Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Movie Review: The Devil Whispered My Name

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aka Un susurro invocó mi nombre (2025)
Directed by Emilia Cotella & John Mathis
Starring Clara Kovacic, Valeria Beltramo, Cristian Cavo, Andrés Malakkian

It seems that Argentinian horror films are becoming a thing. After what we’ve seen lately, especially from Demián Rugna, it seems that country has been making some impressive entries in the horror genre. And we love it!

This story takes a little folklore, a little mysticism, and of course, some religion thrown into the mix. A group of five young adolescents who go off on a little camping trip, as well as another trip. They concoct some sort of brew to drink that will expand their minds. Carla promises her best friend Maria that she’s got her back and that everything will be fine. But when Carla finally wakes up after having some frightening visions, she finds Maria laying in a pool of blood on the riverbank, with what looks like some sort of a ritualistic design carved into her chest.

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Naschy Book: Bigger, Stronger, Faster!

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Okay, maybe not faster, but you’ll be stronger once you pick up this new volume. But very soon the updated volume of MUCHAS GRACIAS SEÑOR LOBO will be ready for us eager fans to have in their hands. But much like the last edition, to get it here in the states, it’s not cheap. But let’s get to the good stuff first, shall we?

Back in 2012, when they had first expanded this book from a small paperback version that was all in black and white, to a massive volume with 400 pages of around 1400 images of memorabilia from Naschy’s films, from posters, lobby cards, stills, and much more other promotional material, from countries around the world. But now, there is over 200 MORE pages and more than 2200 images, many are being published for the first time. The text is both in German and English, and it comes with a foreword by Naschy’s son, Sergio Molina. This new volume is still in full color, “a premium hardcover with a rounded spine, thread-sewn binding and partial spot varnish on the cover.”

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Mystery Photo 6-15

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So, I tried to be a little sneaky last week, posting a pic from a popular movie, but using an image that I “thought” wouldn’t be easily recognized. Apparently, I was wrong. It was, of course, from David Cronenberg’s Scanners (1981). Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Gregory Avery, Aaron Christensen, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Christopher Highland, Michael LeBlanc, Erik Martin, Gary Miller, Richard Schellback, Mickey Thompson, Jame Turner, William Wilson, and Greg Wojick. Nicely done.

Which means this week’s photo is going to be a little more obscure. You know the rules. Take a look and then send in your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskryp.com. Good Luck!

Soundtrack Review: Soundtrack for An Anonymous Horror Movie

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Soundtrack For An Anonymous Horror Movie
Published by Bucks Music Group
14 Tracks with a Total Running Time: 39 min
Music Composed by Richard G. Mitchell

I first became aware of composer Richard Mitchell when I saw the film Caveat, directed by Damian McCarty. Because I enjoyed the movie so much, I purchased the soundtrack that Mitchell had created. When I did my review for it, I wrote “like the film itself, the music burrows into your psyche, adding to the strangeness you are watching on screen, enhancing the images, the feelings, and most of all, the uneasiness it is creating within you.” When McCarty’s next movie came out, Oddity, I was just as excited to see if it was as good as his first film, which it was. The score was once again by Mitchell, but for some reason, there wasn’t any release of the official score.

Until now. Well, sort of.

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DtH Episode 124 – The Fly Trilogy

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The Fly (1958), Return of the Fly (1959), and Curse of the Fly (1965)

With all the films out there were deviant mad scientists end up paying for their meddling in things that man shouldn’t, in 1958, you have a film where the scientist really was trying to create something for the betterment of mankind. Unfortunately, something unforeseen happens and tragedy soon ensues. And while it turns into a monster film, there is so much more than just a simple ’50s creature feature. And of course, when the movie does well at the box office, we have to have a sequel. Or two, even if that takes 6 years to bring to the screen. But the exploits of the Delambre family continue on, as well as their mistakes, and once again, at the cost of life and sanity.

