Hammer Presents More British Horror

December 20, 2025 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Chris Alexander, Crucible of Horror, Cry of the Banshee, Gordon Hessler, Hammer Films, Hammer Presents, Kim Newman, Michael Gough, Vincent Price | Leave a comment

This is one thing I did not expect to happen but am thrilled at the aspects of it. Okay, maybe my wallet isn’t, but that’s a problem for Future-Jon to worry about! The new Hammer Films company, under the leadership of John Gore, has been making a lot of fans of the studio very happy with their amazing releases of some of their classic titles, such as the first two Quatermass movies, Captain Kronos, as well as The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). But now, not only are they going to continue to do that, but they are also going to be putting out other British horror titles from different studios under the banner Hammer Presents.

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Movie Review: Hollywood Legends of Horror

November 9, 2025 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Carroll Boreland, Constantine Nasr, Doctor X, Dr. Steve Haberman, Fay Wray, Frances Drake, Gregg Toland, Hollywood Legends of Horror, Humphrey Bogart, Karl Freund, Kim Newman, Lionel Atwill, Lionel Barrymore, Lon Chaney, London After Midnight, Mad Love, Mark of the Vampire, Michael Curtiz, Peter Lorre, Return of Doctor X, Stephen Jones, The Devil Doll, The Mask of Fu Manchu, Tod Browning, Vincent Sherman, Wayne Morris | Leave a comment

While it might have something to do with the fact that I’m an older horror fan, but there is something special about going back and watching the classic films from the beginning of the golden age of the horror film. And we’re all familiar with the Universal classics that really helped create that first big impact, but they weren’t the only studio trying to make their own footprint in that horror heritage. While they might not have made as big of a footprint, studios like Warner Bros. and MGM were making some serious efforts at the same time. And some of these definitely should be held up in the same respect as some of those Universal entries.

Thanks to Warner Archives you can add 6 of these titles to your collection, all in one set! They have released the Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection that features Blu-ray releases of the following films: Doctor X (1932), The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), Mad Love (1935), Mark of the Vampire (1935), The Devil Doll (1936), and The Return of Doctor X (1939). The set retails for only $59.99, so that really is about $10 a title. But honestly, the films alone are must for any horror fans movie library.

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Curse of Frankenstein on 4K

August 23, 2025 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Anthony Hinds, Barry Forshaw, Christopher Frayling, Christopher Lee, Constantine Nasr, David J. Miller, Dick Klemensen, Frankenstein, Hammer Films, Hammer Horror, Hammer Studios, Heidi Honeycutt, Jack Asker, James Bernard, Jimmy Sangster, Jonathan Rigby, Kim Newman, Little Shoppe of Horrors, Mark Gatiss, Peter Cushing, Phil Leakey, Stephen Jones, Terence Fisher, The Curse of Frankenstein, Toby Roan, Warner Archives, Wayne Kinsey | Leave a comment

This is something Hammer fans have been waiting a long, long time since the new owners of the studio started releasing some amazing 4K editions. They have finally has announced the next title getting their all-star treatment is none other than The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), the film that really put them in the big league. While they started to get attention with their two Quatermass films, once Curse hit the theaters, including the US, it just exploded. And now, the wait is over. Sort of.

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The (Latest) Definitive Guide to Horror Films

August 14, 2025 by Jon Kitley in Book News and tagged Horror!, James Marriott, Kim Newman, The Definitive Guide to Horror Movies | Leave a comment

Being a collector of horror reference books, which includes several different film guides from throughout the past 30 years, I can’t help but add new ones to the collection. But as serious collectors know, you have to be a little careful before immediately picking up a new release, because you might already have an older version of the book, and sometimes the new version isn’t that much newer. Thankfully, it seems this version at least some more content added than just a few pages. But again, the rest of the book seems to be exactly the same as the last edition.

This title started back in 2006, under the title Horror: The Definitive Guide to Cinema of Fear. Then it was released again in 2010 under the title Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death, with a few pages of added content. Then three years later, it was released again as Horror! The Definitive Companion to the Most Terrifying Movies Ever Made, again with a few more papers of content added. Then five years later, and another 8 pages added, it was released again under the title The Definitive Guide to Horror Movies: 365 Films to Scare You to Death. And now, it is being released once again, with seemingly a bit more content, more than 30 pages added, under the same Definitive title, now with Ghostface from the Scream series on the cover.

