Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Running Scared Book Review

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runningscaredRunning Scared
By Phil Campbell with Brian Reynolds
Published by Peveril Publishing, 2005. 226 pages.

Every follower of this site, or anybody that has talked to me for more than 15 minutes, probably knows of my love of Paul Naschy and of Hammer Films. Okay..maybe 10 minutes. So when news of a new book coming out by Peveril Publishing that was written by someone who used to work for Hammer back in the late 60s and early 70s, I figured we’d get some good stories. Not only was I correct, but they were great stories and a wonderful insight to a different time and place in the movie industry.

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The Unknown Peter Cushing Book Review

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cushingunknownThe Unknown Peter Cushing
By Michael G. McGlasson
Published by BearManor Media, 2011.  107 pages.

Could we ever have too many books on this amazingly talented actor, one that wore the title of the Gentleman of Horror with pride?  I don’t think so.  But the problem can be that they can often tread of the same material over and over again.  I mean how different can a biography be if they are all coming from the same facts and information.  But McGlasson has done something quite different here, but not necessarily a good thing.  While the book looks to be about Peter Cushing, a good deal of it is actually about his ancestor’s, particularly the ones that worked in the theater, such as his grandfather Henry William Cushing.  McGlasson seems to have done some extensive research in tracing back Cushing’s linage, going way back to the 1500’s, so for that we give him a lot of credit.  But while this is pretty interesting stuff, only about 30 or so pages in this small book is actually about Peter Cushing himself.

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Peter Cushing: A Life in Film Book Review

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cushinglifePeter Cushing: A Life in Film
By David Miller
Published by Titan Books, 2013.  192 pages.

Previously published in 2000 under the title The Peter Cushing Companion, this is a newly revised hardcover edition.  While the text has been edited and tweaked a bit here and there, it is pretty much the same book in respect to that.  But this edition is a beautiful hardcover edition that has 16 full color pages that the previous edition did not have.  Sure, it would have been nice for the publishers to advertise it that way instead of making it seem like a totally new book, but none the less, it is a worthwhile book in any movie fan’s collection.

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The Amazing Colossal World of Mr. B.I.G. – An Autobiographical Journy – Book Review

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BIGbookThe Amazing Colossal World of Mr. B.I.G. – An Autobiographical Journey
By Bert I. Gordon
Published by CreateSpace Publishing, 2009.  258 pages.

Flat out, this has to be one of the worst autobiography that I’ve ever read, and one of the most disappointing ones. Let me start off by saying that I am HUGE fan of Bert I. Gordon and his films. I loved his movies when I was younger and still can find entertainment in them today. No matter how cheesy they might seem today, they are always fun to watch. So I was very excited when he told me a few  years ago that he was working on writing his autobiography and that McFarland was gong to be putting it out. But it was a few years later when I see that it had finally come out, but that it was self-published. That should have been a clue, but I eagerly ordered it right away and dove right into it when it got here.

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Peter Cushing Autobiography Reviews

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cushingbiobookPeter Cushing: An Autobiography and Past Forgetting
By Peter Cushing
Published by Midnight Marquee, 1999.  256 pages.

Peter Cushing is probably one of the most famous British actors known for his horror roles, primarily due to his work with Hammer Films.  Though he played in countless other types of genres, he loved to give his fans what they wanted.  Turning the spotlight of Hammer’s Frankenstein films from the creature, Cushing made the doctor himself the real monster, always giving 110% to his role, making his character and the films unforgettable.

These books cover his life, his start in pictures, and his work with Hammer Films.  This book combines the two autobiographies that Cushing wrote and published, the first one An Autobiography in 1986 and the second one Past Forgetting in 1988.  The second book was done due to many people asking him why he didn’t talk a lot about his film work, especially his work with Hammer Films.

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Turkey Day Approaches

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Turkeyday2015Now that Halloween is over, there is something even scarier lurking on the horizon. Something so horrible, that it is rumored to rip the will to live right from your soul. No, I’m not talking about the Christmas shopping season, but Turkey Day! For the last 12 years, on the day after Thanksgiving, while many are out there fighting one another for to save a few $$ for the upcoming commercial holiday, a few of us brave souls take on something even more terrifying…the Cinematic Turkey! But this is one feast where gluttony is not only approved, but mandatory!

Each year now, we have traversed through an array of cinematic shipwrecks, usually getting through seven features, that most would shake their hand at and not waste their time. But for us, we revel in these miss-fires of film making, at least for the day. Continue reading →

Bone Tomahawk Soundtrack Review

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bonetomahawksoundtrackBone Tomahawk
Released by Lakeshore Records
10 Tracks with a total running time of 20 minutes.
Music by Jeff Herriott and S. Craig Zahler.

This is a strange one. Running only 20 minutes long, this film must not have much music during its running time. But what we do have are long, slow, steady notes, drawn out. Most of the tracks are like this. No real melody or anything, but these single notes played over and over again. Some of the tracks are slightly different from one another, but very close to the same.

According to the composer Herriott, the director “wanted to use instruments that existed during the time period of the narrative, so that meant no electronic sounds.” I have to say that is a cool idea, but it just seems like they didn’t do much with that idea. The last track, a song called Four Doomed Men Ride Out, doesn’t seem to fit the feel of the rest of the soundtrack at all, and really is a head-scratcher.

For only being 20 minutes long, it is a shame that we didn’t get more of a developed audio landscape here.

Mystery Photo 11-9

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I knew our last one was going to be a tough one, but that didn’t stop a few from sending in the correct answer. The shot was from the 1959 film The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake. Now with a title like that, doesn’t it make you want to see it? While the movie might not live up to that awesome title, I still think it is a great little film and worth seeing. Kudos to Hoby Abernathy, Doug Lamoreux, and Gavin Schmitt for sending in the correct title. Well done, Gents!

For this week’s photo, we’re going with another black and white film, and another one that probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Nothing scary in this picture, unless you start to imagine what might be behind those doors!!! Please remember not to post your answer here, but send us an email at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good luck!

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Gunnar Hansen – Rest in Peace

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GunnarHansen-ripEarlier this year, when Christopher Lee passed away, he was really the last of the great horror icons from my generation. Along with Peter Cushing and Vincent Price, playing updated versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and a variety of other different monsters, these were the famous actors known for their horror roles that I grew up on. The next generation grew up on the likes of Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, and of course, Leatherface.

Gunnar Hansen was the first one to wear the human skin mask, chase dumb kids who wandered on his property, and dance with the chain saw. And no one did with such style as Hansen. He showed us fans, that Leatherface was much more than a huge brute with a deadly saw, but a disturbed and troubled young man, with some obvious social issues. But this came out in Hansen’s performance, which is even more incredible when you know what these poor actors went through to get this film actually made.

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Charles Herbert – Rest in Peace

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charlesherbert-ripAnother name that might not bring up immediate memories, but one look at his childhood face, and you’ll remember him. Herbert was a child actor who appeared as David Hedison’s son in the 1958 film The Fly, forever searching for the white-headed fly. He would also appear in William Castle’s 13 Ghosts, The Colossus of New York, The Monster that Challenged the World, and appearing in such TV shows as Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, plus plenty of other regular TV and movie appearances. But like a lot of child actors during that time, they were taken advantage of, both by the system and usually by their parents. After appearing in over 50 movies and TV series, once he quit acting, he had less than $2000 to his name. Struggling with addiction for most of his life, Herbert was finally able to turn his life around and appeared at quite a few movie conventions, getting to meet his fans.

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