Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Dick Smith: Godfather of Makeup

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In the world of movie makeup effects artists, we all know that Jack Pierce, creator of most of the Universal, is one of most important names in movie history. But right up there next to him, has to be Dick Smith. In a field that was highly secretive, Smith would willingly give up his techniques and tips to anyone wanting to learn, from his recipe for blood, to any number of makeup tricks, he would be more than giving to younger artists. Not to mention he was so incredibly talented, creating some of the most amazing and innovative makeup effects in history.

Every time I see Max Von Sydow in The Exorcist, it still reminds me that for years I really thought Sydow was a 70-year-old actor! But then add in what he did for films like Scanners, Ghost Story, to all the mainstream films like The Godfather, Taxi Driver, and his (finally) Oscar winning work on Amadeus, he never ceased to amaze audiences.

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Soundtrack Review: The Sender

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The Sender (1982)
Released by La-La Land Records, 2011
12 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 38:17 min.
Music Composed by Trevor Jones

The Sender was a film we stumbled across at the video store, thinking it looked pretty interesting. Not only was it pretty damn good movie, but it also has a great cast of Kathryn Harrold, Shirley Knight, and Zeljko Ivanek in his first starring role. It has remained not only a personal favorite, but one that I think is highly underrated. Then years ago, when I saw that La-La Land was releasing the score, I immediately ordered a copy. It made me realize that one of the reasons the film is so effective is this incredibly somber score from Trevor Jones.

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Jay Warren – Rest in Peace

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If any of you have gone to see a silent movie with a live organ accompaniment in Chicago in the last couple of decades, chances are it was Jay Warren playing the organ. I can’t tell you how many screenings that I have been to, which always amazed me. Most of the time, I would completely forget that someone was down there playing the music, just thinking it was in the actual soundtrack. That’s how good Warren was. But unfortunately, it was in the news that Warren had passed away last Sunday at the age of 74.

Warren’s real name was Dennis Wolkowicz but used the stage name because it was easier for people to say than his real name! He was the founder of the Silent Film Society of Chicago and first performed at what used to be the Gateway Theater, located on Lawrence, which he managed for almost two decades. He’s played all over the Midwest, and especially in the Chicagoland theaters, from the Portage to the Music Box. His talent will be greatly missed.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Super-Horror-Rama Returns – Mall Madness

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Thank the crazy movie-loving gods that Super-Horror-Rama is back and have found a brand-new home at The Music Box Theatre! Next month, they will be taking over Theater 2 for two screenings of Mall Madness, with a Friday night screening of Chopping Mall (1986) and then on Saturday, they will be screening Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge (1989).

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Last Shark Surfaces on Blu-Ray

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One of the greatest shark movies to ever completely rip-off Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film Jaws, and still be one of the most entertaining ones, is finally coming to Blu-ray. Granted not here in the states, but if you have a region-free player (which you should), Treasured Films is putting out a nice new special edition with plenty of extras.

This film did get released here in the states but only for a short time before it was pulled because Universal Pictures sued the producers of The Last Shark stating that it had plagiarized their film, Jaws. If you’ve seen the movie, it’s obvious that a few things might have been “inspired” by the Spielberg film, especially with Vic Morrow’s character and his “floating chainsaw” comment, but it is crazy enough on its own, that I don’t think it would have hurt much of Universal’s business. When I worked at a theater back in the early ’80s, I remember putting up the poster for Great White (what it was going to be called here in the US) in the “Coming Soon” spot, but we never got it.

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Mystery Photo 2-24

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Welcome to our last Mystery Photo for February. Amazed that this month went so fast. Our last photo was that of Captain Picard himself, Patrick Stuart, but a couple of years before he took off on the Enterprise. The shot is from Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce (1985) and is one crazy movie but highly memorable. Kudos to the following that sent in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Erik Martin, Gary, Miller, Lee Nattrass, Jeff Owens, Bryan Senn, and William Wilson.

On to this week’s photo. Like our last one, this features an actor that hadn’t made the huge breakout in movies that he would made within the next couple of years. But it is a movie that when you see it for the first time, you won’t believe all that is in here. Enough clues. Take a look and then remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Tony Isbert – Rest in Peace

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I missed this when it was announced by a few people online but wanted to make sure I mention it here, because while he might not be a famous name amongst some of fans, he appeared in a ton of great films, so it needs to be mentioned and remembered. Tony Isbert was a Spanish actor who appeared in close to 100 films, shorts, and TV appearances in his career that spanned almost 50 years. He passed away on Feb. 19th, at the age of 75.

