The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

July 15, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Bernard Herrmann, Dynamation, Kathryn Grant, Kerwin Mathews, Nathan Juran, Ray Harryhausen, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Torin Thatcher | Leave a comment

(1958)
Directed by Nathan Juran
Starring Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Torin Thatcher, Alec Mango, Danny Green

Okay, so why are we reviewing a Sinbad movie here in the Krypt? Simple… it does have monsters! And more importantly, they were created and animated by the one and only Ray Harryhausen. It cannot be stated enough of what the impact of Harryhausen’s work had influenced not only the industry at that time, but all the people that would be so inspired by his work that they decided their future path would be connected somehow to what Harryhausen had started. So, while this film isn’t going to give you chills and goosebumps, I’m pretty sure it will still thrill you and just be in awe of some of the work that Harryhausen has given us. And now thanks to this incredible 4K that has just come out, along with a ton of extras, it’s going to help you fall in love with the master’s work, as well as still being so impressed with what he accomplished, I’m sure you’ll soon forget that it’s not a horror movie.

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Book Review: Hitchcock & Herrmann

June 9, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Bernard Herrmann, Hitchcock & Herrmann, John Williams, Max Steiner, North by Northwest, Oxford University Press, Psycho, Sisters, Steven C. Smith, Taxi Driver, Vertigo | Leave a comment

Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores That Changed Cinema
Published by Oxford University Press, 2025. 295 pages
By Steven C. Smith

I had purchased Smith’s previous book, on composer Max Steiner, so when this new one was coming out, I pre-ordered it. Not only because I knew it was going to be interesting with the subject matter being the work that Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann did, but I just love learning more about the making of the films. Learning about the making of the music for these films was something new and made me very curious to dig into. Especially since I have not one bit of musical talent myself, would I be able to understand what the author was describing? While there are parts where Smith delves into the actual music, for a layman like me, it was still very comprehensible and not overpowering where you lose interests.

The book opens with Herrmann conducting the score for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), which would be his last score. It shows just how much influence his scores had been to this new generation of directors, such as Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and even modern composers like John Williams. And while Herrmann started his film score career with Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941), it really was his work with Alfred Hitchcock that gave him his fame. Even with his last scores, it showed Herrmann’s temperament and attitude, but also his ethics, style, and just sheer talent.

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Hitchcock and Herrmann Book

June 3, 2025 by Jon Kitley in Book News and tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Bernard Herrmann, Hitchcock & Herrmann, North by Northwest, Oxford University Press, Psycho, Steven C. Smith, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo | Leave a comment

Composer Bernard Herrmann worked with Alfred Hitchcock on some of his most well-known scores, such as Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and of course, Psycho (1960). They would work on 8 films together, creating some of the finest in cinematic history. Now, author Steven C. Smith gives us a book that delves into that relationship in his new book Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores that Changed Cinema, due out this fall. Smith spent over four decades doing research, from unpublished documents, new interviews, giving us readers a look inside the collaboration between Hitchcock and Herrmann.

When you have to strong-willed characters like these two, you know there are going to clashes. But they still were able to work together for some time and helped create some amazing films and film scores. This 312-page hardcover book is being published by Oxford University Press and can be pre-ordered now, with a cost of $39.99.

Soundtrack Review: Psycho II

August 6, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Bernard Herrmann, Intrada, Jerry Goldsmith, Psycho, Psycho II | Leave a comment

Psycho II
Released by Intrada, 2021
31 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 1:14:30 Min.
Composed and Conducted by Jerry Goldsmith

I can’t imagine being asked to take on the task of creating a sequel to the Alfred Hitchcock classic, which director Richard Franklin and screenwriter Tom Holland did, and, I feel, really knocked it out of the park. Same goes with Jerry Goldsmith, having to come up with a score to follow up Bernard Herrmann. Couldn’t have been easy to even think of doing. But Goldsmith made this score his own, and it really works.

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