Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Tobe Hooper – Rest in Peace

by in Rest in Peace and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Tobe Hooper RIPThere are certain names in the horror genre that are known as icons, or one of the Masters of Horrors. And yesterday, the genre and the fans lost another one of them, Tobe Hooper. Regardless of the ups and downs of his filmography, he will always be remembered for directing the infamous 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which still is as gritty, scary, and damn entertaining as it was when it first assaulted movie audiences over forty years ago. His adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (1979) still remains as one of the best made-for-TV movies of that decade, not to mention other entertaining titles in his filmography, such as The Funhouse (1981), Lifeforce (1985), and of course, the bat-shit-crazy sequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986).

Hooper passed away yesterday at the age of 74. For as long as there are horror movie fans, there will be screenings of TCM. And with each of those viewings, there will be some watching it for the first time that will be amazed and entranced at what they see on screen, possibly even inspiring them to try and do what Hooper and company did all those years ago in the dead heat of a Texas summer all those years ago.

You definitely will never be forgotten, Mr. Hooper. Thank you for the scares. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Book Review: Women in Horror, 1930s

by in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Women in Horror Films 1930sWomen in Horror Films, 1930’s
By Gregory William Mank
Published by McFarland & Co, 415 pages.

Along with Tom Weaver, Greg Mank is one of the leading writers who I think is doing amazing work keeping the memory and stories of some of our favorite actors and actresses alive, through their hard work and research. We can learn so much about our favorite horror stars because of them. And this book is a prime example of that.

Each chapter of the book is dedicated to one of the stars from the ’30’s, including names like Elsa Lanchester, Gloria Stuart, Frances Drake, and many more. In fact, there are 21 different actresses cover in this book. With each name, we are given a lot of information about the them, their early life and career. There are a lot of interesting stories within these pages, most of them told directly to the author himself from the many interviews that he conducted over the years. So kudos to him for keeping these memories alive and remembered.

Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 8-21

by in Mystery Photo and tagged | Leave a comment

Okay, when I can stump even the great Hoby Abernathy, then I know I’ve picked a pretty tough mystery photo. That’s right, nobody sent in the correct answer on this one, though a few did have a good guess. And if you didn’t get it, I don’t think you should feel too bad about it, nor would I suggest you run out and find and watch this flick. It was from the 1978 film Doctor Dracula, which Al Adamson co-directed. Great movie? Uh…no. Worth watching…uh….that’s on you.

So this week’s photo might be a little easier, especially if you’ve been paying attention to my recent posts. There’s a hint if you ever needed one. That should make up for this last one! Good luck!

mp082117

Soundtrack Review: Trigger Man / The Roost

by in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

triggermanTrigger Man / The Roost
Released by Moviescore Media
21 Tracks with a total running time of 43 min.
Composed by Jeff Grace

Strange how a soundtrack could make you go back and revisit a film that you had turned off the first time you attempted to watch it because it was terrible. That is what happened with me and Ti West’s Trigger Man. I got through the first ten minutes and couldn’t go any further. Sometime later, I had picked up Grace’s score for Stakeland and was really impressed with it. So I started to look up some of this other scores and came across this CD that had both Trigger Man and The Roost on it for a pretty cheap price, so I figured what the hell.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Plague of the Zombies

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

plaguebanner

Plague of the Zombies (1966)
Directed by John Gilling
Starring Andre Morell, John Carson, Diane Clare, Alex Davion, Jacqueline Pearce, Michael Ripper

In a small Cornish village, strange happenings are a foot! Some sort of deadly disease is creeping through the town and the local doctor is clueless as to what is the cause. He sends a letter of distress to Sir James, his former teacher, for assistance in this grave matter. Cutting short his vacation, Sir James travels to the village with his daughter to see if he can be of any assistance, but has no idea the evil deeds he is about to uncover there.

Continue reading →

Soundtrack Review: Razorback

by in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged , | Leave a comment

razorbackcd

Razorback
Released in 1984
13 Tracks with a total running time of 38 min.
Music Composed and Performed by Iva Davies

Sometimes it is these smaller movies that you don’t really think about that can really impress you when it comes to simple things like the soundtrack. We picked up a copy of this one at a convention, not remembering if it was any good or not, but since I’m a sucker for soundtracks and the price was right, I figured I’d give it a try. Composed and performed by Iva Davies, who is most well known for being in a band called Icehouse, being one of the biggest rock stars in Australia. This film was the first time he worked on a soundtrack, only doing a couple more throughout his long career in the music business. But that didn’t stop him from creating a wonderful score here.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Monsters

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , | Leave a comment

monsterbanner-smalll

Monsters (2010)
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Starring Whitney Able, Scoot McNairy

Right off the bat, we need to get one thing perfectly clear. If there ever was a film that was miss-titled, this would be it. Yes, there are monsters in this film, but it is a very, very small part of this film. It is basically just the background for this simple drama. Which I wouldn’t have had as big of a problem with it had the film been called something like Finding Love…While Some Monsters Roaming Around. But when you call the film Monsters….I kind of expect some..I don’t know…maybe some monsters….maybe a LOT of monsters. The actual working title for the film was Far From Home, which I think fits a lot better. And for the other argument, yes…I get it that WE are the monsters. Still doesn’t change my previous thoughts.

Continue reading →

Arrow Releases Early Romero

by in Misc. Ramblings and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Romero collectionIf you are a die-hard fan of the work of George Romero, then you will need to add this new 6-disc box set from Arrow Video to your collection. No, most of the films in this set are not his famous horror flicks, but at least they give you a great insight to this iconic director.

The George Romero “Between Night and Dawn” box set contains the three films that he made between his famous zombie films, which are There’s Always Vanilla (1971), Season of the Witch (1972), and The Crazies (1973), which comes out in October.

Each film is presented from a brand new restoration, with Vanilla from a 2K restoration from an original negative, and Season and The Crazies from a 4K restoration from original film elements. One can only assume that these are going to look better than they ever have! All three films also contain brand new audio commentary from Travis Crawford, as well as other features, such as new interviews with Judith Ridley, Richard Ricci, Russ Streiner, and Gary Streiner.

Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 8-14

by in Mystery Photo and tagged | Leave a comment

Last week’s photo seemed to be a big hit with everyone, getting a lot of correct answers sent in. Well done! The memorable shot was from one of my favorites, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, which you can see his face just behind the plastic he’s holding up. Kudos out to the following: Hoby Abernathy, Dave Fronto, Richard Garcia, Bill Harrison, Troy Howarth, Jim Towns, and Mark Turner.

Okay, this week’s photo is going to be a bit tougher. In fact, I’ll be shocked if anybody can come up with this one. Sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it? So let’s see who might recognize it. Good luck!

mp081417

Dusk-To-Dawn Horrorfest at Midway Drive-in

by in Movie Events and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

midway1

Okay drive-in fans, here’s the date for the Midway Drive-In’s annual Dusk-To-Dawn Horrorfest: Sept. 23rd! So mark your calendar!

So far, they have only announced two of the four features they will be screening. The first one is the full uncut version of James Cameron’s Aliens. I think the last time I got to see this on the big screen when it was first released, but that was the shorter theatrical cut. So this will be a nice treat.

aliens

The second feature announced is Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. I’m not a huge fan of the later films in this series, but this one is still a lot of fun. Great special effects on display here!

Nightmare 3

We will be set up outside the concession area, as always. Along side Jill & Greg from Lix, you’ll be able to do a little shopping in between the films and picking up some snacks at the concession stands. Hope to see you there!

For more information, head over to the Midway’s website HERE.