2025 Year End Review Part 2 – Best Viewings

January 2, 2026 by Jon Kitley in Year End Reviews and tagged Bride from Hades, Bring Her Back, Bryan Bertino, Dakota Fanning, Daniel DelPurgatorio, Danny Philippou, Dark and the Wicked, Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro, Heart Eyes, John Lithgow, Kathryn Hunter, Marshmallow, Michael Philippou, Monster Island, Peony Lantern, Rule of Jenny Pen, Ryan Coogler, Satsuo Yamamoto, Sinners, Strange Darlings, Talk to Me, The Long Walk, The Monster of London City, The Red House, The Ugly Stepsister, Together, Trouble Every Day, Vicious, Weapons, Wolfkin, Zach Cregger | Leave a comment

And who says there are no good movies coming out these days? For the last couple of years, my Best Viewings of the year have mainly been recent releases, most from that current year. And 2025 was no different. There are 2 from the ’60s, 1 from 2023, 1 from 2024, and the rest from 2025. That tells me a couple of things. That either in past years, I was busy playing catch up with a lot of older great titles that I had never seen before, or that there are some still people out there busting their ass to make some original and entertaining horror films.

I didn’t think I was going to make it, but I set a new personal record for me, barely, but still did it. I manage to knock out 447 films this year, with 209 being new viewings. It sometimes amazes me how many I actually get through each year, but honestly, there are some nights when I can get through 3 movies with no problem. It really has to do with the love of cinema.

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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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