Mystery Photo 3-12

by in Mystery Photo and tagged | Leave a comment

Holy crap…almost forgot to post this week’s photo! Been a crazy day, but that’s no excuse! Our last photo was from the 2001 Lovecraft-based film from Stuart Gordon, Dagon! Been a while since I’ve seen it but I remember enjoying the hell out of it. Besides, seeing the lovely Macarena Gómez in one of her first movie roles is worth the time right there! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Craig Clark, Kuba Haczek, Troy Howarth, Ken Johnson, Lori Ann Kuchta, Leon Marcelo, Phil Meenan, Kristin Wicks, William Wilson, and Greg Wojick. Nice to see so many names!

Okay, before the day’s over, let us get to this week’s photo. It is from another favorite of mine. Just look at how this frame is shot! Just brilliant! As always, PLEASE remember not to post your answers here but instead send them in an email to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

mp031218

Movie Review: The Devil Incarnate

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

El Caminante1

El Caminante (1979)
Directed by Paul Naschy
Starring Paul Naschy, David Rocha, Sara Lezana, Ana Harpo, Blanca Estrada, Silvia Aguilar

El CaminanteRecently released on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabre under the title The Devil Incarnate, this is noted as being one of the writer/director’s favorite films. But for those expecting the usual horror outing from Naschy, with vampires and werewolves, you might be a little disappointed. If you’re looking for a very unusual horror/comedy, one that had a very deep and personal meaning to the writer/director, then you might find yourself very intrigued by it. While I really did enjoy it, I sort of felt sad that its creator was ever in that dark of a period in his life, of not trusting many people in the business around him.

In his autobiography, Memoirs of a Wolfman, he stated “I wrote El Caminante in a very special frame of mind. Life had dealt me several harsh blows and I had gained a pretty negative impression of people. For me personally, friendships had been a lamentable disappointment. I knew all about betrayal and lack of loyalty and apart from my family – my parents, my wife and two sons – I didn’t believe there were many things worthwhile in this filthy rotten world. Later on three people appeared in my life who I consider true friends. However, the cry of anguish from the bottom of my soul which found expression through this movie is still valid today.” This film was made almost 40 years ago, and like Naschy wrote in his book over 20 years ago, the way society is still today, this message still rings true. Which again, is a pretty sad statement.

Continue reading →

Book Review: The Thrill of Repulsion

by in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Thrill of RepulsionThe Thrill of Repulsion: Excursions into Horror Culture
Published by Schiffer Publishing LTD, 2016. 280 pages.
By William Burns

When I picked up this book from ebay, from the title I figured it would be another nice addition to my Psycho-Babble section in my library. But once I got it and started to browse through it, I was completely surprised at what this volume actually is about. What seemed to be moments later, I realized I had already read the first couple of chapters!

This tome is a couple of different kinds of books. The first part, which is on films, is what got my attention right away, is the lists. After a brief introduction, we get several chapters of the Top 13 lists, such as The 13 Most Disturbing Films That Aren’t Horror Movies, or The 13 Most Deranged Horror Director Debuts, or even The 13 Most Phantasmagorical Fantastique Films. In each of these chapters, the author lists the top 13 in that particular category that he feels are important and discusses them a bit. Now like with any list, there might be some arguments or discussions with the ones that Burns has come up with, but that is really what these kind of lists are for. But the other part is that possibly for more of novice fan, it gives you a little checklist to make sure you check the recommendations. Even more experienced fans might find a title or two they need to check out. I know I did. Even if you don’t agree with the titles mentioned in the lists, the author felt they were pretty important so they should be at least worth checking them out if you haven’t already. These little lists are a great way to add some titles to your “Need to Watch” list.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Scalpel (1977)

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Scalpel coverScalpel (1977)
Directed by John Grissmer
Starring Robert Lansing, Judith Chapman, Arlen Dean Snyder, David Scarroll

Nothing like the ’70s to have a movie with some creepy father lusting after his daughter! And Robert Lansing does a stellar job in the role too! Not sure if that’s a compliment or not.

Lansing stars as a plastic surgeon who has a daughter that has been missing for over a year. She just took off and nobody seems to know where she went. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she witnessed him killer her boyfriend after he was watching them have a little sexual romp. So right off the bat, we see how seedy this guy is. After his father-in-law dies, leaving his estate to the missing daughter, he comes up with a plan, right after coming across a stripper who’d been beaten beyond recognition. Good thing he’s a plastic surgeon, huh? After a skillful operation, he has changed the face of this poor girl to look just like his daughter. Of course, when the real daughter shows up, things get even more weird.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Basket Case

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Basket Case

Basket Case (1982)
Directed by Frank Henenlotter
Starring Kevin Van Hentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner, Robert Vogel, Diana Browne, Lloyd Pace, Bill Freeman, Joe Clarke

Something amazing seems to happen when Arrow Video and Frank Henenlotter come together for a release of one of his films. When I got their release of Brain Damage (which happens to be my personal favorite of his films), there were so many great extras that those alone make it worth picking it up. And this release of his first feature film is just the same.

