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12-28-08 YEAR IN REVIEW
    Here at the Krypt, 2008 was definitely a year of changes. Back in January of this year, I was fired from my job of 8 years. After what seemed like forever (really only months) of being out-of-work, I was lucky enough to get hired on to a company that I have so far loved working for. The people are great and the work is never boring. I had given up hope that one could actually have a job and enjoy going to work. But it can and does happen, folks. I’m living proof.
    And after 10 years of running the Krypt, we are just having as much fun as when we started. So please keep coming with the emails, the Mystery Photo answers, and all the other comments. It really means a lot to me, and shows that we are still on the right path.
    For Chicago area fans, one highlights has to be the creation of WildClaw Theatre. A group of people that were determined (and still are) in bringing horror back to the stage. And after 2 successful plays, and a night filled with good old fashion radio horror plays, they have seemed to not only make their mark, but have only shown us a glimpse of what we might be seeing in the future.
    Of course, as usual for every year, hitting the many conventions that we do is always a highlight of our year. Seeing old friends and meeting new ones, these are always a lot of fun and always good times. We can’t wait to hook up with all of you again in 2009. There were a few genre icons that I had the chance to meet this year. Such as Bert I. Gordon, Lamberto Bava, and the most surreal one of all, driving Robert Englund to the Music Box Theatre for a screening of Nightmare on Elm Street. Can’t even begin to explain how weird that is to look over at your passenger seat and see Freddy himself sitting there, discussing his passion for film and theater. Wow.
    So let’s get to our so-called “Best Of” list. This was the first year that we successfully kept record of all the movies that we watched throughout the year. So it was much easier to look back of what we’ve seen throughout the year. Granted, we don’t see that many movies at the theater, so a lot of what we watch might not necessarily be a film from 2008, but is new to us.
    But we do have a Best of 2008 film, and that was a tough decision. Out of all the films that we considered the best of what we’ve watched this year, it was funny (though not surprising) that not too many near the top had come from the USA. I think the only one I could mention that came out in 2008 would be Midnight Meat Train. But of course, thanks to the wonderful people at Lionsgate for screwing that up, a lot of people never got the chance to see it.
    The film that we consider to be the best film of 2008 is Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Orphanage. The runner up was Inside, from directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. Both of these films leave very powerful images in your head, days after watching it. But I feel that The Orphanage had a better story, and was a much more emotional film, that really had a last impact on me. Granted, I’m always a sucker for a good ghost story, but this one was quite different than your typical ghost story.
    One thing that happened this year that I was really excited about was the stronger presents of the Spanish horror film industry. Not only with The Orphanage, but we also had a DVD release of the made-for-tv shows, 6 Films To Keep You Awake. Two of those six films, Jaume Balagueró’s To Let and Álex de la Iglesia’s The Baby’s Room were right up at the top of the best films that I’ve seen this year. That also goes for Balagueró’s [REC]. Over the last few years, with Guillermo del Toro leading the way, Spanish filmmakers have been able to show their reign of terror didn’t end in the 70’s.
    Some other films that we seen for the first time this year that we thought were really good were The Woman in Black, a made-for-TV movie in the UK from 1989 which not only just blew me away, but was puzzled how I had never seen this before. From here in the USA, Jim Mickle’s Mulberry Street, which actually came out in 2006, but was one of the best American made films that I’d seen, especially with the budget they had. And then lastly, the Swedish vampire film, Let the Right One In, which everyone has been talking about. It is as good as everyone is saying.
    This year we lost quite a few of our heroes in 2008, some of them making major impact on the genre and us fans. But I always say that being a star in the horror genre means that they truly will be immortal. Because the fans will keep their memories alive every time we watch one of their movies. It is our responsibility, our duty, to make sure these names below will always be remember for their contribution to the horror genre. Rest in peace.

Forrest J. Ackerman, Carlos Aured, Ben Chapman, Hazel Court, Julie Ege, Mel Ferrer,
Beverly Garland, Bill Landis, Maila "Vampira" Nurmi, and Stan Winston

BILL LANDIS - REST IN PEACE
In case you didn't recognize this name in our list above, we just wanted to take a moment to mention Landis, since he just recently passed away. Bill Landis and his wife, Michelle Clifford, started Sleazoid Express in 1980, the first magazine to tackle exploitation movies and their merits. They also wrote Sleazoid Express: A Mind-Twisting Tour Through the Grindhouse, which is a fascinating and scary look into the grindhouse theaters in New York City. Tales of porn shops, drug dealers, and having to fight for your life, just to see a movie, was an everyday experience if you were going to 42nd Street in New York. And Landis not only captured that feeling in his work, but also one of of the first ones to be promoting this kind of movies, years before the term "Grindhouse" became a movie title.
Landis suffered a fatal heart attack shortly before Christmas. He was only 49 years old. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.

DVD NEWS
Here's a couple of titles that are finally making their way to DVD that we think are necessary for all collections. The first one is Lucio Fulci's Cat in the Brain, which is getting a 2-disc treatment from Grindhouse Releasing early next year. It will feature a new high-definition widescreen transfer of the uncensored director's cut of the film. The extras are going to include in-depth interviews with Fulci and actor Brett Halsey, both English and Italian soundtracks, footage of Fulci's only US convention appearance at Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors in 1996, still gallery, and liner notes by Eli Roth, David J. Schow and Antonella Fulci. The disc is due out March 31st.
Severin Films will be issuing the seldom seen cult film Expose (aka House on Straw Hill aka Trauma), which stars Udo Kier, Fiona Richmond, and Linda Hayden. While everyone is familiar with Kier, Hayden is most known for films like Taste the Blood of Dracula and Blood on Satan's Claw. This is one dark and twisted little film, that has lots of sex and nudity, and it's share of violence. It's never been released uncut on video here in the states, and I don't believe ever on DVD. So it will be great to see a nice uncut print of this show up. This was one of the many films to be yanked in the UK and labeled a 'Video Nasty' in the during the 80's video witch hunt. The disc will have a commentary and featurette about the film, which includes participation with Hayden. We're really curious about this since Hayden had gone on record saying that there was a lot of the nasty stuff was added on after she was done filming. Strange though since the scenes of rape, masturbation, and the much talked about lesbian sequence, it's obvious that she was there.

WHAT TO WATCH - SUBJECT TWO
For this week's recommendation, we're going with the film Subject Two. If you're looking for a movie about a scientist that develops a drug that will bring people back to life, then this is all you. Check out our Blog for more details.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Our last photo was another one that I didn't expect too many people to get, but luckily I was proved wrong. Just goes to show there's a lot of people out there watching some of the lower budgeted films of yesteryear....The film in question is Criminally Insane, which features "250 pounds of maniacal fury!" according to the tagline. And if you've seen the movie, you know they're telling the truth. Congrats go out to Aaron Christensen, Will Wilson, Hoby Abernathy, and Mike Shields for sending in the correct answer.
So let's take a peak out our latest photo and see what you can come up with. Just click HERE to send us those emails.

12-21-08 A VERY SCARY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
    T'was the nightmare before Christmas, and all through the Krypt,
    Not a monster was hungry, since they just ate St. Nick.
    The children were hung by the chimney with care,
    some upside down, some by their hair...

Since this will be our last update before the holiday, we want to wish everyone out there a Very Scary Christmas. It's been a great year for us here at the Krypt, both personally and professionally. We've met a lot of new people this last year and made a lot of new friends. But we'll get into more of that in our Year-End Review next week. We just hope that in these tougher times, that we all look at all the positive things out there that we take for granted, like friends and family, and realize that is the most important part in life.

CONVENTION UPDATES
    We have a few more convention updates for early next year. Remember, with all the holiday stuff going on, it's never too early to start making those plans for next year's conventions.
    One show we forgot to mention last time is about the Twilight Show that the fine folks from Flashback Weekend are putting on in February (6th-8th) at the Wyndham O'Hare in Rosemont, IL. So far for their guest line up, they have Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz, and Ashley Greene, with additional guests to be announced. So if you're a fan of the Twilight series and/or the movie, you won't want to miss this. For more information about the show, click HERE.
    The Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in Chicago has also added a few new names to their lineup for their show on March 6th-8th. Joining Doug Bradley will be Hellraiser star Ashley Laurence. They have also added Bill Moseley and Tom Towles to their lineup as well. For me personally, this is one of the best guest lineups that they've had a in a long time. We're looking forward to seeing a lot of fans there. For all the details about this show, click HERE.
    And then the HorrorHound Weekend has also added a few new names to their March show (March 6th-8th). Joining the the Lost Boys reunion lineup they already had will be genre icon John Saxon, Heather Langenkamp, Andrew Bryniarski, Bill Moseley, Howard Sherman, Tom Savini, Ari Lehman, and Dan Roebuck and Chuck Williams.
    The really cool thing about Roebuck and Williams is that have stated on the website that they will NOT be charging for autographs. Sure, you may be thinking that they're are not huge stars anyway, so why should they be charging. But that doesn't stop some of these other bit part zombies and what not from charging $20, so I do give Roebuck and Williams a lot of credit for showing that it really is for the fans.
    For all the info about the HorrorHound Weekend, just click HERE.

WHAT TO WATCH
With this week's recommendation, we're traveling off the coast of the UK to a small island which has a lighthouse and a dark past. The film is called Tower of Evil. Click HERE to find out more out this great movie.

WANDMACHER INTERVIEW
We have posted our interview with did last week with film composer Michael Wandmacher, who has recently did the score for the new remake My Bloody Valentine 3-D. Now for those out there that aren't really into film scores, I think you still might find this interview pretty interesting, seeing just how some of these scores are made. I am a huge fan of movie scores, and even I was amazed at how much I didn't know or didn't realize that can go into creating a score. So head over to our Interviews section, located in our Features link.

MYSTERY PHOTO
We really didn't expect anyone to get our last Mystery Photo. But apparently there's not a lot to do out in South Dakota, which is where all three entries came from. Either that or they are all big fans of werewolf movies. The film is from Silver Bullet. Congrats to Angela Hermann, Michelle Hudecek, and Hoby Abernathy.
For our next film, we are going quite a bit more obscure. So let's see if anybody can come up with this one. Good luck. Just click HERE to send us an email with your guess.

12-14-08 NEW INTERVIEW COMING
Yesterday, we had the chance to interview Michael Wandmacher, who is our first musical interview subject. He is a composer for such movies like Cry Wolf, Train, and the remake of My Bloody Valentine 3-D. Hopefully we will have the interview up in our next update. Michael is a big fan of the genre as well, so we think you will enjoy it.

HORROR HISTORY
I know we missed last week's entry in our history lesson, but hopefully this one will make up for it. Since our "What to Watch" recommendation was for Pete Walker's Frightmare, we thought it would be a good time to continue our Walker education and mention one of his best ingredients to his films. And that would be actress Sheila Keith. To find out more, check head over to our Horror History page.

WHAT TO WATCH
With this week's recommendation, we're going to go back to a movie that we reviewed here on the site a couple of years ago. The film is called Isolation and the reason we're bringing it up again is that we think that there's still a lot of people out there that hasn't seen this little gem. So head over to our blog by clicking HERE and let us hear your thoughts if you have seen this movie.

BEVERLY GARLAND - REST IN PEACE
After last weeks' passing of Forrest Ackerman, I was surprised to hear that actress Beverly Garland has passed away earlier this month as well, but it didn't seemed to get mentioned that much. Fans of Roger Corman's early work will recognize Garland from her work on It Conquered the World, Swamp Women, Not of this Earth, Naked Paradise and Gunslinger. She also starred in other cult classics like The Alligator People, with Lon Chaney Jr.
Even when she was in the lowest of budgeted pictures, she always gave it her all. She will be missed, but never forgotten.

NEW REVIEW
We've posted our review of Ovidio G. Assonitis' Madhouse, recently released on DVD by Dark Sky Films. Check out our review in the usual place, or just click HERE.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Yes, we did dig up a photo of poor John Carradine, as David Schmidt put it in his email. The film is Vampire Hookers and is an amazing piece of American/Philippine cheese. Where else can you see John Carradine playing a vampire, but sounding like he's doing Shakespeare? This was recently released on a double feature DVD, along with Paul Naschy's Count Dracula's Great Love. The ones who were lucky enough to recognize this classic piece of cinema was David Schmidt, Hoby Abernathy, David Narvette, Aaron Christensen, Mike Shields, and Will Wilson.
This one I think is going to be a tough one. If you do know this 80's monster movie, just click HERE to send us your answer.

WASTELAND GUEST ADDED
The Cinema Wasteland has dug up another great guest for their April show. They always do a great job finding these cult names to bring to their shows. This time, writer/director/producer Danny Steinmann will be joining the party. Steinmann wrote and directed The Unseen, Savage Streets, and Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.
For more information about the show, just head over to their website HERE.

12-07-08   FORREST J. ACKERMAN - REST IN PEACE
    Reports were going out last month that Uncle Forry was not doing so well. So when the news came that he had passed away last Thursday it really wasn't a big surprise. But that didn't mean it still didn't have an effect on me, as well as every other fan of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy out there in the world. He passed away of heart failure at the age of 92.
    We all know that he created Famous Monsters of Filmland, helping millions of fans over the years to learn more about the genres. Through his magazine, he introduced us to people like Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Peter Lorre, Ray Harryhausen, and many other icons of the genres. He also introduced us to hundreds, if not thousands of movies that we should know about.
    But on more of a personal note, we admire his dedication to the genres he loved so much. He spent his life trying to pass on his passion to others that wanted to learn. Forrest Ackerman made it okay to be a die-hard fan of horror and sci-fi movies. He made it okay to collection memorabilia. He made it okay to be a movie geek. He showed us that we are not alone and that the world is filled with other like-minded fans out there. Sure, now with the internet making those connections are simple. But Ackerman was helping these connections happen when there was nothing but pencil and paper. He was the guiding light to a lot of fans, showing them that there were many other film fans out there that loved monsters. He never stopped showing his love for these genres, and never stopped trying to help other fans discover more about them. For that alone, he will always be missed. But he will never be forgotten.
    Rest in Peace, Uncle Forry.

NEW REVIEW
We've posted our review for Psychic Killer, recently released by Dark Sky Films. Check out our Review Section HERE to hear what we thought.

HORROR SOCIETY B-MOVIE FEST
    Looks like Chicago area horror fans don't have to wait until Fangoria comes to town in March. The Horror Society is holding another movie marathon called B-Movie Madness. It will be held at the Portage Theatre on January 17th, starting at 5:00pm and going until midnight. They will be featuring the following films:
Better Off Undead
The Driller Killer
The Stalking Hand
It's My Party, and I'll Die if I Want To
    For this last film, It's My Party, it will feature the "Choose your own adventure" version, which will also the audience to participate and choose how you want the movie to play. Should be interesting.
    Special guests include John Pata, Lou Vockell, Russ Hurley, Tony Wash, The Scotchworth Girls, Dr. AC, and more. There will be giveaways and trailers throughout the festival. There will also be dealers there, including us. So screw the cold weather and make your plans to join us at the Horror Society's B-Movie Madness this January. Tickets are $15 at the door, or $12 online. For more information and online tickets, just click HERE.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Our last photo was of the immortal Clint "I'm INFESTED!" Howard from the film Ticks. First of all, why hasn't this gotten a DVD release? What a fun, good old fashion monster movie, with no crappy CGI in sight. Maybe some day. We go the correct answers from Aaron Christensen, Keith Williams, Hoby Abernathy, Will Wilson, and Joe Parsins. Job well done, people.
So just click HERE to send us your answers for this week's Mystery Photo.

WHAT TO WATCH
This week's recommendation is for another one from the 70's, but a little later. It's David Schmoeller's Tourist Trap, starring Chuck Connors. For more details, head over to our blog. Just click HERE. And if you have already seen it, make sure you leave your own thoughts.

11-30-08 TURKEY DAY SURVIVOR
Another Turkey Day Marathon gone. This year, as always, Dr. AC joined in for the fun. We hit several luminaries from all over the country, as well as the genre. From Texas' Larry Buchanan (The Eye Creatures), to Wisconsin's Bill Rebane (Blood Harvest), to Michigan for the low budgeted Lurking Terror, to Baltimore's Don Dohler (The Alien Factor), and even over to the UK for Hammer's Moon Zero Two. We endured, we had some laughs, and as always, had a great time.

POSTER GALLERY UPDATED
After many hours of hard work, our workers in our Vincent Price Memorial Poster Gallery have finally put up the finishing touches on our last and newest wing to the Gallery. This section with feature American Movies, along with other misc. countries that we haven't separated. Yet. But we have also added new posters to just about every wing of the Gallery. So if you've never checked it out and have a few minutes, please feel free to browse some of these amazing posters. Some of the posters here truly are incredible works of art.
So head on over to our Gallery by clicking HERE, or you can find the link in our Features Sections.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Our last photo was from the 1985 slasher/gorefest The Mutilator. Why this hasn't found it's way to DVD in the US is beyond me. Terrible acting, but filled with some good old fashion 80's gore. I know it did get a release outside the US, and I'm sure one day it will make it over to these shores. We'll just have to wait for now. But kudos out to the ones that recognized the chainsaw victim in our photo. And they are Hoby Abernathy, Will Wilson, and Andy Miller, Keith Williams, Joe Parsins, and Aaron Christensen.
So check out our latest photo, then click HERE to send us an email with your guess. And even if you're not sure, give it a try. You just never know.

HORROR HISTORY
This week, our entry into our History Lesson is about Mexican actor/producer/director Abel Salazar. Head over to our Horror History section to learn more about someone who made quite an impact in the Mexican horror genre.

WHAT TO WATCH
For this week's recommendation, we are travelling across the pond and going back in time. Back to 1974, and in the UK, for Pete Walker's Frightmare. Click HERE for our Blog.

FANEX FILES
Last August while we were in Baltimore for the HorrorFind Weekend, we spent an evening at Gary & Sue Svehlu of Midnight Marquee. We were there with a few other guests, some of which were contributors to Horror 101. This was shortly before Horror 101 was published. Now those who might not know, Gary & Sue had been running the Fanex conventions for many years. And over that course, they had hours upon hours of interviews and Q&A footage with the guests that they had over the years. So they decided to incorporate some of that footage, along with commentary from different fans and "authorities" that would be on these documentaries as well. The reason for the quotes around authorities is because I was asked to participate in the project, which I happily agreed. Are you kidding? Me, not having a chance to talk about the horror genre!?!?! You can check out the trailer for the Hammer Films one by clicking HERE.
I'm not sure yet when these Hammer DVD documentaries will be available, but they do have the first one of their Fanex Files series, this one on Samuel Arkoff, 1/2 of AIP, is available for only $10. You can order them at Midnight Marquee's website HERE.

FRANCO TO RECEIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
This news just blew me away. Not that Franco doesn't deserve it, but because I just never would have expected Franco and his work to receive any sort of recognition outside of his cult fans. But next Feburary at the Goya Awards, which is Spain's version of the Oscars, Franco will receive an Honorary Award for his work in the film industry. Making close to 200 films in his career, in just about every major country, Franco's work is staggering. The Academy who is giving Franco the award, the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas, stated Franco was "a resilient filmmaker with a highly personal professional trajectory."
Some may consider Franco's work low budget trash. But if you were to consider the budget that Franco sometime had to work with, it's amazing that he was able to turn out anything. So we are just tickled that a man like Jess Franco can get the recognition like this. Congratulations Mr. Franco!

