Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Support the Drive-In…Eat THEIR Food!

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Drive In Lose Money

We recently came across this photo on Facebook and it prompted me to take a few minutes to try and help get this point out there to a few more people, and try to help explain why this is a very important message. Regular visitors to the Krypt know my love for the Drive-In Theaters, especially when they have their all night horror movie marathons! Trust me, one does not drive hundreds and hundreds of miles to watch movies outside out of boredom. There is just something about the drive-in and the experience of the whole thing. I keep using the term “experience” because it really is. From sitting in your car (or out in front of it on lawn chairs), to the atmosphere, the food, the people, everything about it adds up to a great night, and one that takes you back to a different era. Maybe it was because I grew up going to these as a teenager that it reminds me of those times when I visit them today.

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Martin Landau – Rest in Peace

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Martin Landau - RIPReally don’t like it when these are so close together. Really makes one feel their mortality. As I write this up, I’m listening to the soundtrack from Creepshow, still trying to get over the loss of George Romero. But Martin Landau might not have made the impact in the horror genre like Romero, he definitely made his mark in a few titles. As an actor though, he was simply just amazing to watch. Landau passed away yesterday at the age of 89, due to “unexpected complications”, and the acting world loses one of the best.

I first recall Landau from both Mission Impossible and Space 1999, but never knew him as the actor, Martin Landau. He was just “that guy from that TV show”. But in 1984, a film started at the theater I was working at that was a collection of clips from different horror movies. The film was Terror in the Aisles, and it featured a few scenes from a movie called Alone in the Dark (1982), that starred Landau, as the demented character “Preacher”. In those brief clips, he gave us one of the most frightening performances that gave me chills. So much so that it immediately made me want to find that movie to see the whole thing. Around that time, he had also appeared in terror titles like Without Warning (1980) and The Being (1983). But it was his performance as the aging Bela Lugosi that won him an Oscar in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood (1994).

Just looking through his filmography, you can see all the different and wonderful characters that he created over the years. A real consummate actor, always making the audience believe in his character.  So no matter what role he was playing, you know it was going to be worth the watch.

Our thoughts go out to the friends and family during this difficult time. He will be missed, but never forgotten.

Mystery Photo 7-17

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Welcome to Monday. Not been a good weekend for us horror fans, so let us just get to the photo. Last week’s pic was from Hammer’s The Gorgon (1964). Not one of their classics, but a damn good cast and a lot of fun. Kudos to the following that sent in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Bill Harrison, Troy Howarth, Doug Lamoreux, Gary Miller, Michael Shields, and Will Wilson. Well done!

Now to this week’s photo. There are some Mondays that this is kind of how I feel when trying to get out of bed! Take a look and see if you can identify this piece of cinema. As always, 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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George Romero – Rest in Peace

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George Romero RIP

My very first horror convention was in April of 1988, out in California. Up until then, I had never met anybody famous, especially any idols I had from the horror genre. But at the show, one of the first ones I met was George Romero. I had come walking out of the dealer room on my way to the auditorium for the Q&A’s, and there he stood, surrounded by fans like a scene from one of his zombie flicks. Except, instead of trying to eat him, they just wanted to get an autograph or just say hello and thanks. I didn’t take me long to join the growing mass of fans either. I had him sign my copy of Tom Savini’s Grande Illusions, which was my very first autograph as well. I still have that book to this day and is one of my most memorable.

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Movie Review: Vampire

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Vampire (1979)
Directed by E.W. Swackhamer
Starring Jason Miller, Richard Lynch, E.G. Marshall, Michael Tucker, Joe Spinell, Barrie Youngfellow, Jonelle Allen, Jessica Walter

At a ground breaking ceremony for a new church, a huge cross towers behind the podium where a priest is blessing the site. The shadow of the cross falls across the land behind the small stage. Where the cross is casting a shadow, the earth has turned black, as if burnt, and is smoldering. Later that night, a hand breaks through the dirt, pulling its owner to the surface. Rising from his grave for the first time in 30 years, a creature of the night returns to stalk the city of San Francisco. And so starts the 1979 made-for-TV movie simply titled Vampire.

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Proud to Call Them Friends…

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Unholy Three

Your host, Bryan Martinez, and S.A. Bradley

 

One of the great things about the horror genre is that you get to meet so many great people over the years. Most of my closest friends, I’ve met at a horror convention. And while it’s okay to be just a fan, there are a few of us out there that take it a step further. It seems in this big family of the horror community, we have a lot of talent swirling around in there and we need to keep supporting each other to help keep that passion alive and thriving. In today’s world, it might be the one thing that keeps us from snapping! So I wanted to take the time to throw out a couple of links and information about a couple of friends.

