Author Archives: Jon Kitley

The Rebane Exhibit Report

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As I reported a few days ago, on Saturday the 22nd, myself, along with Aaron Christensen, Dave Kosanke, and Gavin Schmitt, made the trip up to Merrill, Wisconsin for the Bill Rebane’s Hollywood Midwest: A Retrospective on Wisconsin’s First Feature Film Studio, an exhibit being held at the Merrill Historical Society, put on by Brandon Johnson. Because it opened at 9am and we wanted to be there right when it opened, it meant that I had to leave at 3am, drive into Chicago to pick up Aaron, then head north to pick up Dave, and then meet Gavin at the Museum as close to 9am as we could. We got there at 8:55am. Pretty good planning if I do say so myself!

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Mystery Photo 10-24

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I was very happy to see so many correct answers on our last photo, mainly because that is a favorite of mine! The funny thing is that for the longest time, I just remembered seeing the trailer and had to wait to finally find a bootleg copy of it to actually see it! And the trailer didn’t let me down! Of course, the film is The Car from 1977. I’m not a car-guy, but one day I’d like to own one like that. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Dahlia Daniels, Bob Hartman, Rick Hayden, Ken Johnson, John Meredith, Jeff Owens, James Schmeichel, and Michael Shields. Well done!

Now on to this week’s photo, which might be a little trickier, since there are probably more than a few films with shots like this in it! So, let’s see how well you know them! Just remember to send your guess to me by email, at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

I Do NOT Collect Toys! Well . . .

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I made a choice years ago, right before Sideshow decided to make the horror toy market explode. I realized that if they started to bust out a ton of different figures, if I started collecting them, I’d have to get them all. I decided that, for the most part, I was not going to collect horror toys. They are cool and would be great to have, but that is not where I want to put my money. No judging, just a personal choice.

Granted, I have taken the plunge every now and then and picked up one or two, such as the Waldemar Daninsky figure from Night of the Werewolf from Distinctive Dummies, since, I mean, it is Paul Naschy, after all. And then there is the Emily & Dickie figure from The Beyond that Pallbearer Press & Distinctive Dummies put out, and then all those Hammer Horror figures from Mego, and a few Funko Pop figures, but that’s it!

What amazes me is the custom figure market that has developed over the last few years and has seemed to explode. These amazing and creative creations, as well as the obscure characters they decide to produce is just stunning. Which brings me to one figure I recently came across that almost had me busting into my wallet.

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Discover the Horror Episode 28: Ghost Stories

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Ghost stories have been around since the very beginning of the art of storytelling itself. When done well, it can be simple and still send chills up your spine. When it comes to ghost stories in film, we can still keep it simple, have an effective story, and still give the audience the creeps enough to make them wonder what that noise you just heard. And here we have three perfect examples in this episode: The Changeling (1980), The Woman in Black (1989), and Fragile (2005).

These kinds of films are especially perfect for the Halloween season, sitting down with some friends and/or family to enjoy this time of year. So if you’re looking for particular one, look no further.

Movies mentioned in this episode:

The Changeling (1980), Fragile (2005), Hereditary (2018), Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), Poltergeist (1982), Witchfinder General (1968), The Woman in Black (1989)

A Pilgrimage to Merrill WI, and then Insanity

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This weekend, a few friends and I will be making a trip up to Merrill, Wisconsin, which is about a 5–6 hour drive for us. Why, may you ask? Because the Merrill Historical Society there is having a special Bill Rebane exhibit, which Mr. Rebane himself will be attending, possibly along with some other cast and crew from his films.

Bill Rebane, to those that don’t know, is probably most known for his film The Giant Spider Invasion (1975), but he had made quite a few other titles, such as The Alpha Incident, The Demons of Ludlow, Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake, and Blood Harvest, which even starred Tiny Tim. One of the things that set Rebane apart from most directors is that he made most of these films without leaving Wisconsin. In fact, in the town of Gleason, he created his own little film studio, called The Shooting Ranch, where he could film, edit, looping, everything else needed to make a film start to finish. Sure, some of his budgets were pretty low, but that doesn’t mean they are not entertaining.