DVD DOCUMENTARY NEWS
    Being a fan of documentaries, I'm pretty excited about these two upcoming DVDs. Especially since the subjects are two directors that might not be known to the casual fan, which is a shame. But hopefully with these two new DVDs, that will change.
    The first one is called Blood, Boobs, & Beasts and is about the late Baltimore filmmaker Don Dohler (pictured). Dohler made such films as Alien Factor, Nightbeast, and a few more. Filmmaker John Kinhart started this documentary years before Dohler had taken ill with cancer. So this not only gives the viewer a look inside this underrated filmmaker, but also shows him as a person. We've seen this documentary and can't recommend it enough. It features interviews with Lost creator J.J. Abrams, Tom Savini, Tom Sullivan, and Troma's Lloyd Kaufman. Troma are the ones that are responsible for putting this onto DVD in a great 2-disc edition. Not only does this have the documentary, it will also have audio commentaries, deleted scenes, trailers, and the full length feature Nightbeast. This will be released on Feb. 24th.
    The other filmmaker to be giving the documentary treatment is Florida based filmmaker William Grefé, director of such films as Stanley, Impulse (starring William Shatner), Death Curse of Tartu, Mako: The Jaws of Death, and more. The full-length documentary is being done by Daniel Griffith, who recently worked on the special edition of Grefé's Stanley, which recently has been released. Grefé told Fangoria, "It will be released soon. It covers my whole film career, and they interviewed about 12 people I have worked with, including the actor Johnny Chandler. We even got William Shatner involved; he provides commentary over some hilarious behind-the-scenes footage of IMPULSE. I was in his office during a recent trip out to Los Angeles for a double bill of STANLEY and IMPULSE at the New Beverly Cinema. I had the documentary crew come with me—it was just perfect timing."
    If you haven't seen any of Grefé's work, then you have some fun and entertaining films out there waiting for you. When we have more details on this DVD, such as release date, we will be sure to post it here.

11-27-08 HAPPY TURKEY DAY!
    From here at the Krypt, we wish everyone out there a Happy Turkey Day. What do we have to be thankful this year? Actually, not having to work for the rest of the week is probably high on the list right now.
    Hopefully if you are one of the lucky ones that don't have to work this holiday weekend, hopefully you have a chance to watch one or two turkey movies. I know we have a few lineup up for our 5th Annual Turkey Day Marathon tomorrow, which will include Hammer's Moon Zero Two and Bill Rebane's Blood Harvest, starring the immortal Tiny Tim.
    We should have our regular update this Sunday. So in the meantime, indulge in the turkeys, both in the eatable variety, as well as the watchable, or almost un-watchable, depending on how extreme you go!

11-23-08 HAMMER SUB-GENRE GUIDE COMPLETE
We have finally completed our first section in our Sub-Genre Guide, on Hammer Films. We now have all three levels finished and posted. So those who take movie lists as a type of challenge, then here you go: 30 of the finest films that Hammer has to offer. And when you're done with those, there's plenty more out there for you to discover. To get to our Sub-Genre Guide, you can click HERE, or if you want to go straight to the Hammer Films section, just click HERE.

HORROR HISTORY: MICHAEL RIPPER
Somehow we had forgotten to update this section the last few times. But we've added a new face to go along with our completion of our Hammer Films Guide. If you're a fan of Hammer, then you most likely know the name of Michael Ripper. If not the name, you'll recognize his face, since he'd been in more Hammer films than anyone else. Click HERE to learn more about this memorable character.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Got a few more new names with the correct answer for our last Mystery Photo. It was from Final Destination 2, where poor Keegan Connor Tracy finds out that air bags don't always save lives. Good job goes out to Hoby Abernathy, Will Wilson, Aaron Christensen, Angela Hermann, Don Crabtree, and Victor Ives.
Now feast your eyes on this week's photo and see what you can do. Click HERE to send us an email, and as always, good luck.

WHAT TO WATCH...
For this week's recommendation, we are going back to the early 1970's, for a made-for-TV movie directed by Dan Curtis. Gee....that sure narrows it down, huh? The film is The Norliss Tapes. Click HERE for our blog.

FRANKENSTEIN BOOK REVIEW
We have recently finished the book Frankenstein: A Cultural History, by Susan Tyler Hitchcock, and knew we had to post a review on the site for it. If you're a fan of Frankenstein, either the novel or the movies, or both, you will want to read this. You can find it in our Reference Book Review section, by click HERE.

SPLINTER SOUNDTRACK REVIEW
We have posted our soundtrack review of this new film coming out. You can find it in our Soundtrack Review section, by click HERE.

ITALIAN MASTERS INVADE CHICAGO
Chicago fans that have not been able to make it to any of those conventions this year that featured some of the Italian directors, now is your chance to see them without leaving town! At the Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors next March, they've announced directors Ruggero Deodato & Lamberto Bava, and makeup artist / director Sergio Stivaletti. Although, for some reason on the website, they have a photo of Michele Soavi on the lineup, but mention Stivaletti, not him, in the description. So we're assuming that it will be Stivaletti. If we hear anything different, we'll post it here.
But in the meantime, this will give Chicago horror fans a chance to show these guys how much of a following they have here.

11-17-08 A SLIGHT PAUSE FOR GEEK-DOM
    As usual, we always plan on having an update every week, but this time something came up that was much more important and time consuming, that we had little time to spend in front of the computer. We got a new book case for our office. Okay, sure you might not think that is a big deal. But when you have over 400 horror reference books, rearranging and re-organizing these is no small job. And since we are one of these geeks that have to have them organized a certain way, like with the biographies in one section, movie guides in another, it takes time to figure these things out. And of course, once the re-arranging process started, then it moved onto having to change the posters, lobby cards, and stills that I have hanging in my office.
    You see, when it comes to the reference books that you see us selling at shows, as the old commercial stated, "I'm not only the president of the company, I'm a customer too." There is not a reference book that I sell, that I don't have a copy in my own collection. Sure, I'm forever making my way through reading all of them, which probably won't happen in my life time (too many movies that get in the way of that), but they are there if and when I decide to tackle a new one.
    I had always considered that reading reference books (or reading in general) was becoming a lost cause. At shows, I see that people are more interested in buying DVDs than books. Which is fine. I know that what I'm selling is for a more selective audience. But in the last week, I've come across a few people that giving me hope for horror fans out there. I even had one person tell me that he thought it was his "duty to be somewhat knowledgeable on the subject that he was discussing." You give me hope, Shu. Same goes out to our buddy Fiend of Grue, who emailed me to praise the Boris Karloff book that we recommended to him at the Wasteland. Once again, it gives me hope that there are still plenty of fans out there that are willing to put in that extra time and effort to learn about this incredible genre that we love. It does give you a better understanding of the genre as a whole. Plus you'll start to see that certain phases and trends have happened before, some times many times before.
    So a big thanks to those out there that are making that effort study the genre and learn the history.

TURKEY DAY MARATHON APPROACHES
Since 2003, we have spent Black Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving) sitting in front of our TV watching some of the genre's lest than finer moments. In other words, Turkeys. And this year will be no different. Right now on the menu, we have Bill Rebane's Blood Harvest, starring the infamous Tiny Tim, and Hammer Films only Space Cowboy movie, Moon Zero Two. Any suggestions?

WILDCLAW DREAMS OF WITCHES
    Another reason for our delayed update is because last night we traveled into the city for the opening night of WildClaw's latest play, Dreams in the Witch House, based on the H.P. Lovecraft story. Now to be honest, we are not a stage play type of person. But when you're putting horror on the stage, not to mention it coming from the mind of Lovecraft, that is going to get me to go. And I must say, we had a blast. The cast was filled with strong performances, with a special notice out to Ron Kuzava who played the rat-human (or is that human-rat) character Brown Jenkins. And you gore hounds will even find a little blood flying. It's well worth seeing, as well as giving your support to WildClaw for bringing horror to the stage.
    Now here's the deal people. The show runs through December 21st. Their last play, The Great God Pan, we also had planned to make it out to see. But we kept putting it off and putting it off. Next thing we know, it was over. So with the holidays coming up, don't wait. Make your plans now to go see this. Otherwise, you may just hear the sounds of rats scratching at the floor boards around you....
    For information on WildClaw Theatre and the play, click HERE.

WEEKLY RECOMMENDATION BLOG
We are going to try something new with our weekly updates. Each week, we are going to give out a suggestion for a movie that we feel fans need to see. It could be an older movie, or maybe a newer one that might have slipped under the radar. There are plenty of films out there waiting to be discovered, and we frequently have people ask us for some suggestions. But we will be posting this on our MySpace blog, with a link from here to get there. The reason for this that way people can respond to the recommendation with their thoughts. Whether they've already seen it, or find it, watch it and give their reaction. You know, stuff like "This movie sucked! I want my 90 minutes of my life back!" But this is the chance that we are willing to take. So just click HERE to get to our latest Blog.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Our last photo was from a movie that must have been unseen by quite a few, since we didn't get that many answers. Of course, the movie is The Unseen, starring Sydney Lassick and Stephen Furst, both who give a great performance. Our regular crew, Hoby Abernathy, Will Wilson, and Mike Shields were the only lucky ones to recognize this head shot.
So while on the subject of head shots, here's another one for this week's photo. And this one doesn't give you a headache trying to come up with the answer, imagine what she's thinking?!?! Click HERE to send us your answer.

11-09-08 WILDCLAW OPENS LOVECRAFT'S DREAMS
For Chicago area fans, you don't want to miss out on the newest creation from WildClaw Theatre, an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's Dreams of the Witch House, which opens next Sunday, November 16th at the Athenaeum Theatre. If you missed the chance to catch their first play, The Great God Pan, then you don't want to miss this one. The play runs from Nov. 16th to Dec. 21st.
For more details about the play, or WildClaw Theatre in general, check out their website HERE.

MARIANO BAINO INTERVIEW
While at the recent Cinema Wasteland show, we were able to sit down with the director of Dark Waters to find out what he's been up to since his 1994 debut feature film. Check it out in our Interview Sections for all the details.

NOX ARCANA REVIEW
We have posted our review for the latest CD from Nox Arcana, Phantom of the High Seas. They continue to unleash beautiful and haunting soundscapes, and this time is no different. Check out Soundtrack Reviews to read more about it.

REST STOP SOUNDTRACK REVIEW
We also have posted our review for the soundtrack for Rest Stop: Don't Look Back. Not sure if the movie is any good, but this score rocks. You can find out more about it in our Soundtrack Review section.

UNCLE FORRY NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
There is not a monster fan out there who hasn't heard or seen of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Which is the creation of the biggest horror and sci-fi fan out there, Forrest J. Ackerman. Not only has he spent his life promoting the fantastic genres to millions of fans, but he also was a collector of knowledge, memorabilia, and all things fantastic. I can't think of anyone who has come even close to working at promoting the genre of the fantastic, whether it's sci-fi or horror, Ackerman was always there to help spread the word. Every fan out there today owes something to Ackerman, because of his hard work and dedication to the genre.
Well, as he approaches his 92nd birthday in a couple of weeks, word has gotten out that he's heath is not up to par. It's been all over the internet that close friends of Ackerman are worried that he might not be with us too much longer. So please take a few minutes and write a little note, or pick up a card and send it to the below address, telling Uncle Forry how thankful we are to have had someone like him in our world.

FORREST J ACKERMAN
4511 Russell Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
90027

MYSTERY PHOTO
Our last photo was for the uber-cult classic Pieces, which has just been released on an incredible 2-disc special edition DVD. If you have not gone out and picked this up yet, do it now. If you have not see this film, go buy the DVD then watch it. If you love over the top gore, dialog so bad it's incredibly entertaining, and a great cast, and that's not even mentioning the extras on the 2nd disc. Job well done to Dr AC, Hoby Abernathy, Mike Shields, Will Wilson, and Don from MySpace.
This next photo has also been recently released on DVD, but might not be as easy. As always, just click HERE to send us an email with your guess. Good luck.

KRYPTIC WORLD TOUR '09 - START MAKING YOUR PLANS!
    While the Kryptic World Tour '08 came to a close after the Music Box Massacre, that doesn't mean it's too early to start planning for next year's World Domination Tour! So below is a few of the shows that we are planning to be at, along with the guests they have lined up so far.
    Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors - March 6th-8th at the Chicago Wyndham O'Hare. Fango comes back to Chicago once again and hopefully will draw the massive crowds they usually do. So far in their guest list, they have George Romero, Tobe Hooper, H.G. Lewis, Gary Sherman, Tom Savini, Doug Bradley, Lloyd Kaufman, Marilyn Burns, Caroline Williams, Raine Brown and Joe Zaso.
    HorrorHound Weekend - March 27th-29th at the Marriot Indianapolis East. HorrorHound will be hosting a Lost Boys reunion, with Corey Haim, Jamison Newlander, Brooke McCarter, Billy Wirth, Chance Michael Corbitt, among other guests like Tom Savini, Tom Atkins, and Derek Meers.
     Cinema Wasteland - April 3rd-5th at the Holiday Inn Select, Strongsville, OH. In April, the Wasteland will be bringing the saw back to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So far, the guests include Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, John Dugan, Teri McMinn, Edwin Neal, William Vail, and Lou Perryman. Other guests include Charles Craig, David Crawford, Leonard Lies, Frank Serrao, and cult icon Christina Lindberg.

REC 2 TO START FILMING.....HEAR THAT HOLLYWOOD?
In other words, better start prepping Quarantine 2. But since the original film, directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, did so well, the are actually starting to film the sequel tomorrow, November 10th. The sequel will take place a short time after the original film ended. A lot of the same people that worked on the original film will be returning for the sequel. I have been so impressed with the work of Jaume Balagueró, that I'm there no matter what he decides to make.

11-2-08 10th ANNIVERSARY TRIVIA CONTEST WINNERS
We have a winner. Actually, we have 10 winners. Listed below are the winners and what they won.

Bryan Schuessler - Demons Lobby Card - Signed by Lamberto Bava
Chris Huziak - Demons 2 Lobby Card - Signed by Lamberto Bava
Gregory Avery - You'll Die At Midnight Lobby Card - Signed by Lamberto Bava
Kevin Hart - The Deadly Spawn Lobby Card - Signed by Douglas McKeown
Eric Kuhl - Texas Chainsaw Massacre DVD
Gavin Schmitt - The Beast Must Die DVD
Tim Palace - Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer DVD
David Schmidt - Who Could Kill A Child DVD
Jude Felton - Simon: King of the Witches DVD
Christine Fidance - Ricco The Mean Machine DVD

    Once again, I'd like to say thanks to both Dark Sky Films and Mike Baronas of Paura Productions for their help with the great prizes. But most of all, I want to thank everyone who sent in their answers. Especially the ones who did the extra effort to do the research if you didn't know the answer. This shows me that there's still fans out there that are willing to go that extra mile for a bit of trivia information about the horror genre.
    Of course, a huge thanks to everyone out there who continues to support my little outlet, called Kitley's Krypt. We appreciate your support.
    For those who didn't know the answer or couldn't figure it out, the actress we're talking about is Nicoletti Elmi. She starred in Mario Bava's Twitch of the Death Nerve (aka Bay of Blood) and in Baron Blood, as well as in Dario Argento's Deep Red. Of course, she also was in Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice, Aldo Lado's Who Saw Her Die?, Massimo Dallamano's The Night Child, and even as one of Udo Keir's children in Paul Morrissey's Flesh For Frankenstein. As a child, with her red hair and freckles, you could always spot her. But years later when she appeared in Lamberto Bava's Demons, she had turned into a beautiful young woman.

Deep Red - Demons - Twitch of the Death Nerve

MUSIC BOX MASSACRE REPORT
We've posted our review for the latest 24-hour madness marathon known as the Music Box Massacre, which took place last weekend. As always, we had a blast, and give a special thanks to Rusty Nails for putting these type of events on for us Chicago area fans.
You can either just click HERE to get to the report directly, or just click HERE to get to our Convention Reports and scroll down.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Okay folks, for those who did recognize the exploding stomach pic from our last photo, it was from Luigi Cozzi's Contamination. How could you go wrong with a movie where every so often you have people's insides exploding from their stomach's in slow motion? Simple...you can't. Job well done to Andy Miller, Will Wilson, Bob Thorton, Keith Williams, and of course, the good Dr. AC (although he had just watched it over here the day before I posted it).
This new pic is a bit of a messy one, but we'll be sure to get the gore hounds to look. Click HERE to send us an email with your guess.

SUB-GENRE GUIDE: HAMMER FILMS - LEVEL 2
We've done putting up the finishing touches on Level 2 of our Hammer Films Sub-Genre Guide. You can see our Sub-Genre guide under our Features section, or you could just click HERE.

BUCK'S BROKEN IMAGO
Douglas Buck, one of our favorite and most promising up and coming directors, is still working on his latest project, The Broken Imago, where he mentioned to us when we interviewed him back in March at the Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors (click here to read our interview). When we caught up with Buck a few months ago at the Portage Theater, he had showed us the trailer for this film, and it not only looks beautiful, but also very disturbing. After a virus is wiping out most of the world, there is a Catholic school on a remote island where all the adults have died and the children begin to change. It's kind of Buck's twisted version of Lord of the Flies, but with much more. We are really looking forward to another one of Buck's films, where it seems he might have a little more control over this one than his remake of Sisters.

DVD NEWS
    News of a couple of titles of interests have appear over the last couple of weeks that we wanted to mention. Once again, what a great time to be a horror fan, with the amount of great titles that are hitting DVD.
    First up is the 20th Anniversary Edition DVD of Hellbound: Hellraiser 2. After that last special edition of the first one, we knew it was only a matter of time. This special edition will have 3 new featurettes not on the previous releases. They include new interviews with the Cenobite actors, the director Tony Randel, as well a with Dr. Channard himself, Kenneth Cranham.
    Next up, is something that I must admit that I predicted some time ago, when the first news of a remake of My Bloody Valentine was being announced. When most people were screaming "blasphemy" (sure, I was one of them), I knew that this could me that they would re-release the original on DVD. And this time it might be an uncut version. And now it looks like the re-issue might happen, but we're not sure on the details. The special features will include the lost footage, but we're not sure if they will be as an extra, or put back in the film. I'm guessing it will be as a special feature, since it would be rather costly to re-edit the film, with the music and everything. We'd love to see it, but are not getting our hopes up too high. There will also be a featurette into the making of the film as well as something called the Ultimate Slasher interactive guide. We'll have to wait until January 16th when it gets released to find out.

10-30-08 LAST DAY FOR TRIVIA CONTEST!!!
First of all, thanks to everyone who has sent in their answers for our 10 Anniversary Trivia Giveaway so far. Nice to know that there's either fans out there that really know there stuff, or at least can do the research to find it. Gives me hope for those future Horror Scholars out there! So if you haven't sent in your answer yet, you have a little over 24 hours left to be entered into the drawing for 1 of 10 great prizes, which include 3 different lobby cards signed by Lamberto Bava. So don't put it off too long, or you will miss out.
Just click on the above logo to get to our Trivia page.

10-26-08 MASSACRE SURVIVOR...
Okay, so we are just coming off of a getting about 90 minutes of sleep in the last 30 hours. So please forgive any mistakes, sentence run-ons or ones that make no sense. We are going on massive sleep deprivation right now that has everything seeming to be in a bit of foggy daze. But we wanted to get this update done and posted before we pass out.

FACES OF DEATH REVIEW
It's times like this when I am glad that I have someone that I can occasionally throw a DVD at to review when it's something that I really don't want to watch. And that would be the new 30th Anniversary Edition of Faces of Death. I didn't care for it when I seen it on video years ago, and don't care to revisit it now. That's where the good old Dr. AC comes in. He gladly jumped on that grenade for me and will always be remembered fondly. I will say, that I do have to give credit to the creators of the original Faces for creating the ultimate piece of exploitation filmmaking. Creating fake scenes of death, surrounded by real footage of animal slaughter and corpses, they made a lot of people out there think they were watching the real thing. And a lot of the viewers had no clue. Head over to our Review section to check it out.

WASTELAND REPORT POSTED!
After many grueling hours at the computer, trying to come up with just the right way to express our thoughts about the latest Cinema Wasteland show, we pretty much just copied parts of our reviews from the last 13 shows and threw them together, with some new photos to make it look new. Or something like that. You can read and see the whole details at our Convention Reports, and scroll down to the Cinema Wasteland Section, the Oct. '08 link.

