Tag Archives: Bela Lugosi

A New Look at Dracula

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

For years, some horror fans have concluded that even though Bela Lugosi’s performance is highly memorable, that the original 1931 version of Dracula itself doesn’t hold up well today. Honestly, I would have to agree with that. Which makes me even more excited to read this new book that has recently come out from Hemlock Books and author Matthew Coniam, entitled Dracula AD 1931.

In this 182 page volume, author Coniam wants fans to give this film a second chance, with his aim “of bringing it back to Undead life and to counter the accusations of staginess and anti-climax that have dogged it for 90 years. Through a detailed study of the film that makes much use of original research, he offers a new way of seeing Dracula that restores the urgency and excitement with which it was embraced by its original audiences.”

Now, as I said, I’m not the biggest fan of this movie, but do understand and agree why it is considered a classic. But I am very anxious to read this book to maybe learn a few things I wasn’t aware of, or even hearing another person’s insight that might shed new light to my thoughts about it. I mean, being open to different ideas about films is something all film fans should embrace, isn’t it? You never know what you might learn then.

Priced at £17.95 (approx. $24), one can order this title directly from Hemlock Books at their website HERE. Now if these books weren’t so darn expensive to import over here in the states….

Lugosi Trivia Contest – We Have a Winner!

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

lugosi forgotten king 2

Thank you to everyone that sent in their answers for our little trivia contest. Before we get to the winner, let’s go over the questions. As someone pointed out, one of the questions might have been a little bit of a trick question, even though I didn’t mean it to be. The answers are:

  1. The Golem, even though, as it was pointed out to me, this was “Jewish, and was popularized by the Czechs.” So my apologies if anybody didn’t get it because of that. Granted, everyone that sent in their answers had this correct.
  2.  True. Lugosi was paid $500 a week for Dracula, for a seven-week engagement, so it was $3500 total. But for Dracula’s Daughter, due to script changes, his character was not in the film and he was paid $4000 NOT to be in it!
  3.  He was, and still is as far as we know, buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, located in Culver City, CA.

Now for the winner… Congratulations to Gary McGuire!

Thanks again for everyone that participated. I’m sure I’ll come up with another one of these at some point to keep the fun going! Thanks again to Operator 13 Productions!

 

Bela Lugosi Trivia Contest

by in Misc. Ramblings and tagged , , ,

lugosi forgotten king 2

We had recently posted our review of Lugosi: The Forgotten King, from Operator 13 Productions, which we really enjoyed. Well, due to a mix up of our wonderful postal service, I ended up getting an extra copy. So I thought it would be a good idea to pass this on to another fan of Lugosi with a little trivia contest. I’ve come up with a few questions that might be easy, they might be hard, but maybe with a little research, you can find them. Send your answers to us to jon@kitleyskrypt.com and if you’re are correct, your name will be put in a hat for a drawing. The name drawn will win the DVD. Sounds easy, right? You have one week to send in your answers so don’t wait. Okay… lets get to those questions!

  1. The rumor is that the original design for Frankenstein’s creature, when Lugosi was attached to the project, resembled what German mythological creature.
  2. True or false: Lugosi earned less money for his role in Dracula (1931) than he did for NOT appearing in Dracula’s Daughter (1936).
  3.  Name the cemetery where Lugosi was buried at.

You have 1 week to send in your 3 answers. You must answer all 3 correctly to be thrown in for the drawing. Good Luck!

