With the holiday season approaching, we are always seeking out just the right gift for that special person in our lives. Now this may come as a bit of a surprise, but I’m a pretty big proponent of books. Yeah, I know….shocker, huh? But honestly, why buy something like a movie for this person (when chances are they might already have it!?!?!) that is just going to sit on a shelf until they get around to watching it. Okay…same could be said for a book…especially in my house. But honestly, a book will stay longer with them, by teaching them something they didn’t know before, which will allow a few different things to happen. For instances, if you get them a biography, they will learn about this particular person, be it a director or actor, which will help them appreciate and understand their work each and every time they watch one of their movies. If it is a simple film guide, it could open up a bunch of titles to them that they might not have known about yet. Or even if it is a book about the genre in general, it could open up some understanding as a whole, which always helps you appreciate it even more, getting you to think about these films possibly a little different than you had before.
Category Archives: Misc. Ramblings
Twitter Time
The Krypt has finally joined the rest of the universe it seems and signed up for a Twitter account. At this point, while I still learn how it works and what exactly I want to use it for, who knows what I’ll be posting. But if you want to follow us, we are at @KitleysKrypt, so we’d love for you to follow us.
Time of the Turkey
Yes, it is that time again. Time to celebrate the Turkey. Although, regulars of this site know that I’m not speaking of the poor fowl that will be devoured in mass today, but that of the other kind, the films that some might call a cinematic Titanic. Yes, I speak of the Turkey! The kind of film that only the dedicated and die-hard film fans will not only sit through, but even stranger, will be entertained by it. Because as we all know, described best by author Stephen Thrower (which I agree wholeheartedly), “the only bad movie is a boring one.” There are plenty of movies that have a low IMDB rating that I find wildly amusing. Ones that make me wonder how they ever were financed, produced, directed, edited, and even more amazing…actually released to the theaters! But it happened, time and time again. Obviously they must have made some sort of impact with their audiences because we are still talking about them today! Films like The Giant Claw, Plan Nine from Outer Space, Blood Freak, The Creeping Terror, Monster Dog, and so many more.
Interview: John Amplas
This interview was conducted back in October of 2008, at the Cinema Wasteland show.
Kitley’s Krypt: How did you get into acting?
John Amplas: Oh, that was a long time ago. I was ten years old and my uncle used to do community theater and they needed a kid in a play. So I did a lot of community theater when I was kid and I just kind of got the bug early on from there. In 1963, when I was a teenager, I attended the Playhouse School in Pittsburgh and did that for about 3 years. I spent 3 years in the Army after I graduated from high school, then I studied theater at the same university, then college, to become an actor. In fact, the interesting thing about that, the last production in my senior year is when George Romero came to see it, which is how I got the job to play Martin two or three months later – we started shooting in the fall of 1976. Continue reading
Mystery Photo 11-16
I have to say, I’m pretty surprised and proud to see even this many people that had sent in the correct answer, since this was another tough one. Especially with the shot that I gave you. It was from the film Curse of the Fly. Not as well known or popular as the first two in the series, and is even quite different from them. But one that I feel is still worth watching. But kudos to the following for knowing it: Hoby Abernathy, Ken Johnson, Doug Lamoreux, Gavin Schmitt, and Alan Tromp. Well done, gentlemen!
Now on to this week’s. Yes, I’m sticking with the black and white theme. No reason, other than these just happen to be the ones I’m coming up with. But take a good look and see if you can place this memorable little film. Good luck. As always, just send me an email at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Please don’t post your answer here, so everyone has a chance.
Turkey Day Approaches
Now that Halloween is over, there is something even scarier lurking on the horizon. Something so horrible, that it is rumored to rip the will to live right from your soul. No, I’m not talking about the Christmas shopping season, but Turkey Day! For the last 12 years, on the day after Thanksgiving, while many are out there fighting one another for to save a few $$ for the upcoming commercial holiday, a few of us brave souls take on something even more terrifying…the Cinematic Turkey! But this is one feast where gluttony is not only approved, but mandatory!