10-19-08 MUSIC BOX MASSACRE IV
Next Saturday, we will be heading out to the Music Box Theatre in Chicago for another great 24-hours packed full of fun, die hard movie fans, and popcorn. That would be the Music Box Massacre IV, starting at 12:00pm on Saturday the 25th and going to noon on Sunday. Can you handle 24 hours of great horror movies??? How about the incredible special guest lineup that will be appearing? Lucky McKee, director of May will be attending. Joseph Zito, director of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter & Prowler will be attending. As well as Clive Barker, director of Hellraiser, Nightbreed, and the countless books that he has written. Below are the final lineup and times. We will be there as usual set up in the lobby. So hopefully we'll see another full house, packed with other like minded horror fans. Make sure you stop by and say hello.
For more details on the show, click HERE.

Noon - The Haunted House (Buster Keaton Short)
12:30pm -Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1:45pm - The Old Dark House
3:15pm - Eyes Without A Face
5pm - May (with director Lucky McKee in person)
7:30pm - Midnight Meat Train (with Clive Barker in person)
Preceded by Rodrigo Gudino's short film The Facts in the Case of Mr. Hollow
10:15pm - Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (with director Joseph Zito in person)
12:30pm - Dead Alive
2:15am - Phantom of the Paradise
4am - Black Sabbath
6am - Pieces
7:45am - Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
9:30 am - The Exorcist

Also, don't forget to mark your calendars for the special screening Russ Meyer's cult classic Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! will be screening at the Music Box Theater on October 29th, with special guest Tura Satana appearing. For more information, click HERE.

ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY
Don't forget fellow horror-nerds, if you haven't already sent in your entry for our 10th Anniversary Giveaway, do it now. You only have a a little less than two weeks left. Just click on the banner below to get to our Trivia page for all the details.

NEW REVIEWS
We have posted two new reviews this week. The first one is one that we highly recommend seeing, and that is Stuart Gordon's Stuck. The other film is The Strangers, starring Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler.
We have also posted our review for the recently published Book of Lists: Horror, which is one of the more recent books that I've had the most fun with. To read more about it, head over to our Reference Book Review section.

HORROR HISTORY
This time out folks, we go far behind the camera to learn about one of Britain's film producers that didn't strive to make the class film, but one that would make money. And in the same time, gave us some great entertainment. Head over to this week's lesson and learn about Tony Tenser. Just click HERE.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Last week's photo was from Mariano Baino's highly underrated Dark Waters. We recently had the chance to interview him at the Cinema Wasteland show a couple of weeks ago, and hope to have that up soon. But in the meantime, congrats to Hoby Abernathy, Keith Williams, and Will Wilson.
Here's our latest photo and see what you can come up with. Just click HERE to send us an email. And it's not shot of some people after eating some hot chili either....

DARK SKY NEWS
    Dark Sky Films continue to release some great titles to DVD, and always doing a great job with the releases as well. Even though the Halloween season is almost over, that doesn't mean that we won't have some more great titles to look forward to next year. Dark Sky has 3 more titles that should have us fans excited about.
    The first one is Michael Reeves' first film, She-Beast, starring Barbara Steele, Ian Ogilvy, and Mel Welles. Reeves went on to direct The Sorcerers with Boris Karloff and Witchfinder General with Vincent Price giving one of his best and frightening performances ever. This disc is set for release in March of '09.
    The next film is one that we are very excited about, since we grew up in the 70's watching all our movies on TV. Back then, Dan Curtis was a god. In 1977, Curtis produced and director an anthology film entitled Dead of Night, which was a pilot for a proposed series that never got picked up. The three tales were written by Richard Matheson (author of novels like Incredible Shrinking Man, I Am Legend and Hell House) and star Ed Begley Jr., Anjanette Comer, Patrick Macnee, Lee H. Montgomery, Joan Hackett, and Horst Bucholtz. Dark Sky will release this disc in January of '09.
    And then finally, we'll get to see an official DVD release of another fun movie from Ovidio G. Assonitis, Madhouse. Assonitis' films are always entertaining and this one is no different. Looking forward to all of these.
    For more information about Dark Sky Films, check out their website HERE.

10-12-08 ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY
Since this is our big 10-Year Anniversary, we are going to be giving away 10 special prizes, such as DVD's and some lobby cards signed by Italian director Lamberto Bava and Deadly Spawn director Doug McKeown. This is just our little way of saying thanks for coming back to the Krypt over these years. For all the details, click on the banner below.

WASTELAND SURVIVOR
We have made it through our 14th Wasteland show. That's right folks, we said 14. And in all of those 14 shows, not once did we not have a great time. But this time was even better. We got plenty of photos, a couple of interviews coming and a lot more. So stay tuned for our report that hopefully will be up shortly.

MARTIN TALKS!
While at the Cinema Wasteland show, we had the chance to sit down with John Amplas, star of George Romero's Martin. Amplas also worked with Romero on Dawn of the Dead, Knightriders, Creepshow, and even Day of the Dead. So head over to our Interviews section and see what he has to say.

MUSIC BOX MASSACRE
But don't forget that the best way to top off the Halloween season is still yet to come. And that would be testing your endurance with a 24-hour marathon of horror at the Music Box Massacre IV. Starting on Saturday the 25th at high noon and going through noon on Sunday, those 24 hours are going to be packed with great movies, great guests (like Clive Barker, Joseph Zito, & Lucky McKee), and more than enough horror to keep you busy. For all the details, the movie and guest lineup, check out their MySpace page HERE. We'll be there as always, so hope to see you there.

CONVENTION PLANS FOR '09
    It's never too early to start making your plans for next years conventions. The 2009 shows start pretty early next year, so here's a few that will starting before you know it.
    Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors in Chicago: This is the only one that we go to, so it's going to be the only one we list. The date is March 6th-8th, and will be held at the Chicago Wyndham O'Hare. The guests listed so far is Tobe Hooper, George Romero, Doug Bradley, Caroline Williams, and Marilyn Burns. I'm pretty sure we'll be setting up there this year again. For more info about the show, click HERE.
    HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana. This will be held on March 27th-29th at the Marriot Indianapolis East. So far, their guest line up is Derek Mears, Tom Atkins, Tom Savini, and a Lost Boys reunion with Corey Haim, Billy Wirth, Brooke McCarter, Chance Michael Corbitt, and singer G Tom Mac. For more information about this show, click HERE.
    Cinema Wasteland in Cleveland, OH. Their spring show will be held on April 3rd-5th at the Holiday Inn Select. They have a 35-Anniversary reunion for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with the guest list so far including Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, John Dugan, Teri McMinn, Edwin Neal, William Vail, and Lou Perryman.

LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS
If you are a fan of Hammer Films, then you probably are aware of this incredible magazine. Put out by uber-Hammer fan Dick Klemensen, each issue of Little Shoppe of Horrors is filled with info on the making of these great films. Some times they include non-Hammer stuff, like in this latest issue they have an article on the classic film Night of the Demon. The cover story for this latest issue is on the making of Curse of Frankenstein. Just when you might have thought you know everything thing there is to know about that film, I'm sure you will find some new info here. Great articles, incredible artwork, and more than enough info to sate any Hammer film fan. For more information regarding this issue, or any of the back issues, check out their website HERE.

HORROR HISTORY
This entry in our little horror history lesson has to be the best looking of the lot. At least so far. Does the name Helga Liné sound familiar? If you a fan of Spanish horror, then I'm sure you've seen her face. So just click HERE to head over to this week's history lesson and remember to bring your pencil.

NEW REVIEWS
We have posted our reviews of John Gulager's Feast II: Sloppy Seconds and a new short film simply called The Dirt, starring the multi-talented Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, which really packs a punch. Check them out in our Review Section.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Seems like quite some time since we've updated this, and not really sure why. But the last photo was Fright Night 2. I know we had some correct answers sent in, but somehow I lost a bunch of my emails, including my folder with Mystery Photo emails. We did get a more recent one from Danny Van Hoorebeke, but for the rest, I apologize for anyone that did get it correct.
So let's start the slate clean with this new photo. Hopefully it's not too hard for you. Just click HERE to send in your answer. Good luck.

LIMITED RUN FOR SWEDISH VAMPIRE FLICK
Let The Right One In, the Swedish vampire film has been getting a lot of praise for those who have seen it (I'm sure there's an American remake in the works now). But now we will have our chance to see the film when it hits some of the major cities. Below is a list of the cities and the theaters that will be showing it. Not sure how long it will be there, so I wouldn't put it off.

November 7
San Diego, CA: Hillcrest Cinemas
Washington, DC: E Street Cinema

November 14
San Francisco, CA: Embarcadero Center Cinema
Chicago, IL: Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema
Cambridge, MA: Kendall Square Cinema
Baltimore, MD: Charles Theatre
Minneapolis, MN: Lagoon Cinema
Philadelphia, PA: Ritz at the Bourse
Nashville, TN: Belcourt Theatre
Seattle, WA: Varsity Theatre

November 21
Denver, CO: Mayan Theatre
Providence, RI: Avon Cinema

November 28
Santa Fe, NM: The Screen

December 12
Hartford, CT: Real Art Ways Cinema

They are also screening this film as part of the Chicago International Film Festival, on Oct. 17th at 10pm at the AMC River East 21 and on Oct. 25th at 10:45pm at the AMC 600 N. Michigan 9. For more information about the film fest, check out their website HERE.

ARGENTO'S GIALLO
I'm sure everyone has heard that Argento is already on his next film, simply called Giallo. Starring Oscar winner Adrien Brody as an Italian detective who is searching for a young woman who has been abducted by a serial killer only known as "Yellow", which is what giallo means in Italian. We are very hopeful with this project, hoping to see something along the lines of Sleepless. We know that Argento still has some great things to show us. And with Claudio Simonetti doing the music and Sergio Stivaletti doing the makeup effects, it makes that hope even better.
The film is still in post-production so we're not really sure when it will be hitting the states. I would like to think that since it has an Oscar winning actor in it, that it would get a wide theatrical release, but I seriously doubt we could be that lucky. We can hope, but I'm sure it will hit import DVD before that ever happens. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, here's the poster art.

FESSENDEN & DARK SKY FILMS
    This news might be a bit old, but since we've been a big fan of Larry Fessenden and his work, both as a director and producer, we wanted to post this anyway. I think that his first film Habit is extremely underrated, and his others are also very good. So when we read that his production company, Glass Eye Pix has teamed up with Dark Sky Films to make a series of films, we were tickled.
    One of the films that he's working, though it's not part of the Dark Sky deal, is a film called Stake Land, that is being directed by Jim Mickle, who gave us the best mutant-rat-zombie movie ever made, Mulberry Street. If you haven't checked out this film, put it on your list. It's well worth your time. That film was written by Mickle and Nick Damaci, who also starred in the movie. They will be taking on those same roles for Stake Land, which will be filming in New York next month.
    We can't wait to see what Fessenden has in store for his own next project. He seems to keep pretty busy in the role of producer and giving a boost to some up and coming talented filmmakers. But according to what Fangoria reported, he might be taking the helms on a remake, but no word on what it is. Guess we'll just have to stay tuned.

10-11-08 KRYPTIC ANNIVERSARY BABBLE
    Well folks, we've reached a real milestone here at the Krypt. Ten years of terror. Ten years of preaching the gospel of the horror genre. It was in October of 1998 when we had first started this little website and it has grown and changed immensely over those 10 years too. I can't even believe that I've really been at this for that long. Truly shows just how much of a life I really have, huh? But that's really the bottom line. I love the horror genre. And if I didn't have this outlet where I can pronounce to the world my passion for this red-headed step-child of cinema, then I probably would have exploded long ago. Those of you who know me, know it's very easy to get me started yakking about the genre and those involved. It's much harder to get me to stop.
    During these last 10 years, we've often contemplated on adding more of a head count here, to help add even more content and information. But I just never seem to get around to it. Maybe because I secretly want to keep control of the site, or that I might lose some of the personality of the site by adding more people. Not sure. But even though I have some guest reviewers every now and then, I do know that I stand behind all that is here in the Krypt. I've never been one to hide behind fake names or personas, hence having my own name in the site's name.
    But this isn't to say that I've done this all myself. I do have to give a huge thanks out to Tom Simmons. If it wasn't for Tom, this site may have never gotten started. Tom taught me not only how to get the site up and running, but was a constant guide to get me through some major technical issues (and sometimes minor ones) with my computer, as well as giving me some thoughts and feedback on what I was doing with the site.

    Over the years, I've had a few others help me here and there with reviews and such. But even more importantly, they've also been there giving me support for what I'm doing. These would be folks like Will Wilson, Dave Kosanke, Matt Black, Jon Stone, Mark McConnaughy, Dan Kiggins, Kristin Wicks, Matt Carr (aka Putrid), Bob Richards, Chris & Lori Kuchta, and John from Horrorbles. I'm sure there's more out there that I've forgotten. If so, please forgive me.
    I also have to give a special thanks to Joseph Vargo, of Monolith Graphics. Vargo is the one responsible for creating my logo. Ever since it made it's debut, the site has become more recognizable due to the incredible design Vargo did. They may not know the site, but they do remember the logo. And that is half the battle. Thanks again, Joe.
    Of course, I do have to give a special thanks to the good Dr AC, Aaron Christensen. Over the last 3 years since we've met, he had given me so much help, support, feedback , and much needed inspiration, that I couldn't possibly describe. And I have never found anyone that has gone out of their way as much as he does in helping promote not just my site, but tons of other projects and people that he believes in and the work they are doing. Not only is he truly fighting the good fight for us horror fans, but he's always on the front line. And I couldn't be happier to have him on our side.
    And lastly, before I finished this big hug-fest, I want to thank all of you out there for continuing to come back to the Krypt. For it is you out there that keeps me going. Getting an email from one of you commenting on one of our reviews, a convention report, sending in your guesses for our Mystery Photo, or just an email to say hello and want to talk movies, because of those it really makes it all worth while. Just knowing that I'm helping someone out there learning something about the genre that they didn't know before, it makes all the hours I spend here worth it. Thank you.
    And now that love-fest is done with, here's to another 10 years of Discovering the Horror.

09-30-08 A WEEKEND OF UPS AND DOWNS
    We are just coming off of a full weekend, and have the Cinema Wasteland show coming up this weekend, so we don't have much of an update this week. But we wanted to post something to let you know that we are still alive and well....for the most part. But more on that later.
    This last weekend, we set up at the Chicago Horror Film Festival. To be honest, we were not expecting much. We had gone to one of these many years ago, when it was held at another theater and it was terrible. We were always missing the more recent ones since they always happened on the same weekend as the Wasteland shows. So this year, it was a week earlier, and we decided to give it a try. We always like to promote the local festivals anyway, so we figured this would be a good way to do just that.
    So I was pleasantly surprised to find out the show has grown immensely since the last time I attended one. Both Kenzie and Jason, who run the festival, seemed to be working their butts off, making sure that everyone was having a good time and that things were working as planned. It was also nice to see a lot of the usual Chicago horror crowd coming out to support this event. We didn't really get the chance to watch any of the films, but did sneak in a few minutes of Midnight Movie on Saturday night. While it looks like an 80's slasher film, it at least seemed to be well made and had a different twist to it.
    Tiffany Shepis arrived on Friday night and was a real sweetheart. She sat and signed FREE autographs for fans, as well as just hanging out and chatting with everyone. She is so down to earth and always happy to mingle with her fans. It's really nice to see that for a change, then a celeb that just want to rape you out of your money. But I can't say enough about Tiffany for coming to this little festival and really doing her part, like with the contests she was help judging. She was just great.
    Svengoolie was there on Saturday, and was also signing FREE autographs. For being at so many shows where those are becoming a rarity, it's great to see that some celebs remember what the whole point is about.

    The other great part about the weekend was that our table was next to the fine folks of Chicago's own WildClaw Theatre. They were there spreading the word of bringing good old fashion horror to the stage. This upcoming Monday at the Music Box Theatre, they will be presenting their latest endeavor, Deathscribe: Ten Minutes of Terror Radio Play Festival. Charley Sherman, artistic director and Anne Adams, casting director, and then on Sunday Allison Greaves, the costume mistress and makeup artist, kept me busy most of the weekend talking about horror. Not that it's that hard...just put a quarter in me....But it's always great to find other like minded fans of the genre, no matter how big or small of a fan they are, as long as they have that spark. So over the two days, we covered many great topics, from Lovecraft, to Guillermo del Toro, to Clive Barker, and even to Ed Gein and the film Deranged (which I'm still waiting to hear what they thought of it). Thanks guys. You made the weekend even more entertaining.
    But back to business. If you haven't heard of WildClaw Theatre then first of all, check out their website HERE. Then make plans to attend their Deathscribe Festival next Monday night. They have a great night of entertainment lined up. They are presenting 5 radio plays performed by the WildClaw group, accompanied by live foley artists (the guys that make the sounds in movies, and radio in the old days). There will be a panel of local Chicago celebs as the judges of the contest. Start your Halloween season off right with some old fashion audio horror. If you've never experienced something like this, now is your chance.
    If we survive the Cinema Wasteland show, we are hoping to make it out to it ourselves.
    Those were the up parts. The first down part came when I was unloading our van Saturday morning to get set up. Once again, I managed to pull a muscle in my back, pinched a nerve, or did something that made it extremely painful to bend down. I seemed to do this about every 6 months or so. I was find standing or sitting. It was just getting to those positions was where the real bitch was. We still planned on coming out for the last day, but by the time it came to head into the city, my back was hurting too much to even try it. So my apologies to Jason and Kenzie, but we did have a good time the two days we were there. And keep up the great work.
    On Saturday, before heading into the city for the festival, we went to the Ray Courts Hollywood Charity Show for Under Paid & Out-of-Work Actors. They had Leslie Nielsen on the guest list and I wouldn't have minded adding his autograph to my Creepshow poster. But I had figured that he was going to be charging a nice hefty fee. And I was right. To buy one of his photos to have signed, it was $20. To have a photo that you brought signed, that was $20. To have a poster, action figure or toy or any other kind of memorabilia signed, that was $30. And the best part was that if you wanted to have your picture taken with Mr. Nielsen, with your camera, that was another $20.
    First of all, I feel so bad that Mr. Nielsen is doing so poorly financially and needs money so badly that he has to charge $20 to the fans that gave him his career just to have their picture taken with him. Of course, we all understand that they charge this money since people are just going to sell it on eBay anyway. I know I've been trying to find a photo of Mr. Nielsen standing with some stranger on eBay for years, but am always getting outbid. And thank heavens that there was a nice guy that was willing to give up his weekend and spend his time sitting at the table with Mr. Nielsen to help collect all that money coming in. Since I'm sure he was doing that out of the kindest of his heart, and not because he was getting a percentage of that money. I mean, after all if that was the case, those types of people could be telling the celeb to charge even more money, so their percent they get is even higher. Good thing that's not the way it is.
    So needless to say, we left that show with our Creepshow poster never leaving manila envelope that it was in. And I must say that I was pretty proud of myself for not giving in to it either. I'm sorry, but his signature, as well as any other celeb out there, is not worth my $30. I'm sure $30 isn't that much to these guys who are making that millions of dollars for their movies. But to us normal folks, that $30 is a lot, and doesn't even cover a tank of gas these days. So I think I'll be saving that cash for something worth while. And hopefully, just hopefully, more people will start doing the same thing. And then it can get back to the old days when celebs were just happy that they have fans.
    Hope to see you at the Wasteland....

09-23-08 CLIVE BARKER TO GET MASSACRED!
Rusty Nails, Promoter Extraordinaire, has just announced that Clive Barker will be a special guest at this year's Music Box Massacre, taking place on October 25th. More all the gory details, just click HERE! They haven't listed him as a guest on the page yet, but it has been announced in the bulletins.

09-22-08 FUN NIGHT AT THE DRIVE-IN
    For those who didn't make it out to the Midway Drive-in on Saturday for the Dusk To Dawn show, you missed a hell of a time. I can't tell you how cool it was to see classic films on the drive-in screen like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I Drink Your Blood. Great stuff. And I was also blown away by Midnight Meat Train as well. We missed bits and pieces here and there due to working our table, but from what I seen, it's definitely worth checking out when it hits video, or if you get a chance to see it on the big screen.
    It was great to see a bunch of horror fans out there for a night of fun. And as always, we had a blast having the chance to talk to them, quiz them on their favorite movies for some free posters, and just being able to give them a chance to talk about horror movies. Can't go wrong there, can you? Plus, having an awesome snack bar right behind us made even better. I lost count on how many corn dogs I put away during the night. Life is good.
    And as always, major kudos out to Mike and Mia and the Flashback crew for keeping events like this going. In the age of blu-ray and DVD technology, it's nice to see someone working hard to keep something like the Drive-in alive and well.

BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR
We recently stumbled upon this book and have been having a blast with it ever since. This really is a must for all horror fans out there. If you're not familiar with the Book of Lists, they started out in the late 70's and really just consisted of a bunch of different lists. For this new one, made by horror fans, for horror fans, gives us lists like Tony Timpone's Ten Movies I Wish I Never Put On The Cover of Fangoria, or Eli Roth's Top Ten Nastiest Horror Movie Genital Mutilations, or maybe Richard Stanley's Ten Favorite Italian Horror Movies. This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. They got tons of people in the business that are fans of the genre to come up with a special kind of list. Plus, it's not just about movies, but also horror fiction as well. Not only is it great reading, damn entertaining, but it also might make you aware of a movie that you now will have to add to your viewing list.
The retail of this book is only $14.95, and is worth every penny. Seek it out. You will enjoy.

MOTHER OF TEARS REVIEW
We have posted our review of Argento's final entry in his Three Mothers trilogy that he started over 30 years ago with Suspiria. So click on over to our Reviews section and check out all the details.

DEATHSCRIBE: TEN MINUTES OF TERROR RADIO PLAY FESTIVAL
WildClaw Theatre, Chicago's own Horror Theatre company, is putting on their first annual Deathscribe: Ten Minutes of Terror Radio Play Festival, on Monday October 6th, at the Music Box Theatre. This is not only a great idea, but a unique one to give horror fans a taste of yesteryear, when the radio was all you had. They are presenting and evening of spine-tingling original radio dramas, performed by renowned Chicago actors and foley artists, with special guests, a live band, and all at the amazing Music Box Theatre.
For more information about this event, as well as news about WildClaw's next stage project, an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Dreams in the Witch House" in November, check out their website at www.wildclawtheatre.com

HORROR HISTORY
With the recent release of Beyond the Door in an amazing special edition DVD, we felt that the director / producer Ovidio G. Assonitis should be a bit more well known than he is. So we've added him to this week's history lesson. Check it out HERE.
And after reading this week's lesson, then go out and purchase a copy of Beyond the Door. The extras alone on this disc is worth picking it up. It has tons of great stuff, including a making of featurette, interviews, 2 different audio commentaries, not to mention one scary film. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.

NOX ARCANA SETS SAIL NEXT MONTH
The latest CD from Nox Arcana, Phantoms of the High Seas, will be setting sail next month. This being their 10th release, it's amazing the amount of work these guys put out. And with each new release, they fill our heads with dark and spooky sounds of mysterious journeys into places better left unvisited. We can't wait to hear this release.
For more information about this release, as well as everything else about Nox Arcana, click HERE to get to their official website. If you are planning to be at the upcoming Cinema Wasteland in Cleveland in a couple of weeks, I believe it will be available there at Buzz-Works table. But you might want to double check with Nox Arcana to make sure. You can always order it directly from their website too. But don't wait too long, or the boat may leave without you!

HAMMER'S RETURNS TO IT'S ROOTS
After years of hearing that Hammer was making a comeback and never coming to be. When they finally did, and turned out that web-based movie Beyond the Rave, I must admit wasn't too excited about their triumphant return. But now, after reading out their first real film production, I'm getting that feeling back that this has potential.
The film is called The Wake Wood, and is being directed by David Keating. The story is about a couple that are still grieving the lost of their 9-year old daughter from a dog attack. They move to the quiet town of Wake Wood, where they find a local ritual that will allow them 3 days with their daughter. But just what happens after the 3 days? So far, they've got my interests. We can only hope for the best, and that there are talented people both in front of and behind the camera, just like the Hammer days of yesteryear. I've got my fingers crossed.

CHICAGO HORROR FILM FESTIVAL
For those Chicago area fans, this weekend is the Chicago Horror Film Festival, at the Portage Theater. They will be screening plenty of films, including Dark Reel, starring Lance Henriksen and Tiffany Shepis (who will be appearing at the festival). We will be set up there all weekend. So hopefully we will see a lot of Chicago horror fans there to join in the fun, support these types of horror festivals, and just have a great time. For more information about the festival, just click HERE. Hope to see you there.

09-14-08 A HORRORBLE FAMILY NIGHT AT THE PORTAGE
    What happened to everyone Friday night at the Portage? Why were there only about 10 people that showed up for the Douglas Buck double feature at the Portage Theater? It was so slow that we put Mr. Buck out in the ticket booth to try and scrape up some business from people walking by....
    Sure, this might not have been the usual type of films screened at a Horrorble event, and those who did show up were able to witness the incredible anthology by Buck, called Family Portraits, not to mention the first ever theatrical screening of his remake of Sisters. It's really a shame for those who didn't make it. I guarantee those that did come out to see this film will never forget it.
    We've updated our Chicago Horror page, with a lot more dates added of other great movies playing at the Portage Theater this October.

MUSIC BOX MASSACRE - FINAL LINEUP
While on the subject of Chicago horror events, they've finalized the lineup for this year's lineup at the Music Box Massacre, talking place at October 25th. The special guests this year are Joseph Zito, director of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and The Prowler and Lucky McKee, director of May and Sick Girl. For all the details about the show, like the list of films and such, check out their MySpace page HERE.

HORRORHOUND REPORT
We've posted our review of the recent HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis. Check it out for all the details and photos in our Convention Reports, located in our Features section.

HORROR HISTORY
Need another lesson this week? Then head over to our Horror History section and learn about Nigel Kneale, one of the greatest writers for fantastic cinema...for the television.

SUB-GENRE GUIDE OPENS
After many months of trying to get this off the ground, we're ready to open the doors. Granted, we've only got one section open now, but will be hard at work to get the rest going as well. It is under our Features section.
The first section open is under the British Sub-Genre, and that would be for Hammer Films. There's more explanation on those pages, but it's basically a guide to show you a place to start if you're not that familiar with Hammer Films. There is only the first of three levels so far, but it gives you a place to start. We're always open to feedback and suggestions, so please feel free to let us know what you think.

09-07-08 HORRORHOUND WEEKEND
Sure, we didn't get an update this last weekend, but at least we had a good excuse. We had another fun weekend at the HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis. We're still working on our update, and hopefully will have it posted soon. Stay Tuned!
Although, I really must getting too old, since the day after coming back from the show, we came down with a major sinus infection that has knocked us on our ass. So we were hoping to have a lot more done with this update, but it just didn't happen.

DOUG JONES INTERVIEW
While at the recent HorrorHound Weekend, we sat down for a few minutes to talk to Doug Jones and about the wonderful creatures that he has brought to life. Head on over to our Interview Section (located under Features) and give it a look.

MIDWAY DRIVE-IN HORRORFEST
    Are you still waiting for the perfect opportunity to experience what seeing movies at a drive-in is like? Well, the fine folks at Flashback Weekend and the Midway Drive-In are not only to do give you the chance, but also giving you the chance to experience two movies there that really epitomizes classic drive-in horror: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (of coarse the original) and the best Satanic Hippie movie ever made, I Drink Your Blood. But that's not all. They will also be showing Night of the Comet, and Clive Barker's Midnight Meat Train. There will be one more film to be announce, that you can even email them your suggestion!
    This great event takes place on Sept. 20th, with the first film starting at 7:45pm and going to dawn. The admission price is only $10.00 for all five films! Not a bad deal if you ask me. All films will be screened from 35mm film prints. None of this DVD-projection crap! There will also be classic coming attractions, vintage concession ads and raffles of great prizes between the films. Just thinking about those great concession ads are making me hungry for the great stuff you can get they snack bar. How can you go wrong with corn dogs and popcorn!!!
    So if you still haven't gotten around to seeing what the big deal of going to the drive-in is about, now is your chance. And if you've been to the Midway before, then you know how much fun it is.
    For more information and details about the event, go to the official website HERE.

MUSIC BOX MASSACRE UPDATE
They have just added a couple more titles to their already fantastic lineup. They will also be screening Midnight Meat Train and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, along with the many other great titles that they have already announced.
Also, director Joseph Zito will be appearing as well. Zito not only directed Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, but also the cult favorite The Prowler. For more information about this event that is taking place on October 25th, click on over to our Chicago Horror page.

NEW REVIEWS
We've posted our review of the new double feature DVD recently released from Dark Sky Films. The DVD features both Barracuda and Island Fury. We also have posted our review for Jaume Balagueró's To Let, one of the films from the Spanish Box set 6 Films To Keep You Awake. Head over to our Reviews section to check them out.

HORROR HISTORY
We added another entry in our Horror History Lesson. This time out, it's William Gaines, creator of EC Comics. Click HERE for your lesson.

DVD NEWS
    With October right around the corner, we know there's going to be a ton of great movies hitting DVD. So to add to that note, we have a little bit of DVD news that we wanted to pass on to the fans of classic films. DVD Drive-In posted this news bit that Warner Home Video will be releasing some more great titles, one of which has been way overdue. On October 7th, they will release a double feature of The Brides of Fu Manchu, starring Christopher Lee, along with Chamber of Horrors. Also on the same date, they will release The Shuttered Room, starring Oliver Reed and Carol Lynley, along with Roddy McDowell's It!: Curse of the Golem. Both of these films had never even gotten a video release here in the States. McDowell's It! is a fantastic movie and comes highly recommend from the Krypt.
    All the films will have anamorphic widescreen transfers and have an SRP of $19.98. These also will be sold exclusively at Best Buy stores.
    And while on the subject of DVD news, Dark Sky Films will be releasing Shiver, the new film from the producer of Pan's Labyrinth and The Orphanage, Alvaro Augustin. The story is about Santi, a teenage who suffers from photophobia, which is an excessive sensitivity to light. So he moves with his family to a village off in the mountains to help avoid the excess sunlight. But shortly after they arrive, strange things start to happen, like locals and livestock are found butchered. And the young Santi is the main suspect.
    This DVD will be released by Dark Sky Films on October 28th. If you want to check out the trailer, just click HERE. And also stay tuned here, since Dark Sky will be having special fan screenings throughout September and October. We'll be sure to announce more when we find out more.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Our last photo was from the 1966 Hammer film by John Gilling, Plague of the Zombies. This was Hammer's only entry in the zombie sub-genre, and is one of their best films in their catalog. If you haven't seen it, seek it out. Congrats going out to David Schmidt, Mike Shields, Hoby Abernathy, Keith Williams, and Tony Bledsoe for knowing the correct answer. You do me proud!
So check out this new one and see if you know it. It's a little more current than our last one, so take a look.

8-24-08 HORRORHOUND COMING UP
This weekend, we are off to Indianapolis for another adventure at HorrorHound Weekend. We've never missed their Indy shows, and have always had a great time. As always, if you're coming out to the show, make sure you stop by and say hello.
For all the details about the show, check out their website HERE.

MYSTERY PHOTO
    Our last photo was from the strange and bizarre film Night Warning (aka Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker), starring Jimmy McNichol, Bo Swenson, a very young Bill Paxton, and a very twisted and demented portrayal by Susan Tyrrell. She's the one in the photo. Her performance alone is worth the watch.
    Contrats go out to Bill Taylor, Will Wilson, and Joe Willis for coming up with the title. Nice job.
    So check out our latest and see what you think.

HORROR HISTORY
While we missed an entry last week, we are back with this update, by adding in one of the most talented cinematographers in the business. Just click on over HERE for this week's lesson.

TERROR IN THE AISLES REPORT
We have posted our official report of last week's Terror in the Aisles marathon. Just click on our Convention Reports, located in our Features section in the link above.

CHICAGO HORROR EVENTS PAGE
It seems that quite a bit of our last few updates have been about some of the local events going on in the Chicagoland area. I know for readers that are not in this area, they probably don't care to hear about it over and over. So for them, I do apologize if it sounds like we're beating a dead horse. But since we are in that area, we are doing our best to help build and support that community.
So what we have come up with is a simple page, called Chicago Horror, which will be sort of like a calendar of events in the Chicagoland area. We will try to keep this updated of different Horror Happenings that will be taking place. If you know of any event that we don't have listed, please drop us an email HERE with all the info, and we'll add it to the calendar. We will still mention new events in our updates, but will referrer to the Chicago Horror page for the details. This page will be located in our Features section.

SOUNDTRACK REVIEWS
We have posted our reviews for two new soundtracks: The X-Files: I Want To Believe and the new Alexandra Aja film, Mirrors. You can find them in our Review section, under Features.

8-16-08 MUSIC BOX MASSACRE CORRECTION AND UPDATE
    It seems we don't read that well when we're working on our updates late in the evenings. We thought that Rusty Nails had already started to list some of the films for this years Music Box Massacre, but those were the films from the Winter Massacre. So we apologize for the mistake. But now we do have a corrected and updated list along with the date.
    The 24-hour Music Box Massacre will be held this year on October 25th, a little later in the year than in the past. The tentative movie lineup so far is as follows:
    Friday the 13th: Part 4, The Exorcist, White Zombie, Eyes Without A Face, Pieces, The Phantom of the Paradise, Black Sabbath, Dead Alive, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Old Dark House.
    As usual, there will be special guests, but none have been announced yet. Stay tuned here for more details when they become available, or you can check out their MySpace page HERE.

8-13-08 EVEN MORE CHICAGO AREA HORROR HAPPENINGS!!!
It really seems like the Horror Gods are going to be keeping us busy for the next couple of months. Just when I thought we were pretty much planned out, something else comes up. So see below to see the current list of activities that are coming up over the next couple of months.

TERROR IN THE AISLES
Okay folks, time is almost here for the Terror in the Aisles event this weekend. Hopefully everyone has already gotten their tickets and are all set to have a great time. I know we always do, as tired as we may get, it's a lot of fun. Below is the final list of films and the start times for them. They'll be some dealers there (including us and the usual awesome T-shirts & more from Lix...and maybe Jill will bring her hoola hoop) with some great horror merchandise to tempt your pocketbooks out. Or even if you just want to geek out and talk horror movies, I'm sure there will be plenty of people to do that with. If you can't find anybody, just stop over at our booth. We'll be happy to oblige. For all the details about the show, click HERE.

Noon - Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
1:45pm - The Listening Dead (voted best short film by Rue Morgue Magazine!)
2:00pm - The Tingler (The Vincent Price Classic!)
3:30pm - Slumber Party Massacre (Check Your Sleeping Bag!)
5:00pm - The Demonology of Desire (Rue Morgue Magazine's new short film!)
5:30pm - The Hills Have Eyes (The original 70's sickness!)
7:30pm - The Deadly Spawn (with director Douglas McKeown in Person!)
9:30pm - Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (with John McNaughton in Person!)
11:30pm - The Machine Girl (The new Japanese Horror Sensation!)

MUSIC BOX MASSACRE IV
While we haven't heard the confirmed date yet, Rusty Nails, promoter extraordinaire, has already already started to list some of the movies for this years massacre. So far we have a couple of original classic films, the original Friday the 13th, the first and best Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as Swamp Thing, and the French film Inside. For those who haven't seen that one, you need to see it. And what better way then the big screen. There will be plenty more listed soon. And as soon as we get the confirmed date, we will pass that one.

DUSK TIL DAWN SHOW AT THE MIDWAY
On Sunday, Aug. 31st, at the Midway Drive-In, they will be holding another one of their all-night movie marathon. While it's not all horror themed, there's a couple of cool titles in there to satisfy your horror fix. They will be screening American Graffiti, Steven Spielberg's Jaws, the cult classic Night of the Comet, and one feature that you can suggest a title to have them show. Just drop them an email at info@themidwaydrivein.net and let them know a title that you'd like to see. Who knows, maybe yours will be the one they pick.
Unfortunately, we'll be on our way back from the Indianapolis HorrorHound show, so we won't be able to make it. We've been out to the Midway a couple of times and have always had a lot of fun.

HORRORHOUND GUESTS ADDED
And speaking of the HorrorHound Weekend, they have added another guest to their lineup. Joining Dee Wallace and Jeffrey Combs in a The Frighteners reunion will be Jake Busey. Of course, Jake has also some other genre credits like Starship Troopers and Death Row.
For more info about the show, check out their website HERE.

A NIGHT OF FAMILY PORTRAITS
On September 12th, at the Portage Theater, Horrorbles is sponsoring a night with director Douglas Buck. First off, at 7:30pm, they will be screening Buck's Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America. This features 3 short films of Buck's, Cutting Moments, Home, and Prologue. If you haven't seen these short films, you need to check them out. They are ones that you will never forget once you've seen them, especially Cutting Moments. The cost is only $10. After that, they will be having a special free screening of Buck's remake of Sisters.
You can read our review of Family Portraits HERE, or you can even read the interview with did with Buck earlier this year at the Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors HERE.

ELYSEE DOES IT AGAIN!
    A little while ago, fans of the Filipino cult horror movie Mad Doctor of Blood Island were thrilled to see the soundtrack released on CD. Sure, this might not have been the title that millions of fans were waiting for, but the selected few of us out there were pretty damn excited to hear that news. I pre-ordered mine right away, and was blown away how great of a job they did producing this. The disc was the child of Elysee Productions. And now they have a second child.
    This time they are releasing the soundtrack for Al Adamson's Dracula vs. Frankenstein! The music of William Lava has been mastered from original session tapes and will be released on Oct. 15th. Just like the Mad Doctor CD, there release is limited to 1000 pressings. The first 100 copies to be pre-ordered will be signed by producer & screenwriter Sam Sherman. The disc will have the complete Lava orchestral score, bonus tracks such as retakes, false starts, session chatter and a never-before-heard "Jazz Chase" cue. There will also be audio liner notes from Sam Sherman as he discusses the details about the music. Add in radio spots for a bunch of Independent International Pictures archives, and an 8-page booklet containing rare stills. All this for only $19.99.
    So in other words, this is another must for collector of horror soundtracks, especially for those who like the cult films. I know we'll be adding one to our collection. For information about the CD, click HERE to be taken to their website.

8-10-08 BUG TRIPLE FEATURE
Apparently the horror gods noticed that we had a weekend free between the Terror in the Aisle marathon and the Indianapolis HorrorHound Weekend, and decided they needed to fill that void. So on August 23rd at the Portage Theater, they are having a "Don't Bug Me Saturday" special triple feature. Starting at 5:45pm, they are screening Bert I. Gordon's Beginning of the End. Then at 7:45pm is Black Scorpion. And last but not least, they are screening Them! at 9:45pm. And you get to see all three of the movies for only $10! How can you go wrong with three great sci-fi / horror films at one low price. For more information, click HERE to get to the Portage website.
So once again, if you don't have anything planned, mark your calendar and head over to the Portage for this great triple feature. We'll see you there.

PUTRID GORE ART TRIVIA
Don't forget folks, we still have our Trivia Contest going for signed prints from the last creation from the amazing artist Putrid. Check out our Trivia Page for all the details.

ROGUE REVIEW
We have our review posted for Greg McLean's new movie Rogue, which is about a big-ass crocodile looking for some food. Aren't we all? We really enjoyed this movie, so check out our review for the full details.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Last week's photo was from Hammer Films Dracula Has Risen From the Grave. A job well done goes out to Hoby Abernathy, Joe Willis, and Thomas Keaton. Always nice to see some new names here. The next one is might be a tough one, especially for the younger crowd. But check it out anyway and see what you can come up with. Good luck.

HORROR HISTORY
Last week, we forgot to add someone to our Horror History entry. So head on over there to discover who Lionel Atwill is and why you should know who he is.

