Jack Taylor – Rest in Peace

May 12, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged Paul Naschy, Jess Franco, Ridley Scott, Spanish Horror, Jack Taylor, Amando de Ossorio, Juan Piquer Simón, Jesús Franco, Roman Polanski, Milos Forman, John Milius | Leave a comment

I saw the news online this morning that cult actor Jack Taylor has passed away this morning at the age of 99 years old. Talk about one hell of a career! He worked with so many directors from big Hollywood names to running the gambit of cult directors known for the horror genre. From John Milius, Roman Polanski, Ridley Scott and Milos Forman to Jesús Franco, Amando de Ossorio, José Ramón Larraz, Juan Piquer Simón and Paul Naschy, he did amazing work and in just about every sub-genre there was. You may not recognize his name right away, but one look at those amazing glassy blue eyes, or the trademark mustache he had, you knew him when he showed up on screen.

While American born, once he started acting, he moved and worked all over the world. He moved to Mexico early in his career, picking up the language pretty easily. He would appear in Nostradamus and the Destroyer of Monsters and Genii of Darkness, both in 1962, before then moving to Madrid. There he would work several times with Paul Naschy, Jesús Franco, and Amando de Ossorio, and many others. When you saw his name in the credits, you knew it was going to be worth your time.

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Music Box of Horrors Final Lineup

October 5, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Amando de Ossorio, Austin Jennings, Bernard Rose, Bill Paxton, Burnt Offerings, Candyman, Carol Frank, Casper, Child's Play 3, Dan Curtis, Demon Witch Child, Eight Eyes, Frailty, Haze, J.R. Bookwalter, James Cameron, Jaume Balaguero, Mike Mendez, Music Box of Horrors, Music Box Theatre, Ozone, Paco Plaza, Piranha II: The Spawning, REC, Shinya Tsukamoto, Sorority House Massacre, The Convent, The Fall of the House of Usher, Vinegar Syndrome | Leave a comment

The full lineup for this year’s Music Box of Horrors has been announced on their website, and it looks like one hell of a 24 hours to spend with other like-minded horror fans! Although, the ones crazy enough to come out for a 24-hour marathon aren’t just fans, but dedicated deviants that want to revel and dwell in these amazing horror titles. And I love them for that!

To make the marathon even better, the Music Box has once again filled up their lobby and lounge with a wide variety of vendors to help you pick up some great stuff! I know we are so excited to make our return to vending at this event, but there are plenty of other great vendors like Pretty Spooky Handmades, House of Monsters, Vinegar Syndrome, Severin Films, Graveface Records, and more! Make sure you stop by and check all the vendors out! And of course, stop by and see us at the Kitley’s Krypt booth!

For all the latest information, head over to the Music Box’s page for this event HERE, and also check out their main site (HERE) to see all the other great stuff they are screening!

Below is the full lineup with the start times:

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Music Box Announces 24-hours of Horror!

April 29, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Amando de Ossorio, Blind Dead, Demon Witch Child, Joan Crawford, Music Box of Horrors, Music Box Theatre, Strait-Jacket, Stuart Gordon, William Castle | 2 Comments

Music Box of Horrors 2016 Chicago’s own Music Box Theatre has announced the date for this year’s Music Box of Horrors, which will take place on Saturday, October 24th, starting at noon! We can all hope that things will be back to some sort of normality so us devious horror fans can enjoy another 24 hours of madness! I missed last year’s marathon because we were at an out-of-town show so this year we are hoping to make our return!

So far, they only have two titles announced, but I gotta say, they’ve picked to stellar movies! The first one is one of the last great pictures from the King of Ballyhoo, William Castle! Joining forces with Joan Crawford, we get Strait-Jacket (1964), with this twisted tale of axe-murderer on the loose. Screening from a 35mm print! Continue reading →

Horror History: Amando de Ossorio

August 14, 2019 by Jon Kitley in Horror History and tagged Amando de Ossorio, Lorelei's Grasp, Night of the Seagulls, Return of the Evil Dead, The Ghost Galleon, Tombs of the Blind Dead | Leave a comment

blinddead Amando de Ossorio
Born April 6th, 1918 – Died Jan. 13th, 2001

With the recent announcement that Synapse Films is working on a new restoration of the original Tombs of the Blind Dead (1970), we thought it would be a great time to pay a little tribute to the creator of our favorite undead Templars, filmmaker Amando de Ossorio.

While he started as a journalist and producing radio dramas, once he got into the film business, it was making short films and documentaries. He started making feature films but it was in 1969 when he directed his first horror film, Malenka (aka Fangs of the Living Dead) which was a little cheesy but still had some great atmosphere. But it was the following year when he created his legacy, when he wrote and directed La noche del terror ciego, better known as Tombs of the Blind Dead (1970). Keep in mind, this was only a couple of years after George Romero set loose his flesh eating zombies unto the world, before Ossorio released his undead Templars that were feasting on the blood of their victims. With a unique twist on zombies and vampires, he gave us something that is still remembered and celebrated six decades later. Continue reading →

Soundtrack Review: Malenka / The Feast of Satan

July 22, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged Amando de Ossorio, Carlo Savina, Fangs of the Living Dead, Feast of Satan, Malenka | Leave a comment

malenka

Malenka / The Feast of Satan
Released by Quartet Records
30 Tracks with a total running time of 65:39 min.
Music composed by Carlo Savina

Savina’s score for Amando de Ossorio’s 1969 film Malenka (aka Fangs of the Living Dead) is a real treat and a great way to step back in time to one of those gothic vampire pictures that we grew up with on late night television. Using primarily an organ for this score, it creates a multi-layered effects that just seeps with atmosphere. He creates this ghostly or almost other-worldly feeling, if that makes any sense, developing different sounds and melodies to enhance the gothic feel of the movie. Even as a standalone piece of music, you can’t help but be transported back to the 40 years ago, to an old run down castle, with the fog slowly covering the grounds, where you are told not to venture out at night.

