Movie Review: Dinner with Leatherface

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Dinner with Leatherface (2024)
Directed by Michael Kallio
Featuring Gunnar Hansen, Jeff Burr, Bruce Campbell, Barbara Crampton, Kane Hodder, John Dugan, Allen Danziger, Bob Elmore, Michael Felsher, Danielle Harris, Kim Henkel, Del Howison, Gary Jones, R.A. Mihailoff, Edwin Neal, Daniel Pearl, Debbie Rochon, and so many more

When The Texas Chain Saw Massacre hit theaters in 1974, nobody had expected to witness the birth of a new horror icon. Four years before Michael Myers made kids scared on Halloween and a full decade before Freddy made people afraid to go to sleep, there was this giant, crazed, mountain of a man hiding behind a bloody apron and a facemask of human skin . . . someone else’s skin. And his name was Leatherface. And he was played by 27-year-old Gunnar Hansen.

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Mystery Photo 2-17

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Welcome to Monday and halfway through February! That just means we’re closer to when convention season starts for us, and we are really looking forward to getting back out on the road! Hopefully we’ll see some of you out there. But let’s get down the business you’re here for. Last week’s photo was from the amazing film, Night of the Howling Beast aka Werewolf and the Yeti from 1975, starring Paul Naschy! One got one correct answer this time out and that was from Erik Martin. Well done, sir!

On to this week’s photo. Hope you don’t mind a little blood. Take a peek below and email me your guess, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And Good Luck!

Book Review: Bride of Frankenstein: The Definitive History

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Bride of Frankenstein: The Definitive History of the Horror Classic
Published by CenterLine Publishing & Consulting LLC, 2024. 422 pages
By Christopher Lock

For a film that is making its 90th Anniversary this year, there is a lot that has been written about Bride of Frankenstein (1935) over those nine decades. In fact, I have a couple of books solely dedicated to this title, not to mention more than a few that cover the Universal classic horror titles of the ’30s in general. Of course, when you see one with the subtitle “The Definitive History of the Horror Classic” it does grab one’s attention.

Who am I kidding? It’s a book on one of the most famous horror films ever made. Of course I’m going to add it to my library! So, the real question is . . . is it the “definitive history”? And is it worth adding to your own library?

The author has a lot of information in here, not just on Bride, but the original film as well, and even including some info on Mary Shelley and her original novel. There could be an argument on why it covers that stuff when the book is about Bride, but I do agree that you need to cover those first before you get to the famous sequel. Though I did find it a little strange that while going over the beginning, when the original Frankenstein was in the early stages, the author mentions the early scripts by Balderston and Webling, but nothing is mentioned about Robert Florey, who was the one that brought the original idea to Universal, with the intent of directing it. A minor quibble.

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Meow! Cats in Horror Book!

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Are you a “cat person” and love horror movies? Then this book just might be up your alley! Author Vanessa Morgan has come up with another collection of essays, from a variety of writers around the world, contributing essays all dealing with cats in horror, sci-fi, and fantasy movies over the years. Full disclosure, I do have one essay in here and honestly was amazed when I saw the list of titles being covered. No idea there was that many cat titles out there in these genres!

According to the Amazon listing, the book features: Extensive Cat Movie List: A meticulously curated list of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy movies featuring cats (including short films), perfect for those seeking a thrilling feline fix or want to know more about the roles of cats in fantasy realms and futuristic adventures. There is also Best Cat Moments, which has “detailed descriptions of iconic cat jump scares and other memorable cat scenes”, as well as appearances in short films and TV episodes. Throw in some behind-the-scenes info and trivia, it all makes it out for an interesting read, not to mention adding a few titles to your Need-to-Watch list.

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Kudos to Demi Moore!

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During her speech after winning Best Actress at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards last Friday, actress Demi Moore gave praise to her director and co-stars, and her fellow nominees, but also commented on what this film really is saying about the industry, that I truly hope will help in the change that is desperately needed.

