Tag Archives: Roger Corman

Music Box of Horrors 2024

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This weekend, we’ll be heading back into Chicago for this year’s 24-hours of insanity, known as the Music Box of Horrors. This annual event is one that I look forward to every year and it just keeps getting better and better, as well as more popular than ever. The fact that this year’s marathon sold out before maybe even half of the titles had been announced is just insane! That tells me that the Music Box programmers have not only continued to have a solid lineup each and every year, but that they’ve built up the trust of the fans that will buy their tickets right away, not knowing or caring what the lineup is going to be, because they know it will be worth it. This year is no different.

Of course, we will be set up there in the lounge, pimping our usual wares of horror reference books, urging fans to dive deeper into this wonderful film genre that we all love. Might have some new and interesting titles for you to peruse so make sure you stop by our table and check it out. Or, just to say hello and chat. We love nothing more than talking about horror films!

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Book Review: The Soul of Wes Craven

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The Soul of Wes Craven
Published by Harker Press, 2024. 460 pages
By Joseph Maddrey

Out of all the directors that were reigning supreme in my formable years, the ‘80s, with names like Romero, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Hooper, Coscarelli, Wes Craven was never in my favorites. There were a few of his films that I still love to this day, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, but for a career as a whole, he’s not high up in my list. But by reading this new book on him, it proved yet once again that by learning more about a subject, really going behind and deep into the person, you cannot help but see things differently. Doesn’t mean it changed my feelings towards some of his work, but it gives one so much more understanding on what you see.

There was a lot about Craven that I knew, such as him being a very intelligent man, that he used to be a teacher at one point, as well as wanting to break free from the genre that he was continually forced to work in. A younger me would state that he just used the genre to get his foot in the door, but never really was a fan. Once you read of his life, being raised in a very fundamental religious background, you realize he is never far away from true horror. And wanting to do something different from just that genre, that he was a very creative person who wanted to show that while he enjoyed working in scary tales, he also could show you something else.

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Turkey Day in May 2024

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Starting on our 3rd decade of Turkey Day Marathons, with this one being our 10th Turkey Day in May event, there just seems to be no stopping us. There are several things about these events that continue to amaze me. First and foremost, is the number of my friends that are crazy enough to continue to come out and sit through whatever I throw at them. Keep in mind, the titles are never announced until I hit play on the player. But they still come out. Sure, every once in a while, there might be a film where a mutiny is maybe thought about, but it is soon forgotten, and we move on to the next film. It reminds me that cinephiles are a different breed of people, ones that can look at what most people would scoff at, look down at, or even wonder why we’re wasting our title with that particular title. But the people that continue to come out see the real value and entertainment in these pictures. I am honored and so grateful to call them my friends.

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Mark Damon – Rest in Peace

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Okay Mr. Reaper, give it a rest, will you? While Mr. Corman just left us a few days ago, now we find out that Mark Damon, who starred in Corman’s first Poe picture, House of Usher (1960), as well as in one of the segments in Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath, passed away on Sunday the 12th, at the ripe age of 91 years old, and who was still working in the industry! Granted, Damon moved into production side years ago, with over 70 titles under his credits, but I’m sure the constant working helped get him going.

As an actor, especially in the ’70s, you’d see his name in a few horror titles, such as Byleth: The Demon of Incest (1972), Crypt of the Living Dead (1973), or my personal favorite, The Devil’s Wedding Night (1973). But like a lot of these actors, directors, and others that worked on the films that we loved when we were younger, are now reaching that age. But as I always say, it is because of their work in films is what will continue to keep their work alive. And this is no different for Mark Damon. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Roger Corman – Rest in Peace

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I know we like to throw around the word legend when we talk about people in the film industry, but that moniker doesn’t even fit Roger Corman. That title would fit him if only because of the amount of talent that he helped come up through the ranks by giving them a chance. But it goes so far beyond that. The number of movies that he both directed and produced, on the budgets they had, and yet still turned out incredibly entertaining films, is the true testament to this man’s legacy.

