Tag Archives: Troy Howarth

Human Beasts: The Films of Paul Naschy

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Human BeastsOkay folks, I know I mentioned this a little while ago here but now that it is available, it needs its own special post. Human Beasts: The Films of Paul Naschy, the latest book by Troy Howarth is now available for purchase through Amazon. Now why is this that important? Well, the obvious reason is because it is a book about Paul Naschy!!! Okay, okay… you might have noticed that I’m kind of a fan of Naschy and his work if you’re a regular to the Krypt, so you’ll have to excuse the excitement I have for this release. In all honesty, this is the first book to really dig into the films of this amazing writer/director/actor and all around filmmaker, and not to mention horror fan. Besides his own autobiography, and the amazing photo book Muchas Gracias Senor Lobo by Thorsten Benzel, there hasn’t been a book here in the US that covers all his movies, or at least none that I know of. Until now.

For newer fans that might not be that familiar with Naschy’s work, this is going to be a great place to start, where you can use it as a checklist as you read about and then seek out the films that peeks your interests. Others can go through and learn more about the films, as well as reading about some you’ve might not seen yet. No matter how big of a fan you are, you are bound to learn more about Naschy and his films within these pages. This is a great way to help continuing the celebration of this incredibly talented filmmaker, and keep the memory of him his work alive and well. Continue reading →

Monster Bash Approaches

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MB-Lobby-Card-2018

After having another excellent time at the Cinevent Classic Film Convention’s 50th Anniversary show, we are now getting ready for the next stop in the Kryptic Anniversary Tour, which will be the Monster Bash Conference. This show is taking place in Mars, PA, from June 22nd to the 24th and continues to be one of our favorite stops on our annual tours. Now only does it have one of the best dealer rooms around that is tempting every single dollar I make at my own table, but there is so much stuff to do throughout the whole weekend. There’s plenty of panels and Q&A’s with the guests and other scholarly types, such as Victoria Price, Brandy Gorcey, Joyce Meadows, Janina Faye, Sharyn Moffett, Kris Yeaworth, Gregory Mank, Tom Weaver, and many more.

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Movie Review: Fangs of the Living Dead

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Fangs of the Living Dead Blu-rayFangs of the Living Dead (1969)
Directed by Amando de Ossorio
Starring Anita Ekberg, Gianni Medici, Diana Lorys, Rosanna Yanni, César Benet, Carlos Casaravilla, Adriana Ambesi, Julián Ugarte

There are times when you sit down with a movie and maybe you’re just not in the right mood, or frame of mind to really watch it. As the saying goes, you can never watch the same movie twice with the same eyes, and my experience with this title is a perfect example of this. I had seen this years ago, from a grainy old VHS tape, mainly because it was the same director as the Blind Dead series. But I didn’t remember that much of it at the time. When it came out on DVD, I course added it to the collection. I’m sure I watched it at some point, but just didn’t have a strong memory of it, meaning that if I had thought it was that great, I would have remembered it. Then the recent Blu-ray from Shout Factory came out and I was going upgrade to this new version when realized I remembered not caring for it that much. So I sat down with the DVD to refresh my memory and realized that I think I was okay with just this DVD version. Nothing really jumped out at me, so no reason to upgrade. But then I read that this new Blu-ray is actually the European cut which is a bit longer than the version I had. Then the “collector” part of me kicked in and decided I had to have this version now … I mean, it’s longer which means maybe I’m missing all the good parts! So I had to have it. Once it arrived, I sat down with it again, to see if this version was going to be another boring repeat viewing. Oh, how I was wrong.

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Movie Review: The Devil Incarnate

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El Caminante1

El Caminante (1979)
Directed by Paul Naschy
Starring Paul Naschy, David Rocha, Sara Lezana, Ana Harpo, Blanca Estrada, Silvia Aguilar

El CaminanteRecently released on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabre under the title The Devil Incarnate, this is noted as being one of the writer/director’s favorite films. But for those expecting the usual horror outing from Naschy, with vampires and werewolves, you might be a little disappointed. If you’re looking for a very unusual horror/comedy, one that had a very deep and personal meaning to the writer/director, then you might find yourself very intrigued by it. While I really did enjoy it, I sort of felt sad that its creator was ever in that dark of a period in his life, of not trusting many people in the business around him.

