Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Mystery Photo 11-23

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It’s Monday, so that has to mean a new Mystery Photo, right? At least this should be ONE good thing to look forward for a Monday. At least I hope it is! Our last pic was from the Hammer thriller Nightmare. Don’t hear too much about this one for some reason, but it is a good one and worth checking out. In fact, I would recommend most of the black and white thrillers that Hammer made in the 60s, especially titles like Scream of Fear and Paranoiac. Kudos out to the following who sent in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Doug Lamoreux, Michael Shields, Adam Rockoff. Well done!

So….this week’s photo is not black and white, but a nice color one that I thought was a great looking shot. Well done to the DP for this one! But take a look and see what you think. Just send us an email at jon@kitleyskrypt.com with your guess. Remember…Please don’t post your answer here, so everyone can have a guess. Good luck.

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Interview: Mariano Baino

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This was another interview that was conducted at the Cinema Wasteland show back in October of 2008. Such a great show that was. We had the chance to sit down with this highly underrated and talented writer/director, Mariano Baino.

Kitley’s Krypt:  You’ve often stated that H.P. Lovecraft was a big influence on you as a child. Who were the biggest cinematic influences on you in your youth?

baino1Mariano Baino:  I grew up watching the Italian stuff, of course, watching Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava’s films. But the reality of it was I watched a lot of American films. People are always surprised when I say that Steven Spielberg always remains one of my favorites. I grew up watching American films. Certain sensibilities and certain influences are very European. But at the same time, for example, it’s only afterwards watching some of my stuff that I think there’s as much Hammer influence in there as there would be Italian films of the 70s. When I watched some of the stuff from Dark Waters, I think, “God, this is like a Hammer film.”

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Unnatural Soundtrack Review

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UNNATURAL_CoverUnnatural
Released by Varèse Sarabande, 2015
22 Tracks with a total running time of 69 min.
Music by Edwin Wendler

The 2nd track to this score, the Unnatural Main Title, is by far, my favorite of the score. It is a wonderful piece of music that is quiet but also builds in emotion. I love the way there is a faint sound of a bell or chime in the background that slowly comes more into the forefront. I think that is when this score works the best, with quiet, slow, but steady stream of sound, usually with something going on off in the background. Track # 9, The Unexpected Guest, is another example where this works really well. But the score isn’t all just slow and moody. Tracks like # 12, Closing In, shows how he can build up tension, starting slow and low but getting louder and with a faster pace, but yet still not just making a lot of fast paced noise. He still does it with style. Track # 14, The Hunter Becomes the Hunted, is another good example of that.

Wendler proves that he can create an powerful and emotional effects through his music. Seeing it with the film, we can already tell that it will just enhance the visuals, giving it more of an impact, which is exactly what a score is suppose to do.

Germán Robles – Rest in Peace

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GermanRobles-ripThe horror genre has lost another legend, even though most fans probably don’t know who Germán Robles ever was. But in fact, he was one the very first movie vampire to ever bare his fangs on screen! That’s right, folks, right before Hammer’s Horror of Dracula was released, a black and white film from Mexico called El Vampiro came out, which featured Robles as the dreaded Count Duval.

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Inside Hammer: Book Review

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Inside Hammer
By Jimmy Sangster
Published by Reynolds & Hearn, 2001.  160 pages.

insidehammerSangster had already written autobiography, Do You Want It Good Or Tuesday?, which was very interesting, but he felt that he didn’t cover enough about Hammer that his fans probably wanted. With this new title, Sangster sticks to really what he’s famous for, and that is working with the Studio that Dripped Blood! Sangster covers every film that he worked on with the famous studio; from his first film Dick Barton Strikes Back as a lowly assistant to his last film Fear in the Night as writer, producer and director. Here are some my favorite parts of the book:

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Interview: Cast of Bad Taste

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Before we get to this interview, let me give a little bit of a background to it. Several years ago, I’d say around 2003 or 2004, I received an email regarding something I had mention on my site about Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. I don’t remember the exact details of it, but he said he was a huge fan of that movie, and it was signed Pete O’Herne. Now right away the name sounded a bit familiar but I couldn’t place it. But then I looked at the email address and saw that it was from New Zealand. Then it hit me. Could this be the very same Pete O’Herne that was in Peter Jackson’s crazy debut Bad Taste? After a quick follow up email, I found out it was.

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Horror History – Nestor Paiva

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nestorpaivaNestor Paiva
Born June 30th, 1905 – Died Sept. 9th, 1966

Paiva is one of those actors that might look familiar but one that you just can’t place. That might have something to do with the fact that Paiva was a great character actor who had over 300 appearances in films and TV throughout his career. He had a natural talent for dialects, so he was always playing a variety of different ethic characters, from Arabs, Spaniards, Italians, Mexicans, Russians, Greeks, and many more. In 1955 alone, he appeared in 5 feature films and 19 TV appearances. Needless to say, he was a busy man.

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JAWS 2 Book Signing in Crystal Lake, IL

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Jaws 2For those Jaws fans that live in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago, author Michael A. Smith will be doing a book signing at the My Happy Place Comic Book Store in Crystal Lake, IL, on November 28th, between 11am and 1pm. If you’re a fan of Jaws 2, then I think you’ll enjoy this book. You’ll learn a lot about the making of this film, as well as learning about the version of the film that never came to be.

For all the information, you can check out the comic book’s website HERE.

Interview: John Amplas

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This interview was conducted back in October of 2008, at the Cinema Wasteland show.

Kitley’s Krypt:  How did you get into acting?

martinposterJohn Amplas:  Oh, that was a long time ago. I was ten years old and my uncle used to do community theater and they needed a kid in a play. So I did a lot of community theater when I was kid and I just kind of got the bug early on from there. In 1963, when I was a teenager, I attended the Playhouse School in Pittsburgh and did that for about 3 years. I spent 3 years in the Army after I graduated from high school, then I studied theater at the same university, then college, to become an actor. In fact, the interesting thing about that, the last production in my senior year is when George Romero came to see it, which is how I got the job to play Martin two or three months later – we started shooting in the fall of 1976. Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 11-16

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I have to say, I’m pretty surprised and proud to see even this many people that had sent in the correct answer, since this was another tough one. Especially with the shot that I gave you. It was from the film Curse of the Fly. Not as well known or popular as the first two in the series, and is even quite different from them. But one that I feel is still worth watching. But kudos to the following for knowing it: Hoby Abernathy, Ken Johnson, Doug Lamoreux, Gavin Schmitt, and Alan Tromp. Well done, gentlemen!

Now on to this week’s. Yes, I’m sticking with the black and white theme. No reason, other than these just happen to be the ones I’m coming up with. But take a good look and see if you can place this memorable little film. Good luck. As always, just send me an email at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Please don’t post your answer here, so everyone has a chance.

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