Mystery Photo 7-5

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Welcome to another Monday, and a new month of Mystery Photos! Since the 4th was yesterday, I thought I might as well throw in a little tribute to one of my favorites of all time, and the first real summer blockbuster, the one and only Jaws. So no, this shot is not from that film but one of the many rip … I mean “inspired from” titles. Since there are so many, I figured it still might be a little tough to figure out which one. Unless of course, you’ve seen it already. Or you’re one of those doing a internet image search, but that would be cheating so I know you’re not doing that. Right???

But before I forget, let’s get to last week’s photo. It was from The Final Terror (1983), one of the better slashers to come out from woods during that era. Great cast and a lot of fun. Kudos to Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Christopher Dyer, Kevin Hart, and Erik Martin for sending in the correct answer.

Okay, check out the pic below and see what you can come up with. Just remember to send your answer to us throw email (that way I don’t lose it!) at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Love and Support to Reggie!

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I’m sure everyone out there knows Reggie Bannister, the best and baddest quad-barrel shotgun carrying, dwarf killer, guitar playing, Ice Cream Man around, from the Phantasm series. And if you’ve been lucky enough to meet Reggie at a convention over the last 30 years, then you know just how damn friendly he is. You always walk away from his table thinking you’ve just made a new best friend. Funny thing is that is just how Reggie is.

I first met Reggie at a Chiller show back in ’95, and shortly after that, he came out to my hometown to record an album (never saw that happening in a million years), so through a mutual friend, I got to hang out with him several times when he was here. In all my years of conventions and meeting my movie heroes, I’ve never met someone who is more down to earth and honest than Reggie Bannister. Really. Just the nicest and coolest guy you’d ever want to meet. The planet needs more people like Reggie Bannister.

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Chattanooga Film Fest Report

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This was my first time attending a real film festival that I was able to make it for more than a couple of movies, even though it was still a virtual fest with all the screenings online. Better than nothing these days, right? Big thanks to my friend Neil Calderone for putting this on my radar because over six days, I’ve watched nine features and eight short films and found no disappointments in any of them. Sure, there were some I enjoyed more than others, but they were still all very entertaining and I’m glad I got to see them.

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Kryptic Army Mission: July 2021 – Reading is Fundamental!

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One of the things that I’m always preaching here is to open up your comfort zone to different types of movies. I know to most of you reading this, I’m probably preaching to the choir, but there are newer fans to the genre, or film in general that don’t care for subtitles. “I want to watch a movie, not read it!” is the best response that I’ve gotten over the years. But the funny thing is that the more subtitled movies you watch, the faster you read them, to the point where you’re not even reading them but just glancing at the words at the bottom of the screen and your brain does the rest. True story. Well, at least I believe it. But it will get easier.

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Movie Review: Caveat (2020)

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(2020)
Directed by Damian Mc Carthy
Starring Jonathan French, Leila Sykes, Ben Caplan, Conor Dwane

A man who had recently suffered from an accident causing some memory lost, is hired by a friend to watch over his recently orphaned niece for a week, who by the way has some mental issues. Did I mention that the house is on a secluded island? And that because of her bouts of paranoia, the guy must wear a leather vest that is on a chained leash? While I was watching this, I even said out loud, “there’s no way you’d get me to put that vest on”, but if you can get past that obvious hurdle that most people would walk away from, then the rest of the movie will be worth it.

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A Pictorial History of Hammer Horror

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The time is now! You can now order your copy of the latest book from the fine folks of We Belong Dead, this time tackling all things Hammer! The book, A Pictorial History of Hammer Horror is over 450 pages, in full color, with essays on every Hammer horror title from The Mystery of Mary Celeste (1935) all the way to The Lodge (2019). Just like their previous publications, this one is packed with rare photos, posters, and lobby cards from all over the world.

The book is available in both hardcover and softcover. But if you’re ordering from here in the US, when you add in the postage, it is a bit pricy. For the hardcovers, it is £45, which is about $62, and the softcover edition is £35, which is about $45.50. Throw in $40 to $50 for postage, it does make for one expensive book. But here is the thing, I’m guessing that like a lot of their books, they go out of print rather quickly and will be a nice collector’s item, especially since is on Hammer Films. But more important than that, it is a pretty nice size book with a ton of essays about one of our favorite film studios and the films they produced. So while this might a great investment, and will be well worth the price, the real key is to read and learn more about one of our favorite British film production companies. Because at the end of the day, that is the purpose for any book, to educate and entertain. Can’t wait for my copy to arrive!

For all the information and how to order, just click HERE.

Mystery Photo 6-28

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I must be getting soft in my old age and using too many easy photos! This was another week where we got a lot of correct answers. Although, since this is a classic title from the genre, I’m always thrilled when people recognize it because it means we know our history! The film is the 1945 British film Dead of Night, usually known for the segment about the ventriloquist dummy, so kudos to the following for knowing another segment: Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Troy Howarth, Erik Martin, Gary McGuire, Charles Miller, Bryan Senn, Vincent Simonelli, and Greg Wojick. Well done!

So this week’s photo is a little more modern but I’m sure will have a lot of different guesses because it really could be from a dozen or some titles. So take a good look and see if you can figure out the correct one! Just send us an email at jon@kitleyskrypt.com or simply click HERE.

Katzman Honored on Blu-Ray

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Since The Giant Claw is one of my all-time favorites from the ‘50s, the announcement of this being on released on Blu-ray had my attention. Then to find out it would be in a special edition box set celebrating the works of low budget producer Sam Katzman. This guy was a producer that spanned just shy of 40 years that produced 239 pictures. In the decade of the ‘50s, he produced 105 titles, averaging out to almost 1 a month! He made everything from horror and sci-fi films to westerns, musicals, rock and roll, and just about every other exploitation genre out there.

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Charles Band Tells It All

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Whether or not you’re a fan of his movies, you can’t be unimpressed with his legacy, from the movies he produced back in the Empire Pictures to his Full Moon empire, he definitely had his hand in the creation of direct-to-video film production. From titles like From Beyond (1986) to the Subspecies and Puppet Master series, he has continued to put his stamp in the world of low budget film production.

Now, coming this November from Harper Collins, you will be able to read how it all started, and what Band went through, all the ups and downs, to get where he is today. Priced at $27.99 for the hardcover edition, Confessions of a Puppet Master will be released on Nov. 16th and gives us all the juicy bits from Band and co-author Adam Felber, through his 40-year career in the business, working with a wide variety of talented directors, actors, and movie magic creators, learning of all the wins and losses that he has taken over those four decades, all covered within the 320 pages.

For all the details, just click HERE.

Movie Review: Boys from County Hell (2020)

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Directed by Chris Baugh
Starring Jack Rowan, Nigel O’Neill, Louisa Harland, Michael Hough, John Lynch, Fra Fee, Morgan C. Jones, Robert Nairne, Lalor Roddy

Creating a vampire movie these days is extremely difficult without treading on the footsteps of the countless titles already in this done-to-death sub-genre. When a filmmaker not only does that, but creates a very entertaining, humorous and still an effective picture, he, along with the cast and crew, need to be applauded. Because of that, I felt I needed to post a review, hoping to draw more people to it.

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