Need Some Music for the Holiday?

October 30, 2016 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Creepshow, La-La Land Records, Magic, The Omen, The Sender, Trick 'r Treat | Leave a comment

Pet Sematary CD.jpg If you’re like me, horror movie soundtracks are a staple of my day. Each and every time I’m at work on my computer, I have a horror soundtrack playing in the background. Even now, I’m listening to Pet Sematary‘s score by Elliot Goldenthal. True story.

If you’re looking for a few scores to add to your collection, you may want to head over to La-La Land Records to take advantage of their Halloween sale that ends tomorrow. You can find some good deals for only $4 each! You can pick up the soundtracks for The Sender, Trick ‘r Treat, The Conjuring, and a few more for just a few bucks. For $10, you can get yourself copies of Friday the 13th (the original) and Evil Dead (the remake), Pet Sematary (the expanded release, which I just ordered), and a few more. Or for $15, you can get John Harrison’s Creepshow, which I have to say is simply a must for any collector of horror soundtracks. It is one of my all-time favorites. But in that same price range, they have Day of the Dead, Magic (which I also just ordered), and Monster Squad.

Continue reading →

Films That Made a “Lasting Impression”

August 10, 2016 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged A Chinese Ghost Story, Circle of Fear, Creepshow, Frankenstein, Frankenstein: The True Story, Ghost Story, Night of the Living Dead, Star Wars, The Beyond, The Exorcist, The Haunting | Leave a comment

Let’s just say that I hate making lists in general. It forces you to chose or narrow down a “favorites” list. I have way too many movies that I honestly love the hell out of, so getting it down to a list of ten is just impossible. And honestly, I really don’t care for these kind of lists that are always going around Facebook, mainly because I just don’t want to spend the time on them and my above mentioned hatred for lists. But since this quest was to name films that had a “lasting impression” on you, I figured I could come up with ten titles that did have a major impact on my life. But instead of just listing the movies, I figured I’d try and expand on why these certain titles affected me the way they did. Of course, this list could change at any time…day or night.

Plus, since a friend tagged me on this, I figured it was the least I could do to reply. Thanks Jessica…this was a nice little trip down memory lane.

Continue reading →

Romero Gets A Star

June 28, 2016 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Creepshow, Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors, George Romero, Night of the Living Dead | Leave a comment

It was announced today that George Romero would be getting one of those illustrious stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And all I can say is it’s about damn time. For a man who pretty much invented the modern day zombie, created so many films that gave millions of us the chills, and more than a few nightmares, it’s nice to see him get a little bit of credit for his work.

My very first horror convention that I attended was at a Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in LA in 1988. I had never seen or met anyone famous before so one of the first ones that I see there, just standing outside the dealer room, was the one and only Romero. I pulled out my copy of Tom Savini’s Grand Illusions and asked him to sign it since he wrote the forward to it, which he graciously did with a huge smile. That was my very first autograph. And I still have that copy of the book.

Continue reading →

Interview: John Amplas

November 17, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Interviews, Misc. Ramblings and tagged Creepshow, John Amplas, Martin | 1 Comment

amplasbanner

This interview was conducted back in October of 2008, at the Cinema Wasteland show.

Kitley’s Krypt: How did you get into acting?

martinposter John Amplas: Oh, that was a long time ago. I was ten years old and my uncle used to do community theater and they needed a kid in a play. So I did a lot of community theater when I was kid and I just kind of got the bug early on from there. In 1963, when I was a teenager, I attended the Playhouse School in Pittsburgh and did that for about 3 years. I spent 3 years in the Army after I graduated from high school, then I studied theater at the same university, then college, to become an actor. In fact, the interesting thing about that, the last production in my senior year is when George Romero came to see it, which is how I got the job to play Martin two or three months later – we started shooting in the fall of 1976. Continue reading →