Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Happy Holiday from the Krypt!

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No matter what you celebrate, or don’t celebrate, we here at the Krypt wish everyone out there a joyous time, hopefully getting to spend it with your loved ones, or even just sitting in front of your TV watching some great films. It’s been a rough year, but it is always a great time to remember the good times and good friends. You can always give them a call, send them a note or email, just to say hello, or a simple thanks for being there. I think everyone can use one of those messages these days.

And while we wait for Godzilla to deliver us presents this year (make sure you leave out BIG cookies), just remember these words of advice from director Ishiro Honda. I think if we all try and follow them, we’d all be a lot better off.

“Read good books, say kind words, do good deeds, be a good person.”

DtH Episode 112 – Twice Told Tales: Maniac

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Every now and again, the horror genre produces a film that becomes a bona fide classic. In 1980, director William Lustig and co-writer and star Joe Spinell teamed up to make what may be the defining film of the 42nd Street grindhouse era: Maniac.

The film has it all, a serial-killing protagonist who scalps women while sobbing about his mother, buckets of gore from an early-career Tom Savini, and all the usual suspects of late-’70s Times Square: hookers, drugs, and utter despair.

A remake, directed by Franck Khalfoun, written by Alexandre Aja, and starring Elijah Wood, arrived in 2012. This time, the action shifts to Los Angeles and leans more heavily into the mannequins that served as surrogate girlfriends in the original. Does it rise to the occasion and meet its predecessor on its own terms? We dig into that question, and much more, on this Twice Told Tales edition of the show.

Films Mentioned in this Episode:

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Hammer in Production Hell

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I know most of us out there love Hammer films, from their Frankenstein films, all the Dracula and vampire titles, to the black and white thrillers, and plenty of their sci-fi/horror titles as well. The more you read up on the history of the studio, you realize some titles took years to finally make it to the big screen, sometimes in a very form or version it was originally written as.

But what about the titles and ideas that never it through the process, that lingered for too long to the point there weren’t of interests anymore, or they just couldn’t agree on a final script, or maybe casting, or countless other reasons. Titles like When the Earth Cracked Open, Nessie, or even Zepplin vs Pterodactyls?

But fear no more because author Glen Davies has now given us this new book dedicated to all of those titles in this book Hammer in Production Hell: In Search of Unfilmed Hammer. It’s 222 pages all dedicated to films that were in varies stages of planning but never made it to the big screen. It’s always interesting to read about what almost happened, especially for fans of this studio.

Available in both hardcover ($48) and paperback ($25) version through Amazon. I know you can never have too many horror reference books, and that includes ones on Hammer Films! Trust me, I know all too well!

Mystery Photo 12-22

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Welcome to Monday! Hopefully this will be a short work week for some of you, and for those that it isn’t, I feel for you. Hopefully you have time to enjoy some of the holiday festivities. Last week’s photo was apparently a tough one. One got one correct answer, and that was from William Wilson. The film is the Blood Salvage (1990), which actually starred John Saxon and Ray Walston! So, a big kudos out to Will for recognizing that head in the jar!

Okay, this week’s photo might be another obscure on so put on your thinking caps! Take a look and see what you can think of. Just remember to send your answer to me, by sending me an email to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Damian Mc Carthy’s Hokum

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In 2021, I stumbled upon the film Caveat online and decided to give it a try. Not only did it blow me away but made my Top Ten Favorites of the year. You can read my review HERE. Unique, different, and damn creepy, which has a lot to do with that damn stuff rabbit! It was written and directed by Damian Mc Carthy. Then last year, his next film Oddity came out, and I was lucky enough to see that at the theater. Once again, I was just amazed how good it was. You can read my review HERE. Another unique story, an amazing cast, and some very effective and creepy moments, sure to make some squirm in their seats.