FANTASTIC FLESH - MAKEUP EFFECTS HISTORY
    Coming to Starz channel this October will be Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Makeup EFX. The new documentary by director Kevin VanHook and written by John Esposito, looks at the history of makeup effects, covering things like the blood and gore, to the creatures and monsters. And the best of all is that they are covering the history from the beginning, with the likes of Lon Chaney Sr. and Jack Pierce, all the way to today's current masters. Tons of people are interviewed, such as John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Wes Craven, John Landis, and many more. The show will be hosted by KNB's very own Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger. They cover Dick Smith and his work on The Exorcist, the competing werewolf projects between John Landis' American Werewolf in London and Joe Dante's The Howling, and much more.
    Granted, I'm a sucker for documentaries. But when I read the following quote, I was even more excited. Writer Esposito told Fango, "The best thing for me about the project is that I hope it’ll inspire younger fans to want to check out Jack Pierce and some of the other originators of the art form. Maybe if they haven’t seen some of the older films, by Chaney and people like that, this will give them the inspiration. I mean, we’re all fixated on the great effects being done now, but I like that we touch upon the old monsters.”
    We just love it when we hear people out there trying to get the younger and newer audiences to seek out and discover the films that started it all, and the people that help make them. We are really looking forward to this show.

NIGHT GALLERY FANS CELEBRATE!
Finally, we got news that the complete season 2 of Rod Serling's Night Gallery will be released on DVD on November 18th in a special edition box set. The set will have an SRP of $59.98, and will contain 5 discs, featuring all the episodes from that season, and will plenty of extras. There were be audio commentaries on most of the episodes by Night Gallery Historians Jim Benson and Scott Skelton. Plus, there will also be commentaries on at least 6 of the episodes by none other than Guillermo del Toro. There will also be some featurettes such as "Revisiting the Gallery: A Look Back" and "Art Gallery: The Paintings in Rod Serling's Night Gallery. Throw in some NBC TV promos, and us Night Gallery fans are going to be very happy come November. Makes me want to break out some of those episodes from season one....

8-03-08 DOOMSDAY CONTEST
    Thanks to everyone to sent in their answers for our Doomsday contest. I was happy to see a lot of fans out there know a little bit about these movies and the people who are in them. Sure, some may call it worthless trivia, but as they say "Knowledge is Power!" The lucky winner for our Doomsday DVD contest was Jason Roth.
    Here's the correct answers:
    For the first question, Liam Cunningham, who portrayed Capt. Ryan in Dog Soldiers, went on to star in the film The Card Player, directed by Dario Argento. On the second question, Sean Pertwee, who portrayed Sgt. Wells in Dog Soldiers, had battled a mummy in Russell Mulcahy's 1998 film Tale of the Mummy (aka Talos the Mummy - uncut version). Co-starring in that movie was Christopher Lee, who had played vampires, mummies, and Frankenstein's creature for Hammer Films.
    Now keep reading to find out about our latest Trivia contest.

PUTRID GORE ART TRIVIA
We have a new trivia contest this week. This one is going to be a little tougher than what we normally have, so we need all the die-hard fans out there to give it a try. Our good friend and amazingly talented artist Putrid has come up with a new print of the cult classic movie Deadly Spawn, in honor of the upcoming Terror in the Aisles marathon (see details below) coming up in a couple of weeks. You can see a small version of it to the right. Well, we are giving away 3 signed prints of this incredible piece of work, signed by Putrid. And all you have to do to win one of these prints is to simple name four movies from another one of Putrid's drawings. So just click HERE to be taken to our Trivia page, and follow the directions. This contest will be going for the next two weeks, so you have plenty of time to do your research.

HORROR FANS....OUR TIME IS NEAR
It use to be that us horror fans had to wait until October for all the Halloween and horror related festivities to happen. But this year we don't need to wait that long. As a matter of fact, we only need to wait about another week for it all to start. Now I know that most of these festivities are mainly for Chicago area fans, but that doesn't mean you can't come out and join us. So check out what we have planned in our continuing Kryptic World Domination Tour 2008.

HORRORBLE SCREENING OF CREATURE WITH SPECIAL GUEST
Next Saturday, August 9th at the Portage Theater, Horrorbles is hosting a special screening of Creature From The Black Lagoon, with the creature himself, Ricou Browning appearing. There will be a Q&A session along with Browning signing autographs in the lobby of the theater at 7pm. The film starts at 8:30pm. Tickets are $15. If you can't make it out to the theater that night, Browning will also be doing an in-store signing at the Horrorbles store on Sunday, Aug. 9th, from 12pm to 5pm.

TERROR IN THE AISLES
The following weekend, Aug. 16th, also at the Portage Theater, will be the Terror in the Aisles movie marathon. Starting at 12pm on Saturday and featuring 13+ hours of horror! The tickets are only $13 presale, or $17 at the door. Either way, you're getting your moneys worth. We will be there, set up in the lobby. So be sure to stop and say hello.
Here's the list of titles they are scheduled to show (all subject to change of course):
Spine Tingler - William Castle Documentary
The Tingler - A classic William Castle feature
Hills Have Eyes - The Original Wes Craven film
Slumber Party Massacre - Slasher film extraordinaire
Deadly Spawn - Director Douglas McKeown in person
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - Director John McNaughton in person
Machine Girl - New Japanese horror that is over the top with blood and guts
Plus some short films, trailers, and much more fun.

HORRORHOUND WEEKEND
Then after a short break, we head to Indianapolis for the HorrorHound Weekend, Aug. 29th-31st. We always have a great time at these shows, and are planning to do the same thing time around. Their guest lineup consists of: Joe Dante, Dick Miller, Michael Biehn, Jason Mewes, Andrew Divoff, Doug Jones, Dee Wallace, Zach Galligan, Danielle Harris, Derek Mears, Jeffery Combs, John Amplas, Jennifer Blanc, Belinda Balaski, Tom Savini, and many more. Check out their website for all the detail HERE.

CHICAGO HORROR FILM FEST
    After HorrorHound we do have a few weeks to rest up. At least so far. On Sept. 26th-28th, we travel back to the Portage Theater for the Chicago Horror Film Festival. We will be set up in the lobby once again, selling our wares and spouting our philosophical rantings. The special guests that they have scheduled to appear are Chicago's own Svengoolie, the lovely scream queen extraordinaire Tiffany Shepis, magician Ron Fitzgerald, and horror author John Everson.
    They have listed a few of the films that they will be screening this year. First up is Dark Reel, which co-stars Tiffany Shepis, along with Lance Henriksen and Tony Todd. They will also be screening another Shepis movie, but that hasn't been announced yet. They will also be screening the William Castle documentary Spine Tingler.
    Once again Chicago Horror Fans, this is the time to come out and support the genre. We're hoping that this is going to be great time and really looking forward to seeing all the Chicago horror fans that will be there. Will you?

MYSTERY PHOTO
Got a few more winners with this last photo. It was from Jess Franco's The Awful Dr. Orlof, starring Howard Vernon, which is probably one of my favorites of Senior Franco. The scholars that sent in the correct answers were Hoby Abernathy, Ken Michaels, Mike Shields, William Thorpe, and Will Wilson.
Check out our next one and see what you can come up with. It's a little easier, especially for you fans of gothic horror.

HUMAN LANTERNS REVIEW
We've posted our review of this 80's Shaw Brothers film where they were trying to mix their usual kung fu fighting with a little bit of horror. Check out our review, located in our Features Section.

7-27-08 SOME MINOR CHANGES
We have made a few changes in our navigational structure. Hopefully nothing too complicated for you to find what you are looking for. Our Reviews section is now in our Features section, along with the rest of our other features, like our Convention Reports, Interviews, and the rest.
We are also working on a new page to our Features section, one that is just in the beginning stages for right now and still under construction. We'll let you know when it's up and running. It will be our Sub-Genre Guide. What is that, you ask? In our never-ending attempt to help fans discover films that they might know much about, we are creating a guide or checklist for different Sub-Genres that hopefully will help guide newer fans to films that we feel are required viewing. For example a list of Paul Naschy films, or Hammer films, or even Italian zombie films, and much more. Stay tuned.

DOOMSDAY DVD CONTEST
With the release of Neil Marshall's Doomsday hitting DVD on Tuesday, we thought it would be a great idea to give away a copy of the DVD. But this one is going to make you have to think. Let's go back to Marshall's first movie, Dog Soldiers. There two particular actors in there that we're interested in, with a question about each of them. Ready? First of all, click HERE to open up an email, then just send us your answers. Those entries with all the correct answers will be put in a skull and one winner will be chosen before the update the following week. And if you're not sure on all the answers, send it what you know. If nobody gets all the correct answers, we will go with the one with the most answers. Good luck.

One of the actors from Dog Soldiers would go on to star in an film made by a famous Italian director. Name the actor, the director, and the movie.
Another actor from Dog Soldiers had already done battle with another classic monster in another movie, which also co-starred an actor known for playing many of the classic monsters. Name the actor from Dog Soldiers, name the movie where he battled another classic monster, and also name the actor that co-starred with him that was known for playing monsters.

HORROR HOUND UPDATE
The Horror Hound boys have added a few names to their lineup for their Detroit show in October. Joining Tom Atkins for a Night of the Creeps reunion will be fellow actor Jason Lively and director Fred Dekker (who also directed Monster Squad). Maybe one of these days we'll see an actual DVD release of this movie!
Also added to the lineup, joining Doug Bradley, are Cenobites Simon Bamford and Barbie Wilde. The date is October 24-26th, so make your plans. For more information about this show, as well as their Indy show at the end of August, check out the website HERE.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Seemed we had another tough one there. Of course that didn't stop our regular Hoby Abernathy coming through with the correct answer. The film was the uber-classic Microwave Massacre. Doesn't get any better than that, does it? Well...actually it does.
So check out our new photo and see if this one is any easier. Go ahead and give it a try. You never know, you just might be right. Just click HERE to send us an email with your guess.

HORROR HISTORY
Head on over to our Horror History section for this week's lesson. This time out, we learn about one of the best Production Designers in British history.

CULT REVIEWS
We've recently come across this review site, simply called Cult Reviews, that is run by a fellow contributor to the Horror 101 book, so he must know what he's talking about, right? Honestly, the site is still pretty new, but has some pretty good content in there. They know of what they speak, so check them out.

7-20-08 COFFIN JOE RETURNS
    Brazilian horror star Coffin Joe (aka José Mojica Marins) returns in Embodiment of Evil. After 40 years since the 2nd film in his Coffin Joe trilogy, he returns to search to find the perfect woman who will make him immortal. The first film in the series is At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1963), followed four years later with This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse (1967). And now, he makes his return. If you've never experienced any of Coffin Joe's movies, you should seek them out. When he started making films, since there were no real ratings board in Brazil at that time, it was up to the local area to decide. Most states refused to play his first Coffin Joe film, but the ones that did, make a lot of money. And he continued to make them until the late 80's. But now he's back...black coat and hat, long fingernails and all.
    According to Dread Central, the film premiered last week at the Paulínia Film Festival in Brazil and seemed to have taken just about every award from Best Production Design, to Best Soundtrack, to Best Editing, as well as Critics Award for Best Film. Not bad for a guy who's only a "cult icon", huh.
    Check out the trailer for his new film by clicking HERE.

NEW REVIEWS
We have posted our review for Neil Marshall's Doomsday and Carter Smith's The Ruins. So head on over to our reviews section and see what you think.

HORROR HISTORY
This week in our little History lesson, we take a quick look at John Chambers. Check it out.

MYSTERY PHOTO
It seems that we stumped everyone again with our last photo. So much so, that we had totally forgotten to even update it last week. Well, the photo was of an unfortunately victim of the 4-D Man, starring Robert Lansing as the title character. We didn't get any correct answers this time out.
And now on to our latest pictorial quiz. Take a gander and see what you can come up with. Think hard, now....

TRIPLE HORROR AT THE MIDWAY DRIVE-IN
Feel like getting a triple dose of horror at the Drive-In? Then on Aug. 1st or 2nd, head out to the Midway Drive-In for their horror triple feature. First off, they will be playing the first run The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Up next will be the US premiere screening of Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, starring Robert Englund. The third feature has not been announced yet. The ticket prices are only $6.50 for all three movies! How can you beat that? Plus, you can always load up on the great food at their concession stand. Trust me on this....I've been there a couple of times and have never left hungry.
So make your plans to have a night of horror at the Drive-In and give them your support. For more information about the drive-in, check out either their official site HERE, or just head over to Flashback Weekend's site HERE.

NOX ARCANA HITS THE HIGH SEAS
For their 10th CD release, Nox Arcana will dive into the depths of the haunted seas and ghost ships. The CD, which will be released later this fall, will be called Phantoms of the High Seas. According to Joseph Vargo, "The album is a cross between the haunting melodies of Transylvania and Carnival of Lost Souls, and the epic sounds of Blood of the Dragon. There are some really elaborate orchestrations and big chanting choirs, but there are also some very creepy sounding ghostly tracks to raise some shivers. Fans of Pirates of the Caribbean will love this release."
Since we are huge fans of Nox Arcana's work, we are really looking forward to their take on this. Amazing how they can just keep coming up with great ideas for different themes. For more information about the band, check out their website HERE.

WASTELAND UPDATE
The Wasteland crew just keeping adding more and more guests to their already awesome lineup for their October show. Joining the guest list is none other than Martin himself, John Amplas. Amplas was not only the title character in George Romero's early film, but also had a part in Day of the Dead, as well as playing the Nathan Grantham corpse that comes crawling out of his grave looking for his Father's Day cake in Creepshow. Amplas hasn't done that many shows before, so this is a great treat for Wasteland fans.

7-13-08 FLASHBACK REPORT POSTED
We finally got our report done and posted, with plenty of pics. So head over to our Conventions section, located in under Features, to check them out.
Our next show that we'll be hitting will be next month at the Terror in the Aisles movie marathon at the Portage Theater in Chicago. See our last update for more details. And then a couple of weeks after that, we'll be heading to Indianapolis for the Horror Hound Weekend. Hope to see you there!

SULTAN OF SLEAZE COMES TO WASTELAND
    That's right folks, David Friedman will be appearing at the Cinema Wasteland show this October. This will be Mr. Friedman's first Wasteland appearance and should not be missed. Friedman is one of the frontrunners in the field of exploitation cinema, starting back in the 40's & 50's. Of course, let's not forget that it was him and Hershell Gordon Lewis that created the splatter film with Blood Feast.
    So if you haven't already made your plans to attend this October show, what are you waiting for? They have killer line up already, with names like Lamberto Bava, John Saxon, Marilyn Chambers, Brett Halsey, Cinzia Monreale, Coralina Cataldi Tassoni, Kane Hodder, Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Michael Berryman, and many more.
    Check out the website HERE and then make your plans.

HORROR HISTORY
    We've added another feature to our site. As we've said many times before, one of main goals is help educate horror fans out there about the genre and the people involved in it. Everyone knows the obvious people in the genre, like Boris Karloff, Val Lewton, or even Robert Englund. But there are quite a few people out there that had a lasting impact in the movies that we love. So with this new feature, each week we will have a new name and brief bio added to the page. It won't take long to read through it, but it will give you a glimpse into very important person in the genre.
    Also, if there might be someone that you think should be noted as having an important part, please send us an email by clicking HERE. We'll pass the name onto our Kryptic Research Department for a detailed investigation. And if we decide to use your suggestion, we'll give you credit.
    Just head over to our Features Section to check it out.

BEYOND THE DOOR COMES TO DVD
    This Exorcist-inspired film scared the hell out of me when I was kid, first seeing it on regular TV. This did get a nice (but expensive) Japanese DVD release, but nothing for over here in the States. Until now. This September, Code Red DVD will be releasing Beyond the Door (aka Devil Within Her aka Chi sei?) onto DVD. The film stars Juliet Lewis as a young woman who becomes pregnant with the spawn of Satan. Richard Johnson also co-stars in the film. Horror fans know him from both classic horror (Robert Wise's The Haunting) as well as some fun Italian films like Fulci's Zombie and Sergio Martino's Island of the Fishmen.
    The DVD will feature a 16x9 1.85:1 widescreen presentation of the uncut European version, which was much longer than the version released here on DVD. The disc will also have 2 different audio commentaries. The first one is from director Ovidio G. Assonitis (also the man who brought us Tentacles, as well as producing many other classics) and writer Nathaniel Thompson, the man behind the great review site Mondo Digital. The second commentary will be star Juliet Lewis, with Scott Spiegel and film historian Darren Gross. There's also a video interview with Richard Johnson, and lastly a featurette entitled Beyond the Door, 35 Years Later that features director Assonitis, writer Alex Rebar (who also starred as the title creature in The Incredible Melting Man), and stars Mills and Johnson. We personally can't wait for this, since it's always been a favorite of ours.
    A few years ago, we had a chance to talk to Mrs. Lewis about her work on this film. Check it out in our Interview section, located in under Features.

STEEL TRAP REVIEW
We got this screener in the mail earlier this week, and needless to say wasn't too happy losing that 90 minutes of our life. Check out our review to find out why. Just head over to our Review section.

ENTER VARGO'S WEB
The multi-talented Joseph Vargo has unleashed his new website, simply called www.josephvargo.com. Mr. Vargo is a member of the incredible soundscape musicians Nox Arcana, but he is also an accomplish artist. As a matter of fact, Vargo is the one responsible for creating our Kryptic Logo. So check out his website and be amazed at the talent that lies within.

KUCHTA ACADEMY
While on the subject of artists, check out another artist buddy of ours. We met up with Chris at the Chicago Fango show earlier this year and were just blown away by his work. While most of his work is of the classic horror nature, he still has some recent ones to keep the younger fans happy. Not to mention that he has a great style to his work. We've gotten a couple of prints from him already and they look great in a nice matted frame. So click on the link below and check out this prints. And if you get a chance to see him at one of the conventions, you won't regret stopping by and seeing his work. And make sure you tell him him still waiting for a Paul Naschy print!

7-6-08 TERROR IN THE AISLES - COMPLETE SCHEDULE
On August 16th, at the Portage Theater in Chicago, there will be a 13+ hour marathon called Terror in the Aisles. We mentioned in our last update, but since then they have finalized their movie lineup, and even added another guest appearance Here is a listing of the films that will be featured:

- Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story - New documentary on the amazing William Castle
- The Tingler - One of Castle's best films, and even stars Vincent Price
- The Hills Have Eyes - Wes Craven's original gritty 70's classic.
- Slumber Party Massacre - How could this not be fun?
- Deadly Spawn - Can't go wrong with monster full of teeth!
- Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - One of the scariest movies ever made
- The Machine Girl - New Japanese gore flick
- They will also be showing these short films: Rue Morgue's own Rodrigo Gudino's The Demonology of Desire, as well as Rue Morgue's Best Short of 2007, The Listening Dead.

Also, Deadly Spawn director, Douglas McKeown will be appearing. And if that wasn't enough, John McNaughton, the director of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer will also be there. Sure sounds like a no-brainer, huh? Plus, there will be dealer tables, live charity auction, prizes, and co-hosted by Aaron 'Dr. AC' Christensen, and much more. So make sure you mark you calendars and be there to Share the Scare and have a lot of fun.
Presale tickets are only $13 (www.indietickets.com), or $17 at the door. If you didn't count the short films, the pre-sale price is less than $2 a movie. When is the last time you paid that for a movie!?!?!?

    Also at the Portage Theater next Friday (the 11th), Horrorbles is having a special screening the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with special guest appearance by Kevin McCarthy. Ticket prices are $15.
    McCarthy will also be appearing at the Horrobles store on Saturday the 12th, from 12pm to 5pm.
    For more information, check out the Horrorbles website HERE.

