Mystery Photo 5-29

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Our photo from last week is from one of the best exploitation titles out there! The Screaming Skull from 1958. Too bad it’s more sizzle than steak, as they say. But we had a lot of correct answers sent in, so that’s awesome. Or should I say THEY are awesome. They were Hoby Abernathy, Chris Buckley, Peggie Christie Christopher Dyer, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Lee Nattrass, Richard Schellbach, Mike Shields, and Alan Tromp. Great job, people!

So, see if we can repeat that trend with this new photo. Take a good look and see if you can recognize where this shot is from. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Mystery Photo 5-22

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Thought I forgot about the Mystery Photo today, huh? Nope. Just didn’t get it ready on Sunday like I usually do, but nonetheless, here it is! But before that, let’s get to our last photo. It was from the 1987 film Anguish, starring Michael Lerner and Zelda Rubinstein. Great little flick, if you haven’t seen it. Kudos to the following that did send in the correct photo: Hoby Abernathy, Kevin Hart, Christopher Highland, Troy Howarth, Eli LaChance, Gary Miller, Mike Shields, Kristin Wicks, William Wilson, and Greg Wojick. Well done!

Okay, let’s get to this photo before Tuesday comes a knocking! Take a peek, see what you think, and then send your answer to me at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Turkey Day in May 2023

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The first part of our Turkey Day 20th Anniversary was yesterday, and I have survived to tell the tale! In fact, we all did! It was a little different this time out because we spent some time doing a little filming here and there for a documentary about just how crazy we are for doing these little get-togethers for the last two decades, all in celebration of these cinematic shipwrecks. We had around 15 people joining in this year, most of which stayed here from the very beginning right to the very last film, knocking out SIX features (and about 21 pizzas!) before it was all said and done.

It is really hard to believe that not only have I continued this crazy tradition, but that I have more than a few die-hard friends that actually look forward to these little marathons with great joy and excitement. Yes, we are all mad cinephiles. It really is hard to explain to most people what exactly the reasoning is behind these, and even more importantly, why they are so much damn fun. But if you know, then you know and don’t need the explanation.

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Movie Review: The Killer Shrews

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(1959)
Directed by Ray Kellogg
Starring James Best, Ingrid Goude, Ken Curtis, Gordon McLendon, Baruch Lumet, Judge Henry Dupree

Growing up in Michigan, with the only information I had about horror films was when I saw on the TV. Besides the TV Guide, there wasn’t any book or anything to go read up about a film before it came on, or afterwards. What you saw is all you knew. So, during my first viewing of The Killer Shrews, being probably around 8 years old or so, I believed every word in that film. I remember going to school the next day and retelling the story of the movie to my classmates that hadn’t seen it, filling their heads with the terror (maybe a little more exaggerated) that I witnessed on the TV the night before.

In that regard, my first experience with this film was a very positive one. I do remember the sound the shrews made as they were trying to burrow into the house as being pretty damn scary. Granted, I never disclosed that info at school, but I always felt the film was pretty damn effective. Years later, seeing the shots of the shrews running around, it’s clear that they are dogs with really bad wigs on them, admittingly making them look a little silly. Especially when most of the younger generation first saw this movie being screened on MST3K, with them telling the audience just how bad of a movie it is, that was what sunk into those watching.

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Alan Frank – Rest in Peace

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For those out there who were horror fans before the internet, the only way to learn about these movies were reference books. Along with names like Denis Gifford and William Everson, Alan Frank was one of those authors who wrote several books on the horror genre, which gave us young and eager fans volumes filled with photos that were etched in our young minds. This was at a time when looking at some of the movie stills, we dreamed that one day we might be able to see the actual movie. These books were paged through, over and over, committing the names of the people, the titles of the films, and the amazing images that were throughout each of them. They sparked our imagination, sent our brains into wonderous pondering of what actually happened in the movies just from one image.

Now, all these years later, when watching a movie and a scene comes up where a still was used from, it all comes back to that time gazing into those books.

Alan Frank wrote a number of these volumes, most of which I have copies of in my library. These were some of the first that were available at that time and were the go-to titles for the longest time. We recently heard that Frank has passed away, at the age of 85. While our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time, I just want to say THANK YOU to Mr. Frank for helping become the horror fan I am today. Your work was essential for me, as well as many others, during those early years.

