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2004
12-21-04 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
Sorry for the lack of updates lately, folks. Between
our real job and getting ready for the holidays, it's been pretty hectic here at
the Krypt. But we're looking forward to having a couple of downtime days
this weekend, relaxing with the family, and maybe even watching some movies.
Another year gone. I want to thank everyone for their
support and emails. We had a great year and looking forward to an even
better one next year. So thanks again, and wishing you and your families a
happy and safe holiday.
IN REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE WHO
HAVE PASSED...
Once again, we have lost some great people this last year who
contributed much to the horror genre, whether they were in front of the camera
or behind it. These people will always be remembered by us horror fans for
their work and will live on. You are missed: Larry Buchanan, Sheila Keith,
Janet Leigh, Fay Wray, George "Buck" Flowers, Max J. Rosenberg, and Robert A.
Burns.
MYSTERY PHOTO
It's really been awhile since we've updated this. The
last pic was from Hammer's PARANOIAC, starring Oliver Reed. Unfortunately,
we received no correct answers.
We have a new photo up, one with a considerable less
budget....Give it a try and let us know.
SHAUN OF THE DEAD CONTEST!
We will be giving away a free copy one this great movie.
This is probably the best zombie comedy that I have seen since RETURN OF THE
LIVING DEAD.
So how do you get your chance at this packed DVD? This
is going to be a tough one. All you need to do is click
HERE
and tell us your name (real names please) and your favorite zombie movie.
Your name will then be entered into our drawing. If your name is pulled,
then you win. It's that simple. Good Luck!
12-9-04 DOCUMENTARY
FROM THE CRYPT
For fans of the Tales From The Crypt comic books, movie,
or HBO series, here is one DVD really needs to be in your collection.
Check out our review section for our take on this must have DVD.
 LARRY BUCHANAN -
R.I.P.
One of the true kings of low budget filmmaking, Larry
Buchanan passed away last Thursday, December 2nd. He was 81. Stories
of Buchanan and his guerrilla filmmaking ways are amazing. While his films
may not be top notch, we have always found entertainment in there. And
isn't that what counts after all?
Buchanan gave us classics like MARS NEEDS WOMEN, THE EYE
CREATURES, ZONTAR THE THING FROM VENUS, CREATURE OF DESTRUCTION, and many more.
He will be missed, but the legacy of his movies will always
be a part of my collection. Here's what Roger Corman had to say about Mr.
Buchanan.
"I have known Larry Buchanan and his
work for over 30 years. He is one of the most inventive directors I have ever
known. He is a maverick filmmaker who uses any guerrilla tactic in his arsenal
to get his pictures to the screen. He is a quintessential survivor in
independent cinema, while never compromising his reputation as a gentleman. In
short, Larry cares for films, for his players, and for his craftspeople."
FAVORITE MOMENTS OF HORROR
- R.I.P.
My little section called Famous Moments, a place where you
can input your own little anecdotes of movie memories that left an impact on
you, has been taken down. The reason is simple. Somebody liked to
use it for an advertising link, posting new entries almost everyday with
advertising and links. With that format, it's really hard for me to edit
them out.
So until I change it over to a message board type, where they
can be easily deleted, that section has been taken down.
11-27-04 ANOTHER
TURKEY DAY MARATHON DONE 'N' GONE!
Another day of high-class entertainment...well, kind of.
Once again, we didn't get to as many movies as we'd hope. But this was for
a good reason this time. We kind of went off the track a bit and threw in
a movie that didn't fit the "Turkey" title that we had going. And that was
THE DEADLY SPAWN. It's been years since seeing this early 80's classic,
and now that it's come out on a beautiful looking DVD, we decided to throw that
in to break some of the turkey overload we were doing. And of course, we
were so impressed with the movie and DVD, that we basically re-watched the movie
again with one of the audio commentaries, which was also extremely entertaining.
But we did get through the uber-turkey film of them all, THE
GIANT CLAW. It amazes me that the cast could even keep a straight face
during filming. Unless maybe the shots of the giant bird wasn't shown to
them until after their filming was done. Then we watched NIGHT OF THE
LEPUS, staying in the animal theme. Once again, kudos to Janet Leigh,
Stuart Whitman, and Rory Calhoun for being able to keep a straight face while
giant rabbits rampaged through the towns. Then we fought like hell to stay
awake for Ray Dennis Steckler's INCREDIBLE STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING
AND BECAME MIXED UP ZOMBIES. Man, is that a tough one to sit through.
Then we finished up with another turkey classic, BLOOD FREAK. I'd love to
have known what those religious producers were thinking when they came up with
that idea.
So, that's it for another year of turkeys. Not to say
you can't enjoy these any time during the year. Though I'm starting to
think that watching all these turkeys back to back might be doing something
detrimental to my health.
NEW REVIEWS
Since we were so blown away from watching DEADLY SPAWN after
all these years, we quickly had to add it to our
Reviews page. We
also have our review of the real special edition DVD of Peter Jackson's BAD
TASTE. Once you read this review, you're definitely going to want to pick
this title up.
BOOK REVIEW
We have also added a review up for Leslie Halliwell's THE
DEAD THAT WALK in our
Reference Review Section, under General Reference Books. Don't worry,
this won't be a book you'll need to run out and find.
TALES FROM THE CRYPT - AN
IMPORTANT HISTORY LESSON
We all know the Tales From The Crypt moniker, whether it's
from the comics, the movies, or the HBO series. But if you want to learn
the history behind these groundbreaking comics and their creators, who were
quickly silenced for 'corrupting the children' for the 50's. But their
work lives on, even today.
Now there is a documentary that gives all the details of
these great comics and the men behind them. It's simply called TALES FROM
THE CRYPT - FROM COMIC BOOKS TO TELEVISION. It has the full length
documentary, showing stuff that wasn't on the broadcast version, interviews with
EC artists, director George Romero, and much more, giving you 4 hours of horror
history of a very important part of the horror genre. Check out their
website HERE for more
information.
CINEMA WASTELAND - GUEST
UPDATE
The Wasteland crew have added some more great additions to
their guest list for their April show. They've added the one and only
Count Yorga, Robert Quarry! But not only did Quarry star in the YORGA
films, but also worked with Vincent Price on DR. PHIBES RETURNS and MADHOUSE, as
well as being in SUGAR HILL and the great DEATHMASTER.
And then there's Sybil Danning. I think all Wasteland
fans are familiar with Danning from her many, many genre roles. Whether
it's in the horror genre, action, sci-fi, sword & sandal, she's made quite a few
classic films.
And rounding out the rest of the guest list are John "Bud"
Cardos, Greydon Clark, Gary Kent, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Kyra Schon,
Bill Hinzman, Reggie Bannister & Gigi Porter, Eileen Dietz, William Smith, and
of course Tom Sullivan.
For more information about the one convention that you should
never miss, click
HERE!
Come on out and join the fun, and see how a show should be done!
11-20-04 HORROR FOR
THE HOLIDAYS
Any Chicago area horror fans looking for something to give
your holidays more of a gruesome spin? Well the fine folks at the Gene
Siskel Film Center are having a Occult Cult Films series, and will be playing
some awesome titles. Want to see the British film BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW on
the big screen? How about rare film BURN, WITCH, BURN? Or maybe even
Jacques Tourneur's I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE? Well, below is a listing of all
the films and the times that they are playing. Not sure how many of the
titles were going to catch, but we're going to hit as many as we can. It's
not often one can see THE CONQUEROR WORM from a 35mm print.
BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW
Dec. 3rd at 6:15pm
Dec. 7th at 8pm
THE CONQUEROR WORM
Dec. 3rd at 8:15pm
Dec. 6th at 6pm
BURN, WITCH, BURN
Dec. 11th at 5:15pm
Dec. 13th at 8:15
THE COMPANY OF WOLVES
Dec. 17th at 8:30pm
Dec. 21st at 8:15pm
MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
Dec. 27th at 8:15pm
Dec. 29th at 6pm
I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE
Jan. 3rd at 8pm
Jan. 5th at 6:30pm
THE SEVENTH VICTIM
Jan. 3rd at 6:30pm
Jan. 4th at 8:15pm
EVIL DEAD REMAKE....YEA,
YEA, I KNOW
As I'm sure a lot of you have heard that there are plans to
remake EVIL DEAD, with Sam Raimi producing through his Ghost House company.
I've been reading a lot of message board comments about fans wanting to string
Raimi up for this. I'm kind of surprised that he would still be held in
such high regard when he hasn't done anything in the horror genre (not counting
their remake of JU-ON) since ARMY OF DARKNESS (and was that really horror?)
Raimi has never been a big horror fan, and has said on many occasions that they
only reason they started out with a horror movie was they thought it would be
easier to get their foot in the door by doing that. So why the big deal?
So, yea he has made some good movies, by why the dedication to a guy that hasn't
directed a horror movie in over 10 years?
In Variety, Rob Tapert recently stated, "For ones that work,
or for quality product, it has a very long life. Where most films need to be
blockbusters to have a 10-20 year life span on video and DVD, a good horror film
can generate a steady stream of video revenue even with very little theatrical
gross."
That is why they are doing these remakes. Producers are
the ones that make money off the movies. By producing the films, they can
have the long term returns. And let's not forget people, Hollywood is a
business. Always has been, always will be. Maybe years ago, they
allowed some talents in there, and still do today to a smaller degree. But
mostly, it all comes down to the $$$.
MYSTERY PHOTO
Okay, we've updated to a new photo. Hoby Abernathy
correctly guessed the last photo, which was from Richard Stanley's DUST DEVIL.
Check out the new
one
and see what you think.
WANT TO FEEL OLD?
This week in 1984, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET opened in the
US....that was 20 years ago!
NEW TITLES FROM MIDNIGHT
MARQUEE PRESS
Midnight Marquee Press has been publishing great books for
years. And now they've recently added some other great titles. We
have several of their books in our collection and plan on adding quite a few
more, especially the new on on Michael Reeves and ITALIAN HORROR title.
How can you go wrong there? Click
HERE to get to their
website to place your orders. Trust me, these would make great presents
for any horror fan.
11-14-04 JU-ON REVIEW
We have a review of the original Japanese version that just
came out on DVD. Check out our Review section to read all about it.
 GREASEPAINT
AND GORE - DOUBLE FEATURE OFFER!
You've read (hopefully) about the book and the DVD
GREASEPAINT AND GORE here on our site. If you haven't gotten both of them,
now is your chance to save a little money. Tomahawk is having a sale if
you buy both the book and DVD together. Yes the postage is going to cost
you a bit, but these are well worth it to have in your collection if you are a
fan of Hammer and British horror. You can check out Tomahawk's website
HERE.
With new books coming out next year on the film NIGHT OF THE
DEMON, as well as on Hazel Court, makeup artist Bob Keen, and THE WICKER MAN,
they are something to be on the lookout for.
MYSTERY PHOTO MISTAKE
We do want to apologize for leaving out someone who did send
in the correct answer for our last Photo. Apparently there was some sort
of mix-up and we lost the email. So we send out a belated congrats to Rick
Hayden for getting the LOST CONTINENT photo. Not only did Rick know the
photo, he actually loves the movie as well. Nice to know there's more of
us out there.
FAMOUS MOMENTS
For those who haven't discovered it yet, we have a section
called FAVORITE MOMENTS. This is a forum where you the viewer can submit
your own memories of what scared you. Feel free to head on over there (the
link is on the left under Features) and let us know what scared you.
But also, the main reason for this note is to please ask
people not to use this section or our Guest Book as a place to advertise your
own site. I don't mind leaving an email or website address, as long as
your adding something to it, and not just doing a blatant self plug. If
you do, these will be deleted.
11-06-04 SURVIVE
ANOTHER HALLOWEEN?
Well, we made it through another Halloween season.
Our weekend marathon last week wasn't as extensive as I'd hope, mainly since we
spent most of the day Sunday watching Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
With all those commercials, I should have just taped it and came back to watch
it afterwards. But no, I just sat there for the whole 5 hours, watching
them back to back.
While there were a few titles that I didn't necessarily agree
with, like having the remake of THE RING in there instead of the original RINGU,
for the most part is was okay. Since they had JAWS as number 1, I couldn't
really complain about that. Though they did have SCREAM higher than
HALLOWEEN??? How can that be? I'm guessing the audience they were
polling was a little younger than I expected. And I was really surprised
to see AUDITION at #11. I guess that some of these cult foreign movies are
not only just hip with the kiddies. I have the whole list posted on our
Message Board. Feel free to add in your own comments, what they
missed, what you think shouldn't have been in there, or just your comments.
And now that Halloween is over, we are now working on our
schedule for our 2nd Annual Turkey Day Marathon. We started this last
year, and decided to make it an annual event. With a slight nod to MST3K
who used to have their marathons on Comedy Central over the Thanksgiving
weekend, we spend the Friday after Thanksgiving watching some of the bad movies
in our collection. So far on this year's schedule is THE GIANT CLAW, NIGHT
OF THE LEPUS, and Ray Dennis Steckler's INCREDIBLE STRANGE CREATURES WHO HAVE
STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES.
If you want, go over to our
Message Board and give us some suggestions, or maybe what you might be
watching in your own Turkey-Day Marathon.
NEW REVIEWS
We've got reviews up of KILLER CROCODILE (with part 2 coming
soon) and the import release of DERANGED. Check them out
HERE!
MYSTERY PHOTO
Sorry folks, but didn't realize that it's been over a month
since out last Mystery Photo update. No winning entries this time, except
for Mr. Ken Kish of Cinema Wasteland. It was the Hammer film THE LOST
CONTINENT, which is a very bizarre and strange film for them, but one that I
highly recommend.
Check out the newest
pic
and give it a guess.
NEW ENTRY IN THE S.M.S.
We have inducted a new member to the Society of Mad
Scientists: Dr. Herbert West. We hope to have more inductees coming soon.
Check our newest member HERE.
RED RIDING HOOD...ITALIAN
STYLE
Check out this official site for this new Italian horror film
called RED RIDING HOOD, which has recently been picked up by MTI Home Video for
release. It was written by Ovidio Assonitis, who brought us the
awesome...well, entertaining...uhh....the movie TENTACLES (come on, what's more
scarier than Shelly Winters?!?!), and with Sergio Salvati as the DP. Fulci
fans know that name from his work with him on films like HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY.
Click
HERE
for the official site. The trailer looks pretty interesting. Maybe
the Italian film market is making a comeback???
10-26-04 ANOTHER
GREAT LOSS FOR THE HORROR GENRE
The horror genre has lost another great actor. Sheila Keith might not have
been world famous with the movies that she made, but to fans of British horror
films of the 70's, she was one not easily forgotten. She first really came
to light as the sadistic warden in Peter Walker's HOUSE OF WHIPCORD (1974).
She would go on to make a total of 5 films with Walker. Later that same
year came Walker's FRIGHTMARE (released on video here in the States as FRIGHT
MARE 2). This is probably her most known work, and her best, where she
plays the cannibalistic mother who just can't get enough of those brains.
She also was in Walker's THE CONFESSIONAL (a very underrated, and very twisted
film), COMEBACK, and HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS, where she acted along with Peter
Cushing, Vincent Price, Chirstopher Lee and John Carradine.
In his book Making Mischief: The Cult Films of Peter Walker,
author Steve Chibnall said this about Keith, "Sheila Keith gives (writer)
McGillivray's most inspired creation a terrifying life with a performance of
demonic intensity." While she hadn't worked in few years, her short career
still had quite an impact on the genre, and will definitely be missed.
If you haven't experienced any of Keith's work, you should
definitely seek out FRIGHTMARE and / or HOUSE OF WHIPCORD, which are currently
available on DVD.
2-HEADED HORROR MOVIE
MARATHON SURVIVAL
We did journey through the land of Ohio to experience our
first all-night movie marathon. And I must say we did have a great time.
