Tag Archives: Will Morris

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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DtH Episode 69 – Horror at the Music Box with Will Morris

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Many of us film fans out there attend theaters throughout the year, whether it be a national chain or one of the art house theaters. Then there are some that are even hitting some of the film festivals, special screenings, and those crazy enough, the marathons. For these kinds of events to happen though, there has to be some mad geniuses behind them to make them become a reality. That is a little of what a film programmer is, though what they do is so much more. From tracking down film prints, the best quality ones available, and even harder sometimes is who actually owns them, so they can screen them. A lot of times it might come down to the sheer passion they have for these offbeat, awkward, or just downright strange and fucked up, that makes them want to pass that along to new viewers. In other words, helping new fans Discover the Horror!

One of those mad geniuses is Will Morris, who is one of the programmers for the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, and has been programming the 24-hour marathon, The Music Box of Horrors, for close to a decade now, as well as programming their yearly January Giallo festival, and much, much more. We invited Will to come on the show to not only explain a little of what he does, but why. Get ready for a fun and wild ride.

Movies mention in the episode:

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Praise for the Music Box Theatre

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As I near my 6th decade on this planet, most of that being an obsessive horror fan, it’s really easy to slip into the grumpy old man mode these days, telling younger horror fans to get off my lawn. Even conventions are nowhere near what they used to be, with more about paying for overpriced autographs and collecting toys than caring about the actual movies themselves.

See how easy that was?

But the other night, I witnessed something that made this grinch of a horror fan’s withered heart grow 3 times in size.

The Music Box Theatre in Chicago is a place I’ve been going to for over 30 years, mainly for midnight screenings but also to some of their film series they’ve done over the years. Back in the ‘90s when I would go to something like a midnight screening of Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond (1981) or Toshiharu Ikeda’s Evil Dead Trap (1988), there’d be maybe 10 people there, and most of them snickering during the screening.

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Music Box of Horrors 2018

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MBoH2018 marquee1

Chicago’s Music Box Theatre has been hosting these 24-hour marathons since 2005, and I have been at every one of them. There were a few times I was just there as a fan to watch the movies, but usually I’m there as a vendor. When I am set up as a vendor, part of me always regrets not just coming as a fan and being able to enjoy watching the films instead of staying behind my table. Sure, with my wife Dawn there, I could always sneak out to catch a  film or two, but I usually feel bad about leaving her there to watch the table alone. Plus, I always feel I might miss something. We also usually pack and leave somewhere around 2am, figuring sales are usually low or non-existent by then. But this time out, things were a little different. Continue reading →

Music Box of Horrors 2017

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20141012_040816Many, many years ago, while set up at a little movie memorabilia show in Rosemont, Il, a young lady came strolling by our table. For some reason, she looked a bit familiar, but we just couldn’t place her. As it turns out, it was none other than Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, an actress who had appeared in a few Italian films like Demons 2 (1986) and Opera (1987). How and why would she be just wandering around this show, here in the states?!?! Turns out that she had been living in Chicago for a while and was dragged to the show by a friend. We started talking and became friends over the next couple of decades. We introduced her to Ken Kish, who quickly had her appear at his Cinema Wasteland show in 2001. In fact, he even had her back once again in 2008. At that show, because of Coralina, I had the glorious opportunity to meet the talented director Mariano Baino, director of Dark Waters (1993), a film that I have always loved and admired, for its look, atmosphere, and originality.

Fast forward to 2016, at the annual Music Box of Horrors, while I was chatting with Will Morris, the genius who has been programming the marathon the last couple of years. I asked him if he knew of the film Dark Waters and immediately his eyes lit up and said, “I love that movie!” I then told him that I knew the director, Mariano, and I’m sure he’d love to come out here if they would screen his film. And now, as they say, the rest is now history. Well, there was a lot more to that, but let’s just say that thanks to Will, Ryan at the Music Box, and of course the fine folks at Severin Films, it all came together for this year’s Music Box of Horrors.

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Music Box Sets Date for Horrors

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20141012_040816I was very surprised and delighted to see that the Music Box Theatre, located in Chicago, has already set their date for this year’s Music Box of Horrors. Why? Well, because for someone who’s fall is usually packed with stuff and events going on every weekend from September to the beginning of November, it’s nice to be able to start marking off these events on my calendar, so I know how to plan accordingly! We’ve been going to these 24-hour marathons at the Music Box ever since they started them back in 2005 and have always had a great time. Any time you get a chance to see a bunch of movies, usually some real good classic titles in there, all screened from 35mm prints, it can only be a good time. Plus, the people coming to this event are actually there to watch the movies. Nothing wrong with a little partying, but the movies come first. So you get very little, if any, of the usual people talking, on their cell phones, and the usual distractions.

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