Jack Taylor – Rest in Peace

May 12, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged Amando de Ossorio, Jack Taylor, Jesús Franco, Jess Franco, John Milius, Juan Piquer Simón, Milos Forman, Paul Naschy, Ridley Scott, Roman Polanski, Spanish Horror | Leave a comment

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.

Continue reading →

Joe Turkel – Rest in Peace

July 2, 2022 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged Bert I. Gordon, Blade Runner, Joe Turkel, Ridley Scott, Stanley Kubrick, The Shining, Tormented | Leave a comment

The real power of an actor can be one single role, one performance, even if it is for only a minute or two onscreen that will make movie-goers remember them forever. Joe Turkel, and actor who had over a 140 acting credits to his name, did that twice in his career. They were on the later part of his career, but they are still as an effective performance now and they were some 40 years ago today.

The first and probably best known, is that of Lloyd the bartender in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980). His underplayed and subdued characterization sells the roles even more. But then two years later, he appeared in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, as Dr. Eldon Tyrell, the creator of the replicants that Harrison Ford’s character is out to capture. Again, not a huge role and not a lot of screen time, but Turkel made an impact with it.

Continue reading →

LV-426 is Alien Day

April 8, 2016 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Alamo Drafthouse, Alien, Alien Day, Aliens, James Cameron, LV429, Music Box Theatre, Ridley Scott | Leave a comment

alien day For those die-hard fans of the Alien series, we all know that moon where the Nostromo first encountered the infamous eggs was called LV426. Now thanks to 20th Century Fox, Mondo, and the Alamo Drafthouse, we will all be able to celebrate this date with a double feature screening of Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, taking place on April 29th. Get it…LV426…4-26. Pretty slick, huh? None the less, getting to see these two incredible classics on the big screen is a reason to celebrate no matter what!

You can check out the Alamo’s site HERE to find out where this event might be taking place near you. I know for us Chicago area fans, it will be taking place at the Music Box Theatre, where they will actually be screening Aliens in 70mm! They will also have the exclusive Mondo-designed t-shirt on sale in the lobby. There will also be custom video pre-shows before and between the two features. Really hard to pass up this opportunity.

Once again, this takes place on Tuesday, April 29th. At the Music Box, Alien will start at 7pm and Aliens will start at 9:15pm. Tickets for the double feature are only $12.

Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World – Chicago Premiere

August 14, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Alien, Facets, H.R. Giger, Ridley Scott | Leave a comment

I think we could all agree that Ridley Scott’s film Alien would not have been the same, or even close to it, had it not been for the incredible original and stylistic artwork from H.R. Giger. Now, thanks to documentarian filmmaker Belinda Sallin, you can have a closer look at Giger and his last years of life in this new film called Dark Star: H.G. Giger’s World. You can see the Chicago premiere at Facets in the city, which start on Friday August 21st. For more information about this screening, as well as many other interesting titles, just click HERE.

Check out the trailer below.