Mystery Photo 1-18

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Welcome to Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend. Before we get to this week’s photo, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that anybody was able to identify our last photo, but I guess if you’d seen it once, you’d remember that particular sequence, which is the same with me. I love when I throw out something that I think is going to stump everyone and am proved to be wrong. So a very well done to the following for correctly identifying the movie as Il Demonio (aka The Demon) from 1963. They were Hoby Abernathy, Gregory Avery, Kuba Haczek, Bob Hartman, Troy Howarth, and Gary McGuire. Well done!

So this week’s photo, we’re going with something that might be a little easier but with a shot that might not be as easy to recognize. So take a peek and good luck. Remember, please do not post your answers here so everyone can have a guess. Just send your guess to us at jon@kitleyskrypt.com.

Friday Favorites – Edgar Allan Poe!

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Once upon a midnight dreary… Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19ty, 1809, and has become one of America’s greatest known writers. And for someone who wrote very dark and troubling tales, and the way the “normal” public likes to shy away from that genre, it is even more amazing that he is still popular today, to the fact that he is still discussed in schools. Continue reading →

Book Review: Texas Schlock

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Texas Schlock: B-Movie Sci-Fi and Horror from the Lone Star State
Published by LECR Press, 2018. 272 pages.
By Bret McCormick

There are two things really special about this book. First, I love it when someone focuses on a specific region of filmmakers that you wouldn’t think spawned that many, such as Texas! Secondly, I also love when the spotlight is put on some names that might not be as familiar as their bigger counterparts to the west, such as Tom Moore, S.F. Brownrigg, and yes, even Larry Buchanan. When I found out Buchanan was covered here, I knew it was going to be a must read. And it is!

The author, a low-budget independent filmmaker (or schlockmeister as he calls it) himself, is probably best known for his 1986 film Abomination. In fact, he’s made several of these types thoughout his career. But within these pages, he wanted to show the filmmakers that inspired him to get into the business, and came up with the idea for this book, which he calls a “labor of love”. That’s the thing about these kind of movies, that they are made with that same passion. None of the people covered within these pages made the big time, but continued on because they had the passion. So no matter what the end result is, there has to be some commendations. Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 1-11

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Monday once again. No matter what happens in the world, there will always be that Monday. So let’s make the best of it, shall we? Our photo from last week was from 1958 film The Thing That Couldn’t Die and was thrilled to see not only quite a few people sending in the correct answer, but also hearing the love for this movie. With a rating of 3.8 on IMDB, you’d think that it was a low budget piece of trash, but I, like a lot of you out there, find it has a lot of charm to it and is still entertaining. So kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Craig Clark, Christopher Dyer, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Troy Howarth, Doug Lamoreux, Bryan Martinez, Gary McGuire, Bryan Senn, and Michael Shields. Well done!

So for our next one, we’re going to get a little more obscure just to get those brains working a little overtime. It is a great moment in the film so we’ll see if anybody can recognize it. Just remember not to post your answers here so others can have a guess. Just send your answers to us in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. 

Soundtrack Review: The Haunting of Hill House

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The Haunting of Hill House
Released by La-La Land Records, 2019
27 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 59:13 min.
Music by The Newton Brothers

The original novel by Shirley Jackson, and the film based on it by Robert Wise, remain my favorites in both literary form and in cinema, when it comes to haunted houses. I was overly cautious when I heard of this new series, especially when I realized it wasn’t a straight telling of the original story. I did enjoy it, but we’re not here to discuss the film itself, but it’s wonderful music. So let’s get at it.

Right from the opening couple of tracks, even the very first note you hear, the word “haunting” is defined by the music. At first with long notes from strings with an ominous but slow pounding on a piano, to a more quiet piano piece, slow and simple, giving the sense of lost and sorrow. Highly effective in setting the mood. The piano is a very strong element running throughout this entire score and I think it is one of the reasons it resonates with me so much. It gives off a multitude of feelings, from being graceful and beautiful, but at the same time  can bring up those feeling of sadness. The track “Whatever Walked There, Walked Along” is a perfect example of this. Continue reading →

Book Review: Assault on the System – The Nonconformist Cinema of John Carpenter

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Assault on the System: The Nonconformist Cinema of John Carpenter
Published by WK Books, 2020. 460 pages.
By Troy Howarth

The latest volume from our buddy Troy Howarth is on one of my favorite directors. Next to Romero, you’d find at least two John Carpenter’s films in my top 15 films of all time. So how could I not dive into this once I got it? Yes, Mr. Howarth is a friend of mine, full disclosure here, but I think you know me by now not to pull any punches, no matter what I’m reviewing. But honestly, I never have to worry about that with his books because they are always so enjoyable to read, always feeling like a conversation with an old friend. Filled with wonderful stories, great information, and just an easy-going way of telling us this information that it just sinks in.

After a couple of chapters introducing us to Carpenter, giving us his upbringing and background (which really shows the impact on his later life, with his love of film and music), we start to go over his film career. Starting off when he is in film school in California, we do get a lot of information about each of the projects, while Howarth throws in other information about other things that are going on at the same time. It doesn’t just cover the films he directed but the scripts that he wrote, as well as the films he almost made or was even the slightest involved with. It really does show the range that Carpenter had in the different projects that “could have been”. Continue reading →

Movie Review: The Vigil (2019)

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The Vigil (2019)
Directed by Keith Thomas
Starring Dave Davis, Malky Goldman, Menashe Lustig, Lynn Cohen

When this screener came across our desk and I read what the story was about, I was excited to see a different take or angle on a subject used many times in the horror genre, one taken from a Orthodox Jewish side. A troubled young man agrees to be an overnight “shomer”, someone who watches and prays over a recently deceased member of the church. With such a simple story, I was curious to see what this picture could offer. What I found out was that no matter the background, religious beliefs, or any of that, the feelings of guilt, horror, and creepiness can be found all around us. Continue reading →

Barbara Shelley – Rest in Peace

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Okay 2021… not a good way to start out. Not even a week in and now this? This one stings.

The news came out early yesterday that actress Barbara Shelley passed away. So many great roles. So many incredible performances. Where does one start? Obviously the work she did for Hammer are incredible, especially in Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966), giving duel performances going from an uptight wife to a seductive vampiress, to her role as Barbara in Quatermass and the Pit (1967), when she puts on the apparatus that lets her see visions of the past through these long (no-so) dead aliens. But no matter what film or the size of her role, she was always so memorable and such a joy to watch. She brought an elegance to whatever role she was playing, making her characters seem lifelike, relatable, and more importantly, believable. From her early genre appearances in Cat Girl (1957) and Blood of the Vampire (1958) to Village of the Damned (1960), to even her appearance on Doctor Who in the ’80s, it was also great to see her on screen. Continue reading →

2020 Year End Review: Part 4 – The Return of the Drive-In

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One of the positives for 2020 was the resurgence of the drive-in theaters. With all the social distancing, a drive-in theater is the perfect place to go see a movie, staying safe by not having to be in a large group of people. In fact, we made more trips to the drive-ins this year than we normally do, and had a blast each and every time. It was just a magical return to somewhat of our normal convention or movie viewing get-togethers, even though everyone was very good about keeping our space and wearing masks. But even with that, it was so much fun, and a little resemblance of the much-missed conventions. Continue reading →