As a young horror fan, Boris Karloff was the first of my horror heroes, and all of these years later, remains my all-time favorite. He was the first one that I knew the name of the person who was behind the monsters that he played. That came from probably his most famous role as the creature in James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931), or possibly because he narrated the Grinch, but I would later learn and appreciate more and more of his roles.
One reason for this was due to Richard Bojarski’s book The Films of Boris Karloff, which I checked out so often from my middle school library that I was told I couldn’t check it out any longer, to apparently give others a chance to check it out. I would page through there, looking at all the different roles that he appeared in, especially the horror ones, and dream of the day when I might be able to stumble across it on TV some Saturday afternoon. Oh, how naïve we were back then, huh?
In honor of the upcoming Turkey Day (and no, I’m not talking about Thanksgiving), we’d thought we’d go in that direction for this week’s photo. But before we get to that, let’s go over last week’s photo. We only got one correct answer sent in. In fact, we only got one answer sent in at all, so it must have stumped most everyone, except for Hoby Abernathy. It might have something to do with the fact that the film in question, The Banishing, just came out in 2020. Directed by Christopher Smith, who has always delivered the goods, and here is no different, other than part of the ending which is a real headscratcher. But still worth seeing.
Okay, on to this week’s photo. This is one that you’ll never read about in one of those “greatest movies of all time” books, unless you’re talking about Turkeys. So, give it a look and see if you can recognize what this shot is from. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!
In our never-ending pursuit of learning more about the horror genre, we have many volumes from McFarland in our library. They have such a wide variety of subjects, from critical essays and academic studies overviews of different sub-genres, and plenty of amazing biographies.
Going on right now, McFarland is not waiting until Black Friday to start their online sales but have started offering 40% off ANY title!!! Just head over to their website (by clicking HERE) and start choosing titles. When you get to the check out, add in HOLIDAY22 for the code and it will take off the 40%. That’s damn near half price folks! I know McFarland can be a bit pricy so now is your chance to save some series dough! The sale goes from now until Monday, November 28th, so don’t wait too long!
Zontar: The Thing from Venus (1967), The Chooper (1971), and Lady Terminator (1989).
Last November, in Episode 4, we discussed the Turkey. Not what some would call a “bad” film, but would probably not be on anybody’s Oscar’s list. These are the cinematic shipwrecks, where the filmmakers tried their best to make a good film, but just missed the mark. But if they are still entertaining, then they can’t be bad, right? We’ll we’re back again this year to cover three more of these epic miss-adventures of cinema from directors Larry Buchanan, Ray Dennis Steckler, and H. Tjut Djalil. And boy, are you in for a treat with these!
Make sure you listen to the whole episode to get a special discount code for Pallbearer Press!
So, sit back and enjoy a nice second helping of some Turkey!
Attack of the Eye Creatures (1967), Beyond the Darkness (1979), Blood Shack (1971), Body Fever (1969), Brain from Planet Arous (1957), The Chooper (1971), Creature of Destruction (1968), Curse of the Swamp Creature (1968), Don’t Look in the Basement (1973), Don’t Open the Door (1974), Hand of Death (1962), Hell Raiders (1969), The Hollywood Stranger Meets the Skid Row Slasher (1979), In the Year 2889 (1969), Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies (1964), It’s Alive! (1969), It Conquered the World (1956), Keep My Grave Open (1977), Lady Terminator (1989), The Lost Continent (1951), The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters (1968), Mars Need Women (1968), Mystics in Bali (1981), The Naked Witch (1961), Queen of Black Magic (1981), Revenge of the Creature (1955), Scum of the Earth (1974), The She-Creature (1956), Tarantula (1955), Thrill Killers (1964), Wild Guitar (1962), Zontar: The Thing from Venus (1967)
Happy Monday! We’re halfway through the month and should start seeing the snow anytime now! Ain’t that grand? Yeah, so while I’m not a huge fan of the snow, I will take it over 90-degree weather with a blazing sun. Besides, when it gets really cold outside, that just means it’s perfect time to stay inside and watch movies or read books! Okay, down to business. Last week’s photo was from the strange little film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976). I know a lot of people did not like Martin Seen for a long time after his role here. And if that didn’t do it, his character in 1983’s The Dead Zone definitely would have! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Kevin Hart, Christopher Highland, and Rory Vargas Schutt. Well done!
