Author Archives: Jon Kitley

It’s Alive!

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I think it was around my 45th birthday when I had finally made the decision to get a tattoo. I’d been wanting to for a while, but first couldn’t decide what I wanted, but then I was always worried about any possible issues at work, since I did work in an office. Years ago, that would have been highly frowned upon but that dramatically lessened over the years. Plus, at that point in my life, I just didn’t care anymore. So, I got my first one, I think around 2010. Then for the next 9 years, I would go to a friend’s house for a tattoo party and add another one. From simple stitches around my wrist, to Italian horror, Hammer, and of course, Paul Naschy! But then I stopped, for a variety of reasons. But the itch to get more was always there.

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Mystery Photo 11-18

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Okay, so I may have picked an easy one, since Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957) is one of the greatest Turkeys ever made. And while most critics will just shake their head at this film, I still think there is a little bit of genius here, even having more than a couple really creepy sequences. Even still, for recognizing just a newspaper headline, that is still pretty impressive, so definitely kudos to all of those that sent in the correct answer. And that was a lot of you. In fact, I’m not sure I remember having this many correct answers sent in! So, a big round applause to the following: Vero A, Gregory Avery, Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Chris Dyer, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Steven Kennedy, Doug Lamoreux, Erik Martin, Lee Marohn, Lee Nattrass, Michael Pniewski, Lisa Rothman, Todd Warren, and William Wilson!

Now for this week’s photo. Take a sec to look below and see if you recognize what films this shot is from. Just remember to send me your guess in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Movie Review: Night of the Blood Beast

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Once again, Film Masters has given fans a great little package in their latest Blu-Ray release. Being a huge fan of the sci-fi/horror films of the ’50s, I never get tired of watching films of that era. Here we have two great ones, both directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. One of my favorite things about these early films is that everyone is playing it completely straight. No winking at the camera and never giving it less than 100%. Sure, a lot of them were struggling actors that were trying to get their foot in the door, but they still gave their best and sometimes giving us some very memorable characters. It really shows in the final product, no matter how silly that product might be. As a fan of these movies, I give them a lot of respect and gratitude for doing just that.

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Last of Terror Tuesdays

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A few years ago, Aaron Christensen and I started hosting these little lectures at the Sultzer Region Library in Chicago that we called Terror Tuesdays. The 1-night lecture then turned into a 4-week series, which we’ve been doing for a few years now. While it is a bit of prep work ahead of time, it’s a lot of fun and we’ve built up a good audience over those years.

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Francomania: Vampyros Francos

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My first official day of vacation was on Friday, Oct. 25th, and I headed down to St. Louis to witness something truly special, that probably has never happened before. And that was to watch some Jess Franco films in a theater . . . that once was an actual church! How could one pass that up!?!? Just thinking what Franco might have thought about these screenings and where, makes me smile.

My friend and Discover the Horror podcast co-host, Aaron AuBuchon, and Webster University, along with Severin Films, and Oscarbate Film Collective (John Dickson & Will Morris), hosted a 3-day event called Francomania: Vampyros Francos at the Webster University Film Series, where they would screen three different films from Spanish director Jess Franco, all dealing with the subject of vampires: Count Dracula (1970), Vampyros Lesbos (1971), and Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972). There was another screening of Franco’s Mucuba Sexual at this cool little place called The Arkadin, which looks like they screen all sorts of cool titles there.

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Horror is My Business . . . and Business was Busy!

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My vacation days tend to be used for conventions, usually just taking Friday or maybe Friday/Monday off, then back to the real world. But this year, I had some vacation time to kill so I had planned on taking the last week of October off, with the goal of just using it to spend time enjoying the last of the Holiday season. Sure, I’d like to spend the whole month doing that, but there is a bunch of stuff going on throughout the month, such as conventions, 24-hour marathons, and plenty of other stuff that tends to keep me pretty busy. Which is why I was originally looking forward to this break from the busyness that October is. But as it happens, those days were quickly filled with all sorts of things to do, all of which I planned out myself. Meaning, no one to blame but me!

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DtH Episode 83: Wes Craven

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One of the things we continue to preach on this podcast is learning about the people that are involved with the films we love. It helps you see more and understand more, about the person, as well as the final product they are involved with, whether they are an actor, makeup artist, or director.

Author Joe Maddrey’s recent book, The Soul of Wes Craven, from Harker Press, does just this, digging deep into the man, and shows us fans a lot more behind this Master of Horror than we might not have known. To help dig into Craven and his work, we invited Mr. Maddrey on the show to talk about his book and this highly influential filmmaker.

Films mention in this episode:

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New Edition to Never Sleep Again Book

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We received an email from Dark Ink Publishing about their latest book, Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, by Thommy Huston. As we’ve said many times before, you can never have too many horror reference books. But as it turns out, we already have this book in our library from when it first came out in 2016, which is pictures on the left below, with the new edition on the right. This new edition has a new afterwards by Robert England, but that’s about it.

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Mystery Photo 11-11

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Last week’s photo was from the highly entertaining 1986 film Critters, at least I think so. Hell, even the second one is pretty damn fun! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Brian Fukula, Steve Kennedy, Erik Martin, and William Wilson! Well done, indeed!

While we’re in the midst of November, which we all know is Turkey Season (and I don’t mean Thanksgiving!), we decided to put up on for our Mystery Photo, but maybe not making it TOO easy. But you decide how easy it is. So, take a peek below and see if you know which movie this headline is from! Just remember to email me your guess, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Tony Todd – Rest in Peace

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Modern horror fans have lost an icon with the passing of Tony Todd. Most known for playing the title role in the Candyman series, his career shows much more than just that. Todd could give some incredible performances, with such quiet subtlety, that he could give you the chills with just a smile. One of my favorite performances of his was in an episode of The X-Files called “Sleepless”, from 1994. But he would go on to do so much more, having close to 250 credits in a career that spanned almost four decades.

Todd would appear at many conventions over the years and was a fan favorite, showing the friendlier side of this actor known for the scarier roles he appeared in. He took on the task of appearing in the remake of Night of the Living Dead (1990), playing the lead character of Ben. But as always, he pulled off and was one of the reasons that remake is actually really good.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time. But rest assured, his memory, through his amazing amount of work, will definitely live on. Even if you’re not starring into a mirror.