CHICAGO HORROR FANS - WANT TO BE IN A MOVIE?
Local director Robert Cappelletto is currently shooting his latest movie, Pickman's Muse, which is based on the story Haunter of the Dark, by H.P. Lovecraft. In his film, there is a scene that takes place in a movie theater, and they need people in the seats. So if you don't have any plans next Sunday (July 13th) at 11am, head over to the Portage Theater to join in the fun. The address for the Portage is 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave (near the corner of Cicero & Irving Park). Please dress casually and comfortably (with no large logos or brands). The shoot should take about 2-3 hours, and should be a lot of fun.
For more information, you can email here: cappelletto_productions@yahoo.com

LADY BLOOD TRAILER
Does anybody remember that twisted little French film about the pregnant woman who's alien baby craves blood, called Baby Blood? Well, believe it or not, but they've made a sequel to it. Entitled Lady Blood, the main star, Emmanuelle Escourro reprises her role from the first movie. From the looks of the trailer, it looks to be as bloody and twisted as the first film. Not sure when exactly it's going to be release, but you can check out the trailer HERE.
And if you haven't seen Baby Blood, then you might want to seek that one out. It's a fun one, that's for sure.

FLASHBACK REPORT COMING SOON
We're still working on our full report from the recent Flashback Weekend. We did get plenty of photos, and also have a great time as usual. So hopefully we'll have it ready and posted for our next update.

WILLIAMS INTERVIEW
While at the recent Flashback Weekend, we sat down with the lovely Caroline Williams to talk to her about her role in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Head on over to our Interviews to enjoy, which is in our Features section.

NEW LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS
The latest issue of the best magazine on Hammer Studios is about to release their 20th issue. Although this one has a slight change. The main subject of this issue will be on Amicus Productions, who was the leading competitor of Hammer. Amicus was behind such classics as Tales From The Crypt, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, Asylum, The House That Dripped Blood, and many, many more.
As usual, LSoH covers all the details in their stories, so it's going to be well worth it. The issue is only $10, and can be ordered through their website HERE. They are also taking pre-orders on issue #21, which is planned to be out this September. The main theme of that issue will be the one that started it all for Hammer, The Curse of Frankenstein.

20th ANNIVERSARY DVDs
    Now this is a sure way to make me feel old. On September 9th, we will have two different 20th Anniversary DVDs hitting the shelves. Has it really been that long ago since these movies were released???
    The first one, and the one I'm most excited about, is Stan Winston's Pumpkinhead. Sure, the creature looks kind of like a naked Alien, but the movie is still great. The new DVD will feature seven new featurettes on teh film, along with some behind-the-scene video, still gallery, and audio commentary by co-screenwriter Gary Gerani, creature FX creators Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis, and moderated by Scott Spiegel. Still a little puzzled by the lack of a Winston commentary, but I'm sure there's a good reason.
    The other film being given the special edition treatment is Child's Play. Yes folks, Chucky is 20 years old! This DVD edition is going to have audio commentary with Alex Vincent, Catherine Hicks, FX artist Kevin Yagher, producer David Kirschner & screenwriter Don Mancini. There is also something called "Select Scene Chucky Commentary". It also looks like there will be several featurettes on the disc, covering many aspects of the making of the film and more. The featurette titles are 'Evil Comes in Small Packages', 'Chucky: Building a Nightmare', 'A Monster Convention', and a making of featurette as well. Add in photo gallery and trailer, and we've got the makings of a great special edition DVD. I know we're looking foward to both of these hitting the streets.

MYSTERY PHOTO
I was trying trick everyone with our last photo. Since I figured if you recognized Caroline Munro, you'd figured it was Maniac. But my little scheme didn't work and a few of you sent in the right answers. It was from another movie starring Munro and Maniac's Joe Spinell. But it actually was from Last Horror Film (aka Fanatic). Kudos go out to Kevin Hart, William Thorpe, Hoby Abernathy, and Mike Shields. Good job guys....now take a gander at our latest, but don't try too hard, or you might end up looking like him....

DO WE REALLY NEED MORE REFERENCE BOOKS???
Damn straight we do! I even had a hard time typing that line. We all know my favorite saying about reference books, so I won't go into it. But so far this book has all the makings of another one that will have to be added to the collection. Axelle Carolyn has finished her new book called It Lives Again! Horror Movies in the New Millennium. For those who might not know Carolyn, she has written for many different publications, including Fangoria, as well as being married to director Neil Marshall. The book has dozens of interviews with directors like Stuart Gordon and Eli Roth, as well as tons of reviews. I know we are looking forward to it, and would pick it up regardless just by this cover alone!
There's no release date yet, but she is looking to have it out in the fall. But that is probably for the UK. No word on the availability here in the states. I'm sure you could order it from Amazon.uk, but the shipping might cost a few $$. But if you are interested in pre-ordering it, you can do that HERE.

6-23-08 AFI RESPONDS!
I really wasn't expecting to get a response from my email to AFI about their 10 TOP 10 list, so was pretty surprised. But I have to say that after reading it, as nice as they were, you could easily read through the lines, and understand the reasoning. Below is the response that I got.

    Thank you for contacting the American Film Institute and for watching AFI's 10 TOP 10. We appreciate and respect your opinion and suggestions.
    AFI’s 10 TOP 10 honors America’s 10 greatest films in 10 classics genres. It is not the list of the 10 greatest film genres. The genres were chosen by a committee of AFI film historians, executives and AFI Board members after receiving many suggestions from AFI members and film enthusiasts. Unfortunately, we could not include all of the suggested genres at this time.
    Best Regards,
    AFI Web Team

When I read who the group choosing these genres consisted of, I realized where the problem was. When you have a committee of "AFI film historians" and "executives", right away I figured it was a bunch of old film critics that wouldn't give the horror genre the time of day, and a bunch of executives that wouldn't know the time of day, unless they asked one of their lackys. Sound a little bitter. I wonder why.
I'm not sure if anybody else got a response from them, but if you did, I'd love to hear them.

HELP THE MEAT TRAIN RIDE INTO THEATERS
    While we're all in horror genre defensive mode, here's another task for you to tackle. In case you haven't read this notice, and already joined the cause, now is your time. It seems that Lionsgate has gotten some new management, and like usual, that means that titles get dropped, shoved in the closet to rot, or throw to DVD without ever seeing the inside of a theater. It seems that is going to be happening to Midnight Meat Train. But with your help, maybe we can stop this.
    Clive Barker has made a few announcements about this and what we can do to help. You can read one on his website HERE to give you an idea what to do. This is the time for horror fans to let their voices be heard and to let the studios know that we are more than willing to support these types of films if they can be made and released.
    So head over to the website and follow the directions. Clive Barker, myself, and all other horror fans out there are hoping for your help and support.

TERROR IN THE AISLES UPDATE
We just wanted to post a little update with some of the added titles to the lineup. Making a nice companion piece to Spine Tingler!, the documentary about William Castle will be a screening of Castle's The Tingler, starring Vincent Price. There will also be a screening of Rue Morgue's Rodrigo Gudino's new short film, The Demonology of Desire, as well as Rue Morgue's best short film of 2007, The Listening Dead. More guests and films to be announced soon.
And in case you don't remember, it will be held on August 16th at the Portage Theater in Chicago. Tickets are $13 pre-sale, or $17 at the door. There will be dealer tables (including yours truly), charity auctions, prizes and more. So make your plans to come out and share the scare with other Chicago area horror fans. Stay tuned for more info.

MYSTERY PHOTO
    I guess we finally got a photo that stumped everyone. And not to say that it was a real tough one, but I'll give you a little clue that was in that very same update. Right above the Mystery Photo was our little blurb about the passing of Mel Ferrer....with a photo of him from the movie The Anti-Christ....which just so happens to be where the Mystery Photo is from as well. Pretty devious, aren't we?
    Just keep that in mind next time you get stumped on one of our photos. Who knows...maybe there just might be clue in that update as well. So check out our latest photo and see if this is any easier.
    Good luck.

WICKED LAKE
Our buddy Adam Rockoff, author of the book Going to Pieces, has got a new movie coming out, called Wicked Lake. From the trailer alone, it looks pretty over the top. Check out the official website HERE, where you can see the trailer, and read all about it.
And speaking of Mr. Rockoff, if you head over to Horror.com to their Fangoria report, there is a nice interview with him where he talks about the movie. There is also an interview with the multi-talented Coralina Cataldi Tassoni.

6-19-08 THE HORROR GENRE IS THE RED-HEADED STEP-CHILD...ONCE AGAIN
    Yesterday, I came across a little news story about AFI's latest movie list, American's 10 Greatest Films in 10 Classic Genres. For those who don't know who AFI is, they are a film school of sorts, who in the past have given us lists such as AFI's 100 Thrills, AFI's 100 Movie Quotes, and so on. According to their website, "AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media." Sounds cool, right? We are always behind people that are trying to educate people in the art of the cinema.
    So imagine my surprise when checked out just what genres were listed in their "10 Classic Genres". Here they are: Animation, Romantic Comedies, Westerns, Sports, Mystery, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Gangster, Courtroom Drama, and lastly Epic. That's right folks, the horror genre is nowhere to be seen. Now, I know they did a previous show on AFI's 100 Thrills. But can someone please explain how you can have a list of classic genres and not include one of the oldest and most profitable genres out there!?!?! I just don't get it. Once again, the horror genre is pushed aside like some embarrassing relative that is kept hidden in the attic.
    So if you wish to send AFI a little note asking why they left out the horror genre, click HERE to be taken to their website's Contact Us section. Remember....be polite and intelligent. We don't want them thinking that the horror fan stereotypes are true. At least not all of them.

TERROR IN THE AISLE - SUMMER MASSACRE
    Chicagoland fans that have been hitting the 24-hour movie marathons at the Music Box Theatre will be happy to know that Rusty Nails, promoter extraordinaire, has announced the date for the Summer Massacre. First of all, mark August 16th on your calendar. But then also, this time around it will be held at the Portage Theater instead, not the Music Box. So make sure you don't show up at the wrong theater, or you will be disappointed.
    So what does Mr. Nails have in stuff for us so far? How about the a screening the of one of the best low budget monster movie of the 80's? Yes, I'm talking about The Deadly Spawn! And even better, the director Douglas McKeown will be there for the screening. Haven't seen this movie? Or (shudder) haven't heard of this movie? Then make sure you're there at the Portage Theater on August 16th so you can change that.
    Also being screened there, making it's Chicago Premiere, is Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story. Castle is a legend in the horror genre for making films like Mr. Sardonicus, The House on Haunted Hill, 13 Ghosts, Homicidal, and even producing Rosemary's Baby. Being a huge fan of Castle and his work, we are very excited to see this.
    They will also be screening a new gory flick from Japan called Machine Girl, which is featured on the latest cover of Rue Morgue magazine.
    The show officially starts at noon on Saturday and goes until around 2am. There will be short films, dealer tables, and will be co-hosted by everyone's favorite Ambassador of Horror, Dr. AC himself, Aaron Christensen. So make sure you come out to have fun and more importantly to support these types of festivals. This shows the theaters that this type of programming will attract the crowds and make it worth it for them to continue such festivals. So we all win. Hope to see you there.

WILDCLAW's MIDSUMMER NIGHTMARE!
Chicago's WildClaw Theatre is presenting their Midsummer Nightmare this Sunday at the Full Moon Tavern in Chicago. There will be food & drink, along with trivia games and prizes, fun horror re-enactments, with all proceeds going to help the WildClaw to keep doing what they started with their presentation of The Great God Pan. So if you don't have plans this Sunday, head on out to the Full Moon Tavern and have a good time, support the horror, and who knows...maybe you'll even win something!
For more information about the WildClaw Theatre, check out their website HERE.

HAMMER BOX SET
    Hammer Horror fans are going to love this one. In October, Sony Home Entertainment will be unleashing more Hammer films that have never gotten a DVD release here in the states, and even some never even having a video release. Icons of Horror: Hammer Films will include The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, The Gorgon, and Scream of Fear (aka Taste of Fear). While some of these titles might not some of the best from Hammer's catalog, that doesn't mean they're not entertaining. It will be interesting to see which version of Jekyll it will be, since the American version is pretty well cut up. We'll just have to wait and see. But I will say that Scream of Fear is probably one of their best thrillers Hammer made. Can't wait for this one to hit the shelves.
    All are expected to have commentaries, trailers, supplements, and newly remastered transfers. The retail will be $24.96.
    News bite courtesy of DVD Drive-In.

MYSTERY PHOTO
I'm sure some of you might have noticed that we haven't updated our Mystery Photo in the last few updates. That might be partly because we're either lazy or keep forgetting it, or that we still haven't gotten one correct answer. We have had a few good tries, but no winners. Have I found one that the reigning Mystery Photo Champ Hoby Abernathy can't get??? We'll give it a few more days, then we'll be updating it. So keep trying!

6-17-08 A MAJOR LOSS TO THE GENRE
    Most of you probably have heard already, but special effects master Stan Winston passed away last Sunday from a long battle with multiple myeloma. He was only 62. I know in the past, I've dissed on Winston a little for being a little high on the ego side. But he was one man who's huge resume of work could back up that ego. Looking over his resume, it's amazing at not only the number of films that he's worked on, but just how many landmark films as well. Aliens. Terminator. Jurassic Park. Pumpkinhead. Predator. And the list goes on and on and on.
    As we always mention during these notices, the loss of this great talent will not be forgotten because of his fans. His huge body of work will not only live on with his legacy, but also the technical advances that he helped to create and advance for future effects artists.
    Our prayers and wishes go out to his friends and family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASTEO FULCI!
To show that even though we lose a great talent in the industry, because of us fans, they will live on. Such is the case of Italian director Lucio Fulci. Today is Fulci's birthday. I still remember hearing the news back in 1996 that he had passed away, only a few short months from making his first and only convention appearance in the US. So while we might want to break out Aliens or Dead & Buried in tribute of Stan Winston, make it a double feature and add in Zombie or The Beyond as well.
As horror fans, it's our job to not only keeping these important names alive, but also to make sure that the newer and younger fans know who these people are as well.

BUCK'S NEWEST PROJECT
In January at the Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors, we had the chance to interview young up-and-coming director Douglas Buck. In the interview (you can read the whole interview HERE), he talked about his next project about a boarding school on a remote island that is attacked by a virus. The film is going to be called The Broken Imago, and Buck and cinematographer Karim Hussain just returned from Argentina recently shooting the trailer for the new film. As he told us in the interview, it's "sort of like David Cronenberg doing Lord of the Flies."
I know we are looking forward to whatever this young talent is attached to. So keep your eyes peeled for this one. And if you still haven't gotten around to checking out his trilogy of short films called Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America, then drop what you're doing and seek it out.

LORDI'S DARK FLOORS ONLINE
If there's any fans out there of the Finnish rock band Lordi (like me) and are anxiously awaiting the release of their film Dark Floors....well, you don't have to wait anymore. You can watch the whole movie (in four parts) online. I am a huge fan of the band, but after watching this movie, I'm a little disappointed. I found it like eating one of those veggie-burgers. Looks good. Smells good. But after a few bites, you start to wonder just what the hell am I eating. The movie does have some atmosphere, very little gore, and the band seems to be in there as monsters, with really not much to do. Almost reminded me of Kiss Meets The Phantom. At least in there the band actually did something. Here...they just seemed wasted.
But if you're interested, click HERE to be taken to the site.

6-8-08 BUSY MONTH COMING
    Yeah, I know we missed our update last month. We were working on getting something up, but were too busy working a couple of other times that just weren't going to be finished in time. So that just means there's a lot more meat in this update. So I hope you enjoy all our hard work!
    Also, this is going to be a very busy month for us, here at the Krypt. We have some major plans for every one of the upcoming weekends until after the 4th of July. So just as a fair warning, our reviews might not be as frequent as we hope, or that big for that matter.
    And don't forget, at the end of the month is the Flashback Weekend, with two HUGE reunions going on. They are having 8 members from the original Night of the Living Dead for the 40th Anniversary. Plus, they are having the 6 members from the original Phantasm, I believe making it the biggest reunion ever. Of course, throw in Elvira, the babysitters from Rob Zombie's Halloween, Tony Moran, Roy Frumkes, Elieen Dietz, Marilyn Burns from the original TCM, and Caroline Williams from TCM2, Chicago's own Svengoolie, and many more. So head on over to the official Flashback website HERE to get all the details and we hope to see you there. It's always a great time, and truly is the best Chicago area horror convention around. You don't want to miss it.

LAST SHARK REVIEW
We've posted our review of one of our favorite films "inspired by" Jaws. And that would be Enzo G. Castellari's Last Shark (aka Great White aka Last Jaws). This was the film that Warner Bros. sued over to pull the release in the US, since it bares a similarity their blockbuster. No matter the case, it's a great movie, with lots of entertainment to be had. Of course, that's if you lot a little Italian cheese with your shark movies. Check out our review and then head over to Xploited Cinema to order your copy before they go out-of-print.

CELEBRATE FRIDAY THE 13th WITH HORROR!
In case you didn't know, next Friday is the 13th. And what better way to celebrate that day then going to see some great classic horror films. We will be heading to the Portage Theater for the Hammer double feature of Dracula - Prince of Darkness and Vampire Circus. Then we will be hitting the midnight show of Dario Argento's Creepers at the Music Box Theatre. Come on out to support these great theaters, and well as having a good time. Hope to see you there.

HOUSE OF BLACK WINGS TRAILER
While most low budget films don't seemed to keep our interests, only because of a lack of talent instead of budget. But every now and then, we catch one that looks like the talent supersedes the budget constraints. John Pata's Better Off Undead is a great example of that. Another one that looks very promising is a film that we caught the trailer at the Chicago Fango show, called House of Black Wings. They have a trailer up on both their MySpace page (HERE), as well as on YouTube (HERE). Check it out and see what you think. I know we are looking forward to see it.

SIMON WINNER
Thanks to everyone who sent in titles of some of their favorite Witch movies. There were some great titles listed in there, some of which are in great need of re-watching. The lucky winner is Michelle Hudecek. One of Michelle favorites was an episode of the television series Night Gallery, which starred James Farentino Michelle Lee called Since Aunt Ada Came To Stay. I remembered that episode as well, and made me want to break out a bunch of my Night Gallery discs to watch some of those great episodes. Wasn't that entire series suppose to be coming out on DVD???

6 FILMS TO KEEP YOU AWAKE.....COME TO THE US
    To sort of do their own version of the US's 8 Films After Dark series, Spain's top horror filmmakers did their own series, called 6 Films To Keep You Awake. They were released on an import box set last year. But coming this August, Lionsgate Home Entertainment will be releasing the collection here in the States. The 3-disc collection will be unleashed on August 19th, and each feature will include a making of featurette. The retail will be $27.98, but if you go to places Amazon, you can get it a little cheaper.
    Here's a list of the films and their directors: The Baby's Room was directed by Alex de la Iglesia, who gave us the cult classics Accion Mutante & Day of the Beast, among many other great films. It's about a young couple who move into a newly renovated old house with their new baby. But the soon realize there is another presence in the house, that is in the baby's room.
    Blame was directed by Narciso Ibañez Serrador, who was the man who gave us Who Could Kill A Child. This film is about an abortion clinic and all the dark secrets it holds on the people who work there.
    Jaume Balagueró directed To Let, which is about a couple who are looking for a new apartment to live in, when they come across a strange place that it a lot worse that it first seems. Balagueró is the man who has given us chills with his films The Nameless, Darkness, Fragile, and the more recent [REC], which was co-directed by our next director, Paco Plaza.
    For this series, Plaza directed A Christmas Tale. This is the story about a group of children who find a woman dressed as Santa Claus trapped in a well, who apparently is a thief on the run from the police. At first they think about letting her free for some of the money she's stolen, but decide that's too dangerous. So they keep her in the well and look after her. But then one day, she's gone, and Santa is coming for them.
    The next film is A Real Friend, and was directed by Enrique Urbizu. This story is about a young girl who makes friends with the monsters from scary stories that she reads. But one day she meets up with a new friend, that may just not be imaginary.
    The last film was directed by Mateo Gil and is called Spectre. It is the story about an elderly writer who goes back to his home town, which has changed dramatically since he left. But he is haunted by the memories of a young and beautiful married woman who was rumored to be an having an affair with another man. But he was obsessed with her. And much to his surprise, he sees again on the streets of his town, looking the exact same as she did all those years ago.