Now to this week’s photo. Might look familiar, like you’d seen it years ago. Or maybe last week? Or not at all? That’s the fun part. Take a look and see what you can come up with. Just remember, send your answer to us in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!
A couple of things here. Italian horror cinema has always been known for its gore, especially when you consider the films that came out in the late ’70s and ’80s. From the works of Deodato, D’Amato, Lenzi, Fulci, Bava, Soavi, and the list goes on and on. So why am I surprised to see this Italian short film, called Il caso Valdemar, made way back in 1936? Directed by Gianni Hoepli & Ublado Magnaghi, it was based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, first published in 1845. What I didn’t expect was the amount of gore for that time. When Corman adapted this story in his film Tales of Terror (1962), which Vincent Price melting at the end, was pretty cool, but seeing this done 26 years before is just amazing. This is a silent film, though there is some written Italian in the form of letters or notes. But the ending, though pretty dark, is just incredible that they came up with those effects that long ago.
Secondly, it amazes me each and every time that no matter how long I’ve been a fan and student of the horror film genre, that one can still learn new things. I always like to point this out to fans that are newer to the genre and that might feel a little intimidated by what some older and more experienced fans might know or all the films they have seen. Honestly, the way you need to think of it is that we are all on the same path, just that some have been on it a little longer. I don’t see a point where someone is going to be where they’ve seen it all. There will always be new things to discover, even if they came out decades ago. The goal should be to always to continue to discover more, whether it be new films or old ones, the excitement will be the same.
(1971) Directed by Michel Levesque Starring Stephen Oliver, D.J. Anderson, Deuce Berry, Billy Gray, Barry McGuire, Severn Darden
This is one of those famous cult titles that we all remember reading about or seeing mentioned in some reference book. What a great exploitation title, huh? Right there you have two different types of exploitation movies together…bikers and monsters! What more could you ask for? Well, maybe that the film delivered on what the title promised? Okay, this is exploitation after all, so I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised to discover that it’s only ONE werewolf on wheels, and that is only at the end of the film. But since when did these kinds of movies from this era deliver 100% of the time on what their ads promised?
Not to get too philosophical on a Monday, but with the way the world is right now, where it seems to be the norm for politicians to blatantly lie over and over again without worry about being held accountable, to a dozen other world crises going on, it makes me wonder every now and then that the time I spend writing, reading, and talking about the horror genre, if it is really important. Shouldn’t I be spending that time helping to better the world in some sort of way?
My father was not a fan of movies. In fact, I know of only one time my stepmother dragged him to a theater (which he quickly fell asleep and snored through the whole thing), and I don’t think I ever saw him stay awake for a movie on TV. But if he were alive today and saw what I am doing, even more so on the convention circuit, he’d lose his mind because he would see all this as people wasting their time and money and such stupid things.
Yes, Halloween is now in the past for this year, but we all know that Halloween is a state of mind, and not a season that comes around once a year. For us horror fans, it is all year round! Granted, now I might have a little more free time to get some other projects done as well as get a few more updates here as well! So, let’s get started!
I had a feeling the last photo was going to stump a few people since it is a pretty obscure title. So, if you didn’t get it, don’t feel too bad. It is from the film I Like Bats (1986), a Polish film recently released on Blu-ray from Severin Films. Definitely a curious one, that is for sure.
On to this week’s photo, which might be a little easier to some. Just take a peek and see what you can come up with. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!
(2006) Directed by J.S. Cardone Starring Lori Heuring, Scout Taylor-Compton, Chloë Grace Moretz, Geoffrey Lewis, Ben Cross, Chris Jamba, Martin McDougall
This film is about a small mountain town that is haunted by the victims of a mine accident back in the early 1900s. From the prologue, we learn that these victims were all children that were working in the mine and left to be buried alive in the shaft at the start of a cave-in. Of course, the mine’s owner was found innocent of any wrongdoing in the accident, and so starts the vengeance of the dead children.
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