Basket Case is the simple story of a two brothers who seek revenge on the doctors that separated them. Okay, so one of them, Belial, is a deformed Siamese twin that never fully developed that was growing out of the side of the ‘normal’ brother, Duane. Belial is kept in a large wicker basket that Duane carries around. They arrive in New York to find the last of the medical team on their list. But of course, everyone reading this already knows the story because you’ve already seen this flick, most likely more than a couple of times, right? If not, then this is one title that is a necessary requirement in your horror education.

Basket Case 1

Continue reading →

Science vs Fiction

by in Book News and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A few years ago while browsing through a local Half Price Books, I came across a book that really through me for a loop. I almost past it up at first because it looked like book on science fiction movies, but as it turned out, there was more than enough of the horror genre covered within. The book was called The Biology of Science Fiction Cinema, originally published in 2005, by McFarland, and written by Mark C. Glassy. As I learned more about Glassy, I discovered that he is an actual professional scientist (now retired) with “extensive study in biochemistry and molecular immunology”, as well as a huge fan of science fiction movies, ever since seeing Earth vs. the Flying Saucers when he was four years old. In this book, he goes through some of our favorite films and discusses the actual science behind it, such as in The Fly (both versions), The Blob (both versions again), White Zombie to John Carpenter’s The Thing to even Lucio Fulci’s Zombie! He covers what parts of the science in the film are correct and what parts are not. This is a lot of fun to read through.

Continue reading →

Soundtrack Review: Primal Rage

by in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Primal Rage SoundtrackPrimal Rage
Released by CD Baby, 2018
38 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 62 min.
Original Music Score by Ceiri Torjussen

In the first few minutes of the opening track, it will give you a perfect example of what to expect from the rest of his hour long score. And that is simply atmosphere. This doesn’t have any melodies, songs, or anything like that. But what it does to make up for that is giving us raw audible emotions. Just in this first track, we start off with a low rumbling that gets a little louder as we go, as if something dark or evil is off in the distance, but moving towards us. But by the end of that track we switch to a simple but beautiful bit of piano. No tune or anything but just a few notes that really change the effect.

Continue reading →

To A New World of Gods and Monsters

by in Misc. Ramblings and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

shape of water2

Last night, for the first time in the Academy Awards 90-year history*, a creature feature won Best Picture. Now we know that all the normal critics keep trying to rename and redefine what it is, but us monster kids know that it is a monster movie. Sure, it’s not the first horror movie to win, which would be Silence of the Lambs, but that movie featured human monsters. Yes, there is a monster in The Shape of Water, but he’s the one wearing the tailored suit, not the fish suit. Never in a million years would I ever think that a film like this could even have a chance to win Best Picture. And the creator of this “fairy tale for trouble times”, Guillermo del Toro, also took home the Oscar for Best Director. I am speechless.

Well…almost.

Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 3-5

by in Misc. Ramblings | Leave a comment

Welcome to the first Monday in March! Yeah…pretty much the same as any other Monday. Except it’s one more closer to convention season! Okay, okay…back to the post at hand. Our last photo was from a disturbing film from Hammer that it still amazes me that they not only got it made, but that they would even tackle such a forbidden subject, but yet it was done so well. The film is Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960) and is about a old man that is doing harm to some local little girls. But because he is one of the upper families, no one believes the claims. Great film about a very dark subject. But kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Troy Howarth, and Michael Shields.

Now on to this week’s little photo. It’s from one of my favorites so let’s see what you can come up with. As always, PLEASE remember not to post your answers here so others can have a chance at it. Good luck!

mp030418

New Book on Dr. Phibes!

by in Book News and tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dr. Phibes CompanionWhen I first really got into horror films, one of my favorites was The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), starring the wonderful campy Vincent Price. Even though he was the villain, you always rooted for him! And even though he never actually “talked” in the film, he still commanded your attention each and every frame he was on screen. With a beautiful mixture of horror and humor, director Robert Fuest and Price created a highly memorable character that we got to experience in not only the first film, but its sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972).

Last year, one of my favorite books that I read was Interviews Too Shocking To Print by Justin Humphreys. So when I discovered that he was coming out with a Dr. Phibes companion book, I was just ecstatic. BearManor Media has announced that The Dr. Phibes Companion is now available for pre-order, both in hard and soft cover editions ($32 & $22), though they don’t have a publication date on the site just yet.

Humphreys had previously written about the first Phibes movie in “The Kind of Fiend Who Wins” and now takes that and expands on it, giving us the definitive history of our favorite devious doctor, as well as a new essay on the sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again. There is also a new forward by William Goldstein, one of the creators of this wonderful character. Adding in interviews with many of the people involved with the films, such as director Fuest, screenwriters Goldstein and James Whiton, art director Brian Eatwell, sound designer Peter Lennard, organist Nicholas Kynaston, composer John Gale, and many others. The book will also include never-before-seen production artwork by Fuest from his personal shooting script, as well as photos that have never been published. And one part that I’m really interested in reading, the thorough history of the sequels that never came to be.

I know this will definitely be added to my library once it comes out and can’t wait to dive into it. For more information, just head over to BearManor Media’s website HERE.