Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Abbott & Costello Meet the All the Monsters?

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Growing up watching old movies on Saturday afternoon on my small 13″ TV in my room are some of the best of my childhood memories. And combining monsters with my favorite pair of comedy actors, Abbott & Costello, well, that just made it even better.

Some time ago, Kino Lober posted a photo of a box et they’d be releasing, with 6 different features with Abbott & Costello where they sort of cross over in the horror genre. They were: Hold That Ghost (1941), Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949), Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951), Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953), and Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy (1955), all in 4K presentations. In fact, to the right is the graphic they released.

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Mystery Photo 12-1

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Now that November is over, we can move away from those Turkeys and get back to some more serious movies. Or not. Our last photo of the month was from the wild Hong Kong movie simple called The Cat (1991), which features the most amazing battle between a dog and a cat that you’ll see outside of professional wrestling. Great stuff. Kudos to Lee Nattrass and Tim Palace for sending in the correct answer!

This week’s photo is from a nice little picture from a very popular director. Take a peek and see if you can recognize where it is from. Just remember to send me your guess in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Movie Review: House on Haunted Hill

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(1959)
Directed by William Castle
Starring Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal,
Carolyn Craig, Elisha Cook Jr., Julie Mitchum, Leona Anderson

I can vividly remember renting this film for the first time on VHS. I’m not sure if I had seen it on TV at some point before in my life, but I knew of it. But once I became a dedicated fan, starting down that road to see every horror film that I could, this was one of those rentals. This was even before I had my own VCR but would rent a few films and take them over to my future in-laws during a Saturday afternoon and sit and watch 3 films back-to-back.

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John Gore Studios Acquire Tyburn

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After hearing many, many times that someone had acquired the Hammer Studios name and was going to bring it back from the dead, it was so nice to finally see it happen, when John Gore finally started to do it. More than just ideas and plans, since Gore has taken the reigns, we’ve seen some amazing restorations of some of Hammer’s classic titles, as well as some of their lesser-known ones. Looking at John Gore Studios website and their mission statement, it really does sound like they are doing great things there and for the right reasons. As posted on their site, not only do they “believe in the power of compelling storytelling to ignite imagination and celebrate the enduring legacy of British film, television, and theatre”, but that they have a mission to “the acquisition, restoration, and distribution of historic film catalogues, ensuring these cultural touchstones remain vibrant and accessible.” Not only through acquiring the film rights, but also by using Silver Salt Restorations, another company owned by Gore, they can make them look as even better than when they first premiered. Just love to see that they understand and agree with the cultural relevance of these film titles, specifically the ones in the horror genre!

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Movie Review: The House with Laughing Windows

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(1976)
Directed by Pupi Avati
Starring Lino Capolicchio, Francesca Marciano, Gianni Cavina, Guilio Pizzirani, Bob Tonelli, Vanna Busoni, Pietro Brambilla, Andrea Matteuzzi, Pina Borione, Eugene Walter

You’ll often read that this film is considered a giallo, the same genre that would include Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace and Dario Argento’s Deep Red. And if you try and compare House to those two, you might have trouble seeing many similarities. Upon my first viewing, I agreed completely with that statement, even while discussing it on a podcast I was on a few years ago. But that shows a few things. First of all, it shows how open the parameters of the giallo sub-genre really are, and secondly, and more importantly, how one’s thoughts and opinions of a picture can evolve. When you compare House with something like Lucio Fulci’s Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972), which is also a giallo, then you can see it having more of a connection. That’s the beauty of different sub-genres, and film in general, isn’t it? They are so subjective and always open for different or possible interpretation. And for this one, it’s definitely one of those.

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Movie Review: Blood Freak

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(1972)
Director: Brad F. Grinter & Steve Hawkes
Starring Steve Hawkes, Heather Hughes, Dana Culliver, Tina Anderson, Brad F. Ginter, Randy Grinter

If there ever was a movie that defines what a “turkey movie” is, this is it. This has to be one of the strangest and most bizarre pictures ever to grace the silver screen. It is one that while you’re watching it, you stop and wonder if what you’re actually seeing is happening. Or if you’re with others, look over to them to make sure they just saw the same thing!

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DtH Episode 110 – Turkey Day 2025

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Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), Terrorvision (1986), and Uninvited (1988).

That’s right, folks! It’s Turkey Time again! Celebrating our 5th episode dedicated to those wonderous missteps in cinematic history. They aimed for the stars but dropped like frozen turkey chucked off a building! But as we always say, the only bad movie is a boring one. And these films are definitely not boring. Because once the credits roll, if you’ve been entertained, then how could it be considered bad???

So sit back and enjoy this episode, where we discuss giant, telepathic crabs, a space creature that exists only to eat, that is beamed in from a brand new state-of-the-art satellite dish, and finally a tale about some sort of experiment gone wrong that causes some sort of mutant creature to live inside a cat, that gets onboard a fancy yacht with some criminals and some college kids! How could that not spell fun?

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Udo Keir – Rest in Peace

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The great Udo Keir has left the building. The word “icon” should be used often, but for Mr. Keir, I think it is a well-deserved moniker. With 275 credits to his name, the man has worked… a LOT. And whatever he appeared in, he always made it a little better. Of course, it was those two amazing films he did with Paul Morrissey, Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) and Blood for Dracula (1974) that really cemented his fame in the horror genre.

But as everyone probably knows, Keir passed away two days ago, at the age of 81. I had the chance to meet him a few times over the years and was always very fan friendly. The genre really has lost a great talent, and he will be missed. But luckily, we have plenty of his great films to continue to admire. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Being Thankful

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Every year, people are usually asked, or post something about what we’re thankful for. It usually ranges in being thankful for their family, a good job, being healthy, or a variety of subjects of that nature. A lot of those things are stuff we tend to take for granted every other day of the year. But when you really look, I’m sure you’ll find a little more light than dark in one’s life. Even for us evil horror fanatics!

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Mystery Photo 11-24

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Turkey Day is almost upon us! Are you ready? Do you have your own Turkey Day Marathon planned for this Friday? If so, we’d love to hear your lineup! But let’s get to the business at hand. Our photo from last week was from the wonderful film Carnival of Blood (1970), with Burt Young appearing in his first feature film, though credited as John Harris. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Todd Barwick, Scott Bradley, Kevin Hart, Lee Nattrass, Alan Tromp, Mike Tutino, and William Wilson. Well done!

Now for our last Turkey Day Mystery Photo. This one is a real hoot! Take a look below and see if you recognize this strange film. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And most of all, Good Luck!