Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Mystery Photo 11-26

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Since it was around that time of year, I couldn’t help but use one of the photos from our recent Turkey Day. The film is Attack of the Beast Creatures (1985) and I’m still waiting for someone to put out a nice little Blu-Ray special edition of this! While wishing, not only do I want a Blu-ray of this, how about a little 12″ action figure of one of the creatures?!?!? If you haven’t seen this little gem, imagine a whole island filled with the little Zuni Fetish dolls from Trilogy of Terror (1975). While there are more than a few sequences of a group of survivors from a sunken cruise ship, when the title happens on screen, it is nothing short of epic. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, and Alan Tromp.

Now onto this week’s photo. Might be another entry for a Turkey Day marathon. Or maybe just a shot of the afterwards of a Turkey Day celebration. You decide. But as always, please do not post your answers here so that others can have a chance to guess. Instead, just send your answer to us in an email to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

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Bram Stoker’s Dracula 3-CD Special Edition

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Bram Stoker's Dracula Lucy

This really must be the year for special edition soundtracks for Dracula films. Recently Varèse Sarabande had released a 2-CD special edition set of John Williams’ score for the 1979 version of Dracula, which we promptly pre-ordered the minute we heard that news since that has always been a favorite score of mine. And now, thanks to the fine folks at La-La Land Records, they will be releasing a 3-CD set for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), giving us fans almost 3 1/2 hours of this incredible music from Wojciech Kilar.

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Naschy’s Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror in 3D!!!

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Frankenstein's Bloody Terror 3D

Folks in the New York city area, tomorrow you have the chance to see a rare screening of Naschy’s debut of his Waldemar Daninsky character, in the 1968 film Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror (or at least the version that was later released here in the states) in 3D, thanks to the wonderful people at Garagehouse Pictures.

At the Quad Cinema tomorrow at 3:05pm, in part of their special 3-D festival, you’ll get to see this amazing film like very few people have had the opportunity. Sam Sherman, the man really responsible for bringing Naschy’s name to the states when he bought this film for distribution here, will be there for the screening.

Sure, this is a little short notice, but if you’re in that area, I wouldn’t pass up this chance. I mean, Naschy in 3-D??? I’m still hopeful that this print will make it’s way out to the Midwest at some point. But in the meantime, you East-coasters better take advantage of it!

For more information about the screening, just click HERE.

A Time of the Turkey and a Time of Thanks

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turkeyday

First and foremost, a Happy Turkey Day to all of our followers out there. While most consider this a time of a huge dinner and spending time with family, here at the Krypt, we celebrate the Turkey a little differently. While we will have a nice family dinner today, more time will be spent prepping for our annual Turkey Day Marathon that takes place tomorrow, where friends will gather here to watch what like we like to call some of the finest in cinematic shipwrecks. These are not bad movies, mind you, because remember, the only bad movies are boring ones, and what we watch definitely aren’t boring.

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Movie Review: Clark Ashton Smith – Emperor of Dreams

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emperor of dreamsClark Ashton Smith: The Emperor of Dreams (2018)
Directed by Darin Coelho Spring
Featuring Donald Sidney-Fryer, Harlan Ellison, S.T. Joshi, Cody Goodfellow, Skinner

Clark Ashton Smith, one of the “Three Musketeers” of the legendary pulp magazine Weird Tales (with H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard) has sadly not received the popular attention that the creators of Cthulhu and Conan have benefited from. This new documentary hopefully will remedy that situation.

Smith lived from 1893 to 1961, primarily in the Gold Rush town of Auburn, CA. For about 50 years, he resided in a cabin there without electricity or running water. He never attended high school, but educated himself by devouring all of the books in the local library. He developed an incredible vocabulary and style that soon established him as a promising poet and the protégé of the “Keats of the West Coast,” George Sterling.

Lovecraft encountered Smith’s poetry and began a correspondence to state his admiration that blossomed into a lifelong friendship, all expressed through the mail, as the men unfortunately never met in person. The title of the documentary comes from the first line of Smith’s poem “The Hashish-Eater”, which Lovecraft praised in his Supernatural Horror in Literature. Continue reading →

A Century of Horrors

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Century of horror

The fine folks behind the We Belong Dead publication have unleashed their latest book and it looks like a doozey! We have all of their previous books and they are all amazing titles. Yes, they are a bit pricey to get them over here in the states, but with the limited quantities they produce, their value will definitely go up. Plus the fact that they are beautifully laid out and some very talented writers within the pages.

