Fifteen years. I can’t even fathom the idea that for the last one and a half decades, I’ve been spending my Black Friday sitting in front of my TV watching some of the finest is cinematic shipwrecks. But even better, for most of those years, I have been watching them with some great friends, which makes the experience even better. Including this year’s titles, we’ve “experience” over a hundred titles in those fifteen years. And I do mean “experience”, because some titles it is so much more than just watching. Sitting there with a bunch of like minded crazy cinephiles, really does make it an “experience”. This year, there was moments when the laughing was so loud and hard, that I actually feared for some of the sanity in the room!
That’s right, folks. October may be over, but that just means that Turkey Day is approaching. And no, I don’t mean the Thursday that we sit around the table and stuff ourselves more than the Turkey you’re eating, but an even more important occasion…our Annual Turkey Day Marathon! And this year marks our 15th year of our little crazy tradition.
One of the great things about the horror genre is that you get to meet so many great people over the years. Most of my closest friends, I’ve met at a horror convention. And while it’s okay to be just a fan, there are a few of us out there that take it a step further. It seems in this big family of the horror community, we have a lot of talent swirling around in there and we need to keep supporting each other to help keep that passion alive and thriving. In today’s world, it might be the one thing that keeps us from snapping! So I wanted to take the time to throw out a couple of links and information about a couple of friends.
The first one is Bryan Martinez, producer of the infamous Giallo Room, as well as being the writer/director of the short film Gelato Giallo. In all that free time that he has after keeping the good Baron (host of The Giallo Room) out of trouble, and watching Ninja 3: The Domination, he works on other little projects like this new short film, entitled My Friend Lisa. It is a short film adapted from a series of disturbing drawings by a little girl who has befriended an imaginary friend. However, the drawings have since been discovered to be a hoax. Or have they?
Just check out the teaser below.
If there is one thing that I wished I had more time to spend on, it would be podcasts. I have quite a few friends that do a podcast on a variety of different topics, from Hammer Films, Paul Naschy, classic horror, and much more. But my buddy S.A. Bradley has been creating one hell of a buzz with his podcastHellbent for Horror, which we have probably mentioned here before. His podcasts are so much more than just a guy rambling on for 30 minutes, but are well written, very well articulated, has some great stories, and really, when it comes down to it, does a stellar job helping to promote the horror genre.
On one of his recent episodes, he discusses when he actually flew out there to my hometown to participate in our annual Turkey Day in May event. Crazy as it seems, yes, but he did just that. And I think he might have had a little bit of fun while here. But he gives a great explanation of what “Turkey Day” is for us, and why we love it so much. So check out the link below and I think you’ll be hooked. I mean, if Guillermo del Toro thinks these are pretty good, he just might be on to something!
For our third year of doing our newer T-Day event in May, I decided to do something a little different. Since there have been quite a few movies screened over the last fourteen years, I know there were more than a few that some of the other participates had missed. So we decided to do a Best Of this time out. I sent out the list of all the movies that had been screen previously, and had everyone pick three titles they’d like to see in the lineup. There were six films that got more than one vote, so we went with those. I know we usually try to get through seven titles, but this year was a little different and a little more relaxed.
On the Friday after Thanksgiving, just like we have for the last thirteen years, instead of fighting the crowds at the stores, a group of us have gathered together to fight another battle…the Turkey! It is beyond me how this event became just that…an actual EVENT, one that everyone seems to look forward to each and every year. But somehow it has. When you have a group of like-minded movie lovers getting together to not just watch, but really experience some cinema, that at their best are third and fourth class citizens, and we just have a blast. At this year’s T-Day, our crew consisted of a bunch of the usual suspects, and one new victim! Of course, Aaron Christensen was there, never having missed one since he started coming in 2005. Joe Wallace, who started popping in and out around 2010, was here again, bringing his girlfriend Sharon Gissy alone for the ride. Jason Coffman first came in 2011 and has made everyone since then. Brian Fukala started coming in 2012, and I think only has missed one event since then. Mr. Martinez made his T-Day debut last May, doubting the whole point to this event, but was soon absorbed into the collective! Matt Harding makes his return for his second appearance and Tim Palace came for his very first experience. Will he survive?