We didn't stay for all the screenings, but hit the ones that we wanted to see
the most. And that was for SAW and THE MACHINIST. Without going
overboard, let's just say that I thought SAW was great. You need to see
it. As for THE MACHINIST, actor Christian Bale should get some sort of an
award for what he put himself through for that movie. The man lost around
60 pounds for the role. There are some scenes of him standing in his
underwear which is extremely disturbing. But that is just a small part of
what makes this movie exceptional. The storyline is great, and once again,
director Brad Anderson shows that he can make one hell of an atmospheric film.
We did all we could to try and sleep through GOZU, Takashi
Miike's lastest film to hit the States, but just couldn't drop off. From
the parts of it that I did see, it looks pretty silly. We did stay awake
for Argento's DEEP RED. The print wasn't the greatest, with the second
reel really being deep red, but it was still cool watching that one the big
screen.
Since they were running behind, they canned the screening of
THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED TRANSPLANT, which we really wanted to see. We also
wanted to stay for RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, but since they just started
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, which we had no desire to see, and it was already daylight,
we decided to call it a night...or morning, and head back home. With a
7-hour drive ahead of us, without having any sleep over the past 24 hours, we
knew it was going to be a tough drive...and it was.
I'm sure we'll be planning on making that same trip out next
year and do it all over again. Maybe this time we'll stay for the whole
thing....
10-21-04 WE APOLOGIZE
FOR THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Well, it seems that you need to update your domain
register every year. Apparently, since changing over to comcast, we forgot
to update our email contact address. So when they sent us the email to
update it, we never got it. This cause our site to go down for a couple of
days earlier this week. Sorry for that, but everything is back under our
control...for what that's worth.
HAPPY
ANNIVERSARY!!!
Yes, believe it or not, but it's been 6 whole years since we
started this little piece of the web for our little ramblings. We
appreciate the support everyone has given us over the years. A little
while back, we mentioned a big trivia contest for our anniversary. While I
was hoping to have it ready for the exact date, with all the other Halloween
season stuff going on, I've been too busy to have it done. But it still is
coming. I'm hoping to have it done by Halloween. But since this
weekend is going to be spent watching a bunch of movies (see below), I'm not
sure how much I'll get done. But none the less, it's coming sooner or
later. Stay tuned.
BAD TASTE FANS!
 If you were like me and
were very disappointed in what Anchor Bay
called their release of Peter Jackson's amazing debut a 'special edition', then your prayers have been answered
as well. Now before you get too excited, this is an import release, a
region 4 PAL release. But if you have a multi-region player, then just
check out the extras on this recent release of BAD TASTE:
-
Anamorphic Widescreen version (1.66:1)
-
Audio commentary by actors Craig Smith, Mike Minett, Pete
O'Herne, and Terry Potter
-
"Good Taste Made Bad Taste" Featurette
-
"Behind the scenes" slideshow presented by Peter Jackson
-
Interviews with Pete O'Herne, Terry Potter, Mike Minett,
and Craig Smith
-
Audio interview with composer Michelle Scullion
-
TV news clip
-
Photo Gallery
-
Trailer
Now that is what I call a special
edition. Interested? Then send your order to our buddy Tony at
Xploited Cinema
(Tell him we sent you!) and sit back and enjoy. Our copy is already on
it's way here, and we can't wait to hear the audio commentary with the Boys.
 NOX
ARCANA'S NEWEST RELEASE
Are you fans of stylish and atmospheric mood music?
Need some background for your gothic castle or dungeon? Then you need to
check out the latest release from Nox Arcana. If you've heard of and enjoy
Midnight Syndicate, then this is right up your alley.
Their newest release is called NECRONOMICON, which is the
title of the book that H.P. Lovecraft wrote about, being the book of rituals and
lost knowledge. This cd has music based on Lovecraft's work.
We have their first release and really enjoyed it. So
if this is anything like the first one, it's well worth it. You can order it
from their website.
ANY MOVIE PLANS FOR
HALLOWEEN?
I've posted a little note in our Message Board about what you
are planning to watch during the Halloween weekend. Our final titles are
still being discussed amongst here at the Krypt. Go to our Message Board
and let us know what's on your plate for next weekend.
REVENGE OF THE CLUELESS
Well, it seems that Universal hires some of the same clueless
people to work on their dvd releases as 20th Century Fox does. On the
liner notes for the recently released CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON Legacy
collection release, they give a brief overview of each of the three films.
In REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, they say that John Agar plays the creature. Actually
Agar plays Professor Ferguson, while the creature was played by Tom Hennesy and
Ricou Browning. And in CREATURE WALKS AMONG US, it states that the
creature was played by Jeff Morrow. Once again, they're wrong. Morrow plays Dr.
Barton, while the creature is played by Ricou Browning and Don Megowan.
So once again, what is it? It is that they have someone
who just doesn't know what they're writing about? Or is it that they just
don't care? For us fans, these films really are the classics. And I
think they should be treated a little bit better, other than just some cash cow
for these studios. But then, as we all know, it's all about how many they
sell, not whether it's accurate or not.
A special thanks to Stephen Weakley for letting us know about
this. It's nice to know there's more of us out there.
SALE AT LA-LA LAND RECORDS!
For fans of awesome soundtracks, the folks at La-La
Records are having a sale on some great titles at some great prices. They
are featuring their releases of RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND for $15.98 each,
while CREEPSHOW, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, TERROR TRACT, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE,
CABIN FEVER, SAINT SINNER, and THEY are only $9.98 each! You can read our
reviews for most of these releases if you're not sure, but I can tell you that
the CREEPSHOW soundtrack is a must for everyone. But don't wait too long
since the sale ends November 1st. You can order them from their website
HERE.
THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED
HORROR MARATHON THIS WEEKEND!!!
In case you're going, we will be heading out to
Columbus Ohio to witness this awesome lineup of films at this year's movie
marathon. We are very excited to see not only SAW and THE MACHINIST, but
also to see DEEP RED on the big screen, as well as RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
once again. They are also screening THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED TRANSPLANT,
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (nap time for me!), GOZU (Takashe Miike's newest), and THE
LAST HORROR MOVIE.
So there will be plenty of enough entertainment to go around. If you're
going, just look for the long haired man they call Stone, and I'll be the one
next to him...with no hair....
For more info about the show, click
HERE.
NEED SOME MORE SHIRTS???
Check out
Lions Gate's official
horror site, which now features some cool shirts from their movie SAW.
I may just have to pick up one of those with the severed foot....what a nice
shirt to wear to work...safety first!
10-17-04 H.H. HOLMES
REVIEW
Just a little bit of an update for now. We've added a
review to a great documentary on the serial killer from the late 1800's, H. H.
Holmes. Check it out in our review section. We should have a bigger
update in a couple of days.
TALES FROM THE CRYPT
DOCUMENTARY
And while on the subject of documentaries, at the end of this
month, there is a new documentary coming out that covers the history of Tales
From The Crypt. From the comics, to the movies and television. The
website will officially
open this Wednesday. So save this site, and check it out then. These
magazines were a very important part in our horror history.
10-10-04 THE FUNNIEST DAMN THING I HAVE EVER HEARD....
While browsing some news sites, I came across this interview
with Jeff Katz, an executive at New Line Cinema, at the
Creature-Corner
website. Katz was talking about the sequel to FREDDY VS JASON, and the
possibility of Ash from the EVIL DEAD series being introduced.
Creature-Corner asked if New Line was worried that bringing in the Ash character
from a series that wasn't that successful at the box office might too obscure
for mainstream audiences. He replied:
Katz: It’s not about box office and
what would make for the most commercial sequel. It’s about delivering a story
that will be better than the first and a story that makes sense given the
continuity of the franchises.
It's not about box office??? Not about the money???
How stupid do they think we are? Movies have always been about making
money. Do you think someone would want to invest $10 million on something
that they 'may' make their money back? It's all about the money.
Always has been, always will be. Hollywood is a business, plain and
simple. Let's not forget that. So when some executive says they're
more worried about giving a good story then making money, that is your first
clue that it's a line of bullshit.
CINEMA WASTELAND REPORT
We have finished out little review of the latest show from
the Wasteland crew. Check it out in our
Convention section.
MYSTERY PHOTO
This last one was another tough one, though Mr. Terry Luster
did let me know at the Wasteland show that he recognized the eye-shot from Jess
Franco's FACELESS.
We are going with another tough one this time out. Come
on, we have to keep you thinking, right? Give it a look and see what you
think, or if you are...lost?
THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED
HORROR MARATHON
In two weeks, we will be heading to Ohio to witness the
all-night horror movie marathon held at the Drexel Theatre in Columbus. In
the last week, they have confirmed a couple of premieres that will add very
nicely to the already great lineup. Here's what they have confirmed:
THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED TRANSPLANT
DEEP RED
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
GOZU
SAW
THE MACHINIST
THE LAST HORROR MOVIE
We were almost not going to make it
with the recent auto repairs that I've had, but when they added SAW and THE
MACHINIST, I knew we had to make it out there for the trip. For more
information, check out their website
HERE.
Hope to see you there!
 10-5-04 JANET LEIGH - R.I.P.
Janet Leigh pass away yesterday. Obviously best
known for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO, but she was also in John
Carpenter's very underrated THE FOG. And of course there's always NIGHT OF
THE LEPUS, but for some reason I don't see that being mentioned in her obits.
Leigh had been suffering from an inflammation of the blood vessels, according to
the Daily News.
But none the less, she was great in the movies, and it's a
shame to see the horror genre lose another one of it's most memorable scream
queens. She was 77 years old.
CINEMA WASTELAND 5th YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
It still amazes me that it has been 5 years since Ken & Pam
started their little show. And each year, it's better and better.
And as always, we had a great time with the guests, the great flicks, seeing old
friends and meeting new ones. Thanks for everyone stopping by and saying
hi. We'll see you there next April. Our official report will be up
very soon.
Speaking of which, you might want to mark your calendars now
for the show. The Wasteland crew is pulling out some more great guests.
Are you fans of Al Adamson's SATAN'S SADIST? Well John "Bud" Cardos and
Greydon Clark will be there. Fans of the low budget films will know these
names. Not only did they work on SATAN'S SADIST, but they have done tons
of other stuff in the genre. Just check out their credits on the Internet
Movie Database. Whether they were acting, directing, doing stunts or
production work, they have been involved in a great number of classics.
And speaking of classics, the one and only Reggie Bannister
will be attending the April show. We all know him from the PHANTASM
series, but he was also in the recent BUBBA HO-TEP.
And how about William Smith? If you don't know the
name, you'll know the face. The guy was the father of Conan for Christ's
sakes! Not to mention being in the classic GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE, and tons
of other great cult classics.
Other guests so far are Elieen Dietz, Marilyn Eastman, Karl
Hardman, and Tom Sullivan.
SCARY CAMP 2005?
And while we're pimping conventions, we figured we'd give a
plug to our buddy Ghastlee who is holding another Scary Camp show next May.
We had a fun time last year, and are planning to return again to Dayton to do it
again next year. So far, Ghastlee has these guests lined up: Dee
Wallace Stone, Ted V. Mikels, Tom Savini, Sid Haig, Kyra Schon, Bill Hinzman,
Reggie Bannister, Irwin Keyes, Sharon Ceccatti-Hill and Clayton Hill, and more
to come. Check out there website
HERE for updates.
9-26-04 LAST
CONVENTION ON THE LEFT...
Just as a reminder for those who have forgotten, but next
weekend is the Cinema Wasteland Show. Yea, it may seem like I'm always
pimping this show, but if you've been there before, then you know why I do.
It is simply the show that we have the most fun at. We've been there since
the beginning, all those 5 years ago when Ken & Pam started it, and have never
had a show where we didn't have a great time. From seeing our old friends,
making new ones, watching great movies until the wee hours of the morning, doing
the meet-and-greet with the guests, and of course browsing the dealer room, it
is always a great time. If you've never experienced it, then you are
missing out. Give it a try...you won't be disappointed.
For more information about the fall show, click on the banner
below. Hope to see you there!
UPCOMING ANNIVERSARY
Believe it or not, but next month will be our 6th year here
at the Krypt. Yea, it's hard for us to even believe that we've been at
this since 1998. A lot of great websites have come and gone since we've
started this, and to be honest, I never thought that I would still be running
this for this long. But running this site has always been what I started
it out to be, and that is fun. There's nothing more enjoyable then hearing
some of the feedback I get from people reading through my ramblings on these
pages. Plus it gives me a chance to meet other fans throughout the world,
whether it's at conventions or just thorugh email.
So to mark this milestone, we are working on a huge contest
that will start on our anniversary date, which is October 19th. We're not
really sure exactly what we are going to be doing, but we will be pulling some
cool things out of our prize coffin. Stay tuned!
HORROR MOVIE MARATHONS IN OHIO!
Next month, Ohio fans will have three different Horror Movie
Marathons happening, though two of them are on the same night...in the same
town...But hey, there's not such thing as too much of a good time, right?
The first one is the Incredible 2-Headed Horror Marathon at
the Drexel Grandview Theater in Columbus. It starts on Saturday night,
October 23rd at 10pm, and runs until noon the next morning. The final film
is hasn't been finalized yet, but they have confirmed the titles THE INCREDIBLE
2-HEADED TRANSPLANT, Dan O'Bannon's RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, either DEEP RED
or SUSPIRIA, and Takashi Miike's GOZU. There are also working on getting
other titles like UNDEAD, HAUTE TENSION, THE LAST HORROR MOVIE, and a few
others. Check out their website
HERE for
more details and updates.
The next one is Nightmare at Studio 35, also in Columbus, and
also the same night. They are featuring the films THE EXORCIST, SHAUN OF
THE DEAD, CREEPSHOW, RINGU, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN,
BLACULA, and others. Check out their website
HERE for
more info.
And then the last one, which takes place in Delaware, Ohio,
is the Strand Theatre's All-Night Shriek-O-Rama. That starts on October
30th, and runs until noon the next day. Their lineup includes LASERBLAST,
OCTOMAN, HORROR EXPRESS, JENNIFER, UNDERTAKER AND HIS PALS, and more.
While they don't have anything up on their website yet about this, keep checking
HERE
for updates.
Remember folks, if we don't help support things like this,
they will go away. We will making the trip out to Ohio for the Incredible
2-Headed Horror Marathon this year to give it a try. Seeing that many
movies in one night, you really can't go wrong with any of these.
9-19-04 NOT TO BEAT
DEAD ALLIGATOR...
I just wanted to make one more little comment about
this whole thing. I did pick up the DVD for ALLIGATOR PEOPLE when it came
out. And much to my surprise and disgust, when I read the synopsis on the
back of the DVD, I just shook my head. It says:
"A young wife (Beverly Garland) is abandoned by her husband
(Lon Chaney) on their wedding day."
So I suppose I shouldn't be that upset since they at least
mentioned Lon Chaney's name. Granted it was the wrong character they were
talking about, but its something, huh?
Apparently the people working at 20th Century didn't watch
the movie, or maybe just didn't care that much to make sure everything was
correct. So should I be that upset? I guess not really. I just
get more depressed that there's probably quite a few of us fans out there that
would dive at the chance to work on DVDs like this. But instead, they get
someone who hasn't see the movie, let alone like it, and the real fans like us
just sit at our computers and complain...ahhh, what a wonderful life. I
guess we should be grateful that they released in 2.35:1 ratio. Okay, I'll
shut up now about the whole thing....
ATTENTION CHICAGO HORROR
FANS!
Hate to exclude the rest of the world, but I guess you're
still welcome to come out if you want to! But the Music Box Theatre has
got some great midnight shows coming up that I wanted to mention. The
first 2 weekends in October (1st & 2nd and the 8th & 9th), they will be
screening Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA. On October 15th & 16th and 22nd &
23rd, they will be playing the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. On
November 5th & 6th and 12th & 13th, they will be showing EVIL DEAD 2.
For those of you haven't seen these films on the big screen,
especially something like SUSPIRIA or TCM, you really want to experience this.
Seeing them on the big screen is nothing like seeing them on your TV.
For more information about the Music Box Theatre, check out
there website HERE.
