Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Discover the Horror Episode 8 Is Up!

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As horror fans, we’re guessing that everyone out there has been asked one time or another, “why do you like horror?” It’s a question that can get many different answers, but no matter what the answer might be, it never seems to get across to the person asking it, or at least enough for them to truly understand our strange passion of this particular film genre. Join us as we discuss this topic, and while maybe not answer that age old question for everyone, we’ll at least give our insight into why we are still love horror after all these years.

Joining us in this episode is our first guest to the Discover the Horror Podcast, Dr. AC (aka Aaron Christensen! He runs the Horror 101 with Dr. AC website, as well as being editor for books like Horror 101: The A-List of Horror and Monster Movies and Hidden Horror, which won the Rondo Award for Best Book in 20013. So, help us welcome AC into our little philosophical discussion as we delved into the dark recesses of our minds, attempting to answer the not-so-simple question, Why Do We Like Horror?

Mystery Photo 1-10

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If you ever wandered the video store aisles back in the ’80s, then you most likely came across the box for our photo from last week. A big box case with one of those monkeys with the symbols on it, almost like it was watching you as you walked by! The film is The Attic (1980) starring Carrie Snodgress and Ray Milland. A little slow but definitely worth seeing, if only for Snodgress’ performance and to see how much of a jerk Milland can be! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Kevin Hart, Gary Miller, & William Wilson. Well done.

Okay, this week’s photo might be pretty easy, or a little tougher than you think. Let’s see how good you are. Take a peek and see what you can come up with. Remember, just send your answer to me through email (so I don’t forget) to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Peter Bogdanovich – Rest in Peace

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While Mr. Bogdanovich wasn’t prolific in the horror genre, on one of his first films he worked with on the horror greats on one of their last films. The film was Targets (1968), and the star was Boris Karloff. Bogdanovich not only directed the film but starred alongside him as well. The story is about an old aging horror icon tired of the old ways, that beautifully (and terrifyingly) blends the old fictional horror with new and real horror of the day when a young man goes on a killing spree for no apparent reason.

Bogdanovich gave Karloff a chance to show once again that he was a much more talented actor than most would ever give him credit for. But Bogdanovich was a true lover of cinema in every sense of the word, and when you hear him talk about movies, you understand a little more the power of cinema.

Our thoughts go out to him and his family in this difficult time. Gone, but not forgotten.

Mystery Photo 1-3

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Welcome to the new year! Hopefully everyone stayed safe over the holiday and is ready to start the new year right! And what better way to do that than get that brain working on a little pictorial puzzle? But first, our last photo from 2021 was from Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972). Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron AuBuchon, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Alan Tromp, William Wilson, and Greg Wojick. Well done!

For our first photo of the year, we decided to pick something a little obscure, but not too much, especially if you were one that was constantly browsing the video aisles back in the ’80s. You definitely would have remembered the box for this one. Just a little hint to start off the year right! As always, just send your answer to me at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

2021 Year End Review: Best Viewings

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Compared to my movie-watching totals from last year, I really was slacking off! In 2020, I clocked in 422 titles! Not sure how I did that, but that really set the bar high for me from then on. But in 2021, I only got through 278 titles, but at least 160 of those were new viewings. My goal for this year is to hit at least 300, but we’ll see how that goes!

Below are the 10 films that I thought stood out amongst the rest and are definitely worth seeking out. These are listed in alphabetical order, and as always, these are all new viewings to me, so it doesn’t matter what year they actually came out. Enjoy!

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2021 Year End Review: Part 2 – Those We Have Lost, But Not Forgotten

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As a movie fan, the older we get, the more names and faces we lose that have helped entertain us throughout our lives. Whether they are directors, actors, makeup artists, cinematographers, or set designers, they all helped create something magical to entertain us, whether it was scaring us, making us nervous or filled with anxiety, laugh, cry, or even enlightening us, making us want to be better people. For those brief moments of their work, we are forever grateful. Thankfully, most of those memories are permanently recorded and can be experienced time and time again, whenever we want, as well as them being there to do the same thing for newer audiences every single year. While we are bound lose such great talent through the passage of time, as movie fans, we can rest assured that we will help keep their memory, and their work, alive for decades to come.

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2021 Year End Review – Part 1

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This has been a strange year. We still seemed to be struggling to get this pandemic under control, which really is easier than it seems if people would just do the right thing and think about everyone else besides themselves or thinking that their “rights” are somehow think are being violated. Lighten up, Francis!

I am forever hopeful that intelligence and compassion will win over idiocracy and herd mentality. I hope, because I want to the world to get back to normal, where friends can gather and create new happy memories, enjoying each other’s company. So, here’s to 2022 and that we make that step towards that little goal. But I got to say, it’s getting harder and harder to remain optimistic anymore. So please, let us all help a little bit to show that we are a better species than that. Just take a moment and do something positive. Tell someone something positive, whether it be a friend or total stranger. Give some help to someone that might need it more than they are letting on. It can be something so simple that could change that person’s day.

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Discover the Horror – Episode 7

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Our latest episode of Discover the Horror Podcast is now live! For our last episode of 2021, we go through some of our favorite viewings from the last 12 months, as well as going through the films that did come out in 2021 and our thoughts on them (if we had any!).

Since this was our 7th episode, and our last podcast for the year, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their support! The feedback is great (keep it coming!) and hopefully sharing the links as well! We could use all the help we can get to getting this out there more and more. If you can, please take a few minutes to review and rate it on whatever format you listen to it on. It really does help!

Soundtrack Review: Don’t Go in the House

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Don’t Go in the House
Released by Howlin’ Wolf Records
44 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 66:43 min.
Music Composed by Richard Einhorn

Richard Einhorn is on one those composers that has created some amazing scores with just the simple use of synthesizers and a keyboard. One of my all-time favorites is what he did on Shock Waves (1977), which happened to be his first film score. His haunting piano score for Dead of Winter (1987) is another favorite of mine, simple and quiet but highly effective. When one thinks of a musical score for a film about a guy who burns women to death in his house, you’d think that not a lot of time and money went into creating a score for this type of film. Well, you would be correct on the time and money part, but the dedication and hard work was there. Einhorn still wanted to create a score that would enhance what we’re seeing on screen, but also give it depth and feeling, which is exactly what he did.

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Mystery Photo 12-27

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We are nearing the end of the year, so this will be our last Mystery Photo for 2021, so we figured we’d make it a good one. Well, that could be debated . . . But first let us review last week’s photo. It was from the TV movie The Screaming Woman (1972) starring Olivia de Havilland, who gets more cardio done during this film than I’ve done all year! This was a first time viewing for me this year and it blew me away on how effective it is. Then again, it’s based on a short story by Ray Bradbury, so that should tell you something. Here are the ones that sent in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Gregory Avery, Kevin Hart, Troy Howarth, Charles Miller, Jeff Owens, and Michael Shields. Well done!

Now on to our last photo of the year. Take a look and see what you come up with. Just remember to email your guess to me (jon@kitleyskrypt.com), and GOOD LUCK!