Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Dohler’s Nightbeast Hits Blu-Ray

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Nightbeast blu-rayBack in the late ’70s to early ’80s, Baltimore’s own Don Dohler made a few low budget films that may not have been the best made, but they happened to be pretty entertaining for young horror fans that were eating up different titles at their local video store. And seeing his 1982 alien invasion flick Nightbeast on the shelf, I was more than pleased with it once I got home! Originally released on DVD from Troma back in 2004, now thanks to the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome it comes to Blu-ray for the first time in a newly scanned and restored in 2K from its 16mm camera original. And I suggest you order your copy now, especially if you are one of those that enjoys those nice rubber-suited monster movies of that time, plenty of blood and a few boobs, and just a lot of fun.

While this release does have some of the extras from the DVD release, such as the audio commentary from Dohler (who passed away in 2006) and actor George Stover, and the outtakes and bloopers, it does have more than a few extras that are going to be interesting to see. Here is what the site has listed for the extras: Continue reading →

Upcoming Shows

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Now that Cinevent is in the books, lets look ahead to our next two shows coming up real soon.

Monster Bash 2019 banner

Next month we head to Mars, PA, once again for the Monster Bash. Damn, do I just love this show. They have a great guest lineup this year, including Ricou Browning, the last living classic Universal monster! Their other guests include: Beverly Washburn, Martine Beswicke, Veronica Carlson, Christopher Neame, Sharyn Moffett, Cortlandt Hull, Kris Yeaworth, Tom Savini, and John Russo. They also have a few notable authors there, another reason I love this show, such as Troy Howarth, Frank Dello Stritto, Tom Weaver, Gregory Mank, Deborah Painter, and Robert Michael Cotter. Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 5-27

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Wasn’t sure if I was going to make it today, but here it is. After spending the last 4 days in Columbus, eating way too much amazing food, wasn’t sure if I was even going to survive! But we did, and here is your latest Mystery Photo. But first, let us review last week’s photo. Not a familiar one to most it seems because we only got one correct answer sent in, which was from Greg Wojick. Well done, Greg. The movie is called Witching and Bitching (aka Las brujas de Zugarramurdi, 2013), from Spanish filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia. I’ve been a big fan of his work since first feature, Acción mutante (1993) and he never disappoints.

So let’s get to this week’s photo. As usual, PLEASE make sure you do not post your comments here, so that everyone can get a chance at guessing. Instead, just send your guess to us in an email to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

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Mystery Photo 5-20

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Before we get to this week’s photo, I have to point out that I made a slight error a couple of weeks ago on the photo. The shot was from The Black Zoo, but I had grabbed the image from Google search and it was in black and white. The film, however, is in color. I had a couple of people send in some other answers because of it being black and white, so I apologize for that. Lesson learned.

Our photo from last week was from a made-for-TV movie called Satan’s Triangle (1975) starring the always amazing Doug McClure and Kim Novak. Shame this hasn’t gotten a legit DVD release. Kudos to Bob Hartman and Michael Shields for sending in the correct answer.

So for this week’s answer, this will be me the next time I get the color wrong on a Mystery Photo! Please remember now to post your answers here in the comments so others can have a chance. Just send them to me in an email (jon@kitleyskrypt.com). Good Luck!

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Turkey Day in May 2019

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TDiM 2019

In May of 2015, we started our official Turkey Day in May proceedings and now 5 years later, on Saturday, May 11th, the fun continued! While we did have a few people that weren’t able to make it out for the T-Day celebrations, we did have more than enough to partake in the food and fun. The usual suspects were Aaron Christensen, Adam Rockoff, Neil Calderone, Brian Fukala, and Matt Harding, with Gregg Olheiser and Alan Tromp making this their second time out for the festivities. This time though, Gregg brought his lovely wife Jill along too for her first time! Our buddy Gavin Schmitt, traveling all the way from the land of cheese (aka Wisconsin), made it out for his first T-Day experience. As the famous TCM tag line says, “Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them?”