PAURA CREATOR INTERVIEW
As followers of this site know, one of my main goals here is to help educate fellow fans about something that they may only know a little about, or maybe have never heard of. So we are going to try something a little different with our Interview section. We hope to be bringing you a series of interviews with people that have created something to highlight the work of someone that we also feel more people need to know about.
For our first one, we have interviewed Mike Baronas, creator of Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered: Vol. 1. The disc is simply a series of interviews with different people that worked with Lucio Fulci, giving their favorite memory of him. You can read our full review of the disc HERE, but it really puts the spotlight on Fulci as a filmmaker, really showing him being much more than a director of cheap gore flicks. So head on over to our Interview Section and check out what Mr. Baronas has to say about Fulci and the Italian horror genre in general.

WILD WORLD OF TED V. MIKELS
The director of Vampira: The Movie, Kevin Sean Michaels has moved onto next project, dealing with yet another cult icon. That of filmmaker Ted V. Mikels. Mikels, director of such classic films as Corpse Grinders & Astro Zombies, has been making movies for about 60 years, and is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Now the other Michaels has made documentary on TVM called The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels. Narrated by John Waters, the documentary covers the different struggles Mikels has gone through in the movie business to the days of when he lived in a castle with a harem of women.
For more information, click on over to the MySpace page HERE, or the official website HERE.

MEL FERRER - REST IN PEACE
    I'm really surprised and sort of disappointed not to have noticed this on more horror websites out there. But it must have slipped by, or they just figured it didn't warrant a posting. And while reading various reports of his passing, it was amusing that none of them mentioned the amount of work he did in the horror genre, and usually on the lower budgeted side as well.
    Sure, Hollywood fans might have known him for being on the nighttime soap opera Falcon Crest, or that he was married to Audrey Hepburn for 14 years. But what about his roles in Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive? Or Umberto Lenzi's City of the Walking Dead or Doomed To Die? Or other titles like Hands of Orlac, Big Alligator River, and many more? Well, it's because of these movies that I, and countless other horror fans, knew who he was. And we will be remembering him well each time we watch one of these classic films.
    Ferrer, who was 90 years old, passed away last Monday. According to his son, he had been living at a convalescent home after suffering from poor health over the last six month. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.

MYSTERY PHOTO
It's been a while since we've actually had a new photo up. But hopefully this one will make up for it. That last photo really shows what exercising can do for you. Can't do that while sitting behind a computer, that's for sure. The photo was one of the many nasty kills from HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. Kudos goes out to Hoby Abernathy, Ken Michaels, Aaron Christensen, Mike Shields, William Thorpe, and Andy Mitchell.
Check out our latest photo and see what you can do. Just click HERE to send us an email.

BARRACUDA COMES TO DVD
    Of course, as life would have it, after buying this hard to find movie on the gray market, Dark Sky Films decide to put it out on DVD. Thanks guys. But if that is what it takes to get a nice cleaned up print of this movie, and to make it available to the public, then that is a small price to pay. The film is about a coastal town that starts being plagued by attacks of killer barracudas. Could it be nature revolting? Or maybe it's something to do with the local chemical company? But environmentalist Wayne Crawford is there to discover the real reason behind these attacks, with the help of the local sheriff, played by H.G. Lewis regular William Kerwin.
    Dark Sky Films is releasing this on a double feature disc with Island Fury, one of the last horror movies produced by Mardi Rustam. Rustam was the man responsible (or to blame) for the film Evils of the Night, as well as Executive Producer on Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive and Al Adamson's Dracula VS Frankenstein.
    The double feature disc will be released on Sept. 30th. Mark your calendars.

5-26-08 NEW REVIEWS
Another week, and we actually have three reviews posted this week. This time out, we take a look at two older Italian films, made by two of Italy's top directors in the genre, and one of the best films about witches. First up is Dario Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet, from a new German import DVD. Next up is a film from Lucio Fulci, called Beatrice Cenci. If you're expecting a gore-fest like his work in the 80's, you are going to be disappointed. But if you're looking for an incredible period piece based on the true story of Beatrice Cenci, then you are going to want to check out this movie. And then the last film we've reviewed was Dark Sky Films new release of the cult classic film Simon - King of the Witches.
Click over to our Reviews section for more details on both of these films.

SIMON GIVEAWAY
And while on the subject of Simon - King of the Witches, we have one copy of this DVD to give away. To enter in to win this copy, all you have to do is send us an email with one of your favorite movies that deal with the subject of witches. Pretty simple, huh? Click HERE to open the email and send away. We will be drawing a winner from the list of emails that we get.
For more information about this upcoming DVD, go over to Dark Sky Films' website HERE.

ARGENTO-FEST AT MUSIC BOX
    Argento fans in the Chicagoland area are going to be thrilled at the midnight movie series that will be playing at the Music Box Theatre, starting in June, on Friday the 13th. On that weekend, they are screening Creepers (aka Phenomena). Not sure if this is the American cut, but since that's the title they're listing, I'm assuming it is. But it would still be cool to see this on the big screen. The following weekend, they are screening Inferno. The weekend after that, on the 27th & 28th, they will be showing Deep Red (aka Profondo Rosso). And then on July 11th, Argento's latest, Mother of Tears, will be playing for 3 weekends there. There might be an evening screening of it early than that, but we're not sure as of yet.
    Other films of interests that they will be screening include Stuart Gordon's latest film, Stuck. That starts on Friday, June 6th. They will also be screening Roman Polanski's The Tenant. If you haven't seen this one, I highly recommend checking out this film. It is one of those that will be in your head for days afterward. And lastly, they will be screening David Lynch's Eraserhead for two weeks at their midnight shows, starting on July 25th.
    For more information about the Music Box Theatre and a complete listing of their upcoming Summer schedule, check out their website HERE.
    And of course, while on the subject of Chicago area screenings to be aware of, next month on Friday the 13th, Horrorbles will be presenting their Hammer double feature presentation of Dracula Prince of Darkness and Vampire Circus. For info on the Portage Theater, check out their website HERE.
    So what a great night it would be to hit these two classics, then head over to the Music Box for Creepers. I know that's what we'll be doing. Hope to see a nice crowd at both theaters. Our support tells the theater that these types of screening will draw people, which in turns means they'll keep dong it.

5-21-08 PHANTASTIC REUNION AT FLASHBACK
    Back in 1998, I traveled to New York to see a reunion with the key members of the film Phantasm. Appearing there were Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm, and Don Coscarelli. Sure, some of these guys have been at other show before. But not since that show 10 years ago, have all of them been back together at one show. Until now. Previously listed to attend was Angus Scrimm, Bill Thornbury, Don Coscarellie, and Kathy Lester. We knew that Reggie Bannister was going to be added to the list. But much to our surprise, to find out that Michael Baldwin has also been added to the list. Baldwin has not done a show since that New York show, ten years ago. As a matter of fact, he's only done two shows ever. So this is going to be one hell of a reunion, and one that if you were a Phantasm fan, you are not going to want to miss this opportunity.
    For more information about the Flashback Weekend, check out their website HERE.
    So get ready Chicagoland Phans, because next month, the Ball will be back!

NIGHT 40th ANNIVERSARY DVD REVIEW
We have also posted our review of the recently released DVD of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Check it out in our Review section. And if you've never poked around in our Review Achieves, please take a few minutes to check out the hundreds of reviews that we have in there.

5-18-08 MYSTERY PHOTO
    Sure, we forgot to add a new photo last week. We were really struggling to get the update posted, and didn't want to just wait on that. Oh well.
    It did seem that photo was a little too obscure for most of you. The pic was from Simon - King of the Witches, which is soon to be released on DVD from Dark Sky Films for the first time. Wait until you see the print quality of this. I even had an original pre-record of this movie and it was darker than hell. But they did a great job cleaning up the disc. Stay tuned for a complete review of it shortly.
    But getting back to the photo. Kudos go out to William Thorpe, William Wilson, Hoby Abernathy, Keith Whittiker, and Mike Shields for sending in the correct answer. Take a peek at the latest photo and see what you can come up with. Click HERE to send the email. Good luck.

NEW REVIEWS
We have a few new reviews with week. On the movie side, we have posted our reviews of the new French film Frontier(s), and George Romero's latest chapter in his Dead films, Diary of the Dead.
We have also posted our review for the soundtrack for the new film The Strangers, starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman. If this movie is going to be anywhere good as this score, we are really excited to check it out. This is one of the best soundtracks I've heard in quite some time. Check out our Review section and see what you think.

LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS
    The new issue of the best magazine devoted to all things Hammer will be available in July. Although usually covering Hammer films, they do often cover other British horror, as they do in this new issue. They have an article on Amicus Productions, which was one of Hammer's biggest competitors. If you are a fan of British horror from the 50's through the 80's, then you want to look into this magazine. They're great reads and packed full of information.
    Also, those rare early editions of the magazine will be available on CD in PDF files. I know I've looked into finding those early issues and was amazed at the prices they're going for. So for only $10 for each issue, you'll be able to read what you've missed.
    For more information about Little Shoppe of Horrors, check out their website HERE.

FLASHBACK GUESTS ADDED
    Making (I believe) their first appearance in the Chicago area, we have two ladies from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. From the original film, Marilyn Burns, who also starred in Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive. And from part 2, the lovely Caroline Williams. We've met Caroline a couple of times over the years and she is really a sweetheart.
    They have also added Roy Frumkes to the lineup. Frumkes was the man really responsible for cult classic film Street Trash. He also wrote and directed the one of the best documentaries on George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, entitled Document of the Dead. Plus being a huge fan of the horror genre, Frunkes has a vast knowledge of the genre as well.
    So with the Phantasm and Night of the Living Dead reunions, the babysitters from Rob Zombie's Halloween, to Elvira herself, this has all the makings of yet another great show for the Flashback Weekend. Hope to see you there.
    For more information about the Flashback Weekend, check out their website HERE.

ROGUE DVD
With all the recent killer alligator movies as of late, with most of them being just terrible, we are excited to catch Greg McLean's Rogue. From the trailers that we've seen, this one looks pretty damn good. It hits DVD from Dimension Extreme and looks like it's got plenty of extras for us fans. It will have audio commentary from the writer/director McLean, as well as a documentary on the making of the movie by McLean as well. Plus there is a series of mini-documentaries called Welcome to the Territory. It hits DVD on August 5th. So mark you calendars for a movie that will hopefully remind us to stay out of the water.

COOK TO OPEN THE GATE - 20 YEARS LATER
A film from the late 80's that was a great horror film for the whole family, was The Gate. Sure, the main cast was a bunch of kids (including a very young Stephen Dorf), but it had a cool story, had some cool special effects which including some good old fashion stop animation by Randall Cook. Cook also did the make up and star in the much underrated film I, Madman. Of course, this was all before he would go on to be a multi-Oscar winner for his work on the visual effects for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Well now, Cook will be returning to The Gate to directed a sequel (we don't even want to think about The Gate 2) with The Gate: 20 Years Later. Don't know much about it other than that. But I know we're looking forward to it.

DVD DRIVE-IN PRESENTS ANOTHER MONSTER-RAMA
    Sure, we have a lot of great stuff here in Chicagoland, like the Music Box Massacres and the all-night horror shows at the Midway Drive-in. But that doesn't mean I can't be jealous of those living in Pennsylvania. DVD Drive-In (which is a great place for reviews, by the way) is presenting another weekend of classic drive-in horror at their Drive-In Super Monster-Rama. It will take place over two nights, on September 12th and 13th. Here's a list of what they will be screening. On Friday, they have Cry of the Banshee, Frogs, Night of the Living Dead, and The Crazies. Then on Saturday, they're showing Blacula, Return of Count Yorga, Dracula Vs Frankenstein (the Adamson film), and Paul Naschy's The Werewolf Vs The Vampire Women.
    Now how sad is that, that I'm actually pondering thoughts of how I could make it out there for that. That does sound like a great time. So if you are in that area, and are a fan of these movies, do yourself a favor and go out to support these kinds of events. The more we can support them, then the more of them will start happening.
    For more information about it, go to DVD Drive-In.

5-12-08 BUSY WEEKEND
    Sorry for the slight delay, but we were away from the Krypt most of the weekend. Friday night, we headed off to the Portage Theater in Chicago for the Horrorables Double Feature of I Was A Teenage Frankenstein and I Was A Teenage Werewolf. I've always loved Teenage Frankenstein and it was great seeing it on the big screen like that. Where is the official DVD release of that film??? While I don't think it's terrible, I've never been that big of a fan of Teenage Werewolf. But Hammer fans take notice! Next month, on Friday the 13th, they will be screening Draucula: Prince of Darkness and Vampire Circus. That should be a great time as well.
    Then on Saturday, we were off to the Music Box Theatre for the 2nd Annual Sci-Fi Spectacular. How cool was that to be able to see the original (and best) version of Island of Dr. Moreau on the big screen. Not to mention seeing the work of the great Ray Harryhausen in Earth Vs The Flying Saucers as well. The show seemed to have a pretty good turn out and I know that we had a lot of fun. It's always a good time to be able to talk movies with a bunch of like-minded fans. Looking forward to the next one.
    They also screened one of my favorites, Death Race 2000. And in attendance of the screening was Calamity Jane herself, Mary Woronov. Of course, not only was she in Death Race 2000, she was also in many other cult films like Rock and Roll High School, Night of the Comet, Silent Night Bloody Night, and many others. During the Q&A, she had some great stories about working Roger Corman, her association with Andy Warhol, and the Velvet Underground. Once again, promoter Rusty Nails comes up with a great selection of movies, along with a great guest.
    Which leads me to asking a favor. While this mainly goes out to Chicago area fans, everyone's help would be grateful. We know the 24-hour Music Box Massacres are always a blast in October, but if you'd like a horror marathon in the summer time, we need to email Rusty Nails, the guy who started all of these great marathons, and let him know that we'd come out to support a summer show. Drop him an email HERE and let him know that you'd love to have a Summer Massacre this year. The more support he can get from the fans, the better the chance that it will happen. So come out Chicagoland horror fans....LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!

HORROR HOUND CATCHES MARTIN
The boys at Horror Hound have dug up a guest that is going to have a lot of Romero fans happy. Joining their guest list for their Pittsburgh show is John Amplas, best known to horror fans as the star of George Romero's Martin. He also was in Romero's Day of the Dead and as the rotting corpse of Nathan Grantham in Creepshow. And of course, he was the casting director on Dawn of the Dead. Amplas has never done a convention before, so this is a great addition to their already great lineup.

OTHER CONVENTION NEWS
We also wanted to mention a new guest that was added to the Cinema Wasteland show. David L. Hewitt will be joining in on all the fun. Don't recognize the name? We'll Mr. Hewitt was the director of such classic films as Wizard of Mars, Monsters Crashed The Pajama Party, The Might Gorga, and even Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors, which starred John Carradine and Lon Chaney Jr. He also worked on visual and special effects on such films as Superman 4, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, and our personal favorite, The Kindred (which should be coming out very soon from Synapse Films!).
For more information about the Cinema Wasteland show, click HERE.

MOTHER OF TEARS
On June 6th, Dario Argento's Mother of Tears finally opens in selected theaters. For the Chicago area, we're not sure where you can see it in June, but you will be able to see it at the Music Box Theatre, starting on July 4th. This is the final film in the Three Mothers trilogy that Argento started with Suspiria, and followed up with Inferno. We are looking forward to being able to see this on the big screen, and hope that you will do the same.
For more information on the movie, check out the official site by clicking on the poster art to the right.

JULIE EGE - REST IN PEACE
Atress Julie Ege passed away on April 29th, from cancer. She had worked on a couple of Hammer films, Creatures The World Forgot and The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, as well as a couple of other cult favorites, Mutations (aka Freakmakers) and with Jack Palance in Craze.
But what she should really be remembered for is that she left her film career to fulfill a childhood dream of becoming a nurse. She worked in a hospital in Oslo, Norway, even after she had been diagnosed with both breast and lung cancer. It's people like her that the world needs more of. Our prayers and wishes go out to her friends and family.

5-4-08 WHAT HAPPENED TO LAST WEEK???
Not really sure what happened last weekend that we didn't get an update done for the site. I guess I got to start putting my foot down with these bunch of slackers here at the Krypt and put my size 10 motivation to work. As I wish that was the case, I have no one to blame except me.
I guess I could blame it on being so tired from having such a great time Saturday night at the Midway Drive-In for their Zombiefest. Sure, it was a little windy and a bit cold, but the sky was bright and clear and the true die-hard fans came out to show their support and love of the genre. We had a lot of fun there, seeing some great movies (well, one at least great movie and a cool Romero tribute), eating some tasty treats from the concession area, and talking horror with quite a few other like minded horror fans. What more could one ask for?

MYSTERY PHOTO
The last photo was from Abel Ferrara's Driller Killer. I figured with a photo of a guy getting a drill bit put to the head, that would make it pretty simple. So I wasn't surprised to get a few more responses this time out. Or maybe because it was up for 2 weeks. Those with the correct answers, of course, Mr. Hoby Abernathy leads the way, along with Mike Shields, Chester Lyons, David Theste, Jerry Bayloe, Clyde Rustin, William Thorpe, and Keith Whittiker.
Thanks again for all who take the time to send in their guesses. We do appreciate it, as well as letting us know that someone out there is enjoying what we're doing. To send in your guess for our latest photo, click HERE.

NEW REVIEWS
We have posted a couple of new reviews this time out. The first one is for the film Teeth, which has been getting a lot of buzz in the independent market. This comes out on DVD this Tuesday, so check out our review for it.
Our second review is for another independent film, entitled Squeal. If you're in the Chicagoland area, you have the chance to check this film out on the big screen. Next Friday at the Music Box Theatre, they are having a midnight screening of Squeal, with the director and producer in attendance. This film was produced locally, so come on out and support Chicago based filmmakers. Not to mention the fact that you can see a movie about a killer mutated Pig-Man! Bring on the BBQ sauce!

GRIMM TALES REVIEW
The ever-busy Nox Arcana have unleashed their latest release, Grimm Tales, which is inspired by fables and dark fairy tales. This is the quickest that we've ever gotten a review posted, but I guess you could say that we were enchanted. Our review is posted in our Soundtrack Review section.

HORRORBLE SCREENING & SCI-FI SPECTACULAR
    For even more Chicagoland horror film fun, next weekend is going to be a busy one. Also on Friday night, we will finally be making it to one of the Horrorable Double Features at the Portage Theater in Chicago. On Friday, May 9th, they are screening two classic films that make one of the best double features: I Was A Teenage Werewolf (starting at 8:00pm) and I Was A Teenage Frankenstein (starting at 9:30pm). We're really looking forward to finally making it out to one of these events. We've been hearing nothing but great things about it.
    Then on Saturday the 10th, we will be back at the Music Box for their 2nd Annual Sci-Fi Spectacular! Now, as we've said before, if you really look at these titles, there's plenty of titles in there to keep us horror fans happy. I mean, where else are you going to have the chance to see the uber-classic Island of Lost Souls on the big screen. And then you have Earth Vs the Flying Saucers (classic Harryhausen), the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Road Warrior, Death Race 2000, Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, and Robocop. Not a bad lineup, huh? And all are screened from 35mm prints. And the bonus is that cult star Mary Woronov, star of Death Race 2000, will be there in attendance.
    So if you're looking for some great movies to see on the big screen, now is your chance. We will have a table out in the lobby of the Music Box for the Sci-Fi Spectacular, so stop by and say hello.

REGGIE BANNISTER AT FLASHBACK
Joining the Phantasm reunion at this year's Flashback Weekend, will be the coolest quad-barrell shotgun carrying Ice Cream Man ever known, Reggie Bannister. He will be there, along with Angus Scrimm, Bill Thornbury, Kathy Lester, and director Don Coscarelli, to meet their many fans from this iconic series. Many thanks to Fear Werx for help making this happen. Make sure you stop over at their booth and pick up some of their awesome shirts.
And of course, there's plenty of other great guests already lined up for the show as well, including a reunion of some little independent film called Night of the Living Dead, include director George Romero. With plenty of other guests, like Elvira herself, and more to be announced, this is looking to be a great show, once again. It's only a couple of months away, so start making your plans now, and hope to see you there.