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Lawrence Raffel – Rest in Peace

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It’s bad enough when I write these about people in the industry that made an impact on my life through their work in movies, but when I have to write one about someone I personally knew, it makes it even tougher. Way back in the ’90s, I was involved in sort of a horror newsletter/fanzine thing called Death at Work. Basically, it was a bunch of like-minded horror fans that would contribute their section, writing about whatever they wanted, and then having it all compiled into one and sent out to all the members. Years later, I was introduced to Lawrence Raffel through a mutual friend, Aaron Christensen. After a few moments of conversation, we realized we had both been involved with D.A.W. Small world, huh?

I had got to hang out with Lawrence a couple of times over the years at a few different conventions, where we had more than a few “heated” debates on various topics, including what was Argento’s best movie. I fondly remember those times. But because life can really be a real prick sometimes, Lawrence suffered a massive stroke last May, one that he would never recover from. Yesterday, we heard through our friend AC that Lawrence had passed away.

From running his website Monsters at Play years ago, to working for FearNet, to all the other things that he did to help promote the horror genre, Lawrence was one of those guys that you could talk to for hours about movies, and his passion never faltered. Horror fandom has lost a strong voice with his passing. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family, and especially to his wife and son during this most difficult time. Gone, but never forgotten.

Hammer Presents More British Horror

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This is one thing I did not expect to happen but am thrilled at the aspects of it. Okay, maybe my wallet isn’t, but that’s a problem for Future-Jon to worry about! The new Hammer Films company, under the leadership of John Gore, has been making a lot of fans of the studio very happy with their amazing releases of some of their classic titles, such as the first two Quatermass movies, Captain Kronos, as well as The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). But now, not only are they going to continue to do that, but they are also going to be putting out other British horror titles from different studios under the banner Hammer Presents.

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Book Review: Icons of Fright

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Icons of Fright: 100 Interviews with Legendary Horror Filmmakers
Published by Harker Press, 2025. 469 pages
By Mike Cucinotta, Rob Galluzzo, Adam Barnick, and Jason Alvino

When you first look through this massive volume of interviews, it’s astonishing the number of people covered within the pages. The subjects range from directors, actors, screenwriters, makeup artists, stuntmen, and just about everyone in between! And the names in those categories ranges from the very well-known to the more up-and-coming ones that have just started in the industry or are just getting some notoriety from their work. But then I quickly noticed that the interviews are old… like decades or older. And I quickly thought, “Who wants to read interviews from 15 years ago?”

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Bob Burns – Rest in Peace

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Bob Burns was the ultimate fan of the sci-fi and horror genre. He was an author, actor, makeup man, consultant, historian, and more importantly, a collector and archivist. He knew the importance of these items, from the original Time Machine from the 1960s film to the armature from the original King Kong, not to mention masks from a young 16-year-old Rick Baker to pieces from both Alien and Aliens, and so much more. And the best part, he looked at this stuff like the same little 10=year-old that is inside of all of fans, with a sense of wonder and fascination.

He worked with Paul Blaisdell on films like It Conquered the World (1956) and Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), but in the early ’60s, they created a short-lived magazine called Fantastic Monsters of the Films.

He would often appear in a gorilla costume, usually billed as Kogar, but also was a Gorilla named Tracy in the 1975 Saturday morning show The Ghost Busters.

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Mytery Photo 12-15

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Happy Monday! We survived our freezing temps over the weekend, but then again, this is the Midwest, so just another winter. That didn’t stop me from traveling into the Chicago a couple of times over the weekend for some cool events. Hopefully everyone out there also had a good weekend. But let’s get to why you’re here. Our photo from last was indeed from Ryan Coolgler’s Sinners (2025). It was definitely one of my favorites of the year but can understand why not everyone feels the same as I do. But that’s the fun part about movies. We did get quite a few correct answers, which is always nice. They were: Hoby Abernathy, Sherry Alvarez, Aaron Christensen, Dada Debaser, Chris Dyer, Kevin Hart, Steven Kennedy, Erik Martin, Gary Miller, Jeff Owens, Jennifer Pike-Cruz, Chris Richmond, Bryan Senn, and William Wilson! Well done!

This week’s photo is not as current as that last one, nor is it as well known. So yeah, another one from the vaults. Take a peek and see if you can remember where this little guy came from. Just remember to send me your guess in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And Good Luck!