Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Discover the Horror Podcast: Episode 45 – Hong Kong Black Magic

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Corpse Mania (1981), Red Spell Spells Red (1983), The Rape After (1984)

Obviously, the title of our show, and its mission statement is about discovering new horror, In the past we’ve always brought films to the table that we already liked and wanted to discuss.  But on this episode, we were given a unique opportunity.  We were given a list of somewhat obscure Hong Kong-created black magic horror films which contained titles that none of us had seen, and it gave us an idea: maybe this time Aaron, Damien and Jon would be the ones who discover the horror! We each picked a film we’d never seen but sounded interesting, and on episode 45, we share our thoughts on these very unique films.

If you’ve not spent time in the utterly unhinged world of Hong Kong black magic horror, and are fond of the surreal, the impossible and the inexplicable, we think this show might just be for you.  Scorpion attacks, maggoty necrophilia, rats leaping from the mouths of dead fathers… this episode has it all. 

To join us, we invited Ryan Smith, who made the list and has gathered probably the largest collection of Hong Kong cinema that we’ve ever heard of.  Be careful- this is one where leaves can rip your face off!

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Mystery Photo 6-12

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I think there might be a lot of readers out there that are not going to be so happy they missed this last photo. It’s not an strange foreign title lost obscurity, but actually one of the best adaptations of a Stephen King novel (in my opinion). The film is The Dead Zone (1983), directed by David Cronenberg. I had recently rewatched it since it had been a while and was reminded just how good it really is. Also, it was great seeing all the different Cronenberg actors with little cameos here and there. Congrats to the following that sent in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Mike Shields, and William Wilson.

Let us see what we can get with this week’s photo. A real good one, this one is! Take a peek and see what you can come up with. Just remember to send your answer to me in an email at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Frankenstein: The True Story – THE BOOK!

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One of my earliest childhood horror memories is seeing the 2-part mini-series Frankenstein: The True Story when it first aired in 1973. While I had no idea how far from the “true story” it was, as a young, eager horror fan, I just loved it and remains a personal favorite of mine to this day.

Back in 2017, Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine did a huge special issue on the making of this film, with Sam Irving taking on this dream job, since he’d been a fan as well since the original premiere, writing about it and doing several interviews on it in his horror fanzine Bizarre that he put out in the ’70s. The new piece for LSoH was 120 pages, packed with 400 photos, new interviews with the cast and crew, with an amazing cover art by artist Mark Maddox. This would lead to a Blu-ray release of the film by Shout Factory with an incredible commentary as well as interviews with some of the cast.

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Praise for the Music Box Theatre

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As I near my 6th decade on this planet, most of that being an obsessive horror fan, it’s really easy to slip into the grumpy old man mode these days, telling younger horror fans to get off my lawn. Even conventions are nowhere near what they used to be, with more about paying for overpriced autographs and collecting toys than caring about the actual movies themselves.

See how easy that was?

But the other night, I witnessed something that made this grinch of a horror fan’s withered heart grow 3 times in size.

The Music Box Theatre in Chicago is a place I’ve been going to for over 30 years, mainly for midnight screenings but also to some of their film series they’ve done over the years. Back in the ‘90s when I would go to something like a midnight screening of Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond (1981) or Toshiharu Ikeda’s Evil Dead Trap (1988), there’d be maybe 10 people there, and most of them snickering during the screening.

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House on Haunted Hill at the Music Box!

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This Wednesday and Thursday, June 7th & 8th, not only do you have the chance to see William Castle’s 1959 classic film starring Vincent Price, but you’ll get to experience EMERGO!!! Just like Castle did when the film first premiered, you’ll see the terror come right off the screen! Plus, it is from a 35mm print!

If you’ve never had a chance to see this (or any Castle film) on the big screen, then you are really missing out because in an audience setting, it really is a whole new experience. Also, Castle super-fan Matt Harding will have pieces of his William Castle collection on display! You don’t want to miss this event.

For all the info, head over the Music Box Theatre’s website HERE.

Mystery Photo 6-5

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Welcome to the first Monday of June. For most of us, that just means the Halloween season is just 4 months away. So as we avoid the sun and heat (okay, maybe that’s just me), before we know it, the leaves will turn and fall, the temps will drop (hopefully) and it will be Halloween before we know it. Got to focus on something positive, right? Speaking of positive, let’s get to last week’s photo and all the correct answers we got. The shot is from the film Targets (1968) from director Peter Bogdanovich. Very unsettling, with its feet both in the terrors in the reel world and the real world. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Scott Bradley, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Christopher Highland, Troy Howarth, Bryan Senn, William Wilson. Well done!

For this week’s photo, I decided to go with a favorite of mine. But I decided to go with a shot that might be a little obscure. I guess we’ll just see how good you are out there! Just remember, send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Music Box of Horrors 2023 Announced!

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Chicago’s own Music Box Theatre has announced the date for this year’s 24-hour horror movie marathon, which will take place from noon Saturday, October 21st through noon on Sunday. We have missed this the last couple due to scheduling conflicts but this year we will be making our triumphant return!

They have just announced the first 3 features to be playing at this year’s marathon: James Cameron’s Piranha 2: The Spawning (1981), J.R. Bookwalter’s shot-on-video Ozone (1993), and Casper (1995), with plenty more to be announced.

You can already get your ticket by heading over the Music Box Theatre’s website by clicking HERE. If you order your ticket now, before October 20th, they are only $30 ($25 for Music Box Members). The day of the marathon, tickets will be $35 ($30 for members). But remember, last year the marathon sold out, so if you really want to go, then I would advise buying your ticket sooner than later.

In Search of Darkness: The Book!

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Back in 2019, director David A. Weiner, and a host of names involved in the horror genre, from actors, directors, makeup artists, to a slew of genre journalists that gave us In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic ’80s Horror. I remember watching his epic documentary, running close to 4 1/2 hours, and really enjoyed it. My only complaint was that they were skipping quite a few titles. Little did I know that there would be 2 more entries in this series to come over the next 3 years, with part 2 coming out in 2020 and running close to 4 1/2 hours, and part 3 coming out last year and running OVER 5-1/2 hours! So yeah, one could really say they really covered a lot of ground in these three documentaries.

Which really is a love letter to one of the biggest and best times for horror fans, because that decade just exploded with movies. Again, with 3 documentaries running over 14 hours, that just shows how much was out there.

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Discover the Horror Podcast: Episode 44 – Classic Mexican Gothics

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El Vampiro (1957), The Black Pit of Dr. M (1959), and The Curse of the Crying Woman (1963). Any horror fan worth their weight in blood knows their fair share about the classic monster films from Universal from the 30s and 40s before they died a slow death. But do you know that in the late 50s and early 60s, there was a bunch of classical looking horror films made in Mexico? Looking a lot like their Universal brethren, these Mexican films cranked up the atmosphere (and the fog machines) to 11, using some of the traditional monsters, as well as developing some from their own heritage.

Mexican horror films from this era don’t seem to get the credit and notoriety that they should. We’re hoping to help change that by covering 3 that we think are pretty damn good. So, buckle up, get your pen and notepad ready and get ready to start down a very foggy path into a highly underrated sub-genre.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Movie Review: Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares

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There are those icons from the golden age of horror, such as Lugosi & Karloff, or the generation after that, with names like Lee, Cushing, and Price. But if there was going to be one name from the modern generation of the horror genre, it would have to be Robert Englund. And now, thanks to this new documentary called Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, if you didn’t know already, you’ll learn why.

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