Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Mystery Photo 12-18

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Sorry for missing out on a new photo last week, but as we mentioned in an early post, web stuff happens. But we’re back on a Monday morning with another interesting mystery pic for you. But first, let’s talk about our last photo. Major kudos to the following people: Hoby Abernathy, Enai Aya, John Cairns, Dave Friedman, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Ken Johnson, Gary McGuire, Lee Natrass, and Vincent Simonelli. Not only did they correctly identify the shot as being from The Manster (1959), but even more credit because it wasn’t a shot of the title character which would have made it easy! Congrats for going that extra mile with your horror knowledge!

Now on to this week’s pick. Might be easy, might not. But either way, might want to avoid this woman if she’s running the checkout line while doing your holiday shopping! Just remember, if you think you know it, send me an email at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Soundtrack Review: Voces aka Don’t Listen

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Voces (2020) aka Don’t Listen
26 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 70 min.
Music by Jesús Díaz

Voces, under the title Don’t Listen, was a film I stumbled upon on Netflix one night, not knowing that it was a Spanish made film, but was immediately captivated by the story, and the frightening way it was played out. One of the things that helped that was the soundtrack. This is not a score of melodies and themes, but of sounds. Sounds like you’d expect to hear in a nightmare. These could be anything from soft noises from afar that slowly build up a little louder and louder until you think you can make out what exactly the sound is, before it disappears into the distance.

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January Giallo 2024 at the Music Box

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Chicago’s own Music Box Theatre has announced the titles for this year’s celebration of the giallo, and there is a lot to be excited about!!! Not only are they starting off this year’s series with a Paul Naschy film, but they are also ending it with one of the ultimate in the giallo sub-genre, with the director in attendance for a post film Q&A! Just look below to see what films are playing and when:

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Back from the Dead

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Just in case you did notice, the Krypt had been down for a few days while we were moving the domain over. Took a little longer than expected, but everything seems to be working just find now. Let’s just hope it continues that way!

In the meantime, we’ll have our new Mystery Photo posted on Monday, so for those that hadn’t sent in their guess, you have a few more days left.

As we get to the last couple of weeks before the end of the year, I’m still working on my Year End Review, and have a lot to cover! While I didn’t get nowhere near as many books read as I expected, I did knock out quite a few movies, and a lot more newer ones than I usually do too!

And if you’re still doing some holiday shopping, may I suggest maybe putting some of those dollars to a local artist or author. Not only does this help them with their endeavors, but also shows them that their work has meaning. Of course, I’m always one to suggest giving a book for a gift, because that is one that gives the gift of knowledge, or if its fiction, then you’ve given the gift of an escape into another world. Sometimes we all need that every now and then.

Okay, just wanted to post a little update to let you know what was going on here at the Krypt. Until then, Merry Cthulhumas!

DtH Podcast: Episode 59 – Ghost Stories for Christmas

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Tower of London (1962), Ghost Nursing (1982), and Stir of Echoes (1999).

Believe it or not, but it’s a tradition to tell spooky stories around Christmas time. Just think of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol! While some tales might be told to give one pause about how they are acting towards others, to maybe change your ways, or some told to pass on a message of hope, while others are there just to scare the crap out of you! 

In this episode, we’re going to cover three completely different films that all deal with ghosts, in a variety of settings, times, and even countries! This just shows how international the ghost story is, though maybe changed around a bit depending on your beliefs, there is always a reason for these spirts to appear.

Movies mentioned in this episode are:

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The Exorcist at 58

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Yes, I know The Exorcist is 50 years old, not 58. But I am 58 and I see this film much differently than when I originally did in my younger years.

Last weekend, I had the chance to see a rare screening of the original theatrical version, from a 35mm print, on the big screen, at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre. This place really knows and appreciates the importance of such a screening and I’m thankful to be close enough to take advantage of them. And seeing a huge line down the block for this once again made the blackened heart inside this old horror fan swell. Seeing it in a crowded theater really makes the power of the film hit a little harder than watching it at home.

The reason this was a rare screening was that since 1999, the only version the studio rents out for screenings is the extended version, which they call “The Version You’ve Never Seen Before”. I saw it in the theater when it was released and aside from seeing some extra footage, I didn’t care for it as a whole. Now, I refer to it as either “The Version I’ll Never Watch Again”, or more simply the “Where’s Waldo” version, mainly because instead of using the image of Capt. Howdy’s face a couple of times in the film, the longer cut seems to stick it EVERYWHERE! Plus, there are just sequences, such as the famous spider walking scene, that while they are cool to see, I don’t feel they really don’t fit in the film.

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Mystery Photo 12-4

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Welcome to the first photo of December, and with only 3 more photos to go before we hit 2024! Where does the time go? Our photo from last week was from the German film Ein Toter hing im Netz (1960), better known as Horrors of Spider Island. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Peggie Christie, Bob Hartman, and Vincent Simonelli! Well done.

The photo from this week might be a little obscure, especially with the shot I chose, since it is not the main . . . monster. But we’ll see how clever you are. Take a peek below and see what you can come up with. Just remember to send your guess to me at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Movie Review: The Terror

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Directed by Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Hill, Monte Hellman, Dennis Jakob, Jack Nicholson
Starring Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller, Dorothy Neumann, Jonathan Haze

The Terror (1963) was one of those films that you always would see on the shelf when you went to any video store back in the day, or at places like the grocery stores if they had these bins of cheap VHS tapes. The main reason for that was because this was public domain title, so there were multiple different releases out at any given time, and all of them looking pretty shabby quality-wise. The more you learned about the film itself and how it came to be, you probably found that to be more entertaining, or at least more fascinating, than the actual picture itself!

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DtH Podcast – Episode 58: Universal Werewolf Films

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The Werewolf of London (1935), The Wolf Man (1941), and She-Wolf of London (1946)

When the night falls and the full moon rises, it is time to talk about werewolves. But not just any werewolves, but the ones that came from Universal Studios. While still riding the wave of their horror title success of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Invisible Man, Universal office continued to look for their next big monster, which spawned The Werewolf of London. While it wasn’t the success they’d hoped, they would try it again in 1941 on the second wave of monster films, which was a big hit. And like the curse of lycanthropy, things always weren’t good with this particular sub-genre.

We cover the three official titles from Universal that have the werewolf (one in title alone!) is by themselves, and not any of the monster-rallys that we’ll cover in the future. Will they still hold up to modern audiences? Are they worthy of their “classic monster” title? Listen and find out.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Mystery Photo 11-27

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Welcome to our last pictorial puzzle for the month. That’s right . . . next week is already December, and then we get to 2024. Not sure if anybody has noticed, but most of the photos from this month have been what some might call Turkeys, and most of them are closeups of faces. While I’m not sure I would include this week’s photo as a Turkey, but opinions can differ. But let’s get back to last week’s photo. It was from Bill Rebane / H.G. Lewis’ 1965 epic Monster A Go-Go. That shot is probably right after the guy watched the film! But kudos to the select few that recognized it and were brave enough to admit it! They were Hoby Abernathy and Erik Martin. Well done!

This week is another shot of a face screaming in terror. What a nice way to start off the week, right? So take a peek and let me know what you think. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!