DtH Episode 70 – Universal Creature Series

May 15, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Discover the Horror Podcast and tagged Creature from the Black Lagoon, Creature Walks Among Us, Jack Arnold, Revenge of the Creature, Universal Classic Monsters, Universal Monsters, William Alland | Leave a comment

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Revenge of the Creature (1955), The Creature Walks Among Us (1956).

And now, we come to the end of our Universal Monster episodes, having made our way through all the Dracula films, Frankenstein, Invisible Man, Mummy, and the Wolf Man, we now take a dive into the Black Lagoon! Coming out a little less than a decade after the last Universal Monster film (no, I’m not counting A&B Meet Frankenstein), it gave birth to a whole new generation of monster fans that might not have been around for the first cycle. And it did make quite the splash amongst fans, enough to permanently give its spot in the Universal Monster class. And there is a reason for that.

Join us while we take a deep dive into these films, maybe pushing you into the deep end of some of them, discussing some things you maybe didn’t know about them, and hopefully, if we’re doing our jobs, make you revisit them and think about them a little differently, or at least a little more. That’s the beauty of films, that no matter how many times you may have seen it, you never know what the next viewing experience will bring you.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Music Box Theatre in 3D!!!

March 3, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dial M for Murder, Gravity, House of Wax, Jack Arnold, Music Box Theatre, Saw 3D | Leave a comment

My favorite theater in Chicago is the Music Box, one that I have been going to for over 30 years and love the fact that something like this still exists in my world. I am truly honored every time I attend a screening there. If you have a theater like this in your neck of the woods, please make sure you support it to keep these places alive and well.

The Music Box has recently announced a 3D film series that starts in April. These are all in digital 3D so you don’t have the old-fashioned red & blue glasses. Nothing against the old way, but these new digital ones are pretty effective. While only a few of the titles announced are really in the horror genre, I think it is still an awesome idea! Especially because the film that starts the series is Jack Arnold’s 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon, which was originally filmed and presented in 3D. I cannot overstate just how amazing this film is when you see it in 3D. Granted, it is a classic in a regular format, but in 3D . . . just wow! So, if you haven’t had the opportunity to see this film in this format, PLEASE make plans to do so.

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New Stop-Animated Short from Adam Ciolfi

January 6, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Adam Ciolfi, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Fifth, It Came from Beyond the Drain, Mad Monster Party, Monsters, Stop-Motion Animation | 1 Comment

Back in Jan. of 2020, I first became aware of the incredible work of stop-motion animator Adam Ciolfi when he sent me a link for his short Fifth (2019). I enjoyed it so much that I immediately checked out some of his earlier work and found it all amazing. The fact that this old school style of animation still exists just warms my demented heart, bringing back memories of Mad Monster Party and the likes. Now, Ciolfi has a new short done and posted, one that gives a little nod to the good old-fashioned monster movies, entitled It Came from Beyond the Drain!

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Ricou Browning – Rest in Peace

February 28, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, Ricou Browning, The Creature Walks Among Us, Universal Monsters | Leave a comment

It truly is the end of a legacy. Mr. Browning was the last actor alive that had played one of the famous classic monsters from Universal, in The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), as well as playing him in both the sequels. So many things go into making a film that still has fans close to 70 years after it came out, such as the designers of the monster and those that made the costume. But it is the performer inside of it that really breathes life into it, making the viewers forget that it is simply a man in a suit but we’re really watching a creature from a lost age. Ricou Browning did that with his underwater performance as the Gill-Man. To this day, watching this film, it is amazing how well it still plays, as well as what Browning did to make it look like we were really watching some sort of fish creature following the lovely Julie Adams.

Mr. Browning passed away on Monday, Feb. 27th, at the age of 93. From monster kids, monster fans, and all the other horror fans out there, we bow our heads today as we lose the last of the icons of an era that ended more than half a century ago. But it still makes me smile in wonderment, when we bust out one of these old classics and feel like a little kid once again. Rest in Peace, Mr. Browning, and thank you for what you have given the fans then, the fans now, and those new ones that will soon discover your talent.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Universal Classic Horrors at the Strand Theatre

January 22, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, Frankenstein, Fright Night Frights, Old Dark House, Strand Theatre, The Black Cat, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Strand Theatre, Universal Horrors, Universal Monsters | 1 Comment

The Strand Theatre in Shelbyville, IN, has announced this year’s Friday Night Frights schedule and once again, makes me wish I lived closer to the theater! We all know and love the Universal Classic Monsters (or at least we should!) but few fans have had the opportunity to see them in a movie theater on the big screen. Well, if you live near the Indianapolis area, now you have your chance.

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McFarland Book Sale!!!

November 20, 2022 by Jon Kitley in Book News and tagged Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Christopher Wayne Curry, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Gregory William Mank, Laird Cregar, McFarland, McFarland Books, Ray Dennis Steckler, Tom Weaver | Leave a comment

In our never-ending pursuit of learning more about the horror genre, we have many volumes from McFarland in our library. They have such a wide variety of subjects, from critical essays and academic studies overviews of different sub-genres, and plenty of amazing biographies.

