Father of The Blob: The Making of a Monster Smash and Other Hollywood Tales
By Jack H. Harris
Published by TVGuestpert Publishing, 2015. 257 pages.
Author Archives: Jon Kitley
Music Box Sets Date for Horrors
I was very surprised and delighted to see that the Music Box Theatre, located in Chicago, has already set their date for this year’s Music Box of Horrors. Why? Well, because for someone who’s fall is usually packed with stuff and events going on every weekend from September to the beginning of November, it’s nice to be able to start marking off these events on my calendar, so I know how to plan accordingly! We’ve been going to these 24-hour marathons at the Music Box ever since they started them back in 2005 and have always had a great time. Any time you get a chance to see a bunch of movies, usually some real good classic titles in there, all screened from 35mm prints, it can only be a good time. Plus, the people coming to this event are actually there to watch the movies. Nothing wrong with a little partying, but the movies come first. So you get very little, if any, of the usual people talking, on their cell phones, and the usual distractions.
LV-426 is Alien Day
For those die-hard fans of the Alien series, we all know that moon where the Nostromo first encountered the infamous eggs was called LV426. Now thanks to 20th Century Fox, Mondo, and the Alamo Drafthouse, we will all be able to celebrate this date with a double feature screening of Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, taking place on April 29th. Get it…LV426…4-26. Pretty slick, huh? None the less, getting to see these two incredible classics on the big screen is a reason to celebrate no matter what!
You can check out the Alamo’s site HERE to find out where this event might be taking place near you. I know for us Chicago area fans, it will be taking place at the Music Box Theatre, where they will actually be screening Aliens in 70mm! They will also have the exclusive Mondo-designed t-shirt on sale in the lobby. There will also be custom video pre-shows before and between the two features. Really hard to pass up this opportunity.
Once again, this takes place on Tuesday, April 29th. At the Music Box, Alien will start at 7pm and Aliens will start at 9:15pm. Tickets for the double feature are only $12.
Last Chance For Rondos
The cut off for voting in this year’s Rondo Awards ends this Sunday at midnight. So you only have 3 more days to vote if you haven’t cast your ballot yet, please do so now! There are plenty of talented people that have been nominated this year that could use your vote. It doesn’t take long but your choice could show that the work these people do, the passion they put into it, is well worth their effort and means something to the world.
So if you haven’t already, take a few minutes, click HERE to get to the Rondo Awards page, and follow the instructions to send in your vote, such as making sure you include your name. Even if you don’t vote in all catagories, I’m sure there’s a few people in some of them that you know of and would like to help out.
And yes, I have been nominated for Best Columnist (Catagory #14) and would love to get your vote. But read through all the nominees because I am among so many talented writers, and vote from the heart.
Forgotten Scares – Belgium’s Horror History
In the world of horror, we hear from a lot of different countries: Italy, Japan, Spain, England, France, and so many more. But what about Belgium? Nothing really comes to mind, does it? But with a little research, you’d be surprised at what you coudl find.
When Jonas Govaerts released his film Cub in 2014, it was tagged as the “first Belgian horror film”, even though it was far from it. In fact, this was just the latest of many films to be filmed in Flanders, Belgium. And it was because of that “first” moniker that director and horror journalist Steve De Roover decided to make a documentary to show this country’s rich and long horror history. So he created Forgotten Scares.
The Rift Rises From Obscurity
Last year in my column for HorrorHound, I wrote about this little flick, The Rift (aka Endless Descent), from Juan Piquer Simón, releasedin 1990. In fact, it was among the titles we watced during our Turkey Day in May event last Spring. Needless to say, we this movie is a lot of fun. But we had to watch it from an old VHS transfer since it had never gotten a DVD release. Until now.
They Came From The Swamp!
What do titles like Sting of Death, Stanley, Mako: The Jaws of Death, Wild Rebels, The Naked Zoo, Death Curse of Tartu, Impulse all have in common? They were just a handful of the films directed by Florida based filmmaker William Grefé! And now, the incredible history of this low budget filmmaker comes to the screens in this new feature lenght documentary, thanks to Ballyhoo Motion Pictures this April!
While other low budget directors were running off the the sunny skies of California to make their independent pictures, William Grefé stayed in the other sunny part fo the country, in Florida everglades area and made that his own little Hollywood. There he created about sharks, snakes, a jellyfish man, bikers, and many more titles that were sure to lure them into the drive-ins. And he always delivered.
Movie Review: Dr. Jekyll vs the Werewolf
Doctor Jekyll Versus the Werewolf aka Doctor Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (1972)
Directed by León Klimovsky
Starring Paul Naschy, Jack Taylor, Shirley Corrigan, Mirta Miller, José Marco, Luis Induni, Barta Barri, Luis Gaspar
If there is one thing you have to give credit to Paul Naschy for, it is the fact that he made so many Waldemar Daninsky werewolf pictures and always tried to throw something new and different in them. And this film is a prime example of it, as well as how creative and inventive Naschy was for even coming up with a plot like this!
Without going into too much detail, Dr. Jekyll, played by Jack Taylor, is going to try and cure Daninsky’s hairy curse by using his grandfather chemical cocktail. His theory is that by transforming him into a Hyde character, he will be strong enough to beat out the urge to turn into a werewolf. Seems legit, right? But no matter how crazy the theory is, what it does do is give us a chance to see Naschy not only bust our his usually entertaining lycanthopic side, but also become one of the best Mr. Hyde performance I’ve seen since Frederic March in 1932.
Wasteland Cometh
This weekend, we will be making our 29th trip out to Strongsville, Ohio, for the Cinema Wasteland Movie and Memorabilia Expo, as we’ve been doing since Sept. of 2000. No other show out there has run this long, being held at the very same hotel since the first one, and has created a reputation for being a show for the real die-hard movie fan. This is one of the few shows left that really is about celebrating the movies and the people behind them. There is always plenty of things going on to keep a movie fan occupied and entertained. From the Q&A panels to the film screening in two different rooms, you will never be bored. This time out, you’ll get the chance to see titles like The Green Slime (1968), Queen of Outer Space (1958), and Stanley (1972), all screened from 16mm prints! In the video room, you can watch classics like King Kong Escapes (1967) or Psychos in Love (1987), and much more.
Mystery Photo 3-28
I didn’t forget this time out! Hopefully everyone enjoyed their weekend, especially if you were lucky to have Friday off! But now that we’re back to the work week, let’s get back to business and get this started, shall we?
Last week’s photo was from Amando de Ossorio’s Night of the Sorcerers! Released in 1974, this has one of the most strangest and bizarre openings that you’ll see. Starring the lovely Loreta Tovar and Jack Taylor, if you’re a fan of Euro-Horror, then you’ll probably will enjoy this one! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Elena Anele, Troy Howarth, Doug Lamoreux, Bryan Moose, Richard Schellbach, Michael Shields, Kristin Wicks, and William Wilson. Nice to see this many names for a cult title like this one.
For this week’s photo, we’re moving back into our own country (see…and they say I never give any hints!) to see if you can identify this recently discovered title. Take a good look and see what you can come up with. And don’t worry which title you might know it under, we’ll accept them all. See…yet ANOTHER hint! As usual, please do not post your answer here, but send an email to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!
kitleyskrypt.com 