We’ve only got 2 more events coming up before we call the 2026 World Tour complete. The first one is the last actual convention, which is the Monster Bash Conference in Cranberry Township, PA, which is next weekend, Oct. 16th-18th. We always have a blast there and looking forward to once again get to hang out there. Plus, the fact their Mexican Movie Night on Friday is Ladrón de cadáveres aka The Body Snatcher from 1957, has got me really excited. Might have to get a nap in there somewhere so I can make sure I stay awake for it! You can find out all the details about the show by clicking HERE.
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.
FINALLY! I will now have the chance to see my absolute favorite Paul Naschy film in the theater! Thanks to the Alamo Drafthouse in Chicago, in part of their Terror Tuesday series, on March 17th, they will be screening this iconic classic of the Spanish horror genre, Horror Rises from the Tomb! And yes, I will be there!!! This film has it all… Zombies, decapitated villains, blood, gore, nudity, and Paul Naschy in dual roles! Actually, 3 roles if you want to get technical! If you’ve never experienced one of the biggest horror stars of Spain, this is the perfect film to start with.
Count Dracula’s Great Love (1973), Horror Rises from the Tomb (1973), Panic Beats (1983)
We’re finally back to discuss the wonderful cinematic world of Paul Naschy! Back in episode 21, we covered three different entries in Naschy’s werewolf films. So, this time out, we are covering three of his NON-werewolf titles. This is to show newer fans that while he was known for his Waldemar Daninsky werewolf films, but that he had made plenty of other films, incorporating a bunch of different kind of monsters. And if you are familiar with more of his work, then what better time to revisit some of them, right?
Making over a hundred titles in his career that spanned decades, Paul Naschy loved the horror genre and made the kind of films that he wanted to, giving fans a wide variety of well-known beasties, as well as ones we’d never seen before. While some might say they vary in quality, Naschy’s passion never did, and always put his heart and soul into each one of them.
“After several days of rest, we have finally recuperated from the Cinema Wasteland convention. Those of you who didn’t make it, you simply missed one hell of a show. As I’m sure everybody knew, the show was put on and run by Ken & Pam of Video Wasteland. These two have been dealers since the beginning of time, and have seen all the mistakes, screw-ups, and everything that can go wrong at a convention (and that was just at one Fangoria show). So, when doing this show, they wanted to make sure that it would be great for the dealers as well as the people spending their hard-earned cash at the show. And they did just that and more.”
That was the first paragraph of my review I posted on my website of the very first Cinema Wasteland show, back in September of 2000. The funny thing is that I could use that exact same quote for the show that I was just at over the weekend. And the one before that. And before that one. I don’t know of another show that has remained true to way they started from the very beginning. Ken Kish wanted to put on a show that wasn’t like the rest of the shows going on, and he has kept it that way. It’s small, especially compared to these huge shows where it takes hours just to get in the door, not to mention having to mortgage your house to meet a few celebrities. That is the charm to Wasteland. At Wasteland, you have a roomful of dedicated cinephiles that are more interested in the films themselves, and who made them, rather than the latest Funko Pop figure. I know that sounds a little mean-spirited, but it is the truth.
I know we’re always promoting and talking about how great the Music Box Theatre here in Chicago is (because it is!), but I recently found out about a theater in Wind Gap, PA that seems to not only play some amazing genre films quite a bit, but they also have some mini fests coming up that makes me want to take a road trip! The Gap Theatre (click HERE to get to their website) has plenty of amazing titles, double features, and other screenings lined up on their schedule. But there were 3 different ones that had me drooling.
My first official day of vacation was on Friday, Oct. 25th, and I headed down to St. Louis to witness something truly special, that probably has never happened before. And that was to watch some Jess Franco films in a theater . . . that once was an actual church! How could one pass that up!?!? Just thinking what Franco might have thought about these screenings and where, makes me smile.
My friend and Discover the Horror podcast co-host, Aaron AuBuchon, and Webster University, along with Severin Films, and Oscarbate Film Collective (John Dickson & Will Morris), hosted a 3-day event called Francomania: Vampyros Francos at the Webster University Film Series, where they would screen three different films from Spanish director Jess Franco, all dealing with the subject of vampires: Count Dracula (1970), Vampyros Lesbos (1971), and Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972). There was another screening of Franco’s Mucuba Sexual at this cool little place called The Arkadin, which looks like they screen all sorts of cool titles there.
For those big fans of filmmaker Jess Franco, we have a few T-Shirts left over from the Francomania: Vampyros Francos event that took place a couple of weeks ago in St. Louis. The art was created by the uber-talented Don England. He really knocked it out of the park with the design idea that we came up with.
If you’re interested, they are $20 each, with $5 for shipping. Just email me (jon@kitleyskrypt.com) the size you’re looking for and I’ll let you know if we still have any of them and we’ll go from there.
Supply is limited so if you’re interested, email me sooner than later!
Many of us film fans out there attend theaters throughout the year, whether it be a national chain or one of the art house theaters. Then there are some that are even hitting some of the film festivals, special screenings, and those crazy enough, the marathons. For these kinds of events to happen though, there has to be some mad geniuses behind them to make them become a reality. That is a little of what a film programmer is, though what they do is so much more. From tracking down film prints, the best quality ones available, and even harder sometimes is who actually owns them, so they can screen them. A lot of times it might come down to the sheer passion they have for these offbeat, awkward, or just downright strange and fucked up, that makes them want to pass that along to new viewers. In other words, helping new fans Discover the Horror!
One of those mad geniuses is Will Morris, who is one of the programmers for the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, and has been programming the 24-hour marathon, The Music Box of Horrors, for close to a decade now, as well as programming their yearly January Giallo festival, and much, much more. We invited Will to come on the show to not only explain a little of what he does, but why. Get ready for a fun and wild ride.
The first part of our Turkey Day 20th Anniversary was yesterday, and I have survived to tell the tale! In fact, we all did! It was a little different this time out because we spent some time doing a little filming here and there for a documentary about just how crazy we are for doing these little get-togethers for the last two decades, all in celebration of these cinematic shipwrecks. We had around 15 people joining in this year, most of which stayed here from the very beginning right to the very last film, knocking out SIX features (and about 21 pizzas!) before it was all said and done.
It is really hard to believe that not only have I continued this crazy tradition, but that I have more than a few die-hard friends that actually look forward to these little marathons with great joy and excitement. Yes, we are all mad cinephiles. It really is hard to explain to most people what exactly the reasoning is behind these, and even more importantly, why they are so much damn fun. But if you know, then you know and don’t need the explanation.
