Mystery Photo 8-3-20

A little late today, but better late than not at all, right? Busy weekend, once again, but we survived, so that’s what’s important. So… last week’s photo was from the film Beyond Evil (1980), which starred the late great John Saxon. Sorry to say, it wasn’t Mausoleum, that had more than a few people send in, but I can totally see the similarities, so no worries. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Todd Barwick, Aaron Christensen, Brian Doering, Peggy Christie, Christopher Dyer, Tim Palace, Michael Shields, and William Wilson.

On to this week’s mystery pic… might be an easy one, especially for those that grew up in the video stores in the late ’80s / early 90s. Take a peek and see what you can come up with. Just send us an email (jon@kitleyskrypt.com) with your guess. Good luck.

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Wilfred Brimley – Rest in Peace

Wilfred Brimley - RIPThe film industry has lost another true and great talent with the passing of Wilfred Brimley. While he only appeared in a few horror films, if I saw his name in the opening credits, I knew he was going to be interesting to watch. I think I first became aware of him in the Paul Newman film Absence of Malice (1981) because that played at the theater I worked at. So while it wasn’t a film I would normally see, I got to see a lot of it during the working hours, so I remembered his character. And then came John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). It threw me for a bit with him without his mustache, but his voice is just as recognizable as this facial hair. As well as his incredible performances. In 1985, he appeared in another favorite of mine, Remo Williams, which I was so bummed they never made more of those. Continue reading

August Kryptic Army Mission – 55 to 65!

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This month, I will be turning 55 years old, getting even closer to really earn the moniker of “old man Kitley”. This means that I was born in 1965, and since I’m turning 55, I thought I would go with something a little easier for this month’s mission, but also help you dig a little deeper into the genre’s history.

Your mission is to find 2 horror films that you haven’t seen, that came out between the years 1955 and 1965. You have a whole decade to peruse to find a couple of titles to chose from. From all the old giant monster movies of the last part of the ’50s, to the birth of Hammer, and rise of the Italian horror films, you should have plenty to chose from. On a side note, if you’re wondering if one of those sci-fi films from the late ’50s, with some sort of monster or threat terrorizing the country, would count as a horror film, the answer is yes. Because we all know that Sci-Fi isn’t really a genre, right?

So you have until 11:59pm on August 31st to find, watch, and then report back your findings. Don’t take too long… time flies these days so don’t let it sneak up on you!

Friday Favorite: Mario Bava

Mario Bava Favorite

This Friday, we’re going to talk about one of the most amazing Italian directors in our movie history. One that truly painted the screen with color, even if it was in black and white. Today, we celebrate the birthday of the late, great Mario Bava. Even before he was “officially” directing, he gave us incredible looking films, such as I, Vampiri (1957) and Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (1959). When he finally took the director’s chair, we were even more of a treat, with a stunning debut with Black Sunday (1960), then giving the world the first real giallo film with The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963). When he moved to color films, he showed them like we’d never seen before, with some much style, with Blood and Black Lace (1964) being a perfect example. Even in Planet of the Vampires (1965), which may seem a bit cheesy now, the look of it is incredible, not to mention giving a little blueprint for the future creators of Alien (1979). Continue reading

Giallo Canvas: Art, Excess and Horror Cinema

giallo canvasHere’s another volume for the library of giallo fans. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas has just released the cover of her newest book, The Giallo Canvas: Art Excess and Horror Cinema, which sounds to be much different look at this popular sub-genre of films. While most books on this sub-genre covers everything from the production and making of, sexual subtexts, and a huge focus on style, this title “explores an overlooked yet prevalent element in some of the best known gialli – an obsession with art and artists in creative production, with a particular focus on painting.” Sounds like a very interesting read, that is for sure. Plus, I love that this is something new to consider about these films, focusing on the art used in these movies. The author will be exploring art that is used by some of the masters of Italian giallo cinema, such as Mario and Lamberto Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Martino, Umberto Lenzi, and Michele Soavi. 

This will be publised by McFarland, but there is no release date as of yet. Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted.

