Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Mystery Photo 3-13

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Not sure where my head was last Monday but realized about mid-week that I had totally forgot to get a new Mystery Photo up! But have no fear, today we are back on track. But before we get to the new one, let’s do a review of our last one. It is from Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981), one that I feel is one of the best made-for-TV movies ever made! Great cast and a great story with plenty of creepy elements in there. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct photo: Peggie Christie, Chris Dyer, Troy Howarth, Mike Shields, and William Wilson. Well done!

Today’s photo is one that I love to look at because it just shows some of the beauty we can see in cinema, even in a horror film. Take a look below and see if you recognize where this is from. Just remember to send your guess to us in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Robot Monster in 3D Screening!

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While we all anxiously await the release of the new Blu-ray of this epic piece of cinematic history (Come on, you know it is!) in all of its 3D glory, if you’re in the Madison, WI area, they will be having a screening of this at the Wisconsin Film Festival on April 15th, at 11am. While it is a 2-hour drive for us at the Krypt, I am planning on making the trip up there it because the chance to see this film on the big screen, in 3D, isn’t going to come around that often.

For all the information about the screening, just click HERE. After the screening, there will be a Q&A with Bob Furmanek from 3-D Film Archive, who is one of the men behind the restoration.

This will be the 70th anniversary of this film and while most consider it one the worst films ever made, the fact that we’re still talking about it, and that a ton of people have been working very hard to bring this back to its original 3D presentation, shows you how much this piece of cinematic history is loved and cherished. There really is no other film like it, and with a budget of only $20k, I love the fact that we’re still talking about it, and more importantly, keeping the film alive!

Rondo Time Once Again

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The nominations for the Rondo Awards have been announced, with plenty of great names and titles to be voting on. Remember, for most of the nominees, what they are being praised for is done out of passion and love for the horror, sci-fi, fantasy, classic monsters, or whatever genre you want to call it, but it is what we all share the same passion with. Winning one of these awards would not only help put their name on the map but give them a little assurance of what they are doing actually means something. So, take a few minutes to go through the list of nominations and send in your vote. You can see the whole list and all the info you need to vote by going to the official website by clicking HERE.

Now, I do have to take a few seconds to mention that my column in HorrorHound magazine, They Came from the Krypt, has been nominated for Best Column, so I would love to have your vote.

Plus, it seems our little podcast endeavor, Discover the Horror, that I do along with my good friends and fellow deviants, Damien Glonek and Aaron AuBuchon, has been nominated for Best Podcast as well. So again, we’d love to get your vote.

And while I would never tell you to vote for another podcast besides our’s, S.A. Bradley’s Hellbent for Horror is a bit of alright as well!

Another personal note, another good friend of mine, Gavin Schmitt, has his book Karl Freund: The Life and Films, has been nominated as well. So maybe give him a consideration as well!

But seriously, take a few minutes, go through the list and vote from the heart. If you don’t know anything in that category, just skip it. You don’t have to vote in everything, but just the ones you know.

Bert I. Gordon – Rest in Peace

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Affectionally known as Mr. BIG because of his earlier pictures all dealt with some sort of a larger than normal monstrosity that was threatening mankind, Bert I. Gordon made a lot of entertaining films in his career. While most critics might say they were trash, awful, terribly made, or any of the other criticisms, doesn’t matter because the fans watching them were having a blast. And, if you’re counting on how much money they made, then you have to say that he was a successful filmmaker then as well. He gave us titles like King Dinosaur (1955), which was his first feature film, made with 4 actors, shot in 7 days, and with a budget of only $15,000. But it made a good amount of money at the drive-ins! He followed that up with titles like The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), The Cyclops (1957) to the more modern ones (for the time) Food of the Gods (1976) and Empire of the Ants (1977). I know I was always entertained by his work when I was growing up and I still enjoy watching them today.

