Tag Archives: Music Box Theatre

William Castle Fest at the Music Box!

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“For the first time in motion picture history…” was a line that director William Castle used quite often to promote his new movie, that usually came with a gimmick. Whether it was Percepto, Emergo, or Illusion-O, Castle made not only pretty entertaining pictures but made going to see one of his film an event. While he didn’t create ballyhoo, he damn near perfected it when it came to his films. This August, as Chicago’s Music Box Theatre, you’ll be able to experience 5 of his features, most of which from 35mm. See below for the schedule and start making your plans.

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Super-Horror-Rama Goes Full Throttle!

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They are back!!! Now that Chicago’s Music Box Theatre is finished installing their 3rd theater, John McDevitt and his Super-Horror-Rama screenings are back with another amazing pair of fun fright flicks, both based on the works of Stephen King and both dealing with some psychotic vehicular madness!

On July 24th at 11:30pm, you can see John Carpenter’s Christine (1983), starring Keith Gordon and that beautiful cherry red, but deadly, 1958 Plymouth Fury.

Then the next night, on July 25th, you can see King’s one and only time in the director’s chair, for better or worse, in Maximum Overdrive (1985)! Sure, some might say it is a trainwreck, but damn if it isn’t a fun ride! With an all-star cast including Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Lisa Simpson herself, Yeardley Smith, this really is just a lot of fun, with metal carnage, some slight overacting, and a soundtrack by AC/DC!!! What more could you want?

Just click HERE to buy tickets. And if you like what Super-Horror-Rama is doing and want to help them continue to do so, join their Patreon! There are 3 different levels with plenty of cool benefits for you, but it also helps John continue to program these great little features each month. Just click HERE if you’re interested in joining.

Music Box of Horrors 2026!

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Okay Music Box fans… pay attention to this! The Music Box has announced the date for this year’s Music Box of Horrors, which will be on Saturday, October 24th, from noon to noon on Sunday. Tickets for this event will go on sale at noon on Thursday, June 11th. Now last year, the whole marathon sold out in a little over 24 hours! So, if you have any inkling to make it to this year’s marathon, I would set your clocks, alarms, computers, or whatever else you need to remind you to order your tickets once they do go on sale. Otherwise, when you see all the amazing titles they are going to be screening this year, you might be a little bummed.

Speaking of titles, they have announced 3 of them so far. They are Amityville II: The Possession (1982), Black Magic with Buddha (1983), and The German Chainsaw Massacre!

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That Very Witch Double Feature

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On May 30th, at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, they are hosting That Very Witch Double Feature! Starting at 9:30pm, the first film is the Italian film Baba Yaga (1973), starring Carol Baker, Isabelle De Funès, and George Eastman, in a strange tale directed by Corrado Farina, of a photographer falling under the spell of the witch. Filled with eroticism, strange nightmares, and highly memorable images.

The second feature is Virgin Witch (1971), directed by Ray Austin, and starring real life sisters Ann and Vicki Michelle, who are invited for a weekend photo shoot at country home of Patricia Haines, who plays Sibil Waite, the owner of a modeling agency. But little do the sisters know Sibil has much more on her mind than modeling. In fact, she is in search of a virgin to join her coven of witches!

Both films will be introduced by author Payton McCarty-Simas, who will be selling copies her book That Very Witch: Fear, Feminism & the American Witch Film after the show. Severin Films will also be there with a Pop-Up in the Lounge before and after the screenings.

Just click HERE to get to the Music Box’s page for this event.

Fond of His Mother: Queer-coded Hitchcock

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No matter how you want to, or not want to, read into the subtext of some of the films from Alfred Hitchcock, he no doubt was pushing the limits of certain subject matters in some of his films. Whether it be sex, violence. or queerness, Hitchcock was not only a master of suspense, but subtext, getting different things past the censors and studio heads without them even realizing it. Next month, the Music Box Theatre is celebrating 4 of those films: Strangers on a Train (1951), Rebecca (1940), Psycho (1960), and Rope (1947). While Rebecca will be from a DCP, the rest of the films will be screening from 35mm prints.

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Super-Horror-Rama Celebrates Birthdays

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This month’s Super-Horror-Rama screenings celebrate their 1-year anniversary of twisted screenings at the Music Box with two deadly birthdays screenings. Before we get to the titles, just some info regarding upcoming screenings. Since the Music Box is adding a third screen to their venue, the 2nd screening room, where the Super-Horror-Rama events take place, are going to be closed down for a bit during the construction. So, this screening will the last one for a bit, but they will be back! That means what better time to come out and show your support to the fine folks that program these wonderful events, especially on their 1-year birthday!

The first feature, screening on Friday, March 27th at 11:45pm, is the Australian film Alison’s Birthday, a folk horror tale that doesn’t seem to be talked about too much but is an interesting take on the sub-genre from down under. The second feature, screening on March 28th at 11:45pm is the wacky, far-out-, and gory-as-hell Belgium film Rabid Grannies (1988). It is just as crazy as the title you make you think it is, with plenty of old-fashioned gore effects. If you’ve never seen either of these, now is your chance to catch a rare screening of them both.

You can get your tickets HERE. Every ticket includes a limited-edition pinback button, and they have some great giveaways before each screening with trivia questions keyed into the screenings theme, with this one being, of course, birthday horror! The prizes are donated by The Shadowboxery, Cryptid Craft Studio, Night Natalie, Groovy Doom, and Full Bleed.

Super-Horror-Rama – New Year New You

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The fine folks from Super-Horror-Rama have some up with another great two features to celebrate the new year. The theme is New Year, New You! Because of all the silly New Year’s resolutions we all make, most of which we don’t stick to, this is a good example of when those new changes might not be the best change! But that doesn’t mean it’s not fun for us to watch!

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2025 Year End Review – Part 1

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This has been one hell of a year. On my write up for 2024, I made a point to remind us of all that with all the crap going on in the world, we need to look for the positives out there, because they are there and we need not lose sight of that. But I have to say, it wasn’t the easiest to do that in 2025. When I first started to review the past year from the posts here in the Krypt, I couldn’t find much that I thought were highlights. At least not more than a couple of things. But then I went back a couple of weeks later, with a more thorough set of eyes, and low and behold, there were plenty. Once again, it just shows that sometimes the positives are hard to see and remember. They might even seem pretty trivial, but they are there. So, amidst all the chaos and tragedy that is going on, that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to make us sit back and think “yeah…that was pretty cool.” They might not be huge events or something, but that made you glad you were there and part of it. And we need to be focused on and remembering those moments, now more than ever, to help us get through this dark time we’re going through.

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January Giallo Returns to the Music Box

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Once again, this January the mysterious sub-genre known as the giallo comes back for 4 screenings. This has been going on for a few years now and they never fail to bring in some really interesting titles, and this year is no different. The screenings take place every Monday in January. See below for the titles.

January 5th – Paranoia (1969) – Directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring Carol Baker, screening from a 35mm print.

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Happy Halloween from Kitley’s Krypt!

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This month has been a complete whirlwind, from conventions, a 24-hour movie marathon, 4 library lectures, as well as with all the regular real-life BS that everyone has to deal with. Trying to find to time to actually enjoy the month’s festivities can be a bit tough, while also trying to squeeze some movies whenever you can get a free 90-minutes! I always say at the end of each October, as tired and stressed as I might be, I have had an absolute blast and wouldn’t change a thing.

These are the choices we make. The choices may put extra work on our already full plate, but we do it anyway because it feeds our soul. We know we’re doing it for the right reasons and no matter how much work goes into it, when we look back and see all that we’ve done at the end of the month, you do get that sense of accomplishment.

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