In a mere two days, while most of society will be getting up early to battle the crowds of crazed shoppers out to save a few bucks, sometimes fighting to the death (or so I’m told), there will be a smaller gathering here at the Krypt to celebrate another type of holiday….Turkey Day! Followers of the Krypt probably know exactly what I’m talking about, but if you’re knew here, let me explain. On the Black Friday ever since 2003, I have chosen to spend that day in front of the TV, watching some of the finest in cinematic shipwrecks known to man. Now on our 13th year, having watched over 80 features in that time, with the number of participates growing like Lt. Col. Glenn Manning in The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), we will sit down to view another seven features that will test our strength, endurance, and good will towards mankind. But have no fear…we’re professionals here.
Another year down in the history books. Filled with the usual…good things, bad things, lost things, and plenty of things to keep this horror fan busy and able to remain passionate about the genre as ever.
Near the beginning of 2015, we went through another computer crash. It had been a few years since the last crash, so I guess we were due. But in getting a new one, that of course meant the inevitable upgrade to Windows 8 (and now 10). While most might think that is a good thing, for someone using an outdated software, like Front Page 2003, these newer systems just don’t like working with old programs. In fact, they refuse to. So once I had to upgrade to the new Windows 8, I was forced to make that decision that I knew had been coming for a few years. That was taking the Krypt to a new location/format. So back in February, we moved the Krypt to its new home, on this WordPress blog site. It was a big transition, one that we’re still making, but I think I it was the right one. We have been going strong here at the new site, with more updates than we used to with the old site. Sure, they are smaller postings, but hopefully just as entertaining.
Yes, it is that time again. Time to celebrate the Turkey. Although, regulars of this site know that I’m not speaking of the poor fowl that will be devoured in mass today, but that of the other kind, the films that some might call a cinematic Titanic. Yes, I speak of the Turkey! The kind of film that only the dedicated and die-hard film fans will not only sit through, but even stranger, will be entertained by it. Because as we all know, described best by author Stephen Thrower (which I agree wholeheartedly), “the only bad movie is a boring one.” There are plenty of movies that have a low IMDB rating that I find wildly amusing. Ones that make me wonder how they ever were financed, produced, directed, edited, and even more amazing…actually released to the theaters! But it happened, time and time again. Obviously they must have made some sort of impact with their audiences because we are still talking about them today! Films like The Giant Claw, Plan Nine from Outer Space, Blood Freak, The Creeping Terror, Monster Dog, and so many more.
This year’s Turkey Day Marathon set a couple of new records. First off, we had more for people in attendance than ever before. Safety in numbers, as they say. As always, Aaron Christensen was with us for this onslaught of ocular horror. But joining us was our new friend Craig Clark who made a journey of several hours to make it to our little marathon. We love that kind of dedication. Also stopping by was Joe Wallace and his girlfriend Jen who were on the their way back from Thanksgiving festivities, and decided to have some Turkey Day films for dessert! And my son Nick, who usually pops in and out of the viewings, actually stayed with us through the entire adventure. But also, we got through a total of 7 films this year. Another high point of insanity that is the Turkey Day Marathon. So let’s get on to the first course in this year’s feast!
Terror from the Year 5000 (1958) – This year, I wanted to start off the marathon with something a little older, but still a lot of fun. About a week earlier, I had sat down to watch this film that I had recently got a copy of. About 10 minutes into it, I stopped it and knew I had to save it for Turkey Day.
A scientist has developed a machine that can bring something from the future back to present day. The young financial investor is not happy about waiting for test results, and wants to keep pushing the machine to the limits. And as we expected, something eventually comes through that they hadn’t bargained for! This has got some classic early sci-fi dialog and actions in there that are just hilarious. Never knew that putting something that is radioactive in water will no longer contaminate you! Just love it. Or that carbon dating can actually be used to see how old things are…even if they are from the future.
This is an early AIP picture, by first time director Robert J. Gurney Jr., who only worked on a few pictures, including writing and producing AIP’s Invasion of the Saucer Men the year before. No matter how silly the dialog or science theories we get here, we have to give him kudos for giving us this entertainingly fun movie.
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