Going on right now, McFarland is not waiting until Black Friday to start their online sales but have started offering 40% off ANY title!!! Just head over to their website (by clicking HERE) and start choosing titles. When you get to the check out, add in HOLIDAY22 for the code and it will take off the 40%. That’s damn near half price folks! I know McFarland can be a bit pricy so now is your chance to save some series dough! The sale goes from now until Monday, November 28th, so don’t wait too long!

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Horror History: Richard Denning

September 29, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Horror History and tagged Creature from the Black Lagoon, Creature with the Atom Brain, Day the World Ended, Evelyn Ankers, Richard Denning, The Black Scorpion | 3 Comments

Richard Denning
Born March 27th, 1914, Died October 11th, 1998

Richard Denning (born as Richard Denninger, but was told to change it by the studio because it sounded too much like Dillinger!), never started out to be an actor, going to school for business, and even graduating cum laude with a master’s degree in business administration. But once he got the acting bug, there was no stopping him. After winning a radio contest called “Do You Want to Be an Actor?”, he got a screen test with Warner Bros. They passed on him, but he did sign with Paramount. While he didn’t make a ton of pictures in the horror genre, he made a few, including The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). He also appeared in Roger Corman’s The Day the World Ended (1955) or Edward Cahn’s Creature with the Atomic Brain (1955), or appearing with Mara Corday in The Black Scorpion (1957).

He would have a pretty successful career in non-genre films and a lot of television, but always left a mark with me in the genre pictures he did appear in, even when he was not the nicest character like in Creature from the Black Lagoon!

Denning had married one of the genre’s early scream queens, Evelyn Ankers, who starred in films like The Wolf Man (1941) and Son of Dracula (1943).

Halloween Favorites

July 15, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Book News and tagged Beetlejuice, Black Sunday, Cat People, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Curse of Frankenstein, David J. Skal, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Frankenstein, Fright Favorites, Get Out, Halloween, Hocus Pocus, Horror of Dracula, House on Haunted Hill, Invasion of the Body Snatcher, Mystery of the Wax Museum, Night of the Living Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, Nosferatu, Phantom of the Opera, Pit and the Pendulum, Rosemary's Baby, Scream, The Birds, The Exorcist, The Haunting, The Mummy, The Shining, Them!, Turner Classic Movies, Wolf Man, Young Frankenstein | 2 Comments

Horror scholar David J. Skal has a new book coming out this fall, just in time for Halloween, entitled Fright Favorites: 31 Movies to Haunt Your Halloween and Beyond. Presented by Turner Classic Movies, Skal takes on 31 films ranging from the silent era, hitting a few titles from each decade through the ’80s, and a few beyond that. Most of these everyone will agree are classics, with a few comedies listed in the later day titles. The description in Amazon says they are “family-friendly” but not sure The Exorcist (1973) and The Thing (1982) are ones I would be screening for 8-year old Timmy! Continue reading →

Book Review: 150 Movies You Should Die Before You See

May 7, 2019 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged 150 Movies You Should Die Before You See, Adams Media, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dario Argento, Deep Red, Michele Soavi, Steve Miller, Suspiria | 2 Comments

150 Movies You Should Die Before You See
Published by Adams Media, 2010. 290 pages.
By Steve Miller

This one had me really confused, especially the title. I first picked it up because I thought it might give me a few ideas for some future Turkey Day viewing. But as I read through it, I became really confused at just what Miller was trying to do here.

Each film has a very short synopsis along with cast and crew listing. Then a paragraph under the Why It Sucks moniker, a ratings of how many Thumbs Down, then a Crappies Award for whatever he didn’t care for.

In his introduction, Miller writes that there is “something magical about bad movies. Something that makes them worth the sometimes considerable effort to sit through.” Now while I really don’t like the term “bad movies” when you’re talking about a film you enjoy watching (same goes with “guilty pleasure”), I’ll let it slide here because that is an discussion for another time. But if you’re talking about movies that you do enjoy watching, then why are you putting them in a book with the title telling people NOT to watch them? Continue reading →

Book Review: The Creature Chronicles

April 25, 2019 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged Ben Chapman, Creature Chronicles, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Creature Walks Among Us, David Schecter, Don McGowan, Jack Arnold, John Agar, Julie Adams, Lori Nelson, Milicent Patrick, Nestor Paiva, Revenge of the Creature, Richard Carlson, Richard Denning, Ricou Browning, Steve Kronenberg, Tom Weaver, Universal Monsters, William Alland | Leave a comment

The Creature Chronicles: Exploring the Black Lagoon Trilogy
Published by McFarland, 2014. 408 pages.
By Tom Weaver, David Schecter, & Steve Kronenberg

This should be a very simple review. If you want to know anything about Creature from the Black Lagoon, or its two sequels, Revenge of the Creature and/or The Creature Walks Among Us, then just buy this book. Just about anything and everything you need to know about those films is in this book. Tom Weaver, along with Schecter and Kronenberg, have researched and compiled so much information, from the cast and crew, premieres, design teams, press, music, down to all the screenwriters involved in them, all here in this book. It even has an introduction by Creature star Julia Adams.

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