Discover the Horror Podcast: Episode 43 – Tape Trading and Bootlegs

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Back in ancient times, before Netflix and Amazon Prime, before Hulu and YouTube, even before DVDs and Blu-rays, if films weren’t available to you from either your local video stores, or if you wanted to see an uncut print of a movie, or even one that wasn’t released on VHS, the place you could find them would be in fuzzy gray market of the bootlegs.

These types of vendors were a staple to a lot of the early movie conventions, where fans could find titles that never even knew were out there. Some of us are old enough to remember being able to finally see the uncut full letterboxed version of Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond, after years of suffering though only being able to see the heavily edited Seven Doors of Death.

As your collection grew, you would usually start trading with others, increasing your collection even more, as well as helping to spread the love and passion of these amazing films. This is what we’re discussing in this episode, so sit back and either reminisce with us, or learn about the good old days, when we were happy for a 5th generation grainy print of Anthropophagus that had the infamous fetus scene!

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Naschy’s Night of the Executioner

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While this isn’t technically a horror film, it is Paul Naschy so of course I have to mention this. Any time one of his movies that had never been released here in the states (aside from a Spanish language version that was released) gets a release, it is something to be celebrated! And Mondo Macabro have continued to wave the Naschy flag in releasing a lot of his titles, that now American audiences are going to see Night of the Executioner (1992) for the first time.

Naschy plays a family man whose life is forever changed after his wife and daughter are both raped and murdered, and he has his tongue cut out. He then goes out on a killing spree avenging his family. This is a brand new 4K restoration from the original negative, in Spanish language track with optional English subtitles. It also has an audio commentary by Rod Barnett and Troy Guinn from the Naschycast podcast. Plus, there are interviews with Naschy son, Sergio Molina, and with actors Pepe Ruiz, Manuel Zarzo.

Right now, you can order the special “Red Case” edition, which comes with a full color booklet with a brand new essay by Troy Howarth, author of Human Beasts: The Films of Paul Naschy. This edition is limited to 1500 copies and can be ordered by clicking HERE.

Mystery Photo 5-15

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Happy Monday! Yeah, I know. Doesn’t work too often for me either. But nonetheless, we do have a new Mystery Photo, so that’s a positive, right? We only got one correct answer sent in for last week’s grisly little photo, which was from the 1981 Hong Kong film Corpse Mania. Yes, lots of maggots in that one! Congrats to Jason Lane for sending in that one and only correct answer! Well done!

On to this week’s photo, which is a personal favorite of mine and one that I think is pretty underrated. So, give it a peek and see what you can come up with. Just remember, send your answer to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com, that way I won’t lose it. Well, I have a better chance NOT to lose it, put it that way! Good Luck!

I Do NOT Collect Toys!

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This statement is getting harder and harder for me to continue to state. I’m usually really good and looking at some new figures or toys coming out and saying, “that’s pretty cool” and move on. But then I came across this one and it immediately took me back to my childhood.

Scooby Doo, Where Are You? ran for only 2 years, but went on in various versions, updates, live action films, and way more than any this 5-year-old kid could have imagined back in 1970 when he was first watching them. Being a buddy young horror fan, Scooby Doo was the show for kids like me. While I do find it pretty interesting that while the joke out there that this TV show let kids know that the only real monsters out there were humans, it honestly did help this little kid understand that what we see in the movies where just that . . . a guy in a mask. No matter how scared and real they looked, Fred, Daphine, and the gang always uncovered the mystery to find the ghost, monster, creature, or whatever, was just a guy.

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Discover the Horror Hits 10K Downloads!

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Back in October of 2021, Aaron AuBuchon, Damien Glonek, and myself started the Discover the Horror podcast, with the goal of getting listeners to seek out other films that they hadn’t seen before, or taking another look at ones they had seen, maybe seeing it a little differently than before. I’d like to think we’ve consistently done that with each and every episode.

Well, it seems that last week, we hit 10,000 downloads! Now honestly, since I’m about as technical savvy as an abacus, I have no idea to what the magnitude of that number actually means, but it does tell me that people are listening to the shows and more importantly, coming back for more. We strive to create a show that hopefully sparks that passion inside the listener to take that extra step, or a bigger step, into the genre. As I’ve said before, as fans of the genre, this isn’t a race, but an incredible journey we’re all on together, all being on the same path, just at different points along the way.

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