House on Haunted Hill at the Music Box!

This Wednesday and Thursday, June 7th & 8th, not only do you have the chance to see William Castle’s 1959 classic film starring Vincent Price, but you’ll get to experience EMERGO!!! Just like Castle did when the film first premiered, you’ll see the terror come right off the screen! Plus, it is from a 35mm print!

If you’ve never had a chance to see this (or any Castle film) on the big screen, then you are really missing out because in an audience setting, it really is a whole new experience. Also, Castle super-fan Matt Harding will have pieces of his William Castle collection on display! You don’t want to miss this event.

For all the info, head over the Music Box Theatre’s website HERE.

Mystery Photo 6-5

Welcome to the first Monday of June. For most of us, that just means the Halloween season is just 4 months away. So as we avoid the sun and heat (okay, maybe that’s just me), before we know it, the leaves will turn and fall, the temps will drop (hopefully) and it will be Halloween before we know it. Got to focus on something positive, right? Speaking of positive, let’s get to last week’s photo and all the correct answers we got. The shot is from the film Targets (1968) from director Peter Bogdanovich. Very unsettling, with its feet both in the terrors in the reel world and the real world. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Scott Bradley, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Christopher Highland, Troy Howarth, Bryan Senn, William Wilson. Well done!

For this week’s photo, I decided to go with a favorite of mine. But I decided to go with a shot that might be a little obscure. I guess we’ll just see how good you are out there! Just remember, send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Music Box of Horrors 2023 Announced!

Chicago’s own Music Box Theatre has announced the date for this year’s 24-hour horror movie marathon, which will take place from noon Saturday, October 21st through noon on Sunday. We have missed this the last couple due to scheduling conflicts but this year we will be making our triumphant return!

They have just announced the first 3 features to be playing at this year’s marathon: James Cameron’s Piranha 2: The Spawning (1981), J.R. Bookwalter’s shot-on-video Ozone (1993), and Casper (1995), with plenty more to be announced.

You can already get your ticket by heading over the Music Box Theatre’s website by clicking HERE. If you order your ticket now, before October 20th, they are only $30 ($25 for Music Box Members). The day of the marathon, tickets will be $35 ($30 for members). But remember, last year the marathon sold out, so if you really want to go, then I would advise buying your ticket sooner than later.

In Search of Darkness: The Book!

Back in 2019, director David A. Weiner, and a host of names involved in the horror genre, from actors, directors, makeup artists, to a slew of genre journalists that gave us In Search of Darkness: A Journey Into Iconic ’80s Horror. I remember watching his epic documentary, running close to 4 1/2 hours, and really enjoyed it. My only complaint was that they were skipping quite a few titles. Little did I know that there would be 2 more entries in this series to come over the next 3 years, with part 2 coming out in 2020 and running close to 4 1/2 hours, and part 3 coming out last year and running OVER 5-1/2 hours! So yeah, one could really say they really covered a lot of ground in these three documentaries.

Which really is a love letter to one of the biggest and best times for horror fans, because that decade just exploded with movies. Again, with 3 documentaries running over 14 hours, that just shows how much was out there.

Discover the Horror Podcast: Episode 44 – Classic Mexican Gothics

El Vampiro (1957), The Black Pit of Dr. M (1959), and The Curse of the Crying Woman (1963). Any horror fan worth their weight in blood knows their fair share about the classic monster films from Universal from the 30s and 40s before they died a slow death. But do you know that in the late 50s and early 60s, there was a bunch of classical looking horror films made in Mexico? Looking a lot like their Universal brethren, these Mexican films cranked up the atmosphere (and the fog machines) to 11, using some of the traditional monsters, as well as developing some from their own heritage.

Mexican horror films from this era don’t seem to get the credit and notoriety that they should. We’re hoping to help change that by covering 3 that we think are pretty damn good. So, buckle up, get your pen and notepad ready and get ready to start down a very foggy path into a highly underrated sub-genre.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Movie Review: Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares

There are those icons from the golden age of horror, such as Lugosi & Karloff, or the generation after that, with names like Lee, Cushing, and Price. But if there was going to be one name from the modern generation of the horror genre, it would have to be Robert Englund. And now, thanks to this new documentary called Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, if you didn’t know already, you’ll learn why.

Gary Kent – Rest in Peace

We were out of town at a convention when we saw the news that Mr. Kent had passed away and it just put a huge cloud over the rest of the day. I met him at a Cinema Wasteland show way back in 2005, where he was there with Bud Cardos, William Smith, and Greydon Clark, where they talked about the old days doing stunts, and all sorts of crazy stuff in the low budget and independent filmmaking world, as well as with working with Al Adamson. Kent had such great stories, as they all did. A few years later, I learned that Kent had written an autobiography called Shadows & Light: Journeys with Outlaws in Revolutionary Hollywood, that came out in 2009. I immediately ordered it and started reading it when it arrived. I have read a lot of autobiographies before, but never one as entertaining, and definitely not as funny as this one. Kent’s style and use of metaphors made it such an enjoyable experience, plus, hearing all the crazy stories of what they used to do in the stunt world.

Mystery Photo 5-29

Our photo from last week is from one of the best exploitation titles out there! The Screaming Skull from 1958. Too bad it’s more sizzle than steak, as they say. But we had a lot of correct answers sent in, so that’s awesome. Or should I say THEY are awesome. They were Hoby Abernathy, Chris Buckley, Peggie Christie Christopher Dyer, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Lee Nattrass, Richard Schellbach, Mike Shields, and Alan Tromp. Great job, people!

So, see if we can repeat that trend with this new photo. Take a good look and see if you can recognize where this shot is from. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Mystery Photo 5-22

Thought I forgot about the Mystery Photo today, huh? Nope. Just didn’t get it ready on Sunday like I usually do, but nonetheless, here it is! But before that, let’s get to our last photo. It was from the 1987 film Anguish, starring Michael Lerner and Zelda Rubinstein. Great little flick, if you haven’t seen it. Kudos to the following that did send in the correct photo: Hoby Abernathy, Kevin Hart, Christopher Highland, Troy Howarth, Eli LaChance, Gary Miller, Mike Shields, Kristin Wicks, William Wilson, and Greg Wojick. Well done!

Okay, let’s get to this photo before Tuesday comes a knocking! Take a peek, see what you think, and then send your answer to me at jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Turkey Day in May 2023

The first part of our Turkey Day 20^th Anniversary was yesterday, and I have survived to tell the tale! In fact, we all did! It was a little different this time out because we spent some time doing a little filming here and there for a documentary about just how crazy we are for doing these little get-togethers for the last two decades, all in celebration of these cinematic shipwrecks. We had around 15 people joining in this year, most of which stayed here from the very beginning right to the very last film, knocking out SIX features (and about 21 pizzas!) before it was all said and done.

It is really hard to believe that not only have I continued this crazy tradition, but that I have more than a few die-hard friends that actually look forward to these little marathons with great joy and excitement. Yes, we are all mad cinephiles. It really is hard to explain to most people what exactly the reasoning is behind these, and even more importantly, why they are so much damn fun. But if you know, then you know and don’t need the explanation.