In his autobiography, Memoirs of a Wolfman, he stated “I wrote El Caminante in a very special frame of mind. Life had dealt me several harsh blows and I had gained a pretty negative impression of people. For me personally, friendships had been a lamentable disappointment. I knew all about betrayal and lack of loyalty and apart from my family – my parents, my wife and two sons – I didn’t believe there were many things worthwhile in this filthy rotten world. Later on three people appeared in my life who I consider true friends. However, the cry of anguish from the bottom of my soul which found expression through this movie is still valid today.” This film was made almost 40 years ago, and like Naschy wrote in his book over 20 years ago, the way society is still today, this message still rings true. Which again, is a pretty sad statement.

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Year of Naschy Continues!

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El CaminanteIt looks like the Year of Naschy will continue into 2018!!!

El Caminante (1979), a film that Naschy co-wrote, directed, and stars in, will be making it’s way to Blu-ray early in January, from the fine folks at Mondo Macabro. For Naschy fans, this is a pretty amazing news since this title had never been released over here in the states on DVD or even VHS, so to not only be able to finally see it, but to see it in a nice brand new 4K restoration!?!?! Just amazing.

Also known as The Devil Incarnate, the story is about the Devil who takes human form and walks the earth to see how humans have progress over the years. But the story here is a very dark one depending on how deep you look, especially in today’s terms. In 1994, a special double Naschy issue of Videooze came out where the actor/writer/director himself talks about each of his films. His thoughts on this film are even more meaningful today than ever.

Naschy says that “we live in the age when becoming rich is the most important thing, no matter who may stand in the way. The age when friendship has no value; we sell it out for nothing. The age in which a man could take his friend’s wife to bed and think nothing of it. The age in which even murder is justified with politics. We live in the age of the Devil.” That was said over 20 years ago. 

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Movie Review: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

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The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
Directed Dario Argento
Starring Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salemo, Eva Renzi, Umberto Raho, Renato Romano, Giuseppe Castellano

Bird Crystal Plumage 6

This is a very important title to Italian horror fans. It is, of course, the directorial debut of Dario Argento, and what would be the first film in his ‘animal trilogy’. It was this picture that would start Argento down his path as one of the most popular Italian directors, whose career has spanned more than five decades. Sure, some might frown upon some of Argento’s later films, even from the last couple of decades. But no matter how bad you might consider those films, that doesn’t change the fact that the titles in the early part of his career still are stunning classics and, more importantly, still effective today. As Troy Howarth points out in his commentary that is featured on this new disc from Arrow Video, “His reputation as one of the most influential and imaginative of genre filmmakers can never be taken away from him.” So there you go.

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Caltiki Oozes onto Blu-ray

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caltiki-blurayEvery single horror fan out there probably knows of and has seen The Blob. Probably both versions! But how many of them has seen the Caltiki: The Immortal Monster!

This Italian film came out a year after we all saw Steve McQueen do battle with the large purple gelatinous form. But Caltiki gives us another deadly devouring mass, which was directed by Riccardo Freda, with none other than Mario Bava as the cinematographer. Though, as the stories go, during production, Freda left, quit, or just walked off the film which was then completely by Bava. None the less, this film is a must for horror fans. There are some effects in here that are pretty damn creepy and gory for a film that came out in 1959.

Now, thanks to Arrow Video, you will have the chance to see this film in all its gory glory. This release will feature a brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative, with High Definition blu-ray (1080P) and standard definition DVD presentations. It will also feature the original mono Italian and English soundtracks, with newly translated English subtitles for the Italian language track.

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Horror Education

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tomb-of-terror-vol-1

As horror fans, it is very important to know what came before, to help us understand and enjoy the films of today. Of course the way to do that is to keep watching older films. But how far back do you go? Just to the Universal classics? Of do you dig a little deeper and get to the silent horror films? I really hope all horror fans do jus this because there are some incredible titles out there from the silent era that are still available today. Some of the imagery they show us is not only truly frightening, but also amazing that they created them a hundreds years ago!

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Monster Bash 2016 Report Part 3: Authors, Authors and More Authors!

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I Talked to a Zombie book.jpgOne of the great things I loved about Monster Bash is the presence of not only books but authors as well. Last year, I got over dozen books signed by a few different authors that were there. And it didn’t cost a penny! It would have been a lot more books but author Tom Weaver wasn’t able to make it to the show. But this year he was, and I was prepared for his return to the Bash, bringing well over a dozen of his books alone for him to sign. Weaver is a deity when it comes to horror history, spending his time seeking out and interviewing stars of the movies we love, both bigger names and not-so-bigger names, and getting their stories and memories down in print for us monster fans to read and learn even more about them.

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Arrow Gives Us Killer Dames!

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killer dames
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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