MYSTERY PHOTO
We forgot to update this last time. This last one seemed to
be a tough one, since no one sent in a correct answer. That bloody face in
this last photo was that of the late, great Oliver Reed, after taking a header
into the car windshield. Pretty nasty, huh? It was the from the film
BURNT OFFERINGS, which also starred Karen Black, Bette Davis, and Bergess
Meredith.
Well, this new one is another nice head shot...sorry, I must
be reading too many old Famous Monsters...Enjoy!
 FANGORIA TO RELEASE NASCHY
FILM!
Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy will see his film ROJO SANGRE
released here in the states by Fangoria International. The film is about a
old actor who is down and out, who goes a little crazy, impersonating some
famous butchers, such as Jack the Ripper and Ivan the Terrible, to torture
people who are out to get him. Fangoria is partnered with Media Blasters,
and they plan to put out a DVD loaded with extras. Fango editor Tony
Timpone says, "After Christopher Lee, Paul Naschy is the last classic
international horror star. Like THEATER OF BLOOD did for Vincent Price,
ROJO SANGRE serves as the ultimate expression of Naschy’s nearly 40-year career
in fear. Naschy’s films have been butchered in the U.S. in the past, with bad
dubbing, senseless editing and unnecessary censoring. Thanks to our partnership
with Media Blasters, we will finally do Naschy justice."
Not only starring in the movie, but like a lot of his films,
Naschy also wrote this one as well. Naschy told Fango, "I wanted ROJO
SANGRE to be a very interesting movie, with a hard mix between the reality of
life and fantastic elements—the devil’s world. I also wanted to represent
contemporary Spain and the big lies that plague show business. Horror fans will
find in ROJO SANGRE a new vision in a complex genre."
For a review of the movie, along with just about everything
else you'd want to know about Paul Naschy, you can find at
Mark of Naschy
website.
After the seeing the results of Naschy's involvement in an
American film, the terrible TOMBS OF THE WEREWOLF, it will great to see
something that sounds like it will be another Naschy classic. We are
looking forward for this release.
9-5-04 A SLIGHT
VACATION???
I'd like to say that after those last two conventions, we had
to take a little break from this and rest up a bit, therefore no updates in two
weeks. But that's not really the case. When I got this newest
computer, it came with a DVD burner, so I've been playing around with that for
the last week or so, trying to get some of these laserdiscs I have archived on
DVD. It's a little bit of work, but actually kind of fun, and well worth
any of the hassels. But now on to the update...
AND FURTHERMORE....
Not to continue on my recent Ramblings about these newer
horror fans that don’t seemed to know their history, but I recently read a
review on one of these bigger horror sites that had me shaking my head.
There was a review of ALLIGATOR PEOPLE, which is coming out
on DVD next week. The reviewer enjoyed the film, even in its cheesiness, so
that’s always a good thing. But no where in the review does he mention Lon
Chaney Jr. He does mention his character, saying “there’s this crazy guy who
lives in the swamp”, but never says it was Chaney Jr.
I’m not trying to sound anal about the whole thing, or
criticize the reviewer, but how could they not mention the fact that Lon Chaney
Jr. was in the movie, especially when they mention the character? I don't think
it was a case of just forgetting, since they mentioned the character twice in
the review. Plus, Chaney’s name is on the DVD cover. It’s not like this
is some no-name actor who was in the background of some of these low-budget
features, but the guy who played the Wolf Man, not to mention Dracula, the
Mummy, and Frankenstein! It made me think that the reviewer really
didn't know who Chaney Jr. was, which is really the shame of the whole thing.
This is what I meant about fans not knowing their
horror history. Need some help, or want to know what to do, just ask. Classes
are starting soon!
NEW REVIEWS
In our 2-week downtime, we've actually not only watched some
movies, but also got some reviews written as well! Imagine that!
This time out, we review the much talked about HAUTE TENSION and a great
documentary on the men behind the Hammer monsters called GREASEPAINT AND GORE.
Check them out HERE.
 HAMMER'S FLESH &
BLOOD DOCUMENTARY COMING TO DVD!
And here would be a great addition to the above Hammer
documentary. Next month (on the 5th), Image will be releasing FLESH &
BLOOD: HAMMER HERITAGE OF HORROR. This was released on video by Anchor Bay
years ago, and is a great look at the studio that dripped blood. It
features interviews with the likes of Ray Harryhausen, Raquel Welch, Veronica
Carlson, Jimmy Sangster, Caroline Munro, Ingrid Pitt, Val Guest, and more.
This documentary is narrated by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, and is the
last thing they worked on together.
Once again, if you are a fan of Hammer Films, this is
definitely a must for your collection.
AND SPEAKING OF HAMMER...
Issue #16 of the great Hammer magazine, Little Shoppe of
Horrors, is now available. They have also started their own website.
For ordering information, check out their website
HERE.
Mr. Klemensen always puts out great magazines with tons of information for us
Hammer fans. Worth every penny.
 RARE LOOK AT PAUL BLAISDELL
One of the double feature releases that MGM put out on their
Midnight Movies series is the rare film THE GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HALLOW.
While this film is one of those 'wacky' teen movies from the late 50's, it does
feature a rare appearance of Paul Blaisdell, the man responsible for creating
such monsters as the SHE-CREATURE and the aliens from INVASION OF THE
SAUCER-MEN. In this film, he was called upon once again from AIP for him
to revamp his SHE-CREATURE costume to use for this film. AIP did this
before, mainly so they wouldn't have to spend the money to pay for a new
costume. But not only is the SHE-CREATURE back, but Blaisdell
basically plays the title character, trying to scare away the local kids.
It's probably the first 'Scooby-Doo Ending' ever done...even before Scooby Doo
came out!
So while it's only a brief glimpse, it's cool to add to the
collection another film of this very underrated monster maker.
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS!
Hopefully, during this 3-day weekend (for most of us),
everyone is taking the time to enjoy some movies. And if you are, you may
want to throw in a couple of these two in honor of their birthdays.
Tomorrow, the 6th, is Paul Naschy's birthday. And then on the 7th, Dario
Argento is celebrating his birthday. So we are wishing them well on their
birthdays, and hope to sneak in a one of two of their movies this weekend!
 LOOKING
FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT?
If you are getting tired of the same ol' straight-to-video
releases from Hollywood Video, then do yourself a favor and order up a copy of
LADY TERMINATOR. Consider it an early Christmas present to yourself.
This is one wacky ride of horror and action from this bizarre film from
Indonesia, made back in 1989. It's got it all...sex, horror, gore, and
plenty of violence.
Mondo Macabro USA is putting this out, so you know it'll be just like their
other releases and look incredible. They are releasing it in it's uncut &
widescreen version, for the first time ever! It will also contain a 30
minute documentary on Indonesia exploitation movies, trailers, alternate scenes,
background information & still galleries. This is a must for any
collection of the unusual type of film.
 JUST A REMINDER...CINEMA
WASTELAND IS AROUND THE CORNER!
In case you didn't notice, but October 1st is right
around the corner. And you haven't made your plans yet, now is the time to
do it. The Cinema Wasteland staff will put (once again) putting on one
hell of a show in less than a month. With guests like the four 'baddies'
from LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, RABID start Marilyn Chambers (though I think she
made some other movies too), David Durston & Lynn Lowry (director and star of I
DRINK YOUR BLOOD), Don Edmond (director of a couple of those ILSA movies, among
many others), Jeff Lieberman (director of BLUE SUNSHINE and the best killer worm
movie out there...SQUIRM!), and many more, you don't want to miss out, do you?
Click HERE
for more information about the show. See you there!
8-21-04 HORRORFIND
WEEKEND REPORT
We have our pics up from the show last weekend. Didn't
get as many photos as we'd hope, but there's still some good ones in there.
Check them out in Convention Photos Section.
KRYPTIC RAMBLING
We have also put up a new rambling, and no, it's not about
autographs...really! Check it out
HERE.
GODZILLA SOUNDTRACK REVIEW
La-La Land Records have put out another great release.
This time, it's the 50th Anniversary edition from the original 1954 movie, and
not that one with Raymond Burr running around either. Check it out
HERE.
KILLER KLOWNS COMING TO CD!
If you are a fan of the Kult Klassic film KILLER KLOWNS FROM
OUTER SPACE, then Percepto Records is going to make your day. Next month,
Percepto will be releasing a deluxe edition CD that will have the entire score
by John Massari, as well as the theme song from The Dickies. The CD will
also include a 24-page full color booklet covering the film, with interviews,
rare photos.
You can check out Percepto's website
HERE.
POSTERS ADDITIONS
We have some entries in our
Poster Gallery,
both in Italian Gallery and the Misc. Gallery, that have some great artwork.
Check out the one for THE CHANGELING...boy, do I wish we have posters like that
here!
And speaking of posters, we have added quite a few more
Turkish posters that we are selling. Check them out
HERE. Remember,
these go fast, so if you are interested, please email us right away.
 ANY ABEL
FERRARA FANS???
We have some copies of this great book on this interesting
director. ABEL FERRARA: THE MORAL VISION by Brad Stevens. We have
the hardcover version from FAB Press that retails at $40. We are offering
them for $30. We only have a couple copies, so if you are interested, act
fast.
MYSTERY PHOTO
The last Photo showed Donald Pleasence getting munched by a
mutant plant, from the film MUTATIONS. When is that going to be hitting
DVD??? Congrats to Terry Luster and Will Wilson for sending in the correct
answers.
Try your heads out on the newest pic
HERE.
8-9-04 MONSTER LEGACY TRIVIA CONTEST
Shortly before our little computer crash last month, we had
sent the emails out to the winners of our Monster Legacy Trivia contests.
Also, thankfully we sent out the prizes before the crash, which had all the info
as far as who won and their info.
But in any case, we wanted to thank everyone who
participated, and hope to have another contest up soon. The answers for
this one are below.
What Director Was Original Hired To
Direct FRANKENSTEIN? - Robert Florey
What Is The Only Other Movie Where Bela Lugosi Played Count Dracula? - ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN
Who Was The Actor Who Kills Larry
Talbot At The End Of The Movie? - Claude Raines
THE
PASSING OF THE ORIGINAL SCREAM QUEEN
Actress Fay Wray passed away over the weekend at the age of
96. Of course, she is most known for her role in the original KING KONG.
But she also played in a few straight horror movies before KONG, such as DOCTOR
X, THE VAMPIRE BAT, and MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (all starring the great Lional
Atwill), and even the best version of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, which some could
consider horror.
 DID
YOU HOLD OFF FROM GETTING HELLBOY???
Well, if you did, here's the reasons why it was a good idea
to do just that. This October (19th), the Director's Cut DVD release will
feature a 3-disc set as reported. The film will be 20 minutes longer than
the previous version, and will even feature a new audio commentary from del
Toro. But not only will it have all the features from the first 2-disc
release, but also another 3+ hours of NEW STUFF!!! Talk about a fan-boy's
wet dream. But as del Toro has said in many interviews, that is just what
he is, a geeky fan boy, and wants put out something that he himself would love
to get. Got to give him credit for that...course he's a hell of a director
to boot as well!
The retail will be about $35, or you can the special gift set
that comes with a bust of Hellboy from Sideshow, which will retail for around
$60.
I am so glad I didn't get that first release. But could
someone please tell me what they even bothered with releasing it like that in
the first place? Kind of like the UNDERWORLD double release, but at least
with HELLBOY, the announcement of the second release was out there BEFORE the
first release came out. Where for UNDERWORLD, they announced it two weeks
after the first release. Don't they realize they are really pissing off
their customers? Or do they just care about making money...sorry, stupid
question.
 I, MONSTER FINALLY TO HIT STATES
This rare version of the Jekyll/Hyde story, starring
Christopher Lee (in the lead role) and Peter Cushing was never released in the
states here on video or laserdisc. And now, with a release date of January
of next year, Retromedia and Image Entertainment will be releasing it DVD.
It will have a digital letterbox transfer, original trailer and still gallery,
along with a reproduction of the British pressbook that will come inside the
package.
This is actually a pretty good version of the Jekyll/Hyde
story, even though the names have been changed (to protect the innocent).
Lee does a great job with this role, coming from the very prim & proper English
gentleman, then going to his lab and shooting up! And of course you have
Peter Cushing in there as well...how could you go wrong. I would highly
recommend adding this to any collection.
Shame we couldn't get any commentary. Maybe a British
edition???
AND
SPEAKING OF BRITISH RELEASES...
I, for one, was excited to see Freddie Frances' THE CREEPING
FLESH hit DVD over here. It's always been a favorite of mine. But
since it has a $20 price tag (even at Best Buy), I've been putting off on adding
to my collection...and now I know why.
There seems to be a lot of British editions coming out over
there with commentaries, but are missing that when the get over here. And
this one seems to be no difference. There is a Region 0 PAL disc that contains audio commentary
with Christopher Lee and Hammer historian Marcus Hearn. The disc also
contains the trailer for the film, along with trailers for some Hammer films as
well.
In an anamorphic widescreen version, the disc will also have a 24 page booklet
with rare stills and info about the whole story.
Our buddies at
Xploited Cinema has
it listed for only $25.95, which is just a tad bit more than the American
release that doesn't have the extras. We're not sure of the picture
quality comparison, but will probably be getting this from them for ourselves
anyway, and will let you know.
And while on the
subject of British releases of British horror films, NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT,
which also stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee and directed by Terry Fisher,
has also been released on a PAL Region 2 DVD. I don't believe this has a
release coming up here in the states, but am not sure. I don't even think
this has ever even hit video over here? I remember getting my copy from
AMC (back in the B.C. days). But the release also contains commentary by
Lee and Hearn, as well as screenwriter Pip and Jane Baker. Once again, it
has Hammer trailers along with it's own. It also has a 4-page booklet with
info about the movie.
Xploited Cinema has a price of $25.95.
 DOHLER'S
NIGHTBEAST COMING TO DVD!
Probably one of this best films, Balitmore Movie Mogul Don
Dohler's classic tale of alien invasion arrives to DVD at the end of next month
from Troma. The disc will have audio commentary by Dohler, along with
behind-the-scenes footage, outtakes and bloopers (these are always
entertaining). It will also have the original trailer from 1980. I'm
sure it will have a lot of other Troma related extras. But who cares about
that, as long as we get to see this long awaited title hit DVD!
If you are not familiar with Dohler's work, I would highly
suggest this film, or ALIEN FACTOR, which is also out on DVD. You really
can't go wrong with these home-grown low budget horrors.
LAST
UPDATE BEFORE HORRORFIND!!!
We wanted to get this little update done, or what started as
little, before we left for Baltimore in a few days. But with all this DVD
news, we figured we put in our little two cents in like we always do.
Anyway, as always, if you are going to Horrorfind, stop by
and say hello!
8-06-04 FLASHBACK
REVIEW
Sorry for the delay, but we finally got our review of the
great time we had last weekend at the Flashback Weekend Convention. Click
HERE to
get to our review or the
Convention Photos
link to the left.
MYSTERY PHOTO
No correct answers were sent in for this last Mystery Photo.
What's up with that? It was from Peter Walker's mucho underrated
FRIGHTMARE (known as FRIGHTMARE II on video). It's probably one of the
better Walker films and should be in everyone's collection (This means you Hoby).
The film stars Walker regular Sheila Keith in one of her best roles. Not
to be missed. We've put up a new one, so check it out
HERE.
POSTERS FOR SALE
We have a few Turkish posters that we are selling.
Check out the artwork on these on the link to the left. Some of them are
incredible. We have more coming in soon and will update the pics when we
get them. Most of these are in mint condition. Any questions, just
drop us an email.
TRAILER TRASH?
We have a review up on the new DVD of trailers from Ban 1
Productions, entitled HORROR ON 42nd STREET. Check it out in our
Reviews Section.
 DEADLY
SPAWN FINALLY ARRIVES
For any of you out there who, like me, use to spend many
hours going through the horror section at the local video store (before BB),
then you will remember the video in the big box of THE DEADLY SPAWN (aka THE
RETURN OF THE DEADLY SPAWN). While made on a very low budget, it was one
bloody movie.
