Turkey Day 2004

March 1, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Turkey Day Marathon and tagged Blood Freak, Deadly Spawn, Giant Claw, Night of the Lepus, Ray Dennis Steckler, Turkey Day Marathons | Leave a comment

For our 2nd Turkey Day Marathon, I was still on my own. But I ventured on, determined that this punishment could only make me stronger. I had our films lined up for the day and were ready to take on whatever horrors await. So I strapped myself in and started the marathon!

Blood Freak (1972) – I wanted to start the marathon off with the ultimate of Turkey Day movies, and this was definitely it. This film was actually commissioned by a religious group to show the dangers of drug use and wanton sex. Steve Hawkes stars in the film that he also co-wrote and co-directed with Brad F. Grinter. Hawkes plays Herschell, an out-of-work vet looking for a job and a place to crash. He stops by the road to help a girl with car trouble. For his help, he is invited back to her home. Her sister just happens to be having a swinging drug party, but that doesn’t put her off as she sits and reads gospel from the Bible. Herschell doesn’t want to partake since he’s trying to impress this girl. But it gets even stranger. Herschell gets a job at a turkey farm and volunteers for a little experiment. He has to eat a turkey that has some laced with a experimental drug to see if it has any side effects. Well, after eating the entire turkey, he turns into a turkey-headed monster that craves blood. The guy basically has a turkey head mask on, with big bulging eyes.It has to be seen to be believed. And even then, it’s hard to believe that someone gave the thumbs up once the mask was put on.

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Turkey Day Marathon

March 1, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Turkey Day Marathon and tagged bad movies, cheezy movies, MST3K, Turkey Day Marathon | Leave a comment

So just what is a Turkey Day Marathon? Back in the early ‘90s, when Mystery Science Theater was still on and Joel Robinson was still on board the Satellite of Love, Comedy Central would have something on the day after Thanksgiving calling it the Turkey Day Marathon, which would consist of 24 hours of MST3K. Not sure how many years they did it, but I knew I was in front of the TV for it as much as I could.

About a decade later, in 2003, I decided that I was going to something very similar to that. To celebrate all those cinematic shipwrecks, I was going to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving in front of my TV, assaulting my eyes with some of the best in bad cinema. How tough could it be? As much as I tried to get volunteers to join me on this insane escapade, no one was daring enough to do it. So I would have to go it alone. At least for the time being.

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Mystery Photo

March 1, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Mystery Photo and tagged Mystery Photo | Leave a comment

Since we’ve switched things around a bit with our updates, looks like we just might go back to our Mystery Photos on a weekly basis. But again, we do ask that you don’t post your answers here, but send me an email.

Our last photo was from the Norwegian film Cold Prey, which I would recommend. In fact, I would also recommend the sequel, Cold Prey 2, which I actually liked more than the first one. I know we didn’t have it up on the site for the full week due to some technical issues, but kudos out to the following that did send in the correct answer: Daniel Brenneis, Gavin Schmitt, Mike Shields, and Kristin Wicks.

Now on to this week’s photo. This is an oldie but a goodie. Shows that even though it might sound like a sci-fi movie, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to get some cool creatures! Okay..maybe not cool…but different!

Just send your guesses to jon@kitleyskrypt.com

Shock Waves Soundtrack Review

February 26, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged nazi zombies, Richard Einhorn, Shock Waves, soundtracks | 2 Comments

Shock Waves
Released by Howlin’ Wolf Records
29 Tracks, with a total running time of 31:31 mins
Music Composed by Richard Einhorn

I’ve said this many times before, but this is a great time to be a horror fan. And the fact that the Shock Waves original score is available on CD is just one of the reasons that statement is true. I would say that I’ve been waiting for this for decades to come out, but I honestly never thought it would happen. But now, thanks to the amazing people at Howlin’ Wolf Records, we now can enjoy it.

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Archive Site Now Working

February 25, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings | 1 Comment

I guess it really just depends on getting a hold of the right tech person to tell you what you want to know. After being told last night what I wanted to do was not possible, now it seems that it is after all. Like I said, just need to get the right person.

So by clicking on the Archive Site link on the right side, you’ll be taken to the old site, where you can access all of the reviews, convention reports and everything else. As I mentioned before, I will be slowly moving those over to here.

And thanks for all the followers that have joined today. Much appreciated. Love live the Krypt!

Welcome to the Krypt…Or Should I say the New Krypt?

February 24, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings | Leave a comment

Yes, after working with the same format since the Krypt’s inception back in October of 1998, we have finally made the move to a different website program. Ever since Microsoft put Front Page out to pasture, it has been something that I knew would be coming at some point, more and more with each and every year that passed by. You have to realize that I’ve been still using a program that hasn’t had an update or upgrade for over a decade. The funny thing was when I was looking on some support message boards about getting Front Page to work on Windows 8, a lot of the comments I’d read pretty much said the same thing: “The program is a decade old…move on!” As much as it sucks to try and learn a whole new system, I have to admit they were right. It was time to move on. And what better way than to move one when I still can and on my terms, as opposed to the site just ceasing to exist and then quickly trying to piece together a new site. I know a lot of the issues I’ve had over the years with the site will now be gone, and now I can concentrate more on the content than the technical stuff.