Movie Review: Lugosi – The Forgotten King

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

lugosi forgotten king 3

Lugosi: The Forgotten King (1985, 2018)
Directed by Mark Gilman Jr. & Dave Stuckey

In 1985, with the early days of VHS tapes and video stores, there weren’t too many documentary titles out there, especially on horror movies or their stars, unless you count a few trailers collections. But I can remember coming across one title in particular that was on the shelves, Lugosi: The Forgotten King. Being an young and eager fan to learn as much as I can about the horror genre, especially one of its icons, I immediately rented it. Even though the running time was short, showed the audience a little bit more behind the man and really how much of a talent he was. Now, 35 years later, it is out on DVD in an updated version, through Operator 13 Productions. Continue reading →

Lugosi Film Fest!

by in Movie Events and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dracula Lugosi

Sure this is close to a year away, but no reason why you can’t start planning out events for next year, right? Creepy Classics and Monster Bash have scheduled their next film fest, this time featuring the work of Bela Lugosi! Taking place on Aug. 14th & 15th at the Palace Theatre in Canton, Ohio, they will have 2 days of Lugosi films! Below is the schedule: Continue reading →

Dracula & Frankenstein on the Big Screen!

by in Movie Events and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

monster double feature

Back in 1938, a theater owner named Emil Umann rented prints of the original Dracula and Frankenstein, along with Son of Kong, and screen them as a triple feature. He got the rental of the films pretty cheap because the studios didn’t think anybody cared about these monster films anymore. Oh how they were wrong. These screenings became so popular, that Umann started running them close to 24 hours a day to keep up with the demand. He even contacted Bela Lugosi to come down to make appearances during the screenings. Once Universal discover this, not only did they increase the film rentals, but made 500 more prints and started renting them to other theaters. Plus, they immediately put another Frankenstein film into production!

If you haven’t had the chance to see these two classic monster films on the big screen and are in the Chicagoland area, now is your chance. The Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge, IL, will be screening both Dracula and Frankenstein on October 30th, starting at 7pm. The Pickwick is a great theater to see these films too! So make your plans now to make sure you attend and see our horror history come to life on the big screen!

For more information, just click HERE.

New Lugosi and Dracula Books

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

Thanks to BearManor Media, fans of Bela Lugosi and of Universal’s Son of Dracula just might be adding a couple of new book titles to their library! I know I will be.

The first book, Scripts from the Crypt # 9: Son of Dracula is written by Gary D. Rhodes, Tom Weaver, Dr. Robert Kiss, and Robert Guffey and contains all the wonderful information in this series of books. You’ll get the production history, fun facts, the pressbook, essays by Robert Siodmak and Curt Siodmak, as well as the script! These are great titles when you’re wanting to more about a particular film. You can get the softcover edition for $29.95 or the hardcover edition for $39.95.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: The Black Sleep (1956)

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

blacksleepbanner1

The Black Sleep (1956)
Directed by Reginald Le Borg
Starring Basil Rathbone, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi,
Herbert Rudley, Patricia Blair, Phyllis Stanley, Tor Johnson

Black Sleep1

Basil Rathbone stars as Dr. Joel Cadman, who is obsessed with discovering the mysteries of the human brain. His wife is in a coma due to a brain tumor, so he is determined to discover a way how to save her, even if this means through un-ethical experimental operations on live patients to find that cure. He saves a fellow doctor, Dr. Ramsey, from the gallows who was wrongly accused. He does this by use of a drug he found in India, which he calls the Black Sleep. Once taken, it makes the person appear to be dead, even to the prison’s doctor. Once another injection is given, the “dead” comes back to life. For this favor, Cadman wants the young doctor to assist him in his experiments.  But once Ramsey discovers that Cadman is experimenting on live subjects, he realizes he must find away to escape this madness.

Continue reading →

2017 Year End Review Part 3: BOOKS!

by in Reviews: Horror Reference Book, Year End Reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

gromit-reading

With as many titles that I add to my library each and every year, if I don’t force myself some rules, I’ll never get through some of these. Back in 2015, I’ve set myself a goal to get through at least one book per month. That year I almost made it, getting through eleven. Then last year, I devoured fourteen titles! Then this year I did even one better and made it to fifteen titles. Trust me, I wish I had the time to double that number since when you have over a thousand titles in your library, and are constantly adding new ones, it is a never ending quest. But one I that I just love. Just like my Best Of movie lists, these are not titles that came out this last year, but ones that I finally got around to. Out of those fifteen, here are the top five that I would recommend the most:

Continue reading →