While these films sometimes divide fans on which one is great and not-so-great, or even to which one is best, we decided to take the time to dive into this trilogy and maybe give you more to think about the next time you watch them. If you hear any buzzing around when you’re listening to the show, I’m sure it’s nothing.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Book Review: Hitchcock & Herrmann

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Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores That Changed Cinema
Published by Oxford University Press, 2025. 295 pages
By Steven C. Smith

I had purchased Smith’s previous book, on composer Max Steiner, so when this new one was coming out, I pre-ordered it. Not only because I knew it was going to be interesting with the subject matter being the work that Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann did, but I just love learning more about the making of the films. Learning about the making of the music for these films was something new and made me very curious to dig into. Especially since I have not one bit of musical talent myself, would I be able to understand what the author was describing? While there are parts where Smith delves into the actual music, for a layman like me, it was still very comprehensible and not overpowering where you lose interests.

The book opens with Herrmann conducting the score for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), which would be his last score. It shows just how much influence his scores had been to this new generation of directors, such as Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and even modern composers like John Williams. And while Herrmann started his film score career with Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941), it really was his work with Alfred Hitchcock that gave him his fame. Even with his last scores, it showed Herrmann’s temperament and attitude, but also his ethics, style, and just sheer talent.

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Mystery Photo 6-8-26

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Our last photo was from the film Mother of Flies (2025) from the incredible Adams Family. If you haven’t seen any of their work, I would highly recommend it, especially The Deeper You Dig (2019) and Hellbender (2021). Only got 3 correct answers sent in this time, from Steve Adkins, Aaron Christensen, and Erik Martin. Well done!

This week’s photo is an old classic, but will you be able to recognize the title from this shot? Take a look and see if you can. Just remember to send your guess to me at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Movie Review: Audition

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(1999)
Directed by Takashi Miike
Starring Ryô Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura, Renji Ishibashi, Miyuki Matsuda

I can vividly remember the first time I watched this film when it first came out, thinking it was moving kind of slow in the beginning. I mean, this was a horror film, right? All we’re seeing is this guy going through a lot of trouble to meet a future wife, which seemed kind of creepy when you think about it. But then we start to see some cracks in the story, meaning it isn’t going the way it seemed like. And then comes the infamous third act. Holy shit.

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Movie Review: The Navy vs the Night Monsters

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The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966)
Directed by Michael A. Hoey, with Jon Hall & Arthur C. Pierce (both uncredited)
Starring Mamie Van Doren, Anthony Eisley, Billy Gray, Bobby Van, Pamela Mason, Walter Sande, Edward Faulkner, Phillip Terry

What a title, huh? That would surely draw the attention of any young monster fan. And I’m sure it did, especially if you were cruising through the TV guide and saw this listed some Saturday afternoon. Which is exactly where most younger fans saw it. Now I’m not saying this is a terrible film by any means, but it is definitely a Turkey. Recently released on Blu-ray from Leomark Studios, in about as bare-bones edition as you can get. I had a copy of this movie on DVD from Cheezy Flicks or some other low budget place, and this Blu-ray is just slightly a step up from that. Barely. The movie just starts when you start the disc. No menus and definitely no extras. In fact, the cover art shows a guy with a beard staring at some sort of alien creature, face to face. Neither of these characters are in this movie, which is about killer plants. In fact, I’m trying to remember if there was even a guy with a beard!?!? But nonetheless, since it looks like they spent about $1 on the packaging, let’s get to the actual movie.

The movie starts with the typical narration, letting us know about how the U.S. is exploring Antarctic, to discover all its secrets! And after finding some strange plant life in an apparently warm spot down there, they load it on a plane to take it to the states. But on their way to Gow Island to refuel, they run into issues as they try to land. Low budget icon Anthony Eisley stars as Lt. Charles Brown (I kid you not) who is now in command of a Navy base located there, since his commanding officer left the night before, and now he must step up and take charge.

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Sex Murder Art – Revised and Expanded

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Originally published back in 1994, and written by David Kerekes, this book has now been updated with even more information about the infamous German director Jörg Buttgereit. The original version was called the “definitive account of the director’s work, filled with contemporaneous interviews and framed around the author’s visit to Berlin for the filming of Schramm.” But now this new edition digs a little deeper into Buttgereit’s beginning, back when Berlin was still divided by the Wall, and his start as a notorious filmmaker who was once accused of just glorifying violence.

At 294 pages, available in both hardcover and softcover, the book has detailed information and analysis of his feature films, his early short films, and much more, stating that this book “remains the ultimate testament to the obsession, paranoia and politics of underground filmmaking.” The hardcover editions can only be purchased through Headpress’ website (HERE).

While you might not be a fan of his films, one must still give him credit for what he was doing, especially at that time.