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Movie Review: Fangs of the Living Dead

April 28, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Adriana Ambesi, Amando de Ossorio, Anita Ekberg, Diana Lorys, Fangs of the Living Dead, Julian Ugarte, Malenka, Rosnna Yanni, Shout Factory, Troy Howarth | Leave a comment

Fangs of the Living Dead (1969)
Directed by Amando de Ossorio
Starring Anita Ekberg, Gianni Medici, Diana Lorys, Rosanna Yanni, César Benet, Carlos Casaravilla, Adriana Ambesi, Julián Ugarte

There are times when you sit down with a movie and maybe you’re just not in the right mood, or frame of mind to really watch it. As the saying goes, you can never watch the same movie twice with the same eyes, and my experience with this title is a perfect example of this. I had seen this years ago, from a grainy old VHS tape, mainly because it was the same director as the Blind Dead series. But I didn’t remember that much of it at the time. When it came out on DVD, I course added it to the collection. I’m sure I watched it at some point, but just didn’t have a strong memory of it, meaning that if I had thought it was that great, I would have remembered it. Then the recent Blu-ray from Shout Factory came out and I was going upgrade to this new version when realized I remembered not caring for it that much. So I sat down with the DVD to refresh my memory and realized that I think I was okay with just this DVD version. Nothing really jumped out at me, so no reason to upgrade. But then I read that this new Blu-ray is actually the European cut which is a bit longer than the version I had. Then the “collector” part of me kicked in and decided I had to have this version now … I mean, it’s longer which means maybe I’m missing all the good parts! So I had to have it. Once it arrived, I sat down with it again, to see if this version was going to be another boring repeat viewing. Oh, how I was wrong.

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Horror History: Julia Saly

March 23, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Horror History and tagged Amando de Ossorio, Julia Saly, Night of the Werewolf, Paul Naschy | Leave a comment

saly Julia Saly

Saly apparently is one mysterious character since it is pretty tough to find out much info about here. What we do know is that her first film she appeared in was the 1972 film La Guerrilla, and that she continued to work in films until 1985.

It was in 1975 when she made her first horror films, both with Amando de Ossorio. The first one was The Possessed, also known as Devil Witch Child, and then the last Blind Dead entry, Night of the Seagulls. It was also in that same year where she started to work with Paul Naschy. In fact, the rest of the films she appeared in where Naschy films, and the last six of them, she was even producer on them. Rumor has it that she was a flamenco dancer before getting into the film business, but not much information is available, or what happened to her once she left the business.

But no matter what, the films she did appear in, it was always a treat to watch her on screen. Her performance as the Countess Bathory in Naschy’s Night of the Werewolf is just enchanting. It must be something with those amazing eyes! So if you’re watching a Naschy flick that was made between 1975 and 1985, there’s a good chance Saly is in there somewhere.

Naschy Soundtracks Rises from the Tomb!

October 13, 2017 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings, Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged Amando de Ossorio, Fernando García Morcillo, Horror Rises from the Tomb, Nicolás Tsabertidis, Night of the Sorcerers, Paul Naschy, Quartet Records | Leave a comment

Horror Rises

It has been a long time coming, but finally Naschy fans will be thrilled to hear that Carmelo Bernaola’s score for the 1973 film Horror Rises from the Tomb is getting a release on CD, thanks to the fine folks at Quartet Records. Being that this is my favorite of Naschy’s films, I am shocked to see it finally getting a release. The score is not even a half hour of music, but at this point, I’ll take whatever we can get.

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Movie Review: The Loreley’s Grasp

July 9, 2017 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Amando de Ossorio, Helga Liné, Lorelei's Grasp, Loreley's Grasp, Loreta Tovar, Luis Barboo, Silvia Tortosa, Spanish Horror, Tony Kendall | Leave a comment

loreleysbanner

The Loreley’s Grasp (1974)
Directed by Amando de Ossorio
Starring Tony Kendall, Helga Liné, Silvia Tortosa, Josefina Jartin, Loreta Tovar, José Thelman, Luis Induni, Ángel Menéndez, Luis Barboo

loreley's grasp bag Back in the early 80’s, I went to a midnight screening of some horror movie called When the Screaming Stopped. I had never even heard of it before, but they were passing out barf bags, so how could this not be an awesome movie! Years later, I would discover that this was the re-titling of a Spanish horror movie from Amando de Ossorio, the very man who gave us the Blind Dead series. But the feature at hand was actually Las garras de Lorelei, or The Loreley’s Grasp. Looking back, this was might have been my first introduction to Spanish horror, and probably the first time my eyes laid upon the beauty was is Helga Liné. But more on that later. Since they were passing out barf bags, the movie had to be gory, right? And at that time in my life, gore was what I was looking for. The film did deliver, on many levels. It would be years later before I truly appreciated it for what it is. And that, is one hell of a fun time.