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Ted White – Rest in Peace

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While most horror fans know Ted White from when he played Jason in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), which I’ll say is one of the better films and performances in that series. But it wasn’t just that film that White should be known and remembered for. Working as a stuntman since the ’50s, he worked on a ton of films and even some notable ones, even though he was usually uncredited. The life of a stuntman, right? But one of his first jobs was that on Universal’s last great classic monster flick, The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), besides working on other titles like The Planet of the Apes (1968), Soylent Green (1973), King Kong (1976), The Manitou (1978), Escape from New York (1981), as well as appearing in Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974), Demonoid (1981), and Starman (1984).

In his career, he doubled for names like John Wayne, Fess Parker, Clark Gable, and Rock Hudson. While he didn’t want to be credited at first for playing Jason in Friday 4, he eventually came around and realized and embraced the film and was always a great guest on the convention circuit.

White passed away on Oct. 14th, at the age of 96. He will be missed but know that we can enjoy his work (even though we might now even know it) for years to come. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.

Mystery Photo 10-17

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Welcome back to Monday, and we’re at the halfway point for October. Hopefully everyone is able to spend some time enjoying the season, watching a few fun flicks, maybe going to a convention, or maybe a movie screening or two. There’s definitely plenty going on, that is for sure, because I know our plate is more than full! We just returned from Monster Bash out in PA and had a lot of fun, even adding a few more titles to my book library, which is always nice!

Okay, let’s get down to business. Last week’s photo from Lady Terminator (1989) and is a site to behold if you haven’t seen it. Yes, there just might be some similarities to the James Cameron film, but it is so over the top, funny, and damn entertaining. A PERFECT entry for anyone’s Turkey Day marathon. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Richard Garcia, Bob Hartman, and Lee Nattrass. Great job.

This week’s photo might be easy, but we’re going to try and throw you off the path with this particular photo. Does that help? Just remember to send your guess to us in an email (so I don’t lose it) to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

House that Hammer Built Coming Soon!

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That’s right folks, start gathering those pennies because the latest book coming from Peveril Publishing is coming soon! And as a fan of Hammer Studios, this is one you’re going to want for your library. The House that Hammer Built: The Complete Hinds/Carreras Years (1934-1979) Vol. 1: 1934-1949 will “hopefully” be on sale late November, according to Peveril boss Wayne Kinsey. The best way to be notified when it is ready is to subscribe to their website (just click HERE). But beware, these are not cheap and sell out fast. But every single edition I’ve bought from them has been well worth it. Not only are they incredibly well made and designed, but they are also filled to the brim with facts about one of our favorite film studios.

This series of books, which will be in 3 volumes, is Kinsey’s “definitive work on Hammer”. On the Peveril site, he states that he’ll be “taking a chronological look at all Hammer’s films (in production order) including all the early Exclusive pictures for the first time as well as Hammer’s many un-filmed projects. I’ll be amalgamating all my research from previous books with all new research and return to the oral history approach, so we can hear many of the stories from the mouths of those who worked at Hammer, many sadly no longer with us.”

If you love historical information about Hammer Studios and their films, this series is going to be a must for your library.

Mystery Photo 10-10

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Are we having fun yet? I mean, we’re already a third way October and there has already been so much going on that it does seem like it is flying by, for better or for worse. But let’s keep the fun going, right? Our photo from last week was from the 1974 film Dark Places, starring Christopher Lee, Joan Collins, Herbert Lom, and Robin Hardy, that was recently released on Blu-ray by Severin Films in the Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 2. Hopefully this box set puts some light on this underrated little film. Great cast and a decent story. Congrats to Dave Fronto and Troy Howarth for sending in the correct answer.

This week’s photo is quite different than our last one. Oh yeah. But it’s a fun one, that is for sure. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Wasteland for Life!

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On the Thursday before the show, my newsfeed starts to blow up with all these people posting “Wastelanded”. Why are they getting there a day before the show even starts??? Well, there is a reason for that.

When I used to post my convention reports, I usually would use the word “survivor”. But it really doesn’t do justice when you’re talking about Cinema Wasteland. Sure, after the weekend, you did feel like you ran a marathon (might be due to the lack of sleep) but the word “survivor” makes you feel like the event was an ordeal and that you’re glad it is over. That is not the case for this particular convention.

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