His first appearance, though uncredited, was in an episode of Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’ TV anthology series, Historias para no dormir in 1966. But he would also go on to appear in Riccardo Freda’s Tragic Ceremony (1972), the Spanish giallo No One Heard the Scream (1973), León Klimovsky’s The Dracula Saga (1973), John Gilling’s Cross of the Devil (1975), and even worked with Paul Naschy in Secuestro (1976) and Inquisition (1977). Later in he would appear in José Ramón Larraz’s Rest in Pieces (1987) and Juan Piquer Simón’s The Rift (1990). So, while you might not recognize the name, I’m sure you know at least some of these films.

As I always say, because of the films that he did appear in, many of which have been released on wonderful Blu-rays, we will always be able to remember this fine talented man and the work that he put out. Never to be forgotten. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Send Reggie Bannister Some Love

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Everyone’s favorite, 4-barrell gun-toting, evil dwarf killing Ice Cream Man needs your love right now! Reggie Bannister, star of the Phantasm series, as well as many other great movies, was diagnosed almost a decade ago, with dementia and Parkinson’s, and has done pretty well in battling those afflictions. But it seems things have not gotten better recently, and our beloved Ice Cream Man is heading home for Hospice Care. He’s still cognitive, which is a great thing, but his physical heath isn’t doing too well. What we Phans can do is show our appreciation of him and his work by sending him some love.

Below is the address for him and his wife Gigi. Take a few minutes, buy a little get-well card, or just send note saying how much his work has meant to you. And if you’ve ever had the opportunity to meet Reggie in person, I’m pretty sure that was one of the highlights of the show you were at, because Reggie always made every Phan coming up to him feel that special. You always walked away feeling like you now have a best new friend. That’s just how Reggie is. So, let’s show him how much he meant to us Phans. Let him know that he’s still remembered and more importantly, still loved by his Phans.

Let’s just flood this PO box with love for Reggie Bannister!

Reggie & Gigi Bannister
P.O. Box 4387
Crestline, CA 92325

Peter Jason – Rest in Peace

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Peter Jason is one of those actors that you might not know the name, but you know the face. Director John Carpenter, who worked with Jason in 7 of his films, such as Prince of Darkness (1987) and In the Mouth of Madness (1994), called him “one of the great character actors in cinema.” With well over 250 screen and TV credits, Jason appeared in just about everything and every kind of genres. His first role was in Howard Hawks’ last film, Rio Lobo (1970). One of my favorites of his work, even though the overall picture isn’t that great, is the 1982 film Treat or Treats, where he plays someone who’s a bit crazy.

But no matter what he was in, he was always on spot and always entertaining, whether he was trying to be funny, or sometimes scary. Jason passed away yesterday at the age of 80 years old. But he has left us hundreds and hundreds of hours of entertainment that we can watch and remember this incredibly talented man. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

DtH Episode 90 – Video Nasties

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Night of the Bloody Apes (1969), Don’t Go in the House (1979), Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)

In 1984, in the U.K., the Video Recording Act was passed, which required certification of all video releases by the British Board of Film Classification, aka BBFC. This all came about due to a list of video titles that a group of various religious and other social groups run by the likes of Mary Whitehouse, deemed unsuitable to be viewed and thought for sure it would help corrupt the youth of England. The initial list had 72 titles on it, both films that had already been released after obtaining a BBFC certificate but now was deemed too offensive, as well as a whole bunch of other titles that were believed to fall under the obscenity law. If you own a shop that rented or sold one of these titles, you could be shut down, fined, and possibly even go to jail for it. And this all took place, not in the dark ages, but in the mid 1980s. Hard to believe it, especially growing up here in the U.S.

Some of those titles have only recently gotten passed and released over in the U.K., even 40 years later. Blows the mind.

In this episode, we discuss not only the whole Video Nasty era, but cover 3 films from that list, with each of us watching all 3 and see if we made it through without turning us into mindless deviants. Oops. Too late.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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