At first, I was worried about losing the look and feel of the site by switching it to a blog format. The one thing that I always felt (or at least I hoped) stood out here was the content and place where I hoped would inspire other fans to learn more about the genre. And I don’t think that will change with this new format. After all, this comes all from the heart, fueled by my passion. And because of that, I don’t think it would matter if it is in the form of a website, a blog, or me standing on the street corner passing out pieces of paper with a list of movies I think you should see and some names of people that I feel need to be remembered for their contributions to the genre. So…with that thought…Welcome to the Krypt.

Couple of things. Not exactly sure how the old mailing list is going to work, you can now follow this site by entering your email over there on the right and you’ll get an email every time we post something new. Our updates will change now and will probably be more frequent than before. Granted, they will be small updates, but more of them.

The link to the old site is having a bit of technical difficulties at the moment, but we are hoping to have that fixed soon.

With this site, all the reviews we post will automatically be archives into the different categories which you can access by the search queue or by the category links on the left. But you will also be able to leave comments and thoughts about the posts as well, which I hope you do. As horror fans, we all know that it is a lot more fun and enjoyable when you can talk about it with someone else. So I look forward to having more of an open conversation with you.

Book Review: Beyond Ballyhoo

February 22, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged Beyond Ballyhoo, Mark Thomas McGee, Movie Gimmicks | 2 Comments

Beyond Ballyhoo: Motion Picture Promotion and Gimmicks
By Mark Thomas McGee
Published by McFarland & Company, 1989, republished in 2001. 237 pages.

Beyond Ballyhoo

I’ve always been a sucker for a gimmick when it comes to the movies. It definitely was something for a different era of movie promotions, though there are a few out there that still practice this old way of getting your audience’s attention, but nothing like it used to be. But even though those days are gone for the most part, reading about them is a lot of fun. Sure, it makes you wish you were around during those times. I mean, who wouldn’t have loved getting an “Up Chuck Cup” when going to see I Dismember Mama? Or getting to drink some ‘green blood’ when you went to see Mad Doctor of Blood Island? But it is fun to read about all the different wild and crazy things that studios used to come up with to try and get people to come to see their movies….even if the movie wasn’t that great.

Once again, McGee does an excellent job as our storyteller, giving us not only a lot of facts, but personal references and memories as well, which makes the stories even more entertaining. We get to hear about gimmicks like the coming of sound pictures…yes, that’s right. Sound pictures started out as just another gimmick to get people to the theaters. Then we have the coming all the different types of presentations, like CinemaScope…Dynamation….VistaVision….and the list goes on. Of course, then there is the invention of 3-D movies, and all the different kinds of those! Needless to say, we get to hear about them all in McGee’s well written book that is just packed with information.

And most of all, it is so much fun to read.

Interview: Billy O’Brien

February 22, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Interviews and tagged Billy O'Brien, Isolation | Leave a comment

This is one name that most of you are not familiar with. Which is a shame. But we hope to change that. Back in 2005, this writer / director gave us an incredible atmospheric and dark horror film called Isolation. Taking place on a cow farm in Ireland, not the usual setting for a horror movie. But with a great cast leading the way, O’Brien created an incredible moving and frightening film.

At the end of 2012, we were able to connect with O’Brien to get some more information on this film that has sadly fallen by the wayside, as well as what he’s been up to since then. With some great stories of dedication and endurance, O’Brien shares with us how this movie came about and the people involved. Hopefully this will spark more of you to seek out this underrated classic.

Kitley’s Krypt: Let’s start at the beginning. I’m assuming you are a fan of the horror genre? Any favorites? Continue reading →

Soundtrack Review: Cold in July

February 22, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Soundtrack | Leave a comment

Cold in July
Released by Milan Records, 2014
16 Tracks with a total running time of 57 min.
Music by Jeff Grace

I listen to a lot of soundtracks. Usually the ones I get to review are good, working really well in the film. But as a stand alone piece of music, most of them lately have felt a little flat. It has been quite a while since I’ve been watching a movie when the score is so strong that I immediately think “Damn…this score is amazing!” Well, it happened with Cold in July. And even stranger, I had forgotten who had worked on this movie, so when I found out the composer was Jeff Grace, it made a lot more sense. You’ll find several of Grace’s works here in our review section, mainly because I’m always impressed with what he creates for the features. No matter the time of film or the content, he always comes through with a great score. Even when the movie itself might not be that great…such as Ti West’s TRIGGER MAN, Grace still created an amazing score.

But let’s talk about this one for Cold in July. Had I been watching this film 20 years ago, I would have sworn that John Carpenter had composed the music. In fact, I would have bet money on it. Now this is not to take any credit away from Grace, but saying that he’s done an incredible job capturing the feel and sound of those early classic Carpenter themes. Not only do they blend so well into the movie, helping creating the tension and suspense, but even listening to it by itself a real joy. It is almost like stepping into an audio time machine. If we had heard this last year, it would have been at the top of my Best Of list for soundtracks. Yes….I think it is that good (as well as the movie too). Using an electronic medium, repetitive notes and themes, he creates an extraordinary soundtrack here, creating a tension and suspense filled score that just oozes mood and atmosphere.

If you are a fan of Grace’s work, then you might already have this or plan on picking it up. But if you’re a fan of the electronic synth scores that Carpenter created back in the ’80s, then you are also going to want to get this one. You’ll love it.