Each year now, we have traversed through an array of cinematic shipwrecks, usually getting through seven features, that most would shake their hand at and not waste their time. But for us, we revel in these miss-fires of film making, at least for the day. Continue reading
Support the Cause!
I know that it seems these days everyone is asking for money for some project they are working on. I’m sure there are more than a few that are just either just schemes to get your money, or by people that might be better off looking into another line of work. But I also would like to think that there are a few that are honest endeavors, just need a little extra cash to help them get it going. So why should we give money to some of these people, when we are working our own butts off in the real world? Why don’t they do the same? Well, maybe because some of these people ARE working their butts off in the real world, but are working EVEN MORE to try and get a passion project created. And not only created, but for other people to enjoy them.
Over the last month, I think I have contributed to four different causes. Which in the last year, I think that would bring the total number for the year to about…four. But why these? The answer is simple and is really the main reason why any of us should support these, or any kind of these projects….because I BELIEVE in them. And showing support by giving a few $$ is not only a way to help these people get their project going, but also showing them that they are a creative force worth investing in, maybe even validating their decisions for what they are doing and why. Having people believe you and your talent is the best fuel and motivation any artist (of any type) could hope for (at least for me it is). And a little financial boost to a project shows that you believe in that person(s) talent for a particular project, or in general.
Happy Halloween from the Krypt
Today is the day. The last day of the year when all of us horror nerds actually don’t stand out in normal society like we do every other time of the year. Not that any of us really cares to fit in, since we’ve long since gotten used to following our own dark and twisted path. But this is the day to celebrate our love and passion for this unbelievable entertaining genre of films that have kept people like us entertained since the birth of cinema.
But tomorrow, when the rest of the world starts to get prepared for that big commercial holiday and give praise to the fat man in the red suit, we know that we will just continue on with us celebrating our love for horror movies. Okay, maybe taking a little break for a while because of all the movies that we’ve watched in the last 31 days, but you know what I mean!
So from Kitley’s Krypt, we wish everyone out there a safe and Happy Halloween! I know we’ll be trying to get a few movies under our belt today since it has been a pretty light month for me viewing wise. But I hope to make up for some of that today.
See you on the other side…
Hammer Horror Documentary Needs Your Help
Followers of this site know my love for Hammer Horror. So when I heard the news that there was a new feature length documentary in process about the work Hammer did with Warner Bros, I immediately got excited. But they need a little help getting the funds to get this made. As of this writing, they are almost half way to their goal and have around 20 days left to meet it. So read on and hopefully you can show your support. Every little bit helps.
Authors and Hammer scholars Marcus Hearn and Jonathon Rigby are the two behind this project, so we know the end result is going to be well worth it. They wanted to explore the work that Hammer did when they had a working relationship with Warner Bros Studios in the late 60s / early 70s, on features like Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed and Taste the Blood of Dracula. They have plenty of great rewards to those that contribute, from copies of the documentary to some incredible newly commissioned artwork designs by Mark Spears. These look amazing. This one here is just one that they have available. Check out the Kickstarter page to see the rest of them, as well as checking out all the different rewards. Again, every little bit helps. If this would be a documentary that you would buy anyway, then this is just like pre-ordering it!
For all the details, just click HERE. Hopefully we can see this come to life. You can see some of the updates on their Facebook page HERE, such as that they’ve announced they will have interviews with Hammer actress Madeline Smith and actor John Carson. Stay tuned for more details, but please contribute if you can.
Support the Empire!
No, this doesn’t have anything to do with the new Star Wars movies. But it is about another Empire. Empire Pictures, a low budget studio back in the 80s that delivered the goods when it came to low budget and damn entertaining films. Many of these were enjoyed by people my age, when video stores were all over the place. Empire Pictures was a name that you could trust to give you something you probably haven’t seen before, with some wild imagination, crazy special effects, and so much more. Titles like Trancers, Re-Animator, Crawlspace, From Beyond, Trolls, Ghoulies, and so man more.
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