And now it seems that it's finally going to see the light of
day on DVD from Synapse
Films this October (26th). The film has been digitally remastered from
the original 16mm camera negative. It will also feature two different
audio commentaries. The first one is with producer / writer Ted Bohus.
The second one is with director / writer Douglas McKeown, producer / artist Tim
Hilderbrant, actor Charles Hildebrandt, and FX artists John Dods and Tim
Sullivan. There will also be outtakes, an alternate opening sequence,
theatrical trailer, and still galleries of the behind-the-scenes photos, makeup
FX, and the premiere in New York City.
We had recently picked up Synapse's release of LEMORA: A
CHILD'S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL and were blown away by the quality. We
hadn't watched our old video tape of it in a long time, but just couldn't
believe how great the print looks. So we are very anxious to see this
release coming from them.
HORRORFIND NEXT WEEKEND
Yea, just after recovering from last weekend's show, next
weekend we'll be loading up the Kyrpt-mobile and heading off to Baltimore for
the Horrorfind
Convention. So once again, if you're out there, stop by and say
hello....buying something would be nice too, but not necessary.
7-29-04 FLASHBACK
TIME AGAIN...
Yea, even though we are back online, we have been busy
getting ready for the 3rd annual Flashback Weekend / Horro'Rama Drive-In
Convention tomorrow. In case you hadn't heard, headlining the
show is the Father of the Dead, Mr. George Romero! He will be there, as
well as four stars from DAY OF THE DEAD. Not to mention many more guests
like Sid Haig and Bill Moseley (fresh from their filming Rob Zombie's DEVIL'S
REJECTS), EVIL DEAD Makeup Genius Tom Sullivan, Joe Bob Briggs, Angela Bettis,
Dee Wallace Stone, and many more.
Not to mention that they will be having the Chicago premiere
of Dario Argento's latest film THE CARD PLAYER and Tobe Hooper's TOOLBOX
MURDERS!
If you are planning on attending the show, as always, stop by
our table and say hello. You can check out more details on their website
HERE.
 GOT HORROR...CHANNEL?
No? Then what are you waiting for? After many
years of getting this started up, the Horror Channel now needs your help in
telling your local cable, satellite providers, and whoever else, that you want
the Horror Channel. Click
HERE to be taken to their petition page and do your part for the horror
genre.
And after you are done with that, check out their main site
HERE.
MYSTERY PHOTO
Well, not sure if anybody had the right answers sent in or
not, since we might have lost any of those emails sent while we have having
technical difficulties. But none the less, it was a promo shot from THE
FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHON DRAKE. If you have seen this rare little gem, it's
worth seeking out.
For our new one, keeping with the skull theme (enough of a
hint), check it out and see what you think. Click
HERE
to see the new Photo.
NEW HAMMER
DOCUMENTARY DVD
For Hammer fans, the names of Roy Ashton and Phil Leakey are
very familiar names. These are the two makeup genius that came up with
some of the memorable monsters in our favorite Hammer films. This DVD,
entitled GREASEPAINT AND GORE: THE HAMMER MONSTERS OF PHIL LEAKEY AND ROY
ASHTON, is a companion piece to the book of the same title by Bruce Sachs and
Russell Wall (See our Review of this book in our
Hammer
Studios section in our
Reference
Library). The DVD contains two different documentaries, one on each of
these so underrated artists. The one on Phil Leakey runs 80 minutes, while
the one Ashton is 72 minutes. There are interviews with tons of people
from Hammer, such as Hazel Court, Barbara Shelley, Janette Scott, Eddie Powell,
Christopher Lee, Freddie Francis, Jimmy Sangster and Val Guest.
Unfortunately, this is only available in the UK and only from
Tomahawk
Media, and runs close to $40 in American currency, and is only Region 0 NTSC
disc. But none the less, I think I'll be ordering a copy for myself.
That just sounds too cool to pass up.
Check out some of the other cool stuff this place is
offering, like books on the making of THE WICKER MAN and CURSE OF THE DEMON, not
to mention Hazel Court's autobiography.
 7-21-04 TERROR TRACT
SOUNDTRACK REVIEW
We have recently added a review for the made-for-TV movie TERROR TRACK in
our Soundtrack Review section. This release was put out by the fine people at
La-La Land Records, who have consistently put out some great quality
products...'nuff brown-nosing, there? But serious, being a huge fan and
collector of soundtracks, it's great to see some small outfit do such a great
job all the time on their releases. Keep up the good work fellas!
And speaking of which, next month, they will be releasing the soundtrack for
the original mother-of-all-monsters, GODZILLA. This is the 50th Anniversary
release of the original motion picture soundtrack that has been newly remastered.
This will feature the complete score, along with 4 extra bonus tracks.
For more information, go to the La-La Land Records website. They are taking
pre-orders, and will be shipping the orders out August 4th. With a great price
of $13.98, you really can't go wrong if you're a fan of the Big G.
MISSING EMAILS???
I also wanted to mention that while we were without a computer for that last
month, it didn't take long for our email box to get filled up (mainly with spam
crap). So if you had sent us an email about anything, most likely it got
bounced back to you. Well, now that things are back to normal, if you had sent
us one and never got a reply, please send it again and we'll take care of it
this time.
HELLBOY DVD...CAN YOU
WAIT???
Yea, I'm sure everybody knows that del Toro's HELLBOY hits DVD next week.
And I was very excited about picking it up. Until I remembered that their is
another special edition version coming out in November, with 3 dics this time.
Plus this also might be the uncut version, that has supposedly an extra 15
minutes of footage.
With the studios putting out those multiple releases, it's really jerking
the consumers around. But since we buy all the different releases, do you think
they're going to stop? As much as I liked the film, I can wait until November.
 THE
CURSE IS COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU???
For those fans of Dee Snider's awesome horror musical CD VAN HELSING'S
CURSE, you might have a chance to see this as a live performance. Snider and
company plan to take their CURSE on tour in October. Sinder will be hosting
each of the performances, providing the narration, as he did on the CD.
According to Snider, "Van Helsing's Curse will embark on a theater tour in
October. Snider will host each date of the tour, providing narration and setting
the tone for the performances. He offers insight to what music fans can expect
this fall:
"Our staging is very old world versus new world with regards to the music. The
new world rips out a guitar break, the old world counters with a searing violin
solo. We worked throughout the record with that kind of tension, where both
schools of music are working together but competing at the same time. And
visually, on stage, we want to present that as well.
This is a very visual entity. The string section is going to be old school
Goths, made-up and dressed accordingly, with flowing dresses, velvet jackets and
ruffled shirts -- a very Anne Rice look. The electric section is very
new-school, Hellraiser meets Marilyn Manson, from the hair to the makeup and
attire. Our choir will be a group of druids with hooded robes and skewed faces."
They are also possibly working on a DVD production of the show, that will
not only feature the music being performed but also dramatic footage as well.
Since we love this album, we are looking forward to this very much, and hope
they bring it to the Chicagoland area.
We have just added a review of the VAN HELSING'S CURSE CD in our Soundtrack
Review section. Check it out
HERE. Or you
can check out the website for Van Helsing's Curse
HERE.
SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE INTERNET
ACCESS???
Apparently during my downtime from the internet, we lost two greats from the
horror genre. The first was George "Buck" Flowers, who had passed away on back
on June 18th. Fans of John Carpenter's films would surely know his face, since
he was in quite a few of his movies, including THE FOG and ESCAPE FROM NEW
YORK. He was also in a lot of early cult movies from the 70's like a couple of
the ILSA movies. He was a familiar face that was always nice to see turn up in
any movie.
The other passing was that of Max J. Rosenberg. You might not know the
name, but you knew his work if you were a fan of British horror movies,
especially from the 70's. Rosenberg was 1/2 of the British company Amicus
Films, which made quite a few great films, such as TALES FROM THE CRYPT. He
passed away on June 14th at the age of 89.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF
HIGH-SPEED INTERNET...
Up until last week, we have always had a dial-up service. Yea, I
know...let's stop with the giggling, okay. Now that we have a mucho-faster
service, we are able to actually watch some of these trailers that are
available. Trust me, I have really been enjoying that.
One of the movies that I had been hearing mentioned a lot but had never seen
any clips or any coverage, was the movie SAW. So once I was able to see the
trailer, now I am very interested in seeing this little film. It kind of
reminds me of SE7EN. Below are some posters from the movie. The one in the
middle is the official poster, while the two on the outside were possible
options? Not sure, but even the the MPAA would never let that poster art to be
used, I think it's much better than the middle one. Looks too much like
something from CLOCKWORK ORANGE or something.
But the movie opens up September 17th, and stars Danny Glover & Cary Elwes.
For the official site (where you can see two different trailers) click
HERE.
7-15-04 WE'RE BACK
ONLINE!!!
After well over a month, we've seemed to overcome yet another computer
tragedy. We had finally gotten around to switching from the antiquated dial-up
to cable internet. But while trying to get that working, we somehow fried our
computer...stupid computers....
We have ordered a new computer (screw Gateway!) from Dell and hopefully will
have it by the end of the month (unless they discontinue the model I ordered
again). But we were able to get this piece of junk running (knock on wood) for
the time being while we wait for the new one to arrive.
We have had a few changes though. Since we have changed our internet
provider, some of the email links on this site may not work, until we go through
and correct them. And since we haven't had access to our emails for over a
month, I'm sure any emails that were sent had gotten bounced back to you. We
apologize for any inconveniencies. For the present time, use this email
address: jon@kitleyskrypt.com
It's going to take a few days to get back into the swing of things, but
hopefully will have a regular update some time this weekend. There's been a
bunch of stuff that has gone on since our last update, so we have a lot to
comment on.
FLASHBACK WEEKEND - WORLD
PREMIER
In just a couple of weeks, Chicagoland will be invaded by horror fans once
again. On July 31st to August 2nd, at the Holiday Inn Ohare in Rosemont
Illinois. They have quite a lineup of guests this year, including the father of
the dead, George Romero. Joining Romero will be four stars from DAY OF THE
DEAD, along with Sid Haig and Bill Moseley, fresh from their filming the sequel
to Rob Zombie's HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. Other stars scheduled to be there are
Joe Bob Briggs, Dee Wallace Stone, Angela Bettis, Tom Sullivan, and more. For a
complete list, check out their website
here.
But one of the real highlights of the convention will be the screenings of
Dario Argento's newest film THE CARD PLAYER and Tobe Hooper's THE TOOLBOX
MURDERS.
NO ZOMBIE AT HORRORFIND...
This is sad news, but it looks like Rob Zombie had to cancel out of his
appearance at this year's Horrorfind Weekend Convention. Maybe next time. Brad
Dourif has also been taken off the guest list.
But in some good news, they have added Gaylen Ross to their DAWN OF THE DEAD
cast reunion. Don't forget fans, she was also in CREEPSHOW...though she was
buried up to her neck in the sand most of the time....
ALLIGATOR PEOPLE COMING TO
DVD
While I know there has been a bunch of announcements and releases since my
last update, one of the first DVD announcements that I seen when I got back on
the web that really got me excited was the release of 1959 classic movie THE
ALLIGATOR PEOPLE, featuring one of Lon Chaney Jr.'s best performances...kind
of...
Anyway, the film will be released in beautiful 2.35:1, along with the
trailer, and a SRP of around $15, how could you not be happy???
BLOOD FREAK STAR LOSES
TIGER
You might have heard in the news about a tiger that had gotten loose from
it's owner down in Florida. The owner is Steve Sipek, who not only starred in a
few Tarzan movies (under the name Steve Hawkes), but also was the man
responsible for the cult classic BLOOD FREAK. For more details, check out the
link here.
6-06-04 ONE MUTHER OF AN UPDATE...
Yes, it's been bit since out last update. But
this one should make up for it. We got a bunch of new stuff, such as new
additions to our Poster Gallery, new Mystery Photo, our Scary Camp report, and
even a new section to our site, giving honors to those wacky Mad Scientists that
we love.
Read on for more details.
NEW NAVIGATIONAL BAR
In case you hadn't notice, but we have changed out
Navigational bar around a bit. When sort of condensed it to hopefully make
it a little easier to move around the site. By placing your cursor over
the link, it should pop up explaining what that link is. Any questions
about it, any of the links, or anything else about our site, feel free to
email me.
MYSTERY PHOTO
Congrats to Terry Luster on getting the last Mystery Photo,
which was from Eddie Romero's TWILIGHT PEOPLE. Never heard of it?
Well, if you enjoy those movies like MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND, then you'll
want to check that one out. It's on DVD, so look for it.
This next one is not a screen shot from the movie, but a
promotional still from it. Good luck.
ANOTHER GREAT LOSS
At then Cinema Wasteland show back in October of 2003, Robert A. Burns was
making I believe his first convention appearance. I knew that he was the
set designer for the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE movie, among a few other
classic films. But I wasn’t overly excited to meet a simple ‘set
designer’. That all changed when I went in to hear him during his Q&A session. He said something to
the fact that a set designer has done an excellent job when nobody watching the
movie realizes that there was set designer. That is so true.
Burns’ work on TCM probably added so much to the haunting
images that film gave off. Yes, you did have a guy running around with a
chainsaw and a mask made from human skin (which Burns made as well), but then
there was the furniture throughout the house, the little knick-knacks that were
scattered about. Those images made as much of an impact on me as did the
characters.
Burns went on to work on other great films like HILLS HAVE
EYES, TOURIST TRAP, THE HOWLING, RE-ANIMATOR, and many more, including getting
in front of the camera for PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER. Did you know the
autopsy room / morgue in RE-ANIMATOR was a set, and not a real place? Not me.
That is the true talent of a great set designer. And Burns was just that.
Burns was also at the April 2004 Cinema Wasteland show for
the TCM celebration. He was extremely friendly to anybody and everybody who
went up to talk to him. He would have plenty of great stories for anybody who
would listen. His Q&A session that first year had me laughing, and in amazement
when I learned about some of his work. And when he came back this last April
for the Chainsaw show, it was still as entertaining and very informative.
So it was very sad news when we heard of his passing over the
Memorial weekend. It seems that he had developed cancer, which was too far gone
to be able to treat. I guess it does make me feel a little better knowing that
at the last two Wasteland shows, he was able to meet his many fans, and to
realize that the work he did on those films some 30 years ago, are still being
watched and admired today.
He will be surely missed.
SCARY CAMP 2004
If you’ve been to the Cinema Wasteland show, then you know who A. Ghastlee Ghoul
is. Well this past Memorial Day weekend, we journeyed over to Dayton, Ohio for
Ghastlee’s first annual (?) Scary Camp show. When didn't end up with as
many pictures as we normally do, but you can still check out our review of the
show HERE.
POSTERS ANYONE?
We have added a few more acquisitions to our Poster Gallery,
some new Hammer ones, as well as a couple of entries in the Spanish and Italian
wings.
And speaking of posters, we have come across some Turkish
posters that we currently have for sale. Click
HERE to see what we have.
Keep in mind, these are all we have, so if you're interested, I'd act fast.
KARLOFF FANS?
And while we're on the subject of buying stuff...we also
happened to of just acquired a extra copy of Scott Allen Nollen's book Boris
Karloff: A Critical Account of His Screen, Stage, Radio, Television, and
Recording Work. Published by McFarland, Nollen had also written
Boris Karloff: A Gentleman's Life, which is one of the best books on Karloff
that I have read. This title was published by in 1991, and has a retail
price of $48.50. But we are offering it for only $35. This 473-page
hardcover book is in mint shape and would be a nice addition to any horror fan /
Karloff fan's collection. Interested? Email us.
TROMA FANS? IN CHICAGO? MOVIESIDE
FILMFEST STRIKES AGAIN!
Rusty Nails and company again are putting on another great
little film fest for fans of Troma films and Lloyd Kaufman. On June
18th-19th, they will be screening several Troma films, and Mr. Kaufman will be
there for the screenings. For more informationi, check out the
Movieside website.