While only directing 56 titles, he’s produced almost 500 in his career that has spanned over 7 decades! And no matter how cheesy some of those earlier films he made in the ’50s were, the fact that they are still cherished and remembered today shows us his talent. But then he changed all of that in the ’60s with the Poe films he did with Vincent Price. That changed the genre, once again.

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Movie Review: Devil’s Partner

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Devil’s Partner (1960)
Directed by Charles R. Rondeau
Starring Ed Nelson, Edgar Buchanan, Jean Allison, Richard Crane, Spencer Carlisle, Byron Foulger

This film was one that I remember seeing the poster art but never really knew the film. I’ve read that it was in public domain, but never remember seeing it on VHS. It wasn’t until I bought a bootleg DVD of it last year when I first saw it. And of course, since I bought that bootleg, now we have not only a legitimate release, but a beautiful 4K restoration on Blu-ray! You’re welcome.

Released in 1960, about a decade away from when movies, both theatrical and for television, loved to tackle the theme of the devil, selling one’s soul, and all the other mischievous things Old Scratch would get into. But here we have a very early film that not only tackles that subject but does it in a very strange and different way. The film starts with a very old man killing a goat, using the blood for a ritual, and writing a pact with the devil on a piece of animal skin, promptly dying. Right before he expires, we see a mysterious hand come into the frame to sign the contract. What a way to start the film.

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Movie Review: The Terror

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Directed by Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Hill, Monte Hellman, Dennis Jakob, Jack Nicholson
Starring Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller, Dorothy Neumann, Jonathan Haze

The Terror (1963) was one of those films that you always would see on the shelf when you went to any video store back in the day, or at places like the grocery stores if they had these bins of cheap VHS tapes. The main reason for that was because this was public domain title, so there were multiple different releases out at any given time, and all of them looking pretty shabby quality-wise. The more you learned about the film itself and how it came to be, you probably found that to be more entertaining, or at least more fascinating, than the actual picture itself!

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Beast from Haunted Cave Released by Film Masters

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Not sure when I first came across Beast from Haunted Cave, but when I had learned it was filmed in South Dakota, my birth state, and it was a low budget monster flick, I was in. We’ve reviewed the film previously here on the Krypt (just click HERE), but recently Film Masters have put it out on Blu-ray, along with in a double feature disc, so we wanted to mention it here again.

Bottom line is that if you like those low budget monster flicks, and unusual ones at that, then you can’t pass up this new release from Film Masters. Not only does the print look great, being a newly restored 4K scan from 35mm archival material, but you get a bunch of extras, including an early Roger Corman feature called Ski Troop Attack, which was an early WWII drama using the same locations that were used in Beast. This is a great example of what Corman was doing with very little money, a small cast, but making it work to put out an entertaining little film.

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Movie Review: Beast from Haunted Cave

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(1959)
Directed by Monte Hellman
Starring Michael Forest, Sheila Carol, Frank Wolfe, Wally Campo, Chris Robinson

I’m a sucker for monster movies from the ‘50s, and even more so when the creature is like something we’ve never seen before. Nothing against all the vampires and werewolves out there, but it is always refreshing to see something new and unique show up on the screen, showing how creative the filmmakers could be, especially with little or no money. That alone would be enough of a reason to watch this film. The fact that is actually decent story, well-acted, and well shot, is just bonus points. It’s a real shame that while a ton of the ‘50s monster flicks get remembered and discussed over and over, this one seems to be forgotten or at least not mentioned too often. Which is a damn shame, and why I decided I needed get a review of it posted now!

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Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster

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On October 26th, this new documentary on one of the greatest icons of the horror genre will be available on Digital and On Demand from Shout! Studios. You’ll get to hear from names like Guillermo del Toro, John Landis, Joe Dante, Christopher Plummer, Ron Perlman, Peter Bogdanovich, Roger Corman, Christopher Frayling, and many, many more, all in honor of this great man. Check out the trailer below and mark your calendar for the 26th!