T-Day in May 2019
Continue reading →

The Sentinel Soundtrack Released

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Sentinel CDNever before available (officially, that is) in any format, Gil Mellé’s score for the 1977 Michael Winner film The Sentinel is finally getting a release, all thanks to La-La Land Records and Universal Studios, in their latest title in their Universal Pictures Film Music Heritage Collection. This release will have the complete score, which is 56:27 minutes, with an additional 16:33 minutes of bonus and musical effects cues. Jeff Bond and James Phillips wrote the exclusive and in-depth liner notes.

Limited to only 3000 units, you may want to order yours now to make sure you get a copy. I know I just did. And while you’re at La-La Land Records site (by clicking HERE), check out their other discs, because I found quite a few great titles at some really good prices!

Cinevent Next Weekend!

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cinevent-banner-generic

FangsSeems like forever since our last stop on this year’s Discover the Horror World Tour. But next week, we’ll be heading to Columbus, Ohio for the annual Cinevent Classic Film Convention. This is taking place from Thursday, May 23rd, to Sunday, May 26th, at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown.

Hard to believe, but this show has been running for over 50 years. And unlike most shows, this is all about collecting and memorabilia. While there are a few guests, they are mainly authors and film historians, so there is no autograph lines drawing people from the dealer room. Just a good old fashioned collector’s show. While this isn’t a horror show, there is still plenty enough to keep me interested and browsing, and I usually come home with a few good things.

This show has films playing all weekend long, starting at noon on Thursday and running until midnight. On Friday and Saturday, they are running from 9am until midnight. Most of the films are not in the horror genre, but this time out, I’m going to have the chance to catch the 1974 exploitation film Fangs (also know as Holy Wednesday) on Saturday night! Since we’re actually staying at the hotel this time, it will be no problem catching that one! Continue reading →

Cinepocalypse Unleashes Lineup for 2019

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Cinepocalypse 2019 banner2Cinepocalypse, the genre film festival taking place at Chicago’s own Music Box Theater has unleashed it’s lineup of films and special guests for this year’s event. Starting on Thursday, June 13th, and running thru June 20th, the festival will have 8 days of features, shorts, events and guests, including 8 world premieres.

Some of the highlights right off the bat would be the world premiere of Verotika, Glenn Danzig’s directorial debut, which is opening the festival, with Danzig in attendance! Director Joel Schumacher will also be in attendance for screenings of Falling Down (1993) and Flatliners (1990), and will be there for Q&As after the screenings. Actor Michael Ironside will be there to receive Cinepocalypse’s annual achievement award, who has contributed to so many genre pics over the years. He will accept this award after a 70mm screening of Total Recall (1990).

You can get the entire list of films and when they are playing by heading over to the Music Box website HERE.

Mystery Photo 5-13

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Last week’s photo was from the film The Black Zoo (1963), starring the always entertaining Michael Gough. His performances, especially when he’s playing the villain, tend to be a tad over the top, but are always so much fun to watch. Kudos to Hoby Abernathy, Dave Fronto, and William Wilson for sending in the correct answer.

This week’s photo is another rare one that you might have to think a little harder on, or maybe brush up on your geometry. But take a look and see what you can come up with. As always, please don’t post your answers here so others can have a guess. Just send them to us in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

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Book Review: “Twice the Thrills! Twice the Chills!”

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Twice the Thrills“Twice the Thrills! Twice the Chills!”
Published by McFarland, 2019. 433 pages.
By Bryan Senn

The double feature was an interesting concept from the start. If you’re not aware of how it all started, then the beginning of the latest book from Senn will fill in all those historical details for you. In fact, I found that part of the book to be a very interesting history lesson, how the studios were reacting to what the TV market was doing to them. It shows that once again how things tend to change because of money, either due to an increase of it, or a decrease, and definitely in the film business. Continue reading →