Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Michael J. Murphy Box Set Announced!

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Don’t feel bad in you don’t know that name. Up until about six months ago, I didn’t know who he was either. And that’s coming from someone who’s been a diehard horror fan all his life! Which also goes to the fact why I still love the genre because you never stop discovering these entertaining filmmakers that has been working for over five decades!

Earlier in the year, a friend sent me a copy of the film Bloodstream (1985), which I had never seen before, or even heard of. After watching it, I knew I would be screening it on our next Turkey Day Marathon, which it was a lot of fun, even though very, very, very low budget. But the more I looked up the creator of this film, I was amazed to see his filmography and the fact that this was all new to me. I always love finding a new rabbit hole to dive into, and I found it with Murphy and his films. But luckily, I don’t need to do any hard work in searching out his films since thanks to Powerhouse Films / Indicator, they are releasing a HUGE box set of Murphy’s work, in Magic, Myth & Mutilation: The Micro-Budget Cinema of Michael J. Murphy, 1967-2015!

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Bill Rebane Exhibit

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There’s a lot of independent filmmakers out there, even ones that worked for decades, continuingly cranking out feature after feature. But there’s a selected few that went past that and actually created their own functioning movie studio way outside of Hollywood. There were people like Larry Buchanan in Texas or Earl Owensby in North Carolina. Then was Bill Rebane, who created the Shooting Ranch in Gleason, Wisconsin, which was a complete movie studio, from a post-production, recording studios, to even having lodging for the actors to stay, not to mention its own restaurant. This was Rebane’s way of keeping production costs down for his movies, if he could keep all the expenses low by providing them all within the studio. Smart man.

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Mystery Photo 7-18

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Sure, sure, a little late in the day but still got time until the stroke of midnight, right? So let’s not waste any more time. Our photo from last week was that of the fine actor Alberto Dalbés from his role as Dr. Seward in Jess Franco’s epic The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1973). You want to see a bat-shit crazy movie, that includes a silver Frankenstein’s monster and some sort of bird/lady creature than look no further! Kudos to the following that sent in the correct answer: Aaron AuBuchon, Dave Fronto, and Troy Howarth.

On to this week’s photo! Sure, might look like an ad to get you to buy a new vehicle, but not quite. Take a peek and see if you can recognize which film this appeared in. And no, it’s not just some random shot of a truck. Give me a little more credit than that! Don’t forget though, send your answer to me in an email (so I won’t lose it) to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Naschy Blu-Ray Sets On-Sale!

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For those out there that either haven’t delved into the world of Paul Naschy, or even those that might have dipped their toes into the water but still haven’t dived in, now is your chance. Shout Factory is having a sale on their Box Sets, at 40% off retail price until this Tuesday the 19th, and both the Naschy Collections are included in there. Both are priced at $35.99, which includes 5 movies in each set. That’s like $7 a title!!!

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Discover the Horror Podcast Episode 21 – Paul Naschy as Waldemar Daninsky

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Night of the Howling Beast (1975), Night of the Werewolf (1981), and The Beast and the Magic Sword (1983). In the annals of the Spanish horror genre, you can’t go far without running into the name Paul Naschy, especially the werewolf films that he made, numbering over a dozen! In his 40+ year career, Naschy made over 100 films, many in the horror genre, even directing almost two dozen of them, and writing over fifty of them!

In this episode, we cover 3 of Naschy’s werewolf film, where he always re-invented the character of Waldemar Daninsky character, who always seems to be cursed to turn into a snarling beast. Tune in and take notes!

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Mystery Photo 7-11

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Is it Halloween season yet? For any of those sun-lovers out there who just love the heat, I’m sorry but I’ll be happy when the temps are hitting the ’50s and we have those dark and cloudy days. But until then, I guess we’ll just worry about getting a new Mystery Photo up before the day is over! We only had two correct answers for last week’s photo, which was from Werner Herzog’s 1979 version of Nosferatu. I knew I couldn’t put a shot of Kinski up since EVERYONE would have known it then! But kudos out to Troy Howarth and Mike Tutino for sending in the correct answer. Nice job, guys!

For this week’s photo, we’re wading through some obscure waters, or at least for a lot of you. But maybe for those that are using to doing more than dipping your toe into the strange and weird, you might recognize this shot. If you do, send your answer to me, at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Either way, Good Luck!

Rest in Peace: James Cann, Larry Storch, & L.Q. Jones

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They do say they go in threes, so let’s hope we have a break for a bit. Within the last week, we have lost three extremely talented, and some underrated talents in the world of movies and television that I thought needed mentioning here.

JAMES CANN
L.Q. JONES
LARRY STORCH
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Severin Films Unleashes Accion Mutante!

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Somewhere in the second half of the ’90s, I found out about this strange Spanish action/comedy/sci-fi flick about a group of handicapped terrorists that basically kidnap the rich and beautiful for ransom or other dastardly reasons. Only problem is that since their boss has been in prison, the rest of them don’t seem to be the brightest and their exploits never seem to go as planned. With a title of Acción mutante (aka Mutant Action) and a logo that shows a person in a wheelchair holding a machine gun, you know you’re in for something completely different, which is exactly what you get. This is one movie that you’ll never seen an American remake of! It was the first feature film by Álex de la Iglesia, which came out in 1993, and I’ve been following his career ever since and have never been disappointed.

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Mystery Photo 7-4

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Happy Monday! I know it is for me because I’m not at work right now, so that is always a happy day! But since I’m here at the computer working on the site, I guess I really am still at work. Except the fact that I’ve never considered the Krypt as “work”. All for the love of the game, as they say. So, let’s get back to it! Last week’s photo was from Guillermo del Toro’s 1997 film Mimic, which I know he’s not a fan of because of the interference he got, but I still like it. Granted, if we would have gotten to see his full vision, I think it would be even better. But congrats to the following that sent in the correct answer: Dahlia Daniels, Vincent Simonelli, and William Wilson. Great job.

Now this week’s little pic might be pretty easy, or pretty tough. Then again, I say that a lot, don’t I. I guess you’ll just have to take a peek and see where you stand! Remember, just send your answer to me through email (I have a lesser chance of losing it that way!) to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

More Movie Events Galore!

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With summer in full swing, that means that the Halloween season is not too far off. But in between now and then, there are a lot of different movie events happening that gives horror film lovers a chance to experience some titles in a way never before for some fans, on the big screen, either indoors or outdoors. There are older films here that might have been played and gone before you were born, or others that might not have ever played on the big screen before, going straight to video. No matter how great of a set-up you might have for your home theater, there still is nothing like experiencing seeing a film on the big screen. So below are some events that I know about, some of which are near the Chicago area, while others might be a bit further away. I know there are plenty more, so if you know of one, please post it in the comments so we can get a nice variety of cool events for fans to check out that might be closer to one of those.

Music Box Theatre – Chicago, IL
We’ve posted before on some of these events, but have added some more, and to remind you of the others!

July 6th – Job Bob’s Indoor Drive-in Geek Out: Screenings of The Brain (1988) starring David Gale of Re-Animator fame, and Frank Henenlotter’s Brain Damage (1988), with Joe Bob hanging out in the Music Box Lounge before and after each film, with exclusive merch for sale, as well as doing a meet-and-greet with autographs for ticket holders.

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