Movie Review: Blood & Flesh – The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson

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Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson (2019)
Directed by David Gregory
Starring Al Adamson, Stevee Ashlock, John Bloom, Bud Cardos, Robert Dix, Tim Ferrante, Marilyn Joi, Gary Kent, Fred Olen Ray, Sam Sherman, Russ Tamblyn, Vilmos Zsigmond

Al Adamson’s films are really the epitome of what I consider a Turkey. It might not be well made, but it is usually entertaining. At the end of the day, that is all you can hope for in a movie. The more I had read and learned about Adamson, the more of his titles that I saw, like a few other low budget filmmakers, like Larry Buchanan, I discovered that I admired them more than their movies. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the wacky titles they would put out, but knowing a little history behind the production and the people that made it, it made me appreciate it for what it was, and not what it wasn’t. That is one of the reasons that I think this new documentary is just fantastic. It gives newer fans a better perspective of this man and his work, showing a method to the madness, as the saying goes. And even for older fans that maybe wrote Adamson and his work off, it will give them a little more insight that might change the way they see them now. Continue reading →

Horror History: Hazel Court

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hazelcourtHazel Court
Born Feb. 10th, 1926 – Died April 15th, 2008

While the gorgeous Hazel Court really got horror fan’s attention when she starred opposite of Peter Cushing in Hammer’s Curse of Frankenstein (1957), she had already appeared in couple of horror titles, such as Ghost Ship (1952) and Devil Girl from Mars (1954).  But it was Curse that made her known as an early Scream Queen. 

She would appear in Hammer’s The Man Who Could Cheat Death in 1959, in the underrated film Doctor Blood’s Coffin in 1961, before hitting it big with Roger Corman fans in three of his Poe films, Premature Burial (1962), The Raven (1963), and The Masque of the Red Death (1964), where she got to work with other horror icons like Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre.

Not only very appealing to the eyes, Court was a fine actress that could play the villainess just as easily as the heroine. In 2008, she released her autobiography entitled Hazel Court: Horror Queen.

Friday Favorites: VHS Memories

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VHS Memories

Okay, so the title is a little misleading. I’m not looking for your VERY FAVORITE VHS memory, but a good one. Let me explain a bit.

For those of us that grew up in the video age, going to the video store was a wonderful and magical time. Most of the time, at least for me, I wasn’t going for a particular title but just to wander the aisles to see what might jump out at me. There were those times when we took a complete chance on a tape just because of the box art, which was pretty easy with some of those Wizard Video or Super Video titles. Sure, sometimes they could be a real dud, but other times, the film would just blow you away. Maybe it was seeing a title on the rack that you’d been hearing/reading about forever but never had come across a copy before, where the excitement to finally get to see this movie, hoping it lives up to your expectations! Then again, sometimes it was all about how cool the box art looked.

That is what I’m looking for. Now is the time for us old timers to sit in our lawn chairs, and in between yelling at the kids to get off our lawns, let’s reminisce about the good old days of video stores!

 What was one of your favorite VHS memories?

Movie Review: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

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Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Directed by George A. Romero
Starring Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Judith Ridley, Keith Wayne, Russ Streiner, Bill Hinzman, Kyra Schon

When talking about an important title in any film genre, the word “classic” is probably used more times that it really deserves. I’m probably just as guilty as the next guy on that. But this is definitely not one of those times. When you’re talking about a film that gave birth to a whole new sub-genre of horror films, or one that makes an impact on viewers now just as it did over five decades before, then it really does deserve the moniker of a “classic”. Continue reading →

Halloween Favorites

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Fright FavoritesHorror scholar David J. Skal has a new book coming out this fall, just in time for Halloween, entitled Fright Favorites: 31 Movies to Haunt Your Halloween and Beyond. Presented by Turner Classic Movies, Skal takes on 31 films ranging from the silent era, hitting a few titles from each decade through the ’80s, and a few beyond that. Most of these everyone will agree are classics, with a few comedies listed in the later day titles. The description in Amazon says they are “family-friendly” but not sure The Exorcist (1973) and The Thing (1982) are ones I would be screening for 8-year old Timmy! Continue reading →