NEW QUIZLET POLL
In case you didn't notice, we have finally gotten around to
updating our little poll at the top of this page. This has probably been
our most popular poll, and it was great to seeing all the votes coming in.
Below are the final results.
Which Frankenstein theory do you feel is correct?
40% - It is man's attempt to become god-like.
19% - Frankenstein's monster is symbolizing an outsider, someone not of the
normality of society...an outcast.
11% - It's just a movie...leave it at that.
9% - It's about making a person deal with the consequences of his actions.
8% - All of the above.
6% - A mad scientist creates a creature from dead body parts...end of story.
2% - It is man's attempt to eliminate the use or need of women.
2% - It is suppose to teach you not to judge people on their appearance.
2% - None of the above.
And now are latest is kind of a continuation on that
subject, but not where you actually have to do much thinking. To break in
our latest section to the Krypt, we want to know who your favorite Mad Scientist
is? We know that there are way more choices than the 10 that we have
listed, but we are limited to the number of choices, not to mention the fact
that the list would be pretty long. So check out the quizlet above if you
haven't already, and cast your vote.
THE SOCIETY OF MAD SCIENTISTS
The 1931 version of FRANKENSTEIN has always been one of my
favorite movies. And one of the reasons for that is the character of Dr.
Frankenstein. Always looking to push the boundaries, or even break through
the barriers, these mad scientists are always running forward into their
experiments without thinking and / or caring about the after effects.
So we wanted to give these characters a place to be honored.
So we invite you do take a look into the Society of Mad Scientist. Right
not, at this unveiling, we only have a couple entries, but there will be many,
many more. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to email us and
we'll take a close look at it.
5-21-04 ROB ZOMBIE TO BE AT HORRORFIND!
Mr. Zombie himself is now scheduled to be appearing on
Saturday at this year's
Horrorfind Weekend
this August. If you're planning on attending this year, I'd start making
your plans now. It's going to be very crowded there I think...
Also recently added to the guest list is Ashley Lawrence,
star of HELLRAISER 1 & 2, and also Greg Nicotero is joining the DAY OF THE DEAD
lineup. Don't forget that not only did Greg work on the effects, but was
also an actor in the film as well.
LONG LIVE THE NEWER FLESH!
For all you other Cronenberg fans that were always
disappointed with the bare-bones release of his film VIDEODROME, you day has
come! Criterion will be releasing a 2-disc special edition of this awesome
movie in August. Cronenberg has approved the transfer of the unrated
version of the film. That is making me wonder if there is more footage
than the R-rated release? Or will this contain footage that was used for
the TV prints that was never used in the regular release?
But besides that, just check out all the extras that this
edition will contain: It will have two different audio commentaries.
The first one with Cronenberg and cinematographer Mark Irwin, and the second
with actors James Woods and Deborah Harry. Both of these should be great.
It'll be interesting to hear what Woods and Harry have to say about this film
after 20+ years.
The edition will also contain Cronenberg's short film CAMERA,
which was created for the Toronto Film Festival in 2000, and starring Les
Carlson, who was in VIDEODROME (as well as DEAD ZONE & THE FLY).
A 30-minute documentary by VIDEODROME video FX artist Michael
Lennick about the films makeup and special effects.
Fear on Film, which is a 1/2 hour discussion between John
Carpenter, John Landis, and Cronenberg, hosted by Mick Garris. This took
place back in 1982. I'm really looking forward to seeing this.
It was also have a short promotional featurette from 1982
that was also created by Mick Garris.
It was also feature the entire movie Samurai Dreams, which
was the Japanese soft-core porn that James Woods character was buying in
VIDEODROME.
Then there will be the trailers, galleries, publicity stills,
marketing, and much more.
We can't tell you how excited we are about this release.
It's so nice to see someone finally give this film a nice special edition
release. Now how about doing the same thing for Cronenberg's THE FLY?
I had heard reports that whoever owned the rights to it wanted to release it,
but just using the same transfer from video. Cronenberg refused to have
anything to do with it, unless he had approval of the transfer. Kudos to
him. Let's just hope that someone, like Criterion does just that!
CELEBRATE THE UNHOLY THREE NEXT WEEKEND!
In case you didn't know, but coming up next week are three
birthdays for three horror icons...well, two horror icons, and one who's only
made a few horror films. But on the 26th, it is Peter Cushing's birthday.
And on the 27th, both Vincent Price and Christopher Lee share a birthday.
So what I always try and do is spend some point during the Memorial weekend
watching some of their films to celebrate and honor them.
Of course, this year will be a little difficult for us, since
we will be going to camp that weekend....Scary Camp, that is.
SCARY CAMP IN ONE WEEK!
For fans in the Dayton, Ohio area (or Chicago that don't mind
a drive), next weekend is the first annual(?) Scary Camp convention, hosted by
A. Ghastlee Ghoul. If you've been to one of the Cinema Wasteland shows,
then you know who Ghastlee is. He's trying his hand out on this convention
thing, and from the looks of it, it looks like he's got a decent show lineup.
Guests include the one and only Sid Haig, along with Tom
Sullivan, Conrad Brooks, Alex Vincent (from CHILD'S PLAY 1&2), Kyra Schon, Bill
Hinzman, James O'Barr, and many more. Check out their site
HERE for all the
details. Hope to see you there!
ROMAN POLANSKI FILMFEST
Starting next month, in Chicago, the
Gene
Siskel Film Center will be showing a series of Polanski's films, including
many of his classic titles, such as ROSEMARY'S BABY and FEARLESS VAMPIRE
KILLERS. We couldn't find any details on their website, but am going from
the information in their newsletter. Here are the dates / times for the
films they are playing:
CHINATOWN - June 11th at 8pm, June 16th at 6pm
CUL-DE-SAC - June 12th at 7:45pm, June 14th at 6pm
THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS - June 19th at 6pm, June 24th at
6pm
FRANTIC - June 26th at 6pm, June 29th at 8:15pm
KNIFE IN THE WATER - June 5th at 3:15pm, June 7th at 8:5pm
MACBETH - June 5 at 5:15pm, June 8th at 6pm
THE PIANIST - June 25th at 7pm, June 28 at 6:30pm
REPULSION - June 26th at 8:30pm, July 1st at 6pm
ROSEMARY'S BABY - June 19th at 3:30pm, June 23rd at 6:30pm
THE TENANT - June 20th at 3pm, June 22nd at 8:15pm
5-18-04 WHAT A WEEKEND...
 We are finally recovering from the extra long and busy
weekend. We took Friday off from our real world so we could make it to the
famous Biograph Theater for the Movieside Filmfest for a screening of SPIDER
BABY, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS, and COFFY. Not to mention an appearance by the
man who gave us those great movies, Mr. Jack Hill. It was great to see all
of those films on the big screen, especially SPIDER BABY which is a personal
favorite of mine....just love that movie. It was also great to see that
the theater was pretty well packed for the screenings. There were a couple
of Q&A's with Hill where he answered plenty of questions, and told some great
stories.
On Saturday, we headed over to the Buffy Show to see
Charles Cyphers. The name might not be familiar but if you are a fan of
John Carpenter's films, you'll know the face. Cyphers played the sheriff
in HALLOWEEN 1&2, as well as having roles in THE FOG, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, and
more. We had a nice chat about Carpenter and these conventions. Very
down-to-earth guy.
Plus, I didn't realize there was that much merchandising
behind the Buffy series...But it looked like Mike and Co. once again put on
another great show for the Buffy fans. Looking forward to the Flashback
show in a couple of months.
Then on Sunday, we headed back to the Biograph to finish
out the Movieside Filmfest. That night, they were screening George
Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD, THE CRAZIES, and CREEPSHOW...and of course, Mr. Romero
was there. Once  again, seeing these films again (first time for THE
CRAZIES) on the big screen is awesome. For those who never had the chance
to see these films, or others like it, on the big screen, it really is a
different experience than watching them on your TV at home. It's a whole
new experience, and one that I would recommend to everyone who is a fan of these
movies. You need to help promote these types of screenings to keep them
going!
Romero also did a couple of Q&A's. I've had the chance
to see him on a few occasions, and have always found him to be very fan-friendly
and really seems to enjoy being there talking to his fans. He talked about
his latest projects that are 'very close, but nothing definite', such as the
fourth DEAD movie. We can only hope.
This was the third year for Movieside's Filmfest, but the
first time we had heard about it. I must say that it was one of the best
film fests that I have been to. They came up with a great selection of
films to screen, had some great guests, and all of this in a great old-time
theater. Kudos to them and we are looking forward to their next one.
 TRAILERS-R-US
If you are like me and love trailers, you will want to be
watching for this new DVD coming from Ban 1 Productions. 42nd STREET
FOREVER! VOL. 1 will be released on June 29th, and features trailers from 40
different films from the 60's, 70's, & 80's. Titles like MUTATIONS, THE
DEVIL'S RAIN, CHATTERBOX, VIRGIN WITCH, FREAKS, and many more. All the
trailers have been re-mastered from prints, so the quality is going to be
awesome.
For more information about this DVD, check out them
HERE.
ZOMBI 2 DVD DETAILS
Thanks to DavisDVD, we found out what some of the extras are
going to be for Shriek Show's upcoming release of Lucio Fulci's ZOMBI 2.
It will be a new 2-disc edition, with the movie in a 2.35:1 anamorphic
widescreen transfer, with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.
But the bonus material (originally reported as being over 4
hours) is an audio commentary (but no word on if it's the original commentary
that was on the laserdisc with Ian McCulloch). But there is suppose to be
over 2 hours of interviews with the cast and crew, including makeup effects
artist Gianetto De Rossi. Add that with a huge still photo gallery, poster
reproductions inserts and trailers, it seems that this is going to be one to add
to the collection (along with the original DVD release and the laserdisc that I
still have!).
The SRP is $29.95. But Blue Underground is suppose to
be putting out a single disc edition with the movie along with trailers, TV &
radio spots, poster and still galleries, and having a SPR of $19.95. I'd
be more than happy to pay the extra $10 for 2 hours of interviews...hope it's
worth it!
5-09-04 NEXT FRIGHTVISION TO BE HELD IN
OHIO STATE PENITENTIARY
It seems that the guy who runs Frightvision
conventions, who has been screwing dealers, fans, celebrities, and whoever else
he can, is finally getting his due. Carl Thompson was arrested earlier
this month on felony theft charges in Westlake, Ohio, after running out on his
last convention stiffing several people quite a bit of money.
This just makes me appreciate even more people like Ken Kish
at Cinema Wasteland, Mike Kerz at Flashback Weekend, and Dave Hagen at
Monster-Mania. These guys are putting on shows for all the right reasons.
SPEAKING OF SHOWS....
For Chicagoland fans, don't forget about some cool stuff
coming up next weekend. First of all, if you are a fan of Buffy and Angel,
then make sure you check out the Buffy / Angel show put on by the folks at
Flashback Weekend. Guests include David Boreanaz, Christian Kane,
Stephanie Romanov, Elizabeth Ann Allen, Camden Toy, Charles Cyphers. Fans
of John Carpenter should recognize Cyphers since he was in a lot of Carpenter's
earlier work like HALLOWEEN 1 & 2, THE FOG, and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. For
more info about the show, click
HERE.
Also running next weekend is the Movieside Film Festival
mentioned below in our last update. So for us Chicagoland horror fans, we
are going to have a busy weekend.
BLOOD DIRECTOR AT OCTOBER CINEMA WASTELAND
SHOW
David Durston, director of the classic I DRINK YOUR BLOOD,
will be appearing at the Cinema Wasteland show this fall. Along with him,
will be Lynn Lowry, starred now only in BLOOD, but also worked with Romero on
THE CRAZIES and David Cronenberg in SHIVERS.
Once again, it looks like Ken and Pam are setting up for
another great show. For more guests and updates, check out their site
HERE.
ROMERO COMES ONLINE...AGAIN
It seems that George Romero has once again come online.
While many parts are still in development, it's nice to see him still trying to
have a way to communicate with his fans. Check it out
HERE. Don't
forget, Romero will be in town next weekend for the Movieside Film Festival.
See below for more details.
ZOMBIE PICKS GENRE FAVES FOR REJECTS
I've got to give Mr. Zombie a lot of credit. Early this
month, he had added P.J. Soles to the cast of his DEVIL'S REJECTS. Soles
is no stranger to genre pics with HALLOWEEN and CARRIE under her belt. And
now Zombie has added Steve Railsback to the cast. Some of the newer fans
may recognize him from ED GEIN, but veteran fans know him from HELTER SKELTER,
ESCAPE 2000, LIFEFORCE, and many others.
So the credit to Zombie is for the fact that he's casting
people that he likes for his movie. Instead of casting the newest celeb-of-the-day
like Jessica Biel or Jennifer Garner which would make the film more marketable,
Zombie is sticking to his guns and is going for people that he grew up watching.
So many filmmakers would be tempted by getting who the studios would want, in
hopes to make it a bigger sell. Kudos to you Mr. Zombie. And thanks
for putting some of our genre faves in front of the camera again.
DVD NEWS
EVILSPEAK is finally hitting DVD this July, in it's uncut form, which was only
released on video in a very edited version. This classic tale of the
little kid that is always getting picked on at school gets his revenge...after
contacting Satan on his computer...Like we haven't all thought of doing that at
one point....
The disc will be in widescreen (1.77:1) and come with an
audio commentary with star Clint Howard and Eric Weston, along with poster and
still gallery, theatrical trailer, and a 'collectors booklet'.
Though, according to the press release on Fangoria's site, it
states that this version has never been seen before in the states, since a lot
of the gore was cut out to get an R rating. Well, we had this movie when I
worked at the theater (years and years ago), and I remember quite a bit of
the gore that was cut out of the video release. Are they saying that
there's footage that wasn't it the theatrical release? We'll try to get
some more info about this.
But in any case, as much as I love this movie, and am so
happy that it's coming out finally, do you think they could have come up with
worse cover art???
On August 10th, Warner Bros. will be releasing their new
special 2-disc edition of THE LOST BOYS. It will feature a newly
remastered anamorphic transfer, with a 5.1 mix. But the real bonus is over
two hours of extras.
First there is THE LOST BOYS: A RETROSPECTIVE documentary
that has interviews with director Schumacher, Keifer Sutherland, Corey Feldman
and Corey Haim, and more. There will also be at least 6 different
featurettes on the movie, from covering the makeup with Greg Cannon, the
director, the vampire's lair and many more. Add that will the usual
trailers, music videos and the like, this looks like to be a nice edition to the
collection.
Also coming from Warner Bros. on the same day, is a film
that was banned in England for many years (not that is something new). Tod
Browning's haunting tale FREAKS will be hitting DVD, with audio commentary (not
sure by who, but maybe David Skal???), a documentary called "Freaks: Sideshow
Cinema", a prologue that was shown for the theatrical release and three endings.
This is the film that basically ruined Browning's career.
Next up is a great little double feature disc of the
original VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED and it's sequel CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED.
Both films will have commentary, but no details by who.
They will also be releasing THE BAD SEED, which will feature
commentary by Patty McCormack and Charles Busch, a new documentary about the
making of the movie, and more.
NEW REVIEWS
We have posted our reviews for two of the latest Hammer DVD
releases, FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED and DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE.
Check them out HERE.
MYSTERY PHOTO
We also updated this as well. And before I forget
again, the last clip was from Jean Rollin's FASCINATION, starring the one and
only Brigitte Lahaie. Congrats to Terry Luster and Stacey Earley for the
correct answers.
Also, we forgot to announce what the pic was from last
time...it was from Jack Hill's awesome classic SPIDER BABY! Anyway, check
out the new one and see what you can come up with. Just a hint, I may have
used movie before, but not sure....think I'm going to have to start keeping
track of what movies I'm using....
5-05-04 JACK HILL & GEORGE ROMERO IN
CHICAGO!
Can you believe it? 3 updates in the same week?!?!
Could it be the end of the world? But once I heard about this film
festival, I had to make sure more people knew about it.
