A few years ago, Aaron Christensen and I started hosting these little lectures at the Sultzer Region Library in Chicago that we called Terror Tuesdays. The 1-night lecture then turned into a 4-week series, which we’ve been doing for a few years now. While it is a bit of prep work ahead of time, it’s a lot of fun and we’ve built up a good audience over those years.
My first official day of vacation was on Friday, Oct. 25th, and I headed down to St. Louis to witness something truly special, that probably has never happened before. And that was to watch some Jess Franco films in a theater . . . that once was an actual church! How could one pass that up!?!? Just thinking what Franco might have thought about these screenings and where, makes me smile.
My friend and Discover the Horror podcast co-host, Aaron AuBuchon, and Webster University, along with Severin Films, and Oscarbate Film Collective (John Dickson & Will Morris), hosted a 3-day event called Francomania: Vampyros Francos at the Webster University Film Series, where they would screen three different films from Spanish director Jess Franco, all dealing with the subject of vampires: Count Dracula (1970), Vampyros Lesbos (1971), and Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972). There was another screening of Franco’s Mucuba Sexual at this cool little place called The Arkadin, which looks like they screen all sorts of cool titles there.
Continue readingMy vacation days tend to be used for conventions, usually just taking Friday or maybe Friday/Monday off, then back to the real world. But this year, I had some vacation time to kill so I had planned on taking the last week of October off, with the goal of just using it to spend time enjoying the last of the Holiday season. Sure, I’d like to spend the whole month doing that, but there is a bunch of stuff going on throughout the month, such as conventions, 24-hour marathons, and plenty of other stuff that tends to keep me pretty busy. Which is why I was originally looking forward to this break from the busyness that October is. But as it happens, those days were quickly filled with all sorts of things to do, all of which I planned out myself. Meaning, no one to blame but me!
One of the things we continue to preach on this podcast is learning about the people that are involved with the films we love. It helps you see more and understand more, about the person, as well as the final product they are involved with, whether they are an actor, makeup artist, or director.
Author Joe Maddrey’s recent book, The Soul of Wes Craven, from Harker Press, does just this, digging deep into the man, and shows us fans a lot more behind this Master of Horror than we might not have known. To help dig into Craven and his work, we invited Mr. Maddrey on the show to talk about his book and this highly influential filmmaker.
Films mention in this episode:
Continue readingWe received an email from Dark Ink Publishing about their latest book, Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, by Thommy Huston. As we’ve said many times before, you can never have too many horror reference books. But as it turns out, we already have this book in our library from when it first came out in 2016, which is pictures on the left below, with the new edition on the right. This new edition has a new afterwards by Robert England, but that’s about it.
Last week’s photo was from the highly entertaining 1986 film Critters, at least I think so. Hell, even the second one is pretty damn fun! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Brian Fukula, Steve Kennedy, Erik Martin, and William Wilson! Well done, indeed!
While we’re in the midst of November, which we all know is Turkey Season (and I don’t mean Thanksgiving!), we decided to put up on for our Mystery Photo, but maybe not making it TOO easy. But you decide how easy it is. So, take a peek below and see if you know which movie this headline is from! Just remember to email me your guess, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!
Modern horror fans have lost an icon with the passing of Tony Todd. Most known for playing the title role in the Candyman series, his career shows much more than just that. Todd could give some incredible performances, with such quiet subtlety, that he could give you the chills with just a smile. One of my favorite performances of his was in an episode of The X-Files called “Sleepless”, from 1994. But he would go on to do so much more, having close to 250 credits in a career that spanned almost four decades.
Todd would appear at many conventions over the years and was a fan favorite, showing the friendlier side of this actor known for the scarier roles he appeared in. He took on the task of appearing in the remake of Night of the Living Dead (1990), playing the lead character of Ben. But as always, he pulled off and was one of the reasons that remake is actually really good.
Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time. But rest assured, his memory, through his amazing amount of work, will definitely live on. Even if you’re not starring into a mirror.
Coming out sometime next Spring/Summer, FAB Press will be releasing Bringing Darkness Instead of Light: Conversations with John Carpenter by Michael Doyle. This 600+ page book will feature interviews the author did with Carpenter for over 15 years, with subjects ranging from his films, H.P. Lovecraft, politics, drugs, as well as different films and their productions. The book will also have a bunch of previously unpublished photos.
They have the pre-order price listed as £59.99 ($77.60 in US dollars) but hasn’t confirmed that will be the actual price. It does sound like there might be multiple editions, each at a different price, but they do state there will be a Collector’s Edition with a “stunning slipcase inspired by In The Mouth of Madness.
Keep tabs on the book by checking out FAB Press’ website HERE or sign up for updates so you’ll be notified directly when it becomes available for pre-order.
The original Seymour Krelborn in Roger Corman’s ultra-low budget picture Little Shop of Horrors (1960), actor Jonathan Haze has passed away at the young age of 95. He was a staple in the early Corman films, with his first film being the Corman produced monster flick, Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). He would appear in a handful of Corman films, wherever he was needed, in whatever kind of role. For other genre pictures, he appeared in It Conquered the World (1956), Not of This Earth (1957), and The Terror (1963).
No matter who or what he was playing, he was always memorable. I had a chance to meet him at a Cinema Wasteland show years ago, along with Little Shop co-star Jackie Joseph and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith, who told plenty of great stories of those days. But no matter, Haze will live on in those many roles he appeared in, especially Little Shop of Horrors. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.
For those big fans of filmmaker Jess Franco, we have a few T-Shirts left over from the Francomania: Vampyros Francos event that took place a couple of weeks ago in St. Louis. The art was created by the uber-talented Don England. He really knocked it out of the park with the design idea that we came up with.
If you’re interested, they are $20 each, with $5 for shipping. Just email me (jon@kitleyskrypt.com) the size you’re looking for and I’ll let you know if we still have any of them and we’ll go from there.
Supply is limited so if you’re interested, email me sooner than later!
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