Horror Fans Rejoice at the Midway Drive-In

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We normally do 8 or 9 conventions, or some other event like a 24-hour marathon, throughout the year. Of course, with all the current events, those have all been cancelled or rescheduled to next year, or at least they have so far. We’ll see how the rest of the year plays out, but I’m honestly not expecting much. So when the Midway Drive-In announced they were going to have a 2-day event, with Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell appearing both days, screening the Evil Dead trilogy, along with two other features, as well as having some vendors there, we knew we had to be part of that. Friday, July 10th, they would be screening Evil Dead 2 (1987) and then Army of Darkness (1993). On Saturday the 11th, they would be screening Evil Dead (1981) with a 4K restoration with new sound mix and score by original composer Joseph LoDuca, The Beyond (1981), and finally I Drink Your Blood (1970). Not only would there be horror vendors and raffles, but Mr. Campbell would doing a Q&A before the features. It would also be a chance for fans to have some sort of a convention or event to head out to and have fun. And that is exactly what happened. Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 7-13

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It looks like I stump everyone with last week’s photo. Don’t feel bad. I had never heard of it before either, until I stumbled across it. The shot is from a 1975 Spanish film called El colegio de la muerte, or School of Death. It’s an oddity, that is for sure. Not sure I would recommend anyone rush out and find a copy, but if you love Spanish horror, especially from the ’70s, you could do worse.

I’m sure with this week’s photo, we’ll get a few correct answers sent in. Just a hunch. So take a look, ponder it a bit, enjoy the atmosphere in there, and then send your guess to us in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good luck!

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Horror History: Jack Davis

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jackdavisJack Davis
Born Dec. 2nd, 1924 – Died Dec. 2nd, 2016

While Davis might not have worked hardly at all with the movie industry, he was an accomplished illustrator and cartoonist who’s work would inspire many horror fans and filmmakers for years to come. While he did do a lot of work for Mad Magazine, it was the art he did for the horror comics that William Gaines put out in the early ’50s that inspired future horror fans.

After being turned down by several other comic book companies, he went over to E.C. Comics, met up with owner William Gaines and company and was hired. He would work on their most famous titles, like Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear, as well as the rest of the E.C. titles. His artwork was incredible and set the standards for a lot of upcoming talent. He was also one of the fastest artists, according to Gaines, completely penciling and inking 3 pages a day at times.

Davis did work on a few movie posters, most notably for horror fans was the one he did for Horror Hotel (1960), as well as designing some of the characters for Rankin/Bass’ Mad Monster Party? (1967). Davis was one of those artists who’s work inspired so many people, and not just fellow artists, but little budding horror fans that would devour his comics, even to this day.

Friday Favorites: Hitchcock!

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This Friday we’re going to talk about the one of the greatest directors that ever said “Action!” The one and only Alfred Hitchcock. Unlike most fans, my first introduction to him wasn’t any of his films, but his television series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But once it came to movies, Psycho was definitely the one I remember as being one of the first, if not the first. But way before we were introduced to Norman and his domineering mother, Hitchcock gave us so many great titles, from The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 and then remade in 1956), Lifeboat (1944), Rope (1948), I Confess (1953), Rear Window (1954), and so many more.

So for this Friday Favorites, let us hear what yours is from our friend Sir Alfred.

Movie Review: Curse of the Living Corpse

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The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964)
Directed by Del Tenney
Starring Helen Warren, Roy Scheider, Margot Hartman, Robert Milli, Hugh Franklin, Candace Hilligoss, Dino Narizzano

It’s funny sometimes how we discover different films that have either been hidden over the years, ones that you might not have heard of, or ones that simply come out with little or no fanfare and seem to slip away into obscurity. This film is a perfect example of this. Back in 2006, Dark Sky Films released Del Tenney’s more famous title The Horror of Party Beach on DVD. One of the special features was the inclusion of this title, which was originally released on a double bill with Horror back in 1964. The film stars Roy Scheider in his first feature film appearance so you’d think it would get more attention, but not so much. To say that Curse is a better film than Horror is really comparing apples to oranges. Or maybe hot dogs to steak. But I will say that it one that needs to be seen. Continue reading →