Happy Birthday Lon Chaney!

April 1, 2022 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Blackbird, Flesh and Blood, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Joan Crawford, Lon Chaney, Outside the Law, Phantom of the Opera, The Penalty, The Unknown, Tod Browning | Leave a comment

While a lot of people will be posting little April Fools jokes throughout the day, I thought I’d rather spend the time talking about one of the greatest actors that has ever graced the silver screen, who just happened to be born on this day, 139 years ago. His name is Lon Chaney. And I say is because thanks to those wonderful people that have worked on keeping films restored and alive over the years, we can still watch and enjoy, and be amazed at the performances that Chaney gave in his films, meaning he is still with us!

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Music Box Announces 24-hours of Horror!

April 29, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Amando de Ossorio, Blind Dead, Demon Witch Child, Joan Crawford, Music Box of Horrors, Music Box Theatre, Strait-Jacket, Stuart Gordon, William Castle | 2 Comments

Music Box of Horrors 2016 Chicago’s own Music Box Theatre has announced the date for this year’s Music Box of Horrors, which will take place on Saturday, October 24th, starting at noon! We can all hope that things will be back to some sort of normality so us devious horror fans can enjoy another 24 hours of madness! I missed last year’s marathon because we were at an out-of-town show so this year we are hoping to make our return!

So far, they only have two titles announced, but I gotta say, they’ve picked to stellar movies! The first one is one of the last great pictures from the King of Ballyhoo, William Castle! Joining forces with Joan Crawford, we get Strait-Jacket (1964), with this twisted tale of axe-murderer on the loose. Screening from a 35mm print! Continue reading →

Book Review: Grande Dame Guignol Cinema

April 29, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged Bette Davis, Grande Dame Guignol Cinema, Joan Crawford, McFarland, Patty McCormack, Pete Walker, Peter Shelley, William Castle | Leave a comment

Grande Dame Guignol Cinema
Published by McFarland, 2009. 340 pages.
By Peter Shelley

Kudos to author Shelley for coming up with a great idea, highlighting some classics in horror cinema that some of them I feel tend to be left behind. Shelley writes in the preface, “for me the sign of good writing about films is that it compels one to see the movie under discussion. I hope my book does this for my readers.” Not only do I completely agree with that statement, but there are more than a few titles discussed in this book are now on my Need-to-Watch-AGAIN list.

Shelley does a great job in his introduction explaining the title of the book, and clearly defining what he means by it. This is a good way to stop people from asking “why did you leave this movie out?” … granted that will still probably happen. But at least going in, we are well aware of his point and what he is trying to accomplish with this book. With each title, he gives us a little background on the actress who is filling the role of the book’s title, and why they fit so well here. Once again, any book that sheds a little light on some horror history, I’m all for, and Shelley does an admirable job here.

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