Mystery Photo 6-29

Our last photo for June. This means that summer is 1/3 over! Some might not be happy about that, but I definitely am. Anyway, our photo from last week was from the film Deranged (1974), one of the the best adaptations of the story of real like nutter Ed Gein. Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Peggy Christie, Kuba Haczek, Martin Meeks, Gary Miller, Michael Shields, and Greg Wojick. Well done!

On to this week’s photo. Give it a close look because it things might not be as they seem at first glance. Just remember, just send us an email with your guess, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

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Soundtrack Review: Prince of Darkness

June 28, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged Alan Howarth, John Carpenter, Prince of Darkness | Leave a comment

Prince of Darkness
Released by Alan Howarth Incorporated, 2008
28 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 134:50 min.
Music Composed by John Carpenter, in association with Alan Howarth

Back in 1988 when this movie first came out, I saw it opening weekend. I mean, it was a new John Carpenter movie after all. But upon that first viewing, I actually didn’t care for it that much. I did love the music, though, right from the opening queue. So while I didn’t care for the movie itself, I immediately started looking for the soundtrack, only to find it impossible to find. Supposedly, Varèse Sarabande released it in 1987, but I could not find it. Years later, I was able to finally score a copy of it from a German release. And after all those years, the score still kicked ass. I also finally came around to really liking the film. I still have a few issues with it, but it is still a damn good movie. Continue reading →

Horror History: Stelvio Cipriani

June 27, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Horror History and tagged A Bay of Blood, Baron Blood, Death Walks In High Heels, Nightmare City, Rabid Dogs, Stelvio Cipriani, Tentacles, The Great Alligator, Tragic Ceremony | Leave a comment

stelviocipriani Stelvio Cipriani
Born Aug. 20th, 1937 – Died Oct. 1st, 2018

For some reason this name might not be that familiar (which is a shame), but if you’re a fan of Italian movies, then you’ve most likely heard his work. Cipriani is a composer that has written music for over 200 films. Working in many different genres, he created his share of horror film scores. He worked with Mario Bava on quite a few films, such as A Bay of Blood (1971), Baron Blood (1972) and would later score Rabid Dogs (1974). He also did the music for Riccardo Freda’s Tragic Ceremony (1972), Luciano Ercoli’s Death Walks on High Heels (1971), as well as films like Tentacles (1977), The Great Alligator (1979), Nightmare City (1980), Piranha 2 (1981), and a few more.

When he scored Tentacles , he re-used the main theme from one of his earlier movies, La Polizia sta a Guardare (1973), which apparently a young filmmaker named Taratino liked the film so much that he used it in this film Death Proof (2007).

With all the great Italian films out there, the music is usually very effective as well as important to the whole feel of the movie experience. That is why these hard working composers, like Cipriani need to be noticed and remembered.

Friday Favorites: Dick Smith Remembered

June 26, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Friday Favorites and tagged Altered States, Amadeus, Dick Smith, Ghost Story, Greg Cannon, Rick Baker, Scanners, The Exorcist, The Godfather | 7 Comments

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For this Friday Favorites, we’re going to do something a little different. On this day in 1922, Richard Emerson Smith was born, in Larchmont, New York, and would grow up to become one of the greatest makeup artist of all time. When it comes to the horror genre, while he did work on a few, it was nowhere near as many as some of his contemporaries or the next generation of artists, such as Rick Baker, Stan Winston, or Tom Savini. But the ones he did work on, literally changed movie history. For the longest time, I thought 44-year old Max Von Sydow was a much older man because of the old age makeup Smith did on him for The Exorcist (1973). Not only did he do the character makeup for Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972), but also the realistic bullet hits as well. Continue reading →

Movie Review: Magic (1978)

June 25, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Ann-Margret, Anthony Hopkins, Burgess Meredith, Fats, Magic, Richard Attenborough | 4 Comments

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Magic (1978)
Directed by Richard Attenborough
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Ed Lauter

While most of American learned who Anthony Hopkins was from his Oscar winning performance in Silence of the Lambs (1991), it was with this film that I became of aware of not only the actor, but just how talented he was. In fact, when this movie came out, the first night the trailer showed up on television, the networks had a ton of complaints from people that were terrified by it. As the poster states, this is a “terrifying love story”, and this just what it is, but brought to life by talented actors. Continue reading →

The Making of Aliens Book

June 24, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Book News and tagged Aliens, Gale Anne Hurd, J.W. Rinzler, James Cameron, Lance Henriksen, Michael Biehn, Sigourney Weaver, Titan Books | Leave a comment

Just when you think there couldn’t be another book released about the Alien series, this Sept. we will have another one to add to the library! Following up with his The Making of Alien book from last year, this year we get The Making of Aliens, once again from Titan Books.

Priced at $60 and 300 pages, this volume tells “the complete story of how Cameron and Hurd, together with their immensely talented cast and crew, brought heroine Ellen Ripley back to the big screen—and upped the stakes by introducing a whole army of aliens for her to face.”