Horror History: Ottaviano Dell’Acqua

ottaviano-zombieOttaviano Dell’Acqua
Born 1954

Ottaviano is a face that even the die-hard horror fans won’t recognize… outside of the famous makeup he wore in Lucio Fulci’s Zombie (1979). You see, unbeknownst to even him, it was his face under the makeup and words, that was splattered across the movie posters and video boxes all over the states.

He started his film career as a stunt man and sometimes actor in small or bit parts, or at times a lead role. As an actor, he appeared in films like Nightmare City (1980), Rats: Night of Terror (1984), Cut and Run (1985), Zombi 3 (1988), and Zombie 4: After Death (1989). But as a stuntman or stunt coordinator, he worked on tons of horror and exploitation movies in the ’70s and ’80s, titles like Starcrash (1978), The Humanoid (1979), Cannibal Apocalypse (1980), Cut and Run and Demons (both 1985), and many, many more. He’s one of these many nameless actors who appear in some of our favorite films, but never really received any sort of fame because they were always either behind the scenes, usually having their names changed to more American sounding, and were usually appearing in the low budget titles. But now, this is a start!

Magical Memory of Discovering the Horror

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Last year on this day, I had one of the best days of my life that will remain such an important memory for me. It was the date of my book signing at the Music Box Theatre, for the release of my first book, Discover the Horror. To have so many friends come out to help celebrate, not to mention quite a few others that came out and purchased a copy, it showed me the graciousness of my horror family.  Continue reading

Mystery Photo 7-27

Our last Mystery Photo for July, which means summer getting close to be over, and the Halloween season will be upon us. No matter what form that might take, it will still be a time to celebrate! But let’s get to the topic at hand. Last week’s photo was from the Umberto Lenzi classic So Sweet… So Perverse (1969). We only got three correct answers this time out, Hoby Abernathy, Troy Howarth and Bryan Martinez. Well done.

We picked this week’s photo for an obvious reason, if you know it. But take a look and see what you can come up with. As always, just send us an email (jon@kitleyskrypt.com) with your guess. Good Luck!

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John Saxon – Rest in Peace

John Saxon - RIPAs this year goes on, we continue to lose more and more of some iconic faces in our movie world. You couldn’t grow up in the ’70s and ’80s and not recognize John Saxon’s face, mainly because he appeared in so many cult features over the decades. It didn’t matter if you were into the Italian giallo (Mario Bava’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much, 1963 & Dario Argento’s Tenebre, 1984), schlocky sci-fi films (Blood Beast from Outer Space, 1965 & Queen of Blood, 1966), martial arts film (Enter the Dragon, 1973), or the countless exploitation titles he appeared in, you would see his face in there somewhere. Not to mention appearing as a cop in more than a few of these films, like Blood Beach (1980), the Nightmare on Elm Street films, and even Nightmare Beach (1989).

We had the opportunity to meet him while at the Flashback Weekend back in 2007 where his table was set up right next to ours. So we were chatting throughout the weekend and he was such a nice guy. So even though the internet has already flooded with tributes and announcements of his passing, I wanted to add my condolences as well. No matter what the film was, even lesser quality productions like Blood Salvage (1990) or Hellmaster (1992), he always delivered a strong performance. His last appearance in a horror title was with his friend Dario Argento in Pelts (2006), in his episode for the second season of The Masters of Horror.

Knowing that his work in all these wonderful films will keep his memory alive and well for generations to come.  And that really is all that we can ask in life, to be remembered fondly. And Mr. Saxon, you definitely will. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family in this difficult time.

Friday Favorites: Film Reference Guides

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Sort of keeping in the same vein of last Friday’s topic, pre-internet, the one thing that a lot of us film fans used to learn more about and seek out different titles was usually a particular volume or two that we considered our bible… a film reference guide. These were the books that we’d consult as soon as we heard of a certain title to try and learn more about it. Or one that we would page through, reading the little synopsis of the different titles and adding them to our Need-To-See list. Continue reading