Movieside Film Festival is on May 14th-16th, and have special guests Jack
Hill and George Romero. On Friday, they were be having a Q&A with Hill,
along with screenings of SPIDER BABY, COFFEY and SWITCHBLADE SISTERS.
Romero will be there Saturday and Sunday, with a Q&A and screenings of NIGHT OF
THE LIVING DEAD, DAY OF THE DEAD, CREEPSHOW, and THE CRAZIES. For more
info, click on the link above. For area horror / cult fans, this is not to
be missed. See you there!
5-03-04 CAN WE GET ANY MORE OBSCURE???
You know, first they released a die-cast replica of the cuda from PHANTASM.
While I thought that pretty damn obscure, I knew there were several people who
loved that car in those films. But now, they have come out with a replica
of the demonic vehicle from the 1977 film THE CAR. After a buddy called me
to tell me the news, I was off to the local Toys R Us, and low and behold,
sitting there was this shiny black death car that I remembered so well from my
childhood.
Kudos to RC2 for putting this out. Check out their site
HERE, along with some of the other movie car replicas that they are
offering.
 AND SPEAKING OF
COLLECTIBLES...
It seems that monster toys and collectibles are flooding the
shelves these days. While this isn't a bad thing (unless you're a
collector), I have a suggestion for those toy companies out there.
While
Majestic Studios are putting out the much sought after Zuni Fetish doll from
TRILOGY OF TERROR (which was at the top of my list), how about somebody putting
out a replica of those little brain creatures from FIEND WITHOUT A FACE?
Would that not be the coolest thing to have one of those sitting atop
your computer???
Come on people...let's get to work on this!
5-2-04 VAL KILMER ON WELFARE???
While this really has nothing to do with horror...unless you
where to pronounce it "horr...or whore...Anyway, on Saturday, I took my son to
the Court's Hollywood Memoribilia & Autograph show. We were looking for
Godzilla stuff since he's now officially jumped on the team. The main
headliner at this show was none other than Mr. Val Kilmer. He was there to
meet and greet all of his many fans....and charge them $30 for an autograph.
I guess Hollywood is no longer knocking down his door. I'm sure he'll fit
in nicely at these shows next to Adam West, the Soup Nazi from Senfield, and one
of Munckins from WIZARD OF OZ.
Of course, that doesn't top that last week at a Star Trek
show in Chicago, William Shatner was charging $60 an autograph! And I'm
sure those Trekkies were just lining up for it too. I'm not sure which is
more pathetic...Though I do have to give Creation a nice little nod of
admiration of their genius. Besides Shatner, Lenord Nimoy was also at the
show. But...and here's the awesome part...Shatner was there only on
Saturday, and Nimoy was there only on Sunday. So if you wanted to see both
of them, you'd have to pay for both days! I hope to be as smart and shrewd
as those Creation people. Of course, I'm sure it was just due to their
hectic schedules...you know, making all those commercials for Priceline and all.
ROMERO COMING TO CHICAGO!
The legendary George Romero is signed on to be this years
Flashback
Weekend. There's plenty of others scheduled to be there to make it
another great show. Check out their website to find out all the details.
Don't wait too long to make your plans....July isn't that far away!
4-23-04 MONSTER LEGACY TRIVIA CONTEST
We have a new Trivia Contest starting today. We will be
giving away one set each of the three different Legacy Collections that
Universal is putting out on April 27th. Click
HERE to go to
our Trivia Page. Good Luck.
We also have the answers for our Ten Evil Eyes Trivia
contest. This one didn't seemed to go over too well. But if you want
to see the answers, click
HERE.
DVD NEWS
The details of Blue Undergrounds' release of the much
underrated DEATH DREAM have been announced. It will have a brand new
transfer, with two commentaries (one with director Bob Clark, and the other with
screenwriter Alan Ormsby). There is also a featurette about Tom Savini and
his work on the film, as well as an interview with the star of the movie Richard
Backus. Plus, there is suppose to be an alternate opening and ending
(which should be really interesting, since I've never heard of these). Add
a trailer and a still gallery, and you have another title that needs to be in
your collection.
Also, PREDATOR will be hitting DVD again, except this time in
a 2-disc special edition. While I really only enjoy the second half of
this movie, I will probably have to add this to the collection. It will be
in widescreen (1.85:1), have audio commentary with the director John McTierman,
several documentaries and feturettes, including one on Kevin Peter Hall, the
tall actor who played the title character. Then there are some deleted
scenes, outtakes, screen tests, and much more.
The SRP is $26.98.
MYSTERY PHOTO
We have also updated our Mystery Photo with this update.
Congrats to Hoby Abernathy, Brian Huey and Chris. Check out the latest and
see if you know it.
NEW LINKS
We have also added a couple of great review sites on our
links page.
4-18-04 CLASSIC MONSTERS RETURNS TO DVD
Are you one of those that missed out on the original releases
of all those Universal classic monsters? Well then it's only a week and a
half before you have the chance to fix that mistake. On Tuesday, the 27th,
The Monster Legacies will be released.
The Frankenstein Legacy will contain the original
FRANKENSTEIN, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, and HOUSE OF
FRANKENSTEIN. This set will contain plenty of extras such as original
documentaries, trailers, and much more.
The Dracula Legacy will contain the original DRACULA, the
Spanish version of DRACULA, DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, SON OF DRACULA, and HOUSE OF
DRACULA (which had never been previously released on DVD). This set will
also contain plenty extas.
And lastly, the Wolf Man Legacy will include the original
WOLF MAN, WEREWOLF OF LONDON, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN, and SHE-WOLF OF
LONDON. And same as before, plenty of extras.
You can also order all three of the Legacy series in one
Monster Legacy set, which also comes with three monster busts from Sideshow
Toys.
For all the details about the films and the exact extras,
check out the official site
HERE. We may be having a little contest dealing with these classics,
depending on what they want to see us to giveaway...So stay tuned, and we'll let
you know the details when we can.
NEW REVIEWS
While we haven't finished all the reviews that we're working
on, check out our
Review
section for a few to keep you busy in the meantime, including one for the
original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.
MORE REJECTS HAVE BEEN NAMED
It seems that Mr. Zombie is going all out finding cult stars
to be in his HOUSE sequel. He as added Ken Foree and Michael Berryman to
the cast of DEVIL'S REJECTS. According to Mr. Zombie, "Yes, the rumors are
true Ken Foree has signed on to play
Charlie Altamont aka Captain Spaulding's pimp brother. If that ain't enough for
you horror fiends Michael Berryman has signed to play Clevon, Charlie's dim witted sidekick."
To be honest, Foree joining the cast doesn't do much
for me, but I am very excited to hear Berryman jumping on board.
JACK TAYLOR INTERVIEW
Over at the
Cinema-Nocturna website, they have scored an interview with the one and only
Jack Taylor. Who's that? Well, this guy been in quite a few films
and has worked with a bunch of different people, from Jess Franco, to Paul
Naschy, and even more recently with Roman Polanski in THE NINTH GATE.
Check out their great site, and also this very interesting interview.
4-15-04 CENSORSHIP...HERE?
DAMN STRAIGHT!
I usually don't have a problem with people posting whatever
they want in our message board, or guest book for that matter. But if they are
just plain ignorant, I delete their posts. I would really prefer to have
the message board a place for opinions, remarks, and comments from you viewers,
not a place for ads and arrogant opinions (unless they're coming from me).
So when someone uses it to promote something, I get a little
picky. And earlier this week, someone from Creation posted a huge message
promoting a couple of their upcoming con-ventions. Sorry people...deleted.
Why? Well, first of all, since I'm the one paying for this site, I guess I
can do what I want. But in all seriousness, as many times as I've been
screwed around by Creation, I'll be damn if I'm going to have my website be a
spot where they can promote their con-ventions where all these guests are lined
up to sell their $20 autographs to their "fans". You want to
know more about their shows, check out their website. Okay, I'm getting
off my soapbox now.
DO WE NEED ANOTHER RELEASE OF FULCI'S
ZOMBIE???
Well...if it has 4 hours of extras? It would be really
tough for me to say no. As posted on the Gorezone site, Media Blasters
will be releasing a 25th-Anniversary Edition of Lucio Fulci's ZOMBI 2 in a
2-disc edition that is to feature 4 hours of extras! Now we have no clue
as to what these extras are to be, but are really curious to hear what they
could come up with that would fill 4 hours. As soon as we hear more, we'll
post it here. Of course, Blue Underground is suppose to be releasing their
own edition of this film as well. No word on what extras, if any, are
going to be on that one.
Media Blasters will also be releasing the rare Joe D'Amato's
horror/porno film EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD in two different versions:
The cut version at 88 minutes, and the 112 minute uncut version. Let's
hope they can pull this one off.
And in other great news, it seems that Media Blasters will be
releasing one of the best, and most twisted cartoons out there, INVADER ZIM,
onto DVD. There's not much info posted on their site now, but click
HERE
to find out what they have so far.
POSTER GALLERY
We have added a few new additions to our poster galleries,
mainly in the Hammer section. Don't forget, we are always looking for new
acquisitions for the gallery.
REVIEWS COMING...
We should have a few new reviews up in the next day or two.
They will include a low budget film that has been drawing attention as of late,
called 13 SECONDS, as well as the import DVD double feature of THE QUATERMASS
XPERIMENT and QUATERMASS 2.
And yes, we've even seen the new DAWN OF THE DEAD movie....We
won't have a review of it, but we'll be posting our thoughts on it...both here
and the Message Board since there's been a bit of a discussion going on there.
 I
DRINK YOUR BLOOD - OUT AGAIN!
For those of you who didn't get around to getting one of the
best DVD releases of last year, now is your chance. Now available at
exclusively through
Fangoria's website, you can pick up one the best cult classics out there, I
DRINK YOUR BLOOD. Not only do you get the film in it's uncensored
director's cut, but the DVD is also filled with extras.
It comes with audio commentary with the director David
Durston and actor Bhaskar (who recently passed away). There's an interview
section with the director and some of the cast.
The price is only $19.99, plus $5.00 for shipping.
Don't wait too long...you never know how long before they might decide to go
out-of-print again! These things will be selling faster than rabid-filled
meat pies!
EXORCIST PREQUELS...
This is one of the strangest stories that I've heard coming
out of Hollywood in a long time. Even though Paul Schrader was fired by
Morgan Creek when they didn't like his version of the prequel, hired Renny
Harlin to completely reshoot everything, it seems that both versions might be
released on DVD. Harlin's version is to be released this August. But
when the DVD release comes about, both version will be available. No
details if they'll be separate editions or in signal release.
I personally think it's a great idea, that way the public can
see which version they like better. Plus, it's also stops one of those
rumors-in-waiting about how great or terrible Schrader's version was. Now
we'll be able to see for ourselves.
IS LIONS GATE FEELING HAUTE TENSION?
Here's another strange story. It's been hitting the net
over the last few days about the similarities between the new French slasher
film HAUTE TENSION and the 1995 best selling book Intensity by Dean R.
Koontz. The problem is that Koontz's name isn't listed anywhere in the
credits.
Now here's the part I get lost at. This was from a
posting about the Sundance Film Festival, where there was a midnight screening
of the film (click
HERE to see the article). The article was dated January 22nd, 2004.
Why are we just hearing about this now, almost 3 months later?
But back to the story. According to the article, during
a Q&A after the screening, someone asked the director Alexandre Aja about the
strong similarities between his movie and the Koontz novel. His reply was
"The beginning is quite similar," he conceded, "but it's a classic story: two
girls in a house with a killer ... It's a tribute to all slasher films."
Hhmmmmmm.
Now here's the ironic part of the whole story. Koontz
has been complaining for years that nobody has made a good adaptation of one of
his novels into films. And now someone did, except they didn't have the
rights to it??? Now that is funny.
Still find it strange that this story is 3 months
old...anybody hear any updates?
4-9-04 WASTELAND REPORT
Another year, another great show, and another report filled
with photos. This was one hell of a show this time out. If you are a
fan of the TEXAS CHAINSAW movies, then you better hoped you didn't miss out on
this great opportunity to see so many people involved in these movies. But
if you weren't there, then maybe it'll make it a little easier for you to cope
with by seeing all the photos in our show report, by click
HERE, or going
to our Convention
Photo section.
Congrats to Ken and Pam and the whole Wasteland staff for
making it another great experience for not only us, but everyone else that
traveled out to Ohio for another great show. And also thanks to everyone
who stopped by our table to say hi. It's always nice to put faces with
those email addresses. Hopefully we'll see you there again in October.
MYSTERY PHOTO
DEEP RISING was the correct answer for the last Mystery
Photo. If you want to see one of the best examples where makeup effects
and CGI working together (this was a few years before BLADE 2, which is another
great example), check out the movie. It's a great little (actually quite
big) monster movie that is well worth the 90 minutes of your life.
Congrats to Hoby Abernathy and Bud Bornhoft.
This next one is a classic, that I'm hoping everyone knows
and loves as much as I do. Good Luck.
NOX ARCANA
For those fans of Midnight Syndicate, here's another one that
will steal your money. Nox Arcana is the new project from Joseph Vargo,
who was with Midnight Syndicate in the beginning, but had since parted ways with
them. With this new musical project, Vargo gives more great atmospheric
music for us fans who love those creepy movie music for our minds and
imagination. Check out their great website
here, and
order their cd...if you enjoy Midnight Syndicate, you'll want to add this to
your collection as well.
3-28-04 CINEMA WASTELAND...ALMOST THERE
Sorry for the lack of updates over the last couple of weeks,
but we have been kind of busy between the real world and just trying to get
ready for the Cinema
Wasteland show next weekend. This is looking to be another great show.
I'm sure we won't have another update until after the show. But once
again, if you're going, stop by and say hello!
MYSTERY PHOTO
I was kind of surprised at the lack of guesses with this last
entry. Did you not recognize Viggo Mortensen there? Well, that was a
few years before he became a King. Congrats to Eric Alexander and Hoby
Abernathy for sending in the correct answer. Fair warning though, this new one
is a tad bit gruesome. Let's see how this one goes over...
GODZILLA COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU
As you might have heard, with the 50th Anniversary of the Big
G, they are re-releasing the original film that started it all. It's only
playing the small venues, but click
HERE
to find out the cities where it will be showing. It's being shown in it's
original uncut form, so you are going to want to see this, the mother of all
monster movies. I know it's coming to Chicago in July, so I will be there
at some point.
MORE BLOOD TO DRINK
For those poor folks to missed out on one of the best DVDs to
come out in last year, now is your chance to snag get one. Fangoria will
be re-issuing I DRINK YOUR BLOOD on DVD, with all the same extras as the
Grindhouse release (except for the autographs). You'll see the uncensored
Director's cut, deleted scenes which includes the original ending which was
thought to be too much of a downer. There is also interviews with
the director and stars, not to mention audio commentary by director Durston and
star Bhaskar.
Coming out on April 12th, you can only get this disc from
Fangoria.com. So I
wouldn't wait too long, or you might just miss out again on this awesome movie,
and incredible disc. You don't want that to happen again, do you?
M TO BE RELEASE AGAIN!
Criterion will be pulling their original release of Fritz
Lang's M this month, only to release it again, in an all new edition. It
will feature a pristine transfer from a newly restored film elements. And
it will also have a bunch of new extras. It will be released sometime this
year.
 SO
IT'S NOT EXACTLY HORROR RELATED...
...but since La La Land Records has always put out some great
releases, we figured that some of our readers might want to hear about this.
They are taking pre-orders for their release of THE BEST OF LONE WOLF CUB.
This cd is a compilation of original soundtrack recordings from all six LONE
WOLF films. Composed by Hideakira Sakurai and Kuuihiko Murai, this score
combines the traditional Japanese musical styles with the 70's westerns.
It has a running time of about 50 minutes and will come with
a booklet that has production stills and promotional art, as well as a look at
the Lone Wolf film series and it's music. The pre-order price is only
$13.98.