It will features interviews with the cast and crew, filled with tons of photos, illustrations, and concept art, and so much more. There is a reason this film is still loved and worshiped today, so this will be a nice look back at one of our favorites.

Joel Schumacher – Rest in Peace

June 23, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged Flatliners, Joel Schumacher, The Lost Boys | 2 Comments

Joel Schumacher RIP While this director only worked in the horror genre a couple of times, there are many of this titles that could cross many genres. I know critics were calling his 1990 film Flatliners a medical thriller, but sorry guys, that was a horror film, woven inside a nice morality tale. And a damn fine one too. While I wasn’t that big of fan of his Batman movies, his other “thrillers” like Falling Down (1993) and Phonebooth (2002) were well done and well worth your time.

But for horror fans, it is his 1987 MTV style vampire film, The Lost Boys, that he will always be remembered by. Sure, the film plays a little dated these days, but it is still filled with some incredible sequences, creepy elements, not to mention pretty funny at times too. Kiefer Sutherland showed audiences what a young punk version of Dracula would be like and it worked.

After a year-long battle with cancer, he passed away yesterday at the age of 80. Because of his work, he will always be remembered, and for much more than giving Batman nipples.

Mystery Photo 6-22

June 22, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Mystery Photo and tagged Mystery Photo

Summer is finally hear. Yeah. I’ve got my AC cranked so high that I have to wear a hoodie. Okay, maybe because I like wearing a hoodie, but don’t judge me! Happy Monday, folks. And Monday and another Mystery Photo. So let’s get started. Last week’s photo was from the Karloff film Corridors of Blood (1958). Karloff still showing he’s got it and a nice little performance by Christopher Lee. Although, I have to say the most disturbing part of the movie is when the one surgeon makes a comment about Karloff’s attempt to come up with way to help the patient, and says “Yes, most distressing, but, alas, inevitably you can’t have operations without screams. Pain and the knife, they’re inseparable!” Yeah… guess we shouldn’t complain TOO much about today’s doctors! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Todd Barwick, Peggy Christie, Bob Hartman, Troy Howarth, Martin Meeks, Lee Natrass, Bryan Senn, and Michael Shields. I think I remembered everyone…

Okay, let’s get to this week’s photo. Take a peek and see what you come up with. As always, just send your answer to us in an email to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

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Horror History: Alberto Dalbés

June 21, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Horror History and tagged Alberto Dalbés, Dracula: Prisoner of Frankenstein, Erotic Rites of Frankenstein, Hunchback of the Morgue, Jess Franco, Night of the Assassins, Paul Naschy | Leave a comment

albertodalbes Alberto Dalbés
Born Apr. 3rd, 1922 – Died Sept. 14th, 1983

Spanish horror from the early ’70s, especially that of Jess Franco’s work, probably have seen Dalbés’ face at some point. For me, I first became aware of him from appearing as the mad doctor in Paul Naschy’s The Hunchback of the Morgue (1973). He really was fun to watch there, playing a scientist so driven in his plans to create a new life form, that he had no care or whims about other people, even having them killed to be used to feed this beast he was creating. Great stuff.

He made his screen debut in 1943 in a film called Youth Kicks and worked in quite a few movies before moving to Spain, where he continued to appear on screen. He appeared in other genre films like Maniac Mansion and Cut-Throats Nine, both from 1972.

He seemed to work quite a bit with Jess Franco, appearing in quite a few number of his pictures, such as Night of the Assassins (1974), The Demons (1973), Tender and Perverse Emanuelle (1973), Dracula: Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972), The Curse of Frankenstein (1972), and so many more.

So the next time you find yourself watching a Franco film, you just might want to keep your eyes open to see if you don’t see Dalbés come onscreen.

Ian Holm – Rest in Peace

June 20, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged Alien, eXistenZ, Frankenstein, Lord of the Rings, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | 2 Comments

Yesterday, we lost a incredible talent in the movie world, that of Ian Holm. He passed away at the age of 88, from complications of Parkinson’s. He appeared in so many role over the years, in all genres, that his was a face and name that as soon as you knew he was in the film, you were going to see something special. He could project more in a look than some actors could do in a 10-minute monologue! His genre appearances in films like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) and David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (1999) showed his range. In fact, in 1968, on a TV series called Mystery and Imagination, he played both the creator and creature in an adaptation of Frankenstein. Of course, how can anyone forget his portrayal of Bilbo in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy?

But for most of us old horror fans, it was his role as the android Ash in Ridley Scott’s Alien when we became aware of this actor and his incredible talent. When his character goes off the deep end, I can remember thinking “what the hell is going on?”

A great talent like this will be missed. But as I always say, at least those wonderful characters and performances have been captured in time that we can revisit time and time again. Rest in peace, Sir Ian. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.