing for a few reasons. First of all, it is an incredible source of information about women in the horror genre, from directors, screenwriters, costume designers, actresses, and just about every other job there is in the business. As the title states, we get to learn about women from way back to 1895 to the more recent 2018, as well as from all around the world, from Thailand to Turkey, from California to Canada, and everywhere in between. It shows this talent is everywhere.

It also proves a couple of fallacies within the horror genre. By the numbers listed in this book, it is obvious that there has been, and still are a great number of women working in the horror business, in a variety of jobs, some of which that have become immortal, such as actresses Fay Wray or Gloria Stuart. This also proves that the horror genre is definitely not just for the guys! Just by reading the author’s introduction, you’ll quickly realize there are plenty of women within these pages that are just as passionate about the horror genre as some of the men that I’ve met over the years, some even more so. It shows that gender has no bearing on one’s love of cinema. We’re all going to like and dislike different titles, which is to be expected. But sharing one’s love for the genre should not have any boundaries or hurdles. Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 8-17

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Sorry again for the late posting again, but just couldn’t manage to get it ready to go over the weekend. Seems more and more we wait for the weekend, counting down the days, only to find out at the end of it, you didn’t get squat done! And here we are, starting all over again. Ugh.

Anyway, enough whining. I was thrilled to see so many people send in the correct answers last week. It was from Tobe Hooper’s 1976 film Eaten Alive, with such an amazing cast.  I mean, how could a movie NOT be entertaining when you have these names in there: Neville Brand, Mel Ferrer, Carolyn Jones, Marilyn Burns, William Finley, Stuart Whitman, Kyle Richars, and of course, Robert Englund in one of his earlier roles! Here’s all the ones that sent it in: Hoby Abernathy, Gregory Avery, Todd Barwick, Wendy Bodine, Aaron Christensen, Chris Dyer, Kevin Hart, Christopher Highland, Troy Howarth, Martin Meeks, Lee Nattrass, Tim Palace, James Schmeichel, Bryan Senn, Michael Shields, Gert Verbeeck, Todd Warren, and William Wilson. Well done!

Okay, this week’s photo might be a little tougher. Okay, maybe a LOT tougher. But after throwing you a bone with last week’s photo, I figured I’d make you work for it. As always, just send your answer to us in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good luck!

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Interview: Bloody Hammers

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Bloody Hammers banner 1

A few years ago, I had gotten sucked into the YouTube black hole, looking for a music video, then getting sidetracked seemingly for hours, checking out different bands and such. It was on one of these excursions, that I stumbled across a video for a song called The Town that Dreaded Sundown. I clicked on it, wondering if it had anything to do with the movie. It did. What I didn’t expect was the sound and style of music. The band was called Bloody Hammers, and I quickly started to check out some of their other videos, like for Death Does Us Part. They do an amazing job not really fitting into one particular musical style. Part hard rock, gothic, maybe even a little doom metal, but it had a very unique sound and it grabbed me right away. I quickly ordered a couple of their CDs and immediately became entranced them. I found it interesting, that like The Misfits, they had a lot of song titles taken from horror movies titles, but other than the previously mentioned Sundown, they didn’t have anything to do with the actual movie. Nonetheless, there was something deep in the lyrics, sometimes like poetry laid in between this heavy sound, that really made a connection with me. Continue reading →

Horror History: Dean Cundey

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deancundey

Dean Cundey
Born: March 12th, 1946

If you are a fan of horror movies from the ’70s and ’80s, then you just might have seen Cundey’s work. If you’re a fan of the early works of John Carpenter’s, such as Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), and The Thing (1982), then you definitely know his work, as well as his talent! Cundey is now one of the top rated cinematographers in the business. But before all of that, he was working quite often in the horror genre, shooting some classic titles and making them look better than they ever should have.

Just look at his early resume and you’ll see a lot of favorites listed there, such as The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976), Creature from Black Lake (1976), Ilsa: Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), Satan’s Cheerleaders (1977), Without Warning (1980), Jaws of Satan (1981), and the list goes on. But it probably his work with Carpenter that he is most known for, making five pictures with him, which now are all considered essential titles in the genre.

So even while he may have gone on to work more in the bigger budgeted Hollywood films, we owe this man a lot of thanks for the way that some of these great films looked.

Mystery Photo 8-10

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It’s been a long and busy week. Hence the lack of updates recently. Been preoccupied with a project but hopefully the brunt of that is over and I can get back to here on a more regular basis. We’ll see. But for now, let’s get to the topic at hand. Last week’s photo was from Ghost Town (1988). I would always see that sitting on the shelve, no matter what video store I was in. A nice memory from a time long gone. Kudos to the following that did send in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Todd Barwick, Aaron Christensen, Dave Fronto, Brian Fukala, Christopher Highland, Neil Kloster, Lee Nattrass, Michael Shields, Gert Verbeeck, and William Wilson. Always nice to see that many names.

Let’s see if we get that many, or even more, from this shot. Take a peek and see if you recognize where this little tourist trap is from. Just send your answer to us in an email (jon@kitleyskrypt.com). Good Luck!

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Discover the Horror … on eBay

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I came across this the other day and found it pretty amusing. Here is a seller listing copies of my book for $34.95. I guess I should feel honored that someone thinks the book is worth almost twice as much as it was when it was first published. But instead I find it both sad and funny, because not only is it still available on Amazon for $20, you could also ordered it directly from me, and I’d even sign it for you, free of charge!

DtH on ebay

Continue reading →