La La Land Records have a history of putting out
nothing but great cds, so while this isn't really in the horror genre, we are
really looking forward to this release.
LIONS GATE HAS GOT GUTS...AND SO WILL HAUTE
TENSION
I got to take a second to give kudos to Lions Gate.
They had picked up the US distribution for the gory French film HAUTE TENSION, a
film that has been developing a reputation over the last year or so. Well,
the film had received an NC-17 rating (go figure) by the MPAA. But Lions
Gate has decided to stick with that rating and release it with that rating.
Lions Gate president Tom Ortenberg told Variety, "We are
looking to do our part in destigmatizing the rating. Without getting into
the argument about which films should fall under it or not, we at Lions Gate
would like there to be an adult rating that does not have a stench associated
with it." Lions Gate felt that by cutting the film to get an R-rating
would be "gutting" the movie. They are planning to release the film this
August.
I'm sure that it won't be playing at all the multiplexes that
DAWN OF THE DEAD has been hitting, but if it does show up in your neighborhood,
make sure you go to promote the rating and the film. And also to promote
Lions Gate for having the balls to take a stand and release it uncut.
3-14-04 YES, IT GETS EVEN BETTER
The Wasteland crew have added yet another TCM guest to their
upcoming show, and this one is a double treat. Lou Perryman was not only
the poor L.G. who was skinned alive in TCM 2, but he was also the assistant
cameraman on the first TCM movie! Add in the fact that he's never done a
convention, and you are looking at a once in a life time show. Where else
are you going to see 8 guests from the original classic film, plus another 4
guests from the sequels. Not at one of those shows with the cookie-cutter
guest lineup. Only at the Wasteland show. It's not too late to make
your plans!
NEW REVIEWS
We've actually got some new reviews up this time out,
including the classic Japanese horror film ONIBABA that hits DVD next week.
Check them out.
MYSTERY PHOTO
We've posted a new photo to give you something to ponder
upon. Congrats to Brian Smith, Eric Alexander and Hoby Abernathy for
sending in their correct guesses on that last one. It was from Dario
Argento's PHENOMENA. Good luck on the new one.
NASCHY AT CHILLER
For those fans who didn't have the chance to see Spain's
favorite werewolf, Paul Naschy, at the Fango show years ago, now is your chance.
Naschy will be appearing at the Chiller show next month in New Jersey.
And in other Naschy news, it seems that he will be the
villian in Brian Yuzna's new film ROTTWEILER. Course after BEYOND
RE-ANIMATOR, that's not getting me too excited. Hopefully he'll put him to
better use than he did with Santiago Segura.
IS IT A SEQUEL OR A REMAKE?
It seems that the director of the original RINGU and
it's sequel is now in talks to direct the American RING 2. So...will he be
remaking his version of RINGU 2, or making a sequel to the American THE RING?
3-5-04 MYSTERY PHOTO
Well, I think we went a little too obscure this time.
Maybe not on the movie, but definitely on the clip. It was from DOG
SOLDIERS. Didn't get any emails this time out, wrong or right. So
we'll try it again. Good luck.
EVIL EYES TRIVIA
And it looks like this little game is a little tougher than I even
realized. Only had one entry on this contest, and they only had 2 correct
answers. So we're going to change the rules a bit. Instead of having
to get all 10 correct, we'll take whoever has the most answers correct.
How's that sound? Want to give it another try? Just click
here to be
taken to the Trivia Page. Come on...what can you lose?
 CINEMA WASTELAND -
AROUND THE CORNER
That's right folks. Less than a month to go before we
head off to Ohio for the first Spring Wasteland show, celebrating the 30-year
anniversary of the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.
The Wasteland staff has dug up 11 different guests related to
the TCM trilogy (we're pretending that part 4 never happened, as well as that
remake...shhhh), with 7 of them being from the first film. They have
recently added Ken Foree to the guest list. Foree may be most well known
for his role in Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD, but don't forget that he was in TCM
3! Plus this is also the first time ever to have all three Leatherfaces
together at one show!
Plus there will be the usual great entertainment, including
another great selection of movies. How about seeing William Girdler's
ultra rare EXORCIST 'inspired' film ABBY, starring William Marshall. But
then there's also BEYOND ATLANTIS, starring Sid Haig and John Ashley, and
directed by Eddie Romero. And then what's a Cinema Wasteland show without
a screening of Bill Rebane movie? Ever hear of DEMONS OF LUDLOW?
Well, there's a reason for that. Plus, one of my favorites, GRAVE OF THE
VAMPIRE, starring cult favorites Michael Pataki and William Smith.
Definitely a must see.
We hope to see you there!
 DVD NEWS
The years of waiting is over. If you weren't one of the
lucky ones to be able to check this movie at one of the limited screenings, you
now only have to wait until May 25th for Don Coscarelli's BUBBA HO-TEP.
And this looks like to be one loaded DVD. It will have two different
commentary tracks. The first one will be with Coscarelli and Bruce
Campbell, while the second one is by Elvis (Campbell in character). There
will also be 7 minutes of deleted scenes, a 20-minute documentary about the
making of, plus docs on the creation of the mummy, the musical score, and
transforming Campbell into Elvis. There's also trailers, and animated
photo gallery.
The SRP for this release from MGM is a bit high at $27.98,
but will come with a limited-edition packaging and a behind-the-scenes scrapbook
with comments by both Coscarelli and Campbell.
In other great news from Mondo Crash on their Euro
Thriller Collection, here's some addition details on their release of Paul
Naschy's HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB. The disc will feature the original US
release of the film, as well as the uncut international version. But it
will also feature a video gallery that will have original posters, lobby cards,
press books, and stills. There is also interviews with the cast and the
director, as well as filmography and biography of the director and star.
And don't forget the trailers. This is some awesome news for Naschy fans.
But Mondo Crash isn't stopping there. They will also be
releasing Leon Klimolvsky's NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS and Eugenio Martin's A CANDLE
FOR THE DEVIL.
The only thing that makes me nervous, is the ads for HORROR
and SORCERERS, they list the exact same extras for both discs. Same
wording and everything. Let's just hope that this is
good as it sounds. All titles have an SRP of $14.97
3-01-04 SO IT'S BEEN A FEW DAYS...
Yea, so it's been a few days since our last update.
Been busy with a few things...or just being lazy. But we don't want this
site to turn into some of those other cob-websites that only update once every
other month...so we better get cracken! Here's just a couple of quick
notes for now. We are working on a bigger update (no, really!) that should
be up in the next day or two.
 OSCARS NAIL JACKSON!
Who would have thought that the creative (if not demented)
mind that gave us BAD TASTE, MEET THE FEEBLES, and the goriest zombie movie
ever, BRAINDEAD, would get an Oscar...okay, so a lot of Oscars. And to
really make my Oscar night, while accepting he even mentions his early works,
BAD TASTE and MEET THE FEEBLES! Now I can just see some of these film
buffs / critics quickly writing down these titles, amazed that they hadn't heard
of them before. Boy are they going to be in for a surprise.
But in any case, it was great to see Jackson and company get
the recognition he deserves. Let's just hope that he remembers his roots,
and doesn't go on to make "real films" like some others have.
 And another nice surprise during the Oscars was when LORD OF
THE RINGS won the Visual Effects category, one of the team was William Randall
Cook. Name doesn't sound familiar? I remember when he was a real
madman....or technically, an I, MADMAN. Randy Cook played the title
character in the 1989 film I, MADMAN. And not only playing the stitched-up
psycho, but he also did his own makeup, and did the stop animation in the movie.
He also worked on the underrated THE GATE as well (don't touch that sequel
though). So kudos to him as well.
THE DEVIL'S REJECTS
It seems that will be the title of the sequel to Rob
Zombie's HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, as reported by Creature-Corner. No other
real news about the film, other than what was reported before, of the Firefly
family being on the run from the law after their crimes have been discovered.
I know they were originally shooting for a Spring release, but the last I heard
was that Zombie had finished the script, and that was about a month or so ago.
Maybe for a Halloween release???
 2-15-04 DAMN
TOYS...ERR...I MEAN COLLECTIBLES...
Just after I had packed up my horror toys, deciding that I
don't need to be collecting any more of those, I come across this new little
thing from X-Plus and AMC (the best thing to come from them since they started
showing commecials). I was not only amazed at the detail of this thing,
but also that they took something that was pretty obscure. This ain't your
Freddy, Jason or Michael here, but one of the true classics of the horror /
sci-fi movies...THE SHE CREATURE. This is retailing for only $40, and I
must say that it's well worth every penny.
They have also put out one from another one of Paul
Blaisdell creations, the mutant from THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED, which is even more
obscure than the She Creature. Kudos to both X-Plus and AMC for picking
these two. Now where's the creatures from INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN and
IT CONQUERED THE WORLD??? They are working on some more, such as the giant
beast from WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST. Check out their website
here for more details and
ordering. Or you can get them also from our good friends at
House of
Monsters.
CONVENTION UPDATES!
We have some news about the Flashback Weekend coming up this
summer. Mike & Company is coming up with quite a few names for this year's
show. Here's who he's got so far:
Dee Wallace Stone (THE HOWLING, FRIGHTENERS, HILLS HAVE EYES)
Angela Bettis (MAY, CARRIE)
Tom Sullivan (the man creator the EVIL DEAD)
Bill Moseley (TCM 2, HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES)
Sid Haig (HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, SPIDER BABY, BEYOND ATLANTIS, BIG DOLL...oh
hell, there's too many to mention!)
Dead Reunions with 3 from DAY OF THE DEAD (Lori Cardille, Joseph Pilato, and
Gary Klar) and 2 from DAWN OF THE DEAD (Clayton Hill and Sharon Ceccatti)
Julia Adams and Ben Chapman from the original CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON,
Brinke Stevens
And also Joe Bob Briggs to host the whole thing.
I'm sure there might be some more names coming, but this is a
great lineup so far. So mark your calendars. It's July 30th to Aug.
1st. For more info, click
HERE.
And if you are a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
show, then you also want to check out Mike's Buffy show in May (14th-16th).
They have Angel himself, David Boreanaz, making his only convention appearance
there. Also scheduled is Christian Kane, Stephanie Romanov, and Elizabeth
Anne Allen. For more info on that show, click
HERE.
CINEMA WASTELAND SHOW
And also adding to their guest list, Ken adds another dead
guy to his lineup: Leonard Lies. Well, the name might not jump out, but if
you're a fan of DAWN OF THE DEAD, then you've seen his face. Poor Leonard
is the zombie bastard that got Savini's machete stuck in his skull.
So if you're thinking about going to a show, don't miss out
on another great show! Check
HERE for
more info.
NEW TRIVIA CONTEST - EVIL EYES
Well, since we had gotten that last update on Friday, and
were pretty bored here on Saturday, we came up with an interesting idea for a
trivia contest...either that or we seen it on another site and decided to rip it
off...not sure. But in any case, here's what we got. Click
HERE or on
the Trivia link on the Nav. Bar on the left, and you will be taken to a page
with 10 sets of Evil Eyes. All you need to do is be the first one to
correctly identify all 10 movies that the eyes are from, and you will win a DVD
full of Trailers from Something Weird. I'm sure there are some easy ones
in there, but there's also a few tougher ones. So good luck, and let the
games begin!
2-13-04 HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH!!!
We've had planned on having this update done a few days ago,
but then figured we'd wait until today. Since this is sort of a holiday
for us, right? Anyway, on to the update.
MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE ARRIVES AT THE KRYPT
We are very happy to now carry these great CDs from Midnight
Syndicate. For those who are not familiar with their work, if you are a
fan of atmospheric music, then you need to check them out. You can now
order them directly from us. For more information, click
here!
MYSTERY PHOTO
Glad to see that there were a few John Ashley fans out there,
and who knew our last Mystery Photo. It was from BEAST OF THE YELLOW
NIGHT. For those who aren't familiar with it, or the Blood Island
movies...you have some homework to do! The ones with the correct answers
are Bill Holmes, Chris Huziak, Stephen Weakley, Rick Lassiter, and dbuscemi.
Good luck on the new one!
PSYCHO BABBLE
We have a new entry in our
Psycho Babble entry,
from none other than Joe Bob Briggs. We found this tidbit in his latest
book Profoundly Disturbing. Didn't think we'd ever hear anything
like that out of him.
NEW REVIEWS...ZOMBIES & CHAINSAWS
We have added a review of a classic Hammer film in our Review
section. Don't know why we waited this long for it. We have also
added our review of the new book The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Companion in
our
Library
section (under Biographies). Check it out, it's a great book!
MORE REMAKES FROM HOLLOW-WOOD
I don't know why I still get irritated when Hollow-wood
(Hollow as in empty of intelligence or creativity) announces a new remake.
You think we would have learned by now. But I guess I'm still hoping that
latest remake just might be the one to break the chain of bad ones. I had
no intention of seeing the TEXAS CHAINSAW remake until Roger Ebert gave it such
a bad review, I figured I might actually find something entertaining in there.
Sorry, not this time.
But now Hollow-wood has announce remakes of BRIDE OF
FRANKENSTEIN, ROSEMARY'S BABY, HOUSE OF WAX, and lastly THE HILLS HAVE EYES
(even with Craven producing). Now while BRIDE and HOUSE seemed to be
remakes by only stretching your imagination (something that they can't seemed to
do when trying to come up with something original), HILLS is suppose to be
written and directed by Alexandre Aja, who is making on the news with his film
HAUTE TENSION. Now, is that particularly a bad thing? While we
haven't seen HAUTE yet, I've heard nothing but good things. Maybe this
will give Aja a chance to show Hollow-wood something new and original...even if
it's only a remake.
BUBBA HO-TEP TO HIT VIDEO...FINALLY!
It seems that director Don Coscarelli has made the deal with
MGM to release his 'old Elvis vs old Mummy' movie, with a street date of May
25th. Marked that date on your calendars folks, because that is a movie
that you want to see. No real details on what extras might be on the disc,
but there's talk of Coscarelli doing commentary along with Bruce Campbell doing
commentary as the King. That should be interesting...
NEW LINKS!
We have also added quite a few new links to our site.
In the Actors section, there's quite a few additions from the TEXAS CHAINSAW
movies.
We have also added a link to a site called Oh My Gore!
This site has some great downloads, including some incredible wallpapers.
Check them out.
And then we also have added a new section of links for Model
kit sites (banner to added shortly). This is a little side hobby we have
been doing over the years that is a very dangerous one to get into. It's
not cheap, and it's very time consuming. But for me, it is very relaxing
(unless you're looking at all the cool kits that are out there). So we
figured we'd see if we couldn't spread the disease around a bit. There's
just few links now, but more will follow.
If you know of any model kit sites, or any horror sites that
you visit frequently, let us know.
1-31-04 JEEPERS CREEPERS CONTEST WINNER!
Sorry for the long delay folks, but we were waiting for the
prize to arrive from MGM. The lucky winner is Leo Medina. Contrats
to Leo, and thanks again to everyone who participated. Stay tuned for our
next contest.
BUSY, BUSY, BUSY...
Things have been pretty busy around here as of late.
And for once, it has nothing to do with the 'real workplace'. We've
started up again painting our resin models kits, some of which we purchased
around 6 years ago. Then add on top of that, we've been trying to get
through some of this new reading material that we've been piling up around here
as well. From reading Peter Cushing: The Gentle Man of Horror and His
91 Films, to Set Visits (wait until you read some of Christopher Lee
quotes I found in there!), to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Companion.
I figured I really didn't need to, or want to for that matter, hear any more
stories about the making of this film. But I have found this book
extremely enjoyable, with tons of great information. Hence our new little
quote above. I'll be having a review of the book up shortly in our Library
section, but for right now, I would highly recommend it.
And while on a shameless plug, plus speaking of TCM, don't
forget that it's only two short months away from the
Cinema
Wasteland spring show (April 2nd-4th in Cleveland, Ohio). With 9
guests from the first 3 TCM movies, it's one that you can't miss.