She commented on something else that I hope is going to change. She said “I am so grateful, not just for my performance but that you have highlighted this film, this genre. Normally horror films are overlooked and not seen for the profundity that they can hold.”

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Never Stop Digging

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I know I may sound like a broken record here, but you never know when something you write hits the right person at the right time. Plus, when it is something you really believe in, you want to keep saying it! Hammer recently announced they will be releasing a 4K release of their 1953 film Four-Sided Triangle, which is a science fiction tale, but has strong shades of the Frankenstein message, of just because we can do this . . . should we? Directed by Terence Fisher, the film is about two scientists develop a machine that can duplicate anything. Including a person. This was released on DVD age ago by Anchor Bay but now will be coming to us with a nice new 4K release.

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Peveril’s Hammer Scrapbook Available

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Peveril Publishing has released their sixth volume in their Scrapbook series, and it is now available to order! This volume deals with the four Mummy movies that Hammer produced: The Mummy (1959), The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964), The Mummy’s Shroud (1966), and Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971).

Like all of their scrapbooks, it contains rare images, FOH stills, lobby cards, posters, press material, letters, set designs, call sheets, censor notes and documents, makeup designs and so much more. It also includes a 100-page day-by-day production diary of the making of Hammer’s Blood from Mummy’s Tomb film, using daily progress reports, parts of actress Valerie Leon’s annotated script, and a ton of images and rare photos and images, all within the 368 full color pages, and limited to only 800 signed copies.

The books are priced at £40, which is just under $50, but then will cost you another $20 to get it shipped over here to the US. So yeah, it is pricy, but when you look at all the other scrapbook volumes they’ve put out and see all of those have sold out. These are limited editions and when they are gone, they are gone, and then become collector items, or just really nice volumes for your Hammer Library!

For all the information, just click HERE.

Mystery Photo 2-10

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Our photo from last week was from Satsuo Yamamoto’s 1968 ghost story Botan-dôrô aka The Bride from Hades, also known as Peony Lantern. It was recently released on the Daiei Gothic box set, which I would highly recommend picking up. Only got two correct answers sent in on this one, Hoby Abernathy and Erik Martin. Great job, guys! Definitely not a title seen by a lot, but we’ll worth checking out.

This week’s photo might be a little easier. Maybe. But give it a look and see if you can recognize what film it is from. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Anthony Dileo Jr. – Rest in Peace

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Another lost for fans of George Romero’s Dead films. Anthony Dileo, who played Miguel Salazar in Day of the Dead (1985), the stress-ridden private who isn’t handling the zombie invasion too well, has passed away. I had the honor of meeting him at a couple of cons over the years and he was always so excited to meet fans of the film. While it is great to have been a fan for so long, it is also getting harder to hear of all the passings of the great talent from films that I grew up watching over the years. The only glimmer of positivity in that is that they will constantly be remembered, each and every time one of their films are played.

Dileo had a small role in Romero’s 1981 film Knightriders and would have small roles in a couple of other Romero projects, such as Monkey Shines (1988), Two Evil Eyes (1990), and even as an uncredited zombie in Tom Savini’s Night of the Living Dead (1990).

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this very difficult time. Gone, but never forgotten.

DtH Episode 89: Fright Rags with Ben Scrivens

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In the horror community, the easiest way to show you are a fan is by what you wear. The horror T-shirt has been a staple in the fandom for what seems like forever. But it wasn’t always like that. To say that fans have it easy today is a slight understatement. Not only in terms of their availability, but of the selection that is out there! It is an easy way to show the public that you are a card-carrying horror fan, whether you’re wearing a Texas Chain Saw T-shirt, Cannibal Holocaust, or even a Night of the Living Dead shirt, it gives others that immediate notation that this person likes horror films.

Fright Rags, who is one of the bigger horror T-shirt companies, has been around for over 2 decades, so we decided to ask owner/operator Ben Scrivens on the show to not only talk about the ins and outs of running a T-shirt company, and some of the difficulties in doing just that, but also to talk about our love of horror films.

Movies mentioned in this episode:

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