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Movie Review – Terror in the Fog: The Wallace Krimi At CCC

May 9, 2025 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Alice Brauner, Artur Brauner, Barry Forshaw, Bryan Edgar Wallace, Central Cinema Company, Diabolik DVD, DiabolikDVD, Edgar Wallace, Edwin Zbonek, Eureka Entertainment, Franz Josef Gottlieb, Hansjorg Felmy, Harald Reinl, Italian Giallo, Jonathan Rigby, Karin Dor, Kevin Lyons, Kim Newman, Krimi, Maria Perschy, Rialto Films, Stephen Jones, Terror in the Fog: The Wallace Krimi at CCC, The Curse of the Yellow Snake, The Mad Executioners, The Monster of London City, The Phantom of Soho, The Racetrack Murders, The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle, Tim Lucus, Video Watchdog | 2 Comments

I thought I knew what a “krimi film” was and had seen a couple of them over the years. Turns out, in fact, I knew very little about them. I thought they were just a little off shoot to the Italian giallo films but made in Germany, which they kind of were, but so different. Kind of like saying all pasta is the same as spaghetti! The term krimi is slang for Kriminalfilme, or Crime Film, that was shortened to just krimi. This moniker was created after a series of films based on the works of British author Edgar Wallace and his son Bryan Edgar Wallace, mainly starting by the films made by the West Germany company Rialto Films between 1959 and 1972, but also a series of films by Artur Brauner with the Central Cinema Company (CCC), that he founded in 1946. Brauner was also the one to bring back the criminal mastermind, Dr. Mabuse, back to the screen with a series of films. But that’s for another review!

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Severin Drops Danza Macabra Vol. 3

May 16, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Angel Sala, Barry Forshaw, Cake of Blood, Cross of the Devil, Danza Macabra, Graveyard of Horror, John Gilling, Kat Ellinger, Kim Newman, Leon Klimovsky, Naschycast, Necrophagous, Night of the Walking Dead, Paul Naschy, Rod Barnett, Severin Films, Sitges Film Festival, Spanish Horror, Xavier Aldana Reyes | Leave a comment

Fans of Spanish horror are going to love this latest box set from Severin Films. They still just blow me away with the titles they are releasing. This set has 2 films that I’ve never even heard of, and that is coming from a huge fan of Spanish horror! Not to mention the fact that they’ve never been released over here in the states. In fact, 3 out of the 4 titles have never legitimately been released over here! Plus, as usual with Severin’s releases, these are just packed full of extras, from commentaries to interviews, and much more.

PLUS, 3 of the titles are scanned in 4K from original negatives, while the last one is scanned in 2K from the negative. Keep in mind, the last time I saw Cross of the Devil was from about a 10 generation VHS tape. This was a rare title that was written by Paul Naschy and directed by John Gilling. So going from that to a 4K print!?!?! What a time to be alive!

Here’s a breakdown of the films and what extras each of them has:

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Definitive Guide Updated Once Again

October 4, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Book News and tagged Carlton Books, Definite Guide to Horror Movies, Horror, James Marriott, Kim Newman | Leave a comment

Definitive Guide to Horror Movies Followers of this site know I’m all about the horror reference book. The more the better! But it does get a little annoying when a publisher puts out an barely updated version of one of their previous releases, but only changes the cover and even the title enough to where to looks a completely new book. Carlton Books has done it once again.

The Definitive Guide to Horror Movies by Kim Newman and James Marriot (who passed away in 2012) has recently been released. Because of those two authors’ names and the way the title is, I figured the publisher was doing it again and re-re-re-releasing the same book again, but adding a few pages. Which is in fact just what they are doing. This was originally released back in 2006, under the simple title of Horror: The Definitive Guide to Cinema of Fear. Then it was released again in 2010, under the title Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death, with Lee Remick from The Omen on the cover and 253 pages. Jump ahead 3 short years and they release it again as Horror! The Definitive Companion to the Most Terrifying Movies Ever Made with Leatherface on the cover. Again, with a few more pages added (360 total). And 5 years later, it has another 8 pages added and now called The Definitive Guide to Horror Movies: 365 Films to Scare You to Death with a shot from Poltergeist. Continue reading →

Movie Review: Cat O’ Nine Tails

February 19, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Alan Jones, Arrow Video, Cat O'Nine Tails, Dario Argento, James Franciscus, Karl Malden, Kim Newman | Leave a comment

The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971)
Directed Dario Argento
Starring James Franciscus, Karl Malden, Catherine Spaak, Pier Paolo Capponi, Horst Frank, Tino Carraro, Rada Rassimov, Aldo Reggiani, Carlo Alighiero

This has always been my favorite of Argento’s Animal Trilogy. Even though the reveal at the end of the film doesn’t have the big “It’s You!” payoff that a good thriller might have, this is a giallo after all so it comes down to many other things. But having a blind puzzle maker as one of the main protagonists is something that I’ve always thought was a cool idea, and Malden does an excellent job here.

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Arrow Gives Us Killer Dames!

May 7, 2016 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Alan Jones, Arrow Video, Emilio P. Miraglia, Kim Newman, Red Queen Kills Seven Times, Stephen Thrower, The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, Troy Howarth | 2 Comments

In a couple of weeks, Arrow Video will be unleashing two films from writer/director Emilio P. Miraglia in a double feature box set called Killer Dames! The set will consists of the 1971 film The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave and the 1972 film The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Each film will come in both DVD and blu-ray format, both also with a ton of extras, though will be limited to only 3000 copies. So if you’re interested, you better get those pre-orders in now. Both films have brand new 2K restorations from the original camera negatives. They will also have the original Italian soundtrack, with newly translated English subtitles, as well as the English dubbed version as well. There is also a 60-page booklet containing information about the films.

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