NASCHY RISES FROM THE TOMB
In some great news for us Naschy fans, HORROR RISES FROM THE
TOMB (my personal favorite of his films) will be coming to DVD from Crash Cinema
as part of their Mondo Crash line, as posted on DVD Maniacs. The release
date is March 30th, and is said to have both the US version as well as the uncut
European version. Not sure of the differences, but let's just hope that
their good quality prints. The disc will also feature interviews with both
Naschy and director Carlos Aured, as well as still gallery and filmographies.
HAMMER DVD RELEASES
And to add to that great news, Warner Home Video will be
releasing those Hammer titles reported earlier on April 27th. Coming to
DVD for the first time are FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED, DRACULA HAS RISEN
FROM THE GRAVE, and TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, which being released for the
first time over here in it's uncut version! They all have a SRP of $19.95.
Start saving that money people.
MYSTERY PHOTO UPDATE
We have a new photo up with this update.
Unfortunately, nobody was able to come up with the correct answer for that last
one. That woman happens to be Oscar winning director Roman Polanski from
his film THE TENANT. And he's not really missing a leg, it's just bent
back underneath him. If you haven't had the chance to see this excellent,
but very bizarre film, I would recommend it.
Good luck on the new pic!
NEW REVIEWS
We also have a few new reviews up in the usual place.
Careful, if you haven't seen CABIN FEVER, there might be a few spoilers in
there...
VAN HELSING OFFICIAL SITE IS OPEN
We recently caught the trailer for this latest Hollywood
blockbuster. While we were not impressed in the slightest with his MUMMY
RETURNS cartoon, I have to admit, the look of this film alone is going to get me
to see it. I know I said the same thing about UNDERWORLD and was slightly
disappointed, but the production designs for VAN HELSING looks incredible.
You can check out the official site
HERE, where they have
info about the film, as well as screensavers and wallpaper.
 1-24-04
FRANKENSTEIN: THE CRIME FIGHTER!?!?
I've always been a huge fan of the characters of Frankenstein
and his creation. And when a new project is announced dealing with those
characters, I'm always looking forward to what it will bring to it. But
after reading about this latest venture, I think those feelings my change.
It seems that horror author Dean Koontz will be writing a
pilot (and producing) for a proposed TV series for the USA network where both
Dr. Frankenstein and his creation are still alive in modern times. But it
seems that in this new twist, over the years, the doctor is evil and the
creature has become good (ever see any of those Hammer films?). And the
creature teams up with a female homicide detective investigating a series of
brutal crimes...
People...this is not a joke. Well, it is...but only in
a sarcastic way. Don't those people remember that made-for-TV movie HOUSE
OF FRANKENSTEIN a few years back??? Do we need to have Frankenstein's
monster running around solving mysteries? Please tell me there's something
a little more original out there than that...Please!
MONSTER LEGACY DVDS...WITH EXTRAS
The first reports of these LEGACY collections made no mention
of any extras carried over from the original releases. But as reported by
DavisDVD, it seems that they audio commentary and documentaries will be the same
on the movies for FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA, and THE WOLF MAN.
With a retail price for each of the 2-dics sets only around
$26.98, that's great price, considering when these discs first came out, they
had an SRP of $24.95 each! This should be great news for those out there
who missed out on adding these classic films to your collection.
Now if they'd only release HOUSE OF DRACULA by itself...
NEW BOOKS ADDED
We've have added quite a few new titles in our
Books section, including the
new TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE COMPANION. Check them out.
CONVENTION UPDATES
Only a couple of months to go before we start our yearly
convention cycle. And this year looks to be quite a busy year for us, with
lots of great shows coming up.
First up is the first Spring show for the
Cinema
Wasteland crew during the first weekend in April (2nd-4th) in Cleveland,
Ohio. If you are a fan of the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE movies (and we ain't
talking about that new piece of crap), then this is the show you want to be at.
With 9 guests from the first 3 CHAINSAW movies, what more could you want?
And besides all of that, you still have the best show for all around
entertainment. Great guests. Great movies. A great time.
This has always been our favorite show. No way you can not have a good
time here, folks.
After that, over the Memorial Day Weekend, we will be heading
to Ohio once again (Dayton this time) for
Ghastlee Ghoul's Scary Camp.
They have Sid Haig as their headliner guest, with also Tom Sullivan, Bill
Hinzman, Kyra Schon, and more. Sure to be a good time.
Then we have a couple of months off before we hit the
Flashback Weekend
in Chicago at the end of July (30th to Aug. 1st). No guests have been
announced yet, but usually Mike and company come up with some pretty interesting
names.
And then only after a short couple of weeks after that, we
make the journey east to Baltimore for the
Horrorfind Weekend IV. Last year was the first time we made it to this
show, and had one hell of a time. So we are planning it to do it once
again. They are coming up with another huge guest list, including George
Romero, Jeffrey Combs, and Adrienne Barbeau, plus plenty of other great names.
Then of course, only two weeks after that show, is the
Monster
Mania show. We are still trying to work out being able to go to that
one, but we're still hopeful. But Monster Mania's Dave Hagan is coming up
with what looks to be like another great show. We had a blast last time
there and hope to do it again this year.
And what better way to close the convention year but with
another Cinema Wasteland show. No real news about what Ken has planned for
this one, but I'm sure he'll be promoting it at the April show. And as
always, whoever Ken does get, it will be another great show.
NEW REVIEWS
We have added a few new reviews this time out. No
movies this time, but a soundtrack and a couple of books. We have our
review of the soundtrack for the new film
THE
BUTTERFLY EFFECT, as well as the new book on John Carpenter and another
great interview book by Tom Weaver. Check out the book reviews
here.
COLLECT MOVIE STILLS?
We don't usually promote or advertise people on eBay, but we
came across this guy who truly offers some great products and great prices.
Last month, I bought several stills from this guy and was very happy with the
product. He offers quite a few rare still shots, like from the 50's AIP
movies to tons of Hammer Horror shots. Plus the prices are around $4 each,
which is cheaper than most sold at conventions. Yea, these are reprints,
but the quality is excellent. Check out his auctions by clicking
here.
1-16-04 HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN CARPENTER!
Best Wishes to Mr. Carpenter. He turned 56
today.
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN!
Mr. Reis, over at DVD Drive-In, has started a campaign to
suggest titles that we would like to see come out from MGM on their Midnite
Movies banner. Over this last summer, MGM got a lot of my money, with the
amount of great titles that they put out. How can one pass up COUNTESS
DRACULA and VAMPIRE LOVERS (released uncut for the first time in the US) on one
DVD for only $10! So let's make sure they know how much we appreciate it,
and that they keep on doing it. Click on the logo below for more info.
MYSTERY PHOTO
Congrats to this entries winners. They were Stacy
Earley, Stephen Weakley, Monster Mark McConnaughey, and Vatonges. The
winning answer was BLOOD BEAST TERROR, starring Peter Cushing. Nice job
people. That was a tough one.
So let's continue on that note. Check out our newest
photo
and get those minds working.
 VACATION ON BLOOD
ISLAND!
If you are one of those poor souls that never got around to
picking up the Blood Island films from Image when they came out on DVD, now is
your chance to not only get them, but also save quite a bit on the price.
On March 2nd, Image is releasing a box set that contains all three of the Blood
Island movies (BRIDES OF BLOOD, MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND, and BEAST OF BLOOD),
and also Al Adamson's BRAIN OF BLOOD. They feature all the same extras as
the original releases, which have audio commentary by Sam Sherman. These
commentaries are excellent, giving the viewer not only a history of these films,
but also a history of both Hemisphere Pictures and Independent International as
well. Sherman is full of great stories of the 'old days' which still
amazes me at how films were made, marketed, and distributed back then.
The SRP is around $45, which is a great deal. But you
can even find it cheaper at online places like Deep Discount DVD which is
listing it at around $32. Can't beat that. These discs are highly
recommended.
UNIVERSAL MONSTERS RELEASED AGAIN
Universal will be releasing their classic monsters again in
three different box sets. Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection will feature
FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN,
and HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.
Dracula: The Legacy Collection contains: DRACULA ('31),
DRACULA (Spanish Version), DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, SON OF DRACULA, and HOUSE OF
DRACULA (which was not previously released.
The Wolfman: The Legacy Collection contains: THE WOLF MAN,
WEREWOLF OF LONDON, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN, and SHE-WOLF OF LONDON.
Each collection retails around $27 each, and will be
unleashed on April 27th. There will also be a Monster Legacy Gift set that
will include all three collections, along with figurines of Dracula,
Frankenstein and the Wolf Man.
IN OTHER DVD NEWS...
Earlier this week, during a chat room discussion on the
Home Theater
Forum, some interesting news came from 20th Century Fox about some upcoming
titles. There should be a special edition of PREDATOR coming out around
the time of the ALIEN VS PREDATOR hits the theaters. There's talk of also
a special edition of David Cronenberg's THE FLY that might come out this year.
TERROR TRAIN will probably be hitting DVD some time around Halloween.
Plus, DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE might be put out by them, or they may even license it
out to someone like Anchor Bay or Blue Underground.
AND DON'T FORGET...
Cinema Wasteland's first April show is only 2 1/2 months
away! Don't miss out on not only a great show, but also the 30th
Anniversary of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Forget that remake piece of
crap. Let's celebrate the original classic film with 6 guests from the
movie, plus a lot more! For more info, click
here.
ASTRO ZOMBIE MODEL FIGURES!!!
For fans of one of the best cult classics out there, Ted V.
Mikels ASTRO ZOMBIES, here comes a nice little addition to every fan's
collection. Click here to check out the great looking figures from the
sequel MARK OF THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES. For only $20, each are signed by Mikels,
these are a great deal. Click
here
for pics and more details.
 1-10-04
IS IT JUST BE ME...
As I mentioned earlier, I was going through some different
websites and their "Best Of" polls for last year. One of them had an entry
for Best Poster Art. The winner was FREDDY VS JASON, with CABIN FEVER and
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE for second and third. I guess either nobody
remembered that the TCM poster was basically a rip off of HANNIBAL, and that the
FREDDY VS JASON just lacked pretty much any sort of originality or style for
that matter. While we didn't think UNDERWORLD was a great movie, at least
they had some pretty good poster art. And it looks like the makers of VAN
HELSING are going in the same direction as well.
And now they have released the poster art for Hollywood's
latest remake, DAWN OF THE DEAD. While it's no where original, at least
it's not a poster full of the stars' faces from the movie, like they were doing
before. I also have to give them credit for somebody knowing their zombie
movies since this looks like a lot of the foreign artwork from Lucio Fulci's
ZOMBIE. But that's okay. So I do give them credit for that.
And plus, to be honest, it's not really a bad poster. It could have been
much, much worse.
Which leads me to my next comment. Below is a British
Quad poster of HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES that we have recently picked up from
Movieposter.com (check
them out...they have a great selection, and some pretty good prices). I do
like the American artwork for the movie, but the one below just blows it away.
Now why can't more films have poster art like this???
ONIBABA COMES TO DVD!
One of the best Japanese horror film is finally making it's way to DVD.
For those of you that have spent many hours paging through different reference
books, especially Phil Hardy's, you will remember the shot of the woman with
some sort of demon mask on. That was from ONIBABA. This 1964 black
and white film is a must for any serious student of the genre. The story
is about a woman and her daughter-in-law trying to survive why her son is off to
war in 14th century Japan. They struggle to make a living by robbing the
bodies of dead soldiers who die in battle near where they live. But then
the mother comes across a samurai with a strange demon mask, and seals her fate.
The DVD will be released by Criterion Collection on March
9th, and it sounds like to be another great release from them. It will
feature a new 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, and will also include a new video
interview with the director, Kaneto Shindo. It will also feature on the
set footage taken by actor Kei Sato. Along with a still / production art
gallery, and English translation of the Buddhist fable that the film was
inspired by, and the original trailer. The SRP is $29.95.
Can't wait for this one.
1-3-04 REMEMBERING 2003
Unlike a lot of the websites out there, we've never really
done a "Best & Worse Of" from the past year. I think the main reason is
that a lot of the films that we watch during the year don't necessarily come out
that year. They hit DVD or maybe that we just finally get around to seeing
them (most likely the latter).
So what we'd like to do is a couple of different things.
First of all, we are going to post a entry on our
Message Board with some titles that we seen this year that we enjoyed.
Please give a second and post any thoughts that you might have.
The second thing is a few Highlights and Lowlights of the
last year for us here at the Krypt. Those of you that have been here for
the last year will remember me bragging or bitching about some of these.
HIGHLIGHTS
One of the biggest Highlights for me this year was all the
older movies that I had a chance to see at some of the art house theaters in
Chicago. From the recent Fulci's ZOMBIE, to CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
in 3-D, to even the Mario Bava Film Fest. We will continue to try let you
local people know about these upcoming screenings.
Another Highlight for me was the day I heard that Fangoria
and Creation had separated their convention plans. Don't know if Fangoria
and Chiller combining will be any better, but I seriously don't see how it could
get worse. Of course, I've noticed that Creation is trying to come up with
their own horror convention...I wonder how long they'll last?
And of course, how could I not mention about all the damn DVD
titles that have come out this last year??? It damn near made me have to
get a part-time job just to keep up with all that was coming out. From
MGM's Midnight Movies and awesome Double Feature discs, to the continued
excellent titles that Something Weird is putting out with Image, and also the
newer but incredible titles that Mondo Macabre US has been releasing. Keep
up the great work out there, and we'll keep buying them!
LOWLIGHTS
That has to be computer problems we went through a few months
ago. From having a bad hard drive and motherboard, only to contract a worm
blaster virus after getting the new hardware, needless to say, it was a couple
months of plain hell.
The only other real downer is the fact that Hollywood is
still stuck on remakes. I had hoped that the overall bashing it got on the
remake of PSYCHO would have stopped all of this. But to no avail.
Now we get terrible remakes of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and whatever else they
think they can make a quick buck off from the cattle out there in the
multiplexes. Is there no hope? I guess it's just up to us diehard
fans to teach the newer fans the differences and to learn about the "old ones".
IN REMEMBRANCE OF...
And let's not forget the ones who have passed away this year.
Ones that have given us hours and hours of entertainment, and still will for
years to come thanks to their movies.
Bhaskar, Rene Cardona Jr., Leslie Cheung, Anthony Eisley,
Alex Gordon, David Hemmings, William Marshall, Anita Mui, and Jim Siedow.
You will be missed, but not forgotten.
MYSTERY PHOTO
We got a little more obscure with our last photo. We
used this lesser known film in hopes that those who did know what it is will
seek it out, since it deserves a bigger audience than it has. And the film
is THE JOHNSONS. Seek this one out people, it's well worth the viewing.
We only had two winners this time out. Congrats to
Chris Huziak and Cmver.
We went with another lesser known film again. So we'll
see how this one goes. Good luck!
 NEW POLL - TO
REALLY MAKE YOU THINK...OR AT LEAST LAUGH
We've updated out Mini-Poll with a little bit more
thought-provoking question. Or at least one to make you think that people
are just plain crazy. For years, people have been "uncovering" the reason
meanings behind movies. One of my favorites has always been the
Frankenstein story. So check out our poll above and cast your vote.
The results for our last poll about your favorite Paul
Blaisdell monster really gave me hope. It's nice to see that they are a
lot of people out there that are still into the old classics. For those
who might not know who Paul Blaisdell is, check out our Tombs of Fame section.
Then you have some movies to seek out.
Here's the breakdown of the results:
-
SHE CREATURES - 23%
-
INVASION OF THE SAUCER-MEN - 18%
-
IT CONQUERED THE WORLD - 18%
-
IT! TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE - 14%
-
VOODOO WOMAN - 11%
-
THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES - 9%
-
THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED - 7%
JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 CONTEST
The contest is done, but we are waiting for the prize(s) from
MGM first before we announce the winner(s). Depending on what we get, we
may have more than one winner. We will let you know when we hear anything.
Sorry to make you wait. I just don't want to announce a winner, only to
not have anything from MGM to show up. I'm sure you understand.
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