Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Jonathan Haze – Rest in Peace

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The original Seymour Krelborn in Roger Corman’s ultra-low budget picture Little Shop of Horrors (1960), actor Jonathan Haze has passed away at the young age of 95. He was a staple in the early Corman films, with his first film being the Corman produced monster flick, Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). He would appear in a handful of Corman films, wherever he was needed, in whatever kind of role. For other genre pictures, he appeared in It Conquered the World (1956), Not of This Earth (1957), and The Terror (1963).

No matter who or what he was playing, he was always memorable. I had a chance to meet him at a Cinema Wasteland show years ago, along with Little Shop co-star Jackie Joseph and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith, who told plenty of great stories of those days. But no matter, Haze will live on in those many roles he appeared in, especially Little Shop of Horrors. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Franco T-Shirts Available

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For those big fans of filmmaker Jess Franco, we have a few T-Shirts left over from the Francomania: Vampyros Francos event that took place a couple of weeks ago in St. Louis. The art was created by the uber-talented Don England. He really knocked it out of the park with the design idea that we came up with.

If you’re interested, they are $20 each, with $5 for shipping. Just email me (jon@kitleyskrypt.com) the size you’re looking for and I’ll let you know if we still have any of them and we’ll go from there.

Supply is limited so if you’re interested, email me sooner than later!

Mystery Photo 11-4

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Okay, so only another 361 days until Halloween! I hope everyone had a fangtastic month and was able to enjoy the season, with plenty of films and horror-themed events. I know I did! Well, maybe not the movies, but definitely events. But to start off this month right, let’s get to our weekly pictorial puzzle, shall we? But first, let’s review last week. It was from the lesser-known Halloween film called Trick or Treats (1982), starring David Carradine, Carrie Snodgress, Steve Railsback, Peter Jason, and written and directed by Gary Graver, who worked as a cinematographer for Al Adamson in the late ’60s and early ’70s. This is not a great movie by any means, but an interesting entry in the Halloween themed movies. Congrats to the following for recognizing this one: Hoby Abernathy, Peggie Christie, Steven Kennedy, Erik Martin, and William Wilson. Well done!

Now on to this week’s photo. Give it a good look, through the goo and ooze and see if you recognize where this is from. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Captain Kronos 5 Disc Release?

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As we make our way to the Monster Bash Conference, where we, along with all the other attendees, will be celebrating Hammer Films with four lovely ladies that appeared in some of their films. Names like Caroline Munro, Martine Beswick, Victoria Vetri, and Pauline Peart, along with a few other interesting guests. You can get all the details by clicking HERE.

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DtH Episode 82 – Haunted Houses

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The Legend of Hell House (1973), Hausu (1977), The Abandoned (2006)

In older small towns, there is usually some old house on the outskirts of town, maybe someone lives there, maybe not. But it is one that young kids dare themselves to go up to. And if you do dare to enter this dwelling, you’ll find creaking boards, dust covered items from furniture to knick-knacks, and a lot of cobwebs. And any noise, no matter how small it might, gets the mind racing.

There is nothing better for the Halloween season than sitting down with a nice Haunted House movie. Which is why we decided to tackle 3 of our favorite scary movies about demented dwellings, as well as ones that we feel that need more attention. Going back to the very beginning of cinema, with Georges Méliès’ The House of the Devil (1896), it shows how important this sub-genre is, and why filmmakers continue to go back to it. When done correctly, can be highly effective, and damn scary. 

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Mystery Photo 10-28

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For our last photo of the month, we thought we’d go with something special. But first, our photo from last week was from the Japanese film Hausu aka House (1977) from director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi. What an imaginative and unique film, especially when it was made at that time. Very surreal and one that is hard to forget. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Aaron Christensen, Chris Dyer, Dave Friedman, Kevin Hart, and Jennifer Pike-Cruz. Well done!

Okay…here’s our last photo for the season. Give it a good look and see if you can recognize where this shot is from. Just remember to send me your guess in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com, and most of all, Good Luck!

McFarland Slashes Prices

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We all know that while McFarland has some amazing book titles, they do run a bit on the pricey side. Which is why it is even more important to take advantage of this sale they are having. If you buy 2 or more horror books and enter the code HALLOWEEN2024 you will get 40% off the total price. They already had a few titles that I’ve been meaning to pick up, but was surprised to find a couple more that I didn’t even know about.

Matt Rogerson has a new book coming out, called Fulci’s Inferno: Faith in the Films of a Horror and Giallo Auteur. According to the description on McFarland’s site, this book “analyzes the tenets and iconography of Fulci’s Roman Catholic faith across key films in his filmography, plotting an apostate’s journey through his art in the vein of many celebrated Italian artists that went before him. The volume also considers how exploring his faith and apostasy through his films led Fulci to develop an entirely new storytelling mechanism which has influenced genre directors ever since.

The sale runs through now until October 31st. Just click HERE to get to their website.

Super-Horror-Rama Flips the Bird

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Next month, Super-Horror-Rama returns to Sideshow Gelato for another round of films that truly celebrate the Turkey. Not the one you eat, but the one you watch!

Each Thursday in November (except the 28th for obvious reasons), they will be screening a very special “bird” movie. On the 7th, it is the ultimate giant turkey movie, The Giant Claw (1957). Starring Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday, they have to do battle with a creature “as big as a battleship” and flying so fast that it doesn’t show up on radar. While everyone in the film is playing it completely straight, it might be due to the fact that they never saw the title creature until the film was released. But as cheesy as the creature is, the film is still a lot of fun.

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Mystery Photo 10-21

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Almost forgot that today is Monday, which should have been a no-brainer after being at the real job for 15 minutes. But enough of that, let’s get to the reason we’re here! Our photo from last week was from the 1974 film Craze, starring the one and only Jack Palance! Unfortunately, no one sent in a single guess on this one. Maybe this next one will be a little easier . . . ?

Take a look at today’s photo and see if you can recognize it. If you do, send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Movie Review: Kinski Double Feature

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Once again, I’m discovering more and more some films that I might have seen back in my 20s or 30s, that I never really paid much attention to. I must have watched them and then forgot about them because they left no real memory with me. It might be because of the shabby releases of them that always seemed to be around, where the quality was pretty rough, so you figured the film itself had to be cheap as well and not worth your time. Thankfully, as we grow older, we really do become a little more serious in our movie viewing and pay more attention to what we are watching. At least, I know I do. A prime example is this new release from Film Masters, a Kinski double feature, of Creature with the Blue Hand (1967) and Web of the Spider (1971). And when the films are presented like they are here, it really is worth your time.

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