But Mr. BIG left us today, passing away at the age of 100! His reputation will also be huge, as well as his fandom, because he truly created films that capture the excitement of our youth, giving us giant monsters of all kinds, and while they may make us laugh and snicker at times now when we really shouldn’t be, it still doesn’t take away the fun. And at the end of the day, that is what it is all about.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family at this time. Rest in Peace, Mr. BIG.

Discover the Horror Episode 38: Italian Horror with Troy Howarth

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There are plenty of ways to help you on your way to discovering more about the films you love, as well as ones you might not know too much about. There’s always books on different filmmakers, or sort of the audio form of that, the audio commentaries that are usually found on most of our favorite films. The more insight you have, the more you will know, and maybe even enjoy it more. One of those that is helping fans learn just that is Troy Howarth. He’s written over a dozen books on a variety of subjects, usually in the Italian film genre, covering directors like Argento, Bava, Fulci, and more recently, Umberto Lenzi. He’s also published a 3-volume set on the giallo film. Plus, he has done a ton of different commentaries, giving fans even more info!

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Soundtrack Review: Dracula (1979) Deluxe Edition

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Dracula (1979)
Released by Varese Sarabande, 2018
2-discs, 37 tracks total, with a total running time of 1:48:49
Music Composed and Conducted by John Williams

When I started to really get into soundtracks, one of the first horror ones that caught my eyes . . . or ears, technically, was John Williams score for the ’79 version of Dracula, starring Frank Langella. Now because of Jaws (1975) and more importantly Star Wars (1977), I knew the name John Williams pretty well. The soundtrack for Star Wars was the first soundtrack I ever bought and listened to that endlessly. After seeing this version of Dracula, I also fell in love with the score. That opening track alone is enough to capture your imagination. It immediately draws you in with that amazing opening cue and never let’s go. It has been one of my favorite scores, even after all these years. And . . . while this may upset some Williams’ fans, even after I started to notice and realize some of the similarities between this score and the one he did for Star Wars, that was done two years before, it has not changed my love of this soundtrack.

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Ricou Browning – Rest in Peace

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It truly is the end of a legacy. Mr. Browning was the last actor alive that had played one of the famous classic monsters from Universal, in The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), as well as playing him in both the sequels. So many things go into making a film that still has fans close to 70 years after it came out, such as the designers of the monster and those that made the costume. But it is the performer inside of it that really breathes life into it, making the viewers forget that it is simply a man in a suit but we’re really watching a creature from a lost age. Ricou Browning did that with his underwater performance as the Gill-Man. To this day, watching this film, it is amazing how well it still plays, as well as what Browning did to make it look like we were really watching some sort of fish creature following the lovely Julie Adams.

Mr. Browning passed away on Monday, Feb. 27th, at the age of 93. From monster kids, monster fans, and all the other horror fans out there, we bow our heads today as we lose the last of the icons of an era that ended more than half a century ago. But it still makes me smile in wonderment, when we bust out one of these old classics and feel like a little kid once again. Rest in Peace, Mr. Browning, and thank you for what you have given the fans then, the fans now, and those new ones that will soon discover your talent.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Mystery Photo 2-27

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Here’s our last photo for February. Already another month gone, which means convention season is just a month away (for us, at least). Last week’s photo was from the 1977 film The Pack, directed by Robert Clouse and starring Joe Don Baker. If you haven’t seen it, you might want to check it out. Would make a great double feature with Day of the Animals, or any number of those animals run amok films that were very prominent around that time. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Kevin Hart, Lee Nattrass, Michael Pniewski, and William Wilson. Well done.

Here’s our photo for this week. A little dark, but you might be able to make something there. If you can, send your answer to us in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

A Bookseller’s Quandary . . .

by in Misc. Ramblings | 6 Comments

As we get closer to starting our 2023 Kryptic World Tour, there is something that has been on my mind for more than a few months that I feel the need to get it out there.

Those of you out there that know me from conventions, know that I mainly deal in horror reference books. It is one of my strong passions as a horror fan, and love being one of the few dealers at the horror conventions that deal in them. I love being able to get a book out there to another fan, handing over the potential to learn more about a particular actor or film.

But the times are a changing, as they say.

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