The first one is Bryan Martinez, producer of the infamous Giallo Room, as well as being the writer/director of the short film Gelato Giallo. In all that free time that he has after keeping the good Baron (host of The Giallo Room) out of trouble, and watching Ninja 3: The Domination, he works on other little projects like this new short film, entitled My Friend Lisa. It is a short film adapted from a series of disturbing drawings by a little girl who has befriended an imaginary friend. However, the drawings have since been discovered to be a hoax. Or have they?

Just check out the teaser below.

 

If there is one thing that I wished I had more time to spend on, it would be podcasts. I have quite a few friends that do a podcast on a variety of different topics, from Hammer Films, Paul Naschy, classic horror, and much more. But my buddy S.A. Bradley has been creating one hell of a buzz with his podcast Hellbent for Horror, which we have probably mentioned here before. His podcasts are so much more than just a guy rambling on for 30 minutes, but are well written, very well articulated, has some great stories, and really, when it comes down to it, does a stellar job helping to promote the horror genre.

On one of his recent episodes, he discusses when he actually flew out there to my hometown to participate in our annual Turkey Day in May event. Crazy as it seems, yes, but he did just that. And I think he might have had a little bit of fun while here. But he gives a great explanation of what “Turkey Day” is for us, and why we love it so much. So check out the link below and I think you’ll be hooked. I mean, if Guillermo del Toro thinks these are pretty good, he just might be on to something!

Attack of the Killer Turkeys Episode

hellbent for horror

Horror History: Paul Blaisdell

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Paul BlaisdellPaul Blaisdell
Born July 21st, 1927, Died July 10th, 1983

Any fans of the monster movies of the ’50s have probably seen the work of Paul Blaisdell. He was the man responsible for creating the monsters and creatures for a lot of those early AIP films, usually done with very little time and even less money. But he always came up with some unique and very memorable designs. He started his career after graduating from the New England School of Art and Design, and started to work for Douglas Aircraft as a technical illustrator. He would also send in his drawings to sci-fi fantasy publications like Spaceways and Otherwords. His work was noticed by a very important figure in the horror / sci-fi genre fandom, that of Forrest J. Ackerman. He became Blaisdell’s agent and introduced him into the world of movie making.

Blaisdell would go on to create some of the most memorable monsters from that era, in films like The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955), The She-Creature (1956), It Conquered the World (1957), Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), and many more. In the early ’60s, he even started his own magazine called Fantastic Monsters of the Film, with Bob Burns.  Unfortunately, the magazine was short lived.

With all of his creations being still remembered today by dedicated fans, it’s a shame that Blaisdell still does not receive the recognition that he should. So let’s change that. If you’re not familiar with him or his work, look some of his films up and take a look at the fun stuff he was coming up with, just with a few dollars and a lot of creative talent. I think you’ll enjoy what you see.

Freddy Mania at Flashback Weekend

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If you are a fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, then the Flashback Weekend convention happening in about a month, is one that you are not going to want to miss. Not only will Freddy himself, Robert Englund be there, but there will be a total of 18 guests there that has appeared in one or more of the series, from the very first, all the way to Freddy vs Jason. Here’s all the Nightmare guests that they have announced:

Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Ronee Blakley, Joann Willette, Lisa Wilcox, Brooke Bundy, Tuesday Knight, Danny Hassell, Brooke Theiss, Toy Newkirk, Andras Jones, Kelly Jo Minter, Ricky Dean Logan, Ken Kirzinger, Katharine Isabelle, Jesse Hutch, and Paula Shaw!

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Mystery Photo 7-10

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Monday once again. But to hopefully ease the pain, here is another Mystery Photo for you to ponder upon this fine day. But first, let’s review last week’s photo. It was from a childhood favorite of mine, Frankenstein: The True Story. Sure, it wasn’t that close to the novel, but I’ve always loved this film. Talented cast, unbelievable gore for a made-for-TV movie, and just wondrous to look at. Kudos to Hoby Abernathy and Will Wilson for sending in the correct answer.

Now on to this week’s photo. Take a good look at it and see if you can figure out where this little shot came from. Good Luck!

As always, please remember not to post your answers here, but instead put them in an email address to jon@kitleyskrypt.com.

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