Author Archives: Jon Kitley

DtH Podcast Episode 47 – William Castle

by in Discover the Horror Podcast, Misc. Ramblings and tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

House on Haunted Hill (1959), The Tingler (1959), and Mr. Sardonicus (1961). In the world of ballyhoo, nobody comes close to being a master at it than producer/director William Castle. From giving insurance policies to filmgoers in case they die of fright, promising the horrors onscreen will come off the screen into the audiences, to even letting the audience decide the fate of one of the characters in the film, Castle was a master of it. He treated his fans with respect and wanted everyone to have a great time with his pictures. And they still are entertaining today.

In this episode we’re going to delve into 3 of Castle’s films, as well as the man himself. Joining us to talk all things Castle is superfan and collector (not to mention Regional Warrior for Severin Films) Matt Harding!

Films Mentioned in this episode:

Continue reading →

Midway Drive-In Screams Halloween II

by in Movie Events and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In case that title didn’t make sense, it was just me trying to be witty! But the Midway Drive-in will be screening two classic modern horror films next Saturday, July 15th, on their huge 90ft screen!

The original Scream (1996), the one that started the whole resurgence of horror films in the ’90s, will start approximately 8:45pm. Following it will be Halloween II (1981), the real sequel to Carpenter’s original classic feature. Okay, while some might not enjoy it, and yes, it pales in comparison to the original, but I’ve always been a fan of this and still think it is a fun horror flick. Click HERE to get the Midway’s website for all the details.

The Midway is screening these two films in a little pre-promotion of the upcoming Flashback Weekend convention, taking place in Rosemont, IL from Aug. 4th to the 6th. At the show, they will be having 4 guests from the original Scream, Skeet Ulrich, Rose McGowan, Jamie Kennedy, and Lee Waddell, and from Halloween II, they will have Dick Warlock, Lance Guest, Leo Rossi, and Alan Howarth. Not to mention reunions for Child’s Play 2, John Carpenter’s Christine, Terrifier 1 & 2, and many more amazing guests like Joe Bob Briggs & Darcy the Mail Girl! Just click HERE to see the latest updates!

Mummy Movies Book!

by in Book News and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Our good friend Bryan Senn has done something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. He has sat down and not only watched a ton of mummy movies, but even did the research and wrote about them for this new book! If you are sitting there thinking, “well that doesn’t sound that bad” then you haven’t experienced some of lesser-known mummy titles out there. Trust me, they can get pretty bad. Years ago, I tried to turn down doing a retrospective on this sub-genre for HorrorHound because I knew the quality of the ones that I had seen, let alone the ones I’d avoided. I will say though that there still are some damn good mummy films out there that are more than worth your time. But kudos to Senn for doing all of that hard work so we don’t have to, but now can just read about them.

Of course, even though I know there is a lot of bad mummy movies out there . . . yes, I still will be picking up this book for the library.

Continue reading →

Drive-In Super Monster Rama

by in Movie Events and tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

They have released the lineup for this fall’s Drive-In Super Monster Rama at the Riverside Drive-in in Vandergrift, PA, taking place Sept. 22nd and 23rd. If this wasn’t so damn far away, I would be there. Such an amazing lineup both night, getting to see some classic titles that were meant for the drive-in! For more details, head over to the Riverside Drive-in website HERE.

Hammer Karnstein Scrapbook Now Available

by in Book News and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Continuing their releases covering the different series of films Hammer did, Peveril Publishing has released their latest volume in this long series, The Hammer’s Karnstein’s Scrapbook and is now available to order!

By the time the ’70s came around, Hammer was upping the amount of gore and nudity in their films, trying to keep hold of their dwindling audiences. Since films like Rosemary’s Baby and Night of the Living Dead, both released1968, had modern settings and monsters, fans were growing tired of the gothic period pieces. Plus, in 1970, The British Board of Film Censors raised the X-Certificate from 16 to 18 in hopes of fighting off this new trend of sexploitation films that were coming out. Hammer took that and amped up their gore and nudity to meet that new standard with their adaptation of Le Fanu’s 1872 novella Carmilla, with what would become The Vampire Lovers (1970), starring the alluring Ingrid Pitt.

Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 7-3

by in Mystery Photo and tagged

Welcome to our first photo for July! I was thrilled to not only see the amount of correct answers sent in for our last photo, but the love given to the film, which happens to be a personal favorite of mine! The film is Horror Rises from the Tomb starring the one and only Paul Naschy. This year is the 50th anniversary of it too! Hard to believe. But congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Dave Fronto, Bob Hartman, Erik Martin, Mike Pniewski, Bryan Senn, Alan Tromp, William Wilson, and Greg Wojick. For those who didn’t know it or haven’t seen it, please seek it out!

Our next photo is from a film everyone should know, but maybe you won’t recognize this shot. That is my goal, after all! Take a look at it and see if you know what movie it is from. Good Luck!

Severin Kills with Promo Items!

by in Misc. Ramblings and tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Back in the ’80s, in the midst of the video boom, there would be these awesome promo items the video companies would release. There was the Re-Animator (1985) paperweight, or the pack of matches promoting The Burning (1981), a Vamp (1986) credit card, and even a real box cutter for Blood Cult (1985). These of course, are highly collectible now and are a great reminder that those video companies understood the ballyhoo and doing little things to help promote the films they were releasing.

In today’s world of DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K releases, Severin Films are taking promo items to the next level.

Who could ever imagine that someone would create a plush toy for the notorious Italian gore film’s main character from Anthropophagus while he is eating his own intestines? Severin did. Why? Because they are as big of fans of these films as those who are buying their releases. Severin head guy, David Gregory is one of us. So, he makes these amazing items because he knows how damn cool they are! But they haven’t stopped there.

Continue reading →

Discover the Horror Episode 46 – Horror & Heavy Metal

by in Discover the Horror Podcast | Leave a comment

Horror movies and heavy metal music have almost gone hand in hand, since the real first heavy metal band, Black Sabbath- which was even named after a horror film! Horror films were a huge influence on the metal genre, from imagery on the album covers, to the lyrics, and even the sound and style of the music itself. And they continue to do so to this day.

To delve a little deeper into the connection between those two, we invited two members of Incantation, one of the oldest death metal bands out there, Kyle Severn and Chuck Sherwood. So, join us as we talk music, metal, and movies!

Films mentioned during this episode:

Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 6-29

by in Mystery Photo and tagged

A little last in the day, but it is still Monday. At least, I know it sure still feels like a Monday! Our photo from last week was from a sequel, Night of the Demons 2 (1994), once again showing the evils of having parties while in high school! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Dada Debaser, Kevin Hart, Ryan Olson, and William Wilson. Well done, indeed!

Okay, so this one might be pretty easy, or maybe it will be enough to think you know it but can’t seem to pull the title out of your head. Either way, it is fun one to ponder. Take a peek and see what you think! Then send your guess to me in an email, at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Monster Bash – Making Me Think!

by in Conventions and tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Earlier this year, I posted that this was probably going to be my last year selling books. The main reason (other than I’m getting old!) was that they just weren’t selling enough to make it worth it. I know I had a good number of regulars, which really hurt the thought of disappointing them, but at the end of the show, it just wasn’t enough.

Then we did Monster Bash last weekend.

Continue reading →