This new volume, over 500 full color pages, goes through the history of horrors, if you will, starting with the silent films and moving through the decades to the 1990s, with each chapter covering a particular decade. With an amazing cover by Graham Humphreys, and a forward by Sara Karloff, this is one that horror bibliophiles are going to want in their library.

The cost is £40 + £20 (which is going to be about $80 for us here in the states. But you can order your copy through their website HERE.

Mystery Photo 11-19

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Another late day, but still an updated photo. Wouldn’t want to disappoint anybody! Our last photo was from the entertaining British flick The Earth Dies Screaming (1964), directed by Terence Fisher. A short little film, but pretty damn fun. Check it out if you haven’t already. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Dave Fronto, and Troy Howarth.

Now onto this week’s photo. This might be an obvious choice because of the time of year, but I figured I’d throw it out there anyway. If anything, maybe it will bring some much needed attention to this little gem! So take a peek and see what you come up with.

Please remember not to post your answers here, but send them to us in an email to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

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Movie Review: Curse of the Crying Woman

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cryingwomanbanner

The Curse of the Crying Woman (1963)
Directed by Rafael Baledon
Starring Rosita Arenas, Abel Salazar, Rita Macedo, Carlos Lopez Moctezuma, Enrique Lucero, Mario Sevilla

Back in my early days of being a horror fan, I had a friend that asked me if I had seen any of the Mexican horror films from the late ’50s/early ’60s. At the time, not only had I not seen any of them, I wasn’t really even aware of them. When he offered to send me a couple of them, I told him not to, because I really didn’t want to get into yet another sub-genre of the horror genre! Silly me. Of course, this didn’t stop my friend and he sent me a couple of titles anyway. They were The Bloody Vampire aka El vampiro sangriento (1962), and The Curse of the Crying Woman aka La maldición de la Llorona (1963). After watching them, I was hooked. Growing up on the Universal classics, I had always loved the glorious black and white films, where the atmosphere is thick and heavy and I found that same style in these from South of the boarder! Continue reading →

Horror History: Les Baxter

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lesbaxterLes Baxter
Born March 14th, 1922 – Died January. 15th, 1996

Baxter was a composer that started in the film business in the early ’50s cranking out score after score in record time. In his career, he has score more than 120 films, with 15 titles in 1957 alone! He worked in many different genres, but for us horror fans, we remember him from his work that he did for AIP, especially the Roger Corman / Edgar Allan Poe films. He also re-scored a lot of foreign films that were being picked up and released here in the states, such as Mario Bava’s Black Sunday (1960) and Black Sabbath (1963), or even titles like Reptilicus (1961)

Baxter started his musical career at a very young age, learning the piano at the age of 5. In his early 20’s, he joined Mel Torme’s band, worked on radio shows including Bob Hope’s show, and even had a hit record in the 50’s.

But it is for his film scores that I learned of his name. Since these movies will always live on for fans like us, so will his music. Baxter always gave us something different and unique that always highlighted the film even more.

Studies on Joe Dante’s The Howling

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Howling BookCentipede Press has recently released a new volume in their Studies in the Horror Film series, this time taking a deep and dark look into Joe Dante’s The Howling. While it is one of Dante’s earlier films, it still remains one of his best known titles, for many good reasons. Now, thanks to Lee Gambin, you can read more about this film than you ever thought possible!

Over 350 pages, loaded with color photos and an new introduction by Dee Wallace, this book includes rare behind-the-scenes photos, most of which have never been published before. There are interviews with the likes of Dee Wallace, Belinda Balaski, Dick Miller, Don McLeod, John Hora, John Sayles, Robert Picardo, and others. And of course, Joe Dante.

But there is more! According to the blurb from Centipede Press, you will also get “the definitive story of the making of The Howling, complete with an insightful plot synopsis and complete critical analysis, behind the scenes information, and a slew of interviews with cast and crew. Rounding out the book are nearly 150 stills of the movie, ranging from individual frame enlargements to rare, never-before-published behind the scenes photographs.” What more could any Howling fan ask for???

The price is only $35 and can be ordered directly from the publisher. For all the information, just click HERE.