MORE ITALIAN MADNESS AT THE WASTELAND
I know that we had already mentioned about the Italian love-fest that will be happening at the October Cinema Wasteland show, but they have recently added another guest that we wanted to mention. Mr. Brett Halsey is now scheduled to be attending the show, making (I believe) his first convention appearance. Fans of Italian horror will recognize his face, being in films like Fulci's Demonia, Cat in the Brain (Nightmare Concert), Touch of Death, and the twisted The Devil's Honey. He also starred along side Vincent Price in Return of the Fly, and countless of other films, in many different genres.
So along with Lamberto Bava, Coralina Cataldi Tassoni, Cinzia Monreale, John Saxon, Michael Berryman, Marilyn Chambers, Allan Kolman Migicovsky, Jeff Lieberman, and many others, this is going to be a great time.

JACK PIERCE NEEDS A STAR
Hopefully everyone out there knows who Jack Pierce was. If you don't know, Pierce was the makeup man at Universal Studios back in the 30's who basically created what we know today as the Universal Monsters. It was his designs and his work that gave us Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy, and countless other great works of art, that not only enabled these talented actors to really bring these characters to life, but give them immorality.
But sadly, Jack Pierce has never really been given his recognition for his work. But now we have a chance to change that. There is an online petition to get Jack Pierce a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. So please take a minute to click on the link below, and sign your name on this petition. Everyone needs to know this great man's contribution to not only the horror genre, but to filmmaking as well. To sign up, click HERE.

4-20-08 CONVENTION REPORTS
We finally got our show reports done for the March Horror Hound Weekend and the April Cinema Wasteland. Head on over to our Features section and click under Convention Reports. Then just scroll down and look for the that particular show's banner. We took plenty of photos this time, so check them out. And hopefully we'll see you at the next one.

MYSTERY PHOTO
    Last week's photo was of the sadistic killer from Dario Argento's Stendhal Syndrome. As usual, kudos goes out to Hoby Abernathy for sending in the correct answer. And I thought there were more Argento fans out there.
    Now this one is pretty easy. So if we don't get a lot of responses, that either means nobody is even reading this (Hello? Anybody out there?), or you must be too busy to send us a little email. In either case, we still enjoy doing it, and I get a lot of responses at the conventions about them. Of course, they don't explain why they never send in their answers.....
    Anyway, if you do know this week's photo (and you should...since the title is right there in front of you), just click HERE to send in your answer.

SHUTTER SCORE REVIEW
We have posted our review of the musical score for the American remake of Shutter. The music was composed by Nathan Barr, who's past work included Cabin Fever and the Hostel movies. Check out our Review section for more details.

ZOMBIEFEST AT THE MIDWAY DRIVE-IN
Just wanted to send out another little reminder about the ZombieFest coming up next weekend at the Midway Drive-In Theater. We have found out that the 2nd feature to be played after Romero's Diary of the Dead, is going to be the uber-cult classic, Dan O'Bannon's Return of the Living Dead. What a great movie to begin with, but to see it on the big screen at a drive-in is even better. So hopefully we'll be seeing a lot of Chicago area fans out there to not only have a great time, but also to support this Drive-in in their dedication to keep this type of fun alive.

INSIDE OF BLOCKBUSTER
So once again, if you were looking for a reason not to go to the bastards who put all the Mom & Pop video stores out of business, then read on. Since we hate and despise Blockbuster Video, we can't help but pass on this bit of news that we read on Fangoria's site. This last Tuesday, the French film Inside was released, which we recently reviewed. Dimension released it in an uncut and unrated version, but you won't find that version at Blockbuster. They are carrying the R-rated version which is cut by 7 minutes. And apparently it's not labeled easy enough for you to see you're not getting the full uncut version. And trust me, in this film, 7 minutes is a lot to miss. So do yourself a favor, and get a hold of this movie (and all your movies) from somebody other than these corporate idiots.

4-17-08 ANOTHER GREAT LOSS
    The horror genre has lost yet another great face. Hazel Court has starred with just about all the horror icons of yesteryear. She starred opposite Peter Cushing in Hammer's Curse of Frankenstein. She co-starred with Christopher Lee in The Man Who Could Cheat Death, another Hammer production. And in Roger Corman's The Raven, her co-stars with Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, and Boris Karloff. She was one of the original Hammer Scream Queens, and she loved it.
    So it is with great sadness that we read today of her passing. She passed away last Tuesday from a heart attack. She was 82. Not only was Court known for her acting, but also had become a successful painter and sculptor. She had recently finished writing her autobiography, entitled Hazel Court - Horror Queen, with is being published by Tomahawk Press. You can pre-ordered the book now through Amazon.
    As we always say, even though she has passed away, she will forever be remembered by us horror fans for the great contributions she gave us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her friends and family.

THEM REVIEW
We have also just posted our review of another French film, Them, which was recently released by Dark Sky Films. Check out our Reviews section to find out more.

4-13-08 WE'RE BACK!
After two weekend conventions back to back, with tons of other activities going on to keep up more than busy, we are finally back with an update. And it's a real doozy! But even after two shows in two weeks, we still have plenty of stuff going on this month to keep up busy. So read on to get the full details.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Even with the longer time between updates, we still didn't get that many responses from our last photo. Not to many classic Al Adamson fans out there, huh? Well that is a shame. The photo was from Al Adamson's Horror of the Blood Monsters, one of Al's earlier works. But we did get the correct answers from Mike Shields and Hoby Abernathy. Our latest one might be a little easier....might be. Now come on.....if you know it, just click HERE and let us know.

CONVENTION REPORTS COMING SOON!
    We still haven't finished writing up our convention reports from both Horror Hound and Cinema Wasteland, but hope to have those done by our next update, if not sooner. We're still recovering from those two shows, so it was all we could do just to get this update finished! Needless to say, we had a blast at both of those shows, as always. We got plenty of photos that we'll be posting, along with our usual rhetoric about the shows.
    Speaking of Wasteland, it looks like this October, they will be continuing the Italian Horror Love-Fest that they started at their last show. They had already had their fliers out at the show that listed our favorite Italian horror star Coralina Cataldi Tassoni making her return to the Wasteland. As well as making her first US convention appearance, Cinzia Monreale. You might not know the name, but you know her face. Especially when she has blind contacts in. Cinzia is best known for playing teh blind Emily in Lucio Fulci's The Beyond. But she was also in Fulci's Silver Saddle, New Gladiators, and Sweet House of Horrors. She also worked with Argento in Stendhal Syndrome, and Joe D'Amato in Beyond the Darkness (playing the dead girl & her twin sister)!
    Of course, the Italian love doesn't stop there. Also making his first US convention appearance is Lamberto Bava! Sure, he's the son of the great Mario, but he has also made some great films on his own like Demons 1 & 2, Blade in the Dark, Ghost Son, and many more.
    Other guests they have listed so far is John Saxon, Michael Berryman, Marilyn Chambers, Allan Kolman Migicovsky (from David Cronenberg's Shivers), and a Friday the 13th lineup which includes Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, and Kane Hodder.
    Check out the website HERE for more information and tart making those plans, people. And we'll see you there!

ZOMBIE DRIVE-IN FEST
On April 26th, Chicago area zombie fans will have the opportunity to experience a night of zombie fun at a real life Drive-In Theater. The Flashback Weekend is presenting ZombieFest at the Midway Drive-in. The Midway Drive-In Theater is located in Sterling, Illinois, and is bringing back the fun and unique experience of going to the drive-in theater. If you've never been to one, you don't know what you're missing. And what better way to experience it than watching some great zombie movies!
They will be screening George Romero's latest entry in his zombie series with Diary of the Dead. There will also be at least two other zombie classics that will also be screened. So you will be getting at least three zombie films for the $6.50 a ticket! For more information about the drive-in itself, directions, and other info, please check out their website HERE. We will be there and hope to see another big crowd out there supporting this great American past time.

NEW REVIEWS
We have posted our review for a new French horror film called Inside. You might have heard about this in the recent pages of Fangoria or Rue Morgue. But no matter where you read about it, if you're looking for a horror movie that you won't soon forget, then check out this one.
We have also posted our review of a DVD that no fan of Lucio Fulci or Italian horror should be without. We've mentioned it here before in our news section and just loved it. It's entitled Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Vol. 1. Check out our Reviews for this one as well.

DOUGLAS BUCK INTERVIEW
Earlier this year, at the Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors, we were able to spend a few minutes chatting with up and coming director Douglas Buck and his writing partner John Freitas. Buck was the writer / director of the very powerful Family Portraits: An American Trilogy, and more recently the remake of Sisters. We were completely blown away by Portraits, which is a series of three short films. It is simply a must see. Check out our review archives for our review of it.
But back to the point. We have finally gotten the interview posted in our Interview section. And just to warn you, it's a long one, so be prepared. But Buck and Freitas really know their stuff and very interesting to hear them talk about how they got started and where they are going. So click on our Features section to find our Interviews page. Hopefully you will enjoy reading it as much as we did doing it.

3-23-08 CONVENTION NEWS
    Next weekend, we will be heading off to Indianapolis for the HorrorHound Weekend. And then the following week, we're off to Ohio for Cinema Wasteland. So with two shows in two weekends, we not sure just how much of an update we're going to have over the next few weeks. We'll try and post something after each of the shows, just to let you know that we survived them. But no promises.
    But I do know that we are planning to have a great time at both of these shows, as always. Nothing beats getting together with like minded fans and geeking out about movies! And as always, if you're planning on coming out to either of these shows, please stop by our table to say hello.
    In other show updates, the Flashback Weekend has added even more guests for their upcoming Phantasm reunion. Joining Angus Scrimm and Don Coscarelli will be Bill Thornbury, who played Jody, and Kathy Lester, who played the mysterious Lady in Lavender. All they need now to complete the reunion is Reggie Bannister. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

NEW WOLFMAN
Just in case you didn't see these photos that have been popping up on just about every horror site out there, here's a couple of pics from the upcoming Wolf Man movie, starring Bernico Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. I'm really trying to keep an open mind about this. I like the cast so far, and you have Rick Baker doing the makeup effects. So we know there's a lot of talent on the screen. It's really going to come down to the director, the script, and the style used for the picture. The film isn't set to be released for quite some time, so we'll just have to wait and see.

DVD NEWS
Once again, how great is it to be a horror fan these days. Every month is seems that we hear about some more great titles that will be soon hitting DVD. Legend Films has picked up a few titles from Paramount to release on DVD sometime this spring. For fans of British horror, Amicus' The Skull will be coming out, along with Hammer's The Man Who Could Cheat Death, which had never gotten a video release here in the states. Other titles include Phave IV, The Deadly Bees, and the much underrated film The Sender.
In other DVD news, BCI will also be releasing Paul Naschy's Werewolf Shadow and Curse of the Devil from an HD source. The release for Werewolf Shadow will also have the American edit under the title The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Women as a bonus.. These titles had been released before by Anchor Bay, but have gone long out of print. The release date is set for June 10th.

MYSTERY PHOTO
    Figured that photo was sort of a touch one. But the funny thing was the person in the photo was posted on this very page, just a few lines down. The pic was from Robert Kurtzman's Wishmaster, and that poor soul was none other than Reggie Bannister.
    We had few people send in the correct answers for last week's photo. Job well done to Hoby Abernathy, Jerry Bayloe, John Singer, and David Theste. Also thanks to those out there that keeping trying and send in your guesses, even if you're not sure. At least your trying, which is what counts.
    So take a look at the newest photo and see what you can come up with. Click HERE to send in your guess.

MIST REVIEW
We've posted our review for Frank Darabont's The Mist. If you never checked this movie out when it was in the theater, make sure you pick up the DVD when it comes out on Tuesday. Great movie. Check out our review for more details.

3-16-08 A BIG WEEKEND
    Yesterday, we headed off to the Ray Courts Hollywood Collectors & Celebrity show. As we mentioned earlier, there were a few people that we wanted to see, not to mention seeing how the turnout was. Years ago, Ray Courts use to have these shows in the Chicagoland area a couple of times a year. This show was the first one that we began our transition into a dealer, and would set up there every year. We had a blast. But when it turned into more of an autograph show than a memorabilia show, we stopped doing them, since it was too hard to compete with all the celebrities that would have. After a while, they would only have one show a year. And then they stopped all together. That was about 2 1/2 years ago.
    But now they seemed to be back, and had some cool genre guest names listed, so we figured we'd head out on Saturday to check it out. There was two main reasons that we were going. The first one, was to see everyone's favorite dwarf-killing Ice Cream Man, Reggie Bannister. Reggie was there promoting one of his latest of many projects, the film Working Title. But he also had copies of his newest music CD, Naked Truth. As we've said many times before, Reggie is one of the nicest and down to earth kind of guys you could meet. His genuine sincerity to his fans is amazing. It's too bad that we not only have more celebrities like him, but also just people in general. The world would be a better place. Hopefully Reggie will be coming back this summer for the Flashback Weekend, joining Angus Scrimm and Don Coscarelli for a nice Phantasm reunion. We got our fingers crossed.
    But the other reason for going to this show was to see Mr. B.I.G. himself, Bert I. Gordon (pictured here with your gracious host). We talked to Mr. BIG for quite a few minutes about his many, many different films in his long career. From the early sci-fi giant monster films like The Amazing Colossal Man and The Beginning of the End, to the 70's take on that same subject with Empire of the Ants and Food of the Gods, Gordon always made entertaining films. He told us that he is working on his autobiography that should be published by McFarland later on this year. We are looking forward to that, since I'm sure he has some great stories.
    We also had a chance to talk to the ever-so lovely Caroline Munro. We had interviewed her last year at the Wasteland show, and just wanted to stop by and say hello. Like Mr. Bannister, Munro is so gracious to her fans, with every one of them walking away with a big smile on their face.
    But the biggest surprise that I had was not only the number dealer tables that were there, but the number of those dealers selling horror merchandise. From toys, to posters, to books, there was plenty of stuff to tempt my money from my pocket. It was so great to see our favorite genre making a comeback to those shows. The last few that I had gone to, I knew I didn't have to worry about spending money, since there was always nothing for me to even look at, let alone buy. So that was a nice surprise. Who knows....maybe I'll just have to go back setting up at these shows....They're next show will be in September. Click HERE to go to their website for more info.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Thought maybe we could have stumped our resident Mystery Photo expert, Mr. Abernathy this time out, but it seems that last time was just a fluke. The pic from last week was from the great 70's TV movie called The Norliss Tapes. It's out on DVD now, so if you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend you picking it up. Good stuff there. But contrats goes out to not only Mr. Abernathy, but also to the good Dr. AC himself, Aaron Christensen.
So take a look at this latest one and see what you can do.

HORROR 101 GETS MORE HIGH PRAISE!
    Sure, this could be taken as a bit of self promotion. But first of all, it is my website after all....but also there were so many more people involved in this book project that should get the praise and kudos as well. But there are reviews of Horror 101 in the upcoming issues of both Fangoria and Rue Morgue. We personally haven't see the Rue Morgue one, but hear it's very positive review. If you want to read the Fangoria one, you can click on our Horror 101 link at the top of this page, where we have posted the entire review. We will do the same when the Rue Morgue one becomes available to us.
    So while we're not trying to sound like a broken record, if you haven't picked up your copy of this book, you really need to. If you are a horror fan, whether a beginner to a seasoned pro, you find some enjoyment here.
    So if you're interested, you can pick up a copy many different ways. You can order one from Amazon (by clicking HERE), you can also order it through the Horror 101 website HERE, or you can also get a copy from us, either at one of the conventions we attend, or just email us for details.

GOOEY DOUBLE FEATURE
For Chicago area fans, don't forget that next weekend at the Portage Theater they will be screening a great double feature of The Stuff and The Incredible Melting Man. The first show starts at 8:00pm, and the second feature starts at 9:45pm. For more information about the theater, click HERE. Otherwise, we are planning on going, and hope to see you there.

DVD NEWS
    One of my favorite taglines is from the 1983 film Pieces. It states "You don't have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre." What a great bit of good old fashion ballyhoo! Okay, so the movie might not be the best made film, it's still an entertaining one. The film stars Christopher George, Linda Day George, and Jack Taylor who are dealing with a chainsaw serial killer running amuck on a college campus.
    Why are we mentioning this? Because it now looks like the new DVD from Grindhouse Releasing is finally going to be coming out. I haven't seen a release date yet, but this will be the first legitimate DVD release that is taken from a total uncensored film elements. And since it's coming from Grindhouse Releasing, you know the quality is going to be great.
    Another title that Grindhouse is working on is Lucio Fulci's Cat in the Brain. No real details yet on this disc, other than they are working on it. Of course, they've been working on Pieces for a few years now, so who knows when Cat will be coming out. But at least we know that when it does, it will be worth picking up for the collection.
    In other DVD news, Mondo Macabro have announced that they will be releasing The Queen of Black Magic on May 27. This DVD will be from a brand new anamorphic transfer from the original negative. Plus, it will have a few cool extras, like an interview with FX creator El Badrun, trailer, and tons of background information about the film, like only Mondo Macabro can do.

CASTLE DOCUMENTARY
I know we've reported before about this documentary from director/producer Jeffrey Schwarz, but now we have some dates and film festivals where you can have a chance to actually see it. From what I'm hearing, it's a must for any and all Castle fans, not to mention being a great way to learn more about this master showman. Below are the dates where you can see it, and click HERE to check out the official website, or HERE for the MySpace page.

Washington, DC International Film Festival, March 14
Tiburon International Film Festival, Tiburon, CA, March 18
Boston Underground Film Festival, Boston, MA, March 22-23
Best of Fest, Los Angeles, CA, March 26
Florida Film Festival, Orlando, FL, March 29 and April 3
Philadephia Film Festival, Philadelphia, PA, April 3-15
Atlanta Film Festival, Atlanta, GA, dates TBA

DOOMSDAY IS HERE!
Neil Marshall's latest film Doomsday opened this weekend, taking in close to $5 million. We totally spaced this out, otherwise they would have had a few more dollars of mine in that total. But I definitely want to check this film out in the theater, and strongly suggest everyone else does as well. Marshall is a great filmmaker and we need to let those boys in Hollywood know that he can make not only an entertaining film, but a profitable one as well. So if you haven't seen it, please try to make it out this next week.

3-9-08 VACATION IS OVER
    Well, the two months I've had off really was a mixed bag. On one hand it was nice to have the time off. But the whole unemployed thing can get kind of scary, which didn't let me truly enjoy my time off. But that all comes to an end tomorrow anyway, since I start my new job then. And I must say that I'm pretty excited to get back to the work force. But I'm pretty sure the hours are going to be a lot less than what I was doing before, and a lot less stress.
    So since we've been pretty busy with trying to really enjoy this last free week, and deciding that it was time to make sure I get done all the stuff I said I was going to do during my time off, I don't have much of an update this week. Plus, we have a lot of shows coming up in the next 4 weeks, so there's plenty of stuff to get prepared for. So just as a reminder, here's what we got coming up:
   Hollywood Collectors & Celebrity show - March 15th-16th at the Chicago Marriot O'Hare.
    HorrorHound Weekend - March 28th-30th at the Marriot Indianapolis East.
    Cinema Wasteland - April 4th-6th at the Holiday Inn Select in Strongsville, Oh.
    We are planning to be at all three of these events in some aspect, so hopefully we'll see you there.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Well, it looks like this time I was able to stump everyone, including the ever persistent Mr. Abernathy. That lovely face belonged to none other than Camille Keaton, future star of I Spit On Your Grave. But this was from a film she made in Italy a few years earlier, called Tragic Ceremony, which was directed by Riccardo Freda.
So let's check out something that might be a little easier....maybe.

ELVIRA COMES TO FLASHBACK
The Flashback Weekend has added the lovely Mistress of the Dark to their lineup for this year's show. Elvira will be there on the Saturday, while her alter ego Cassandra Peterson will be appearing on Sunday.

3-5-08 THE ICE CREAM MAN COMES TO TOWN
    Okay, while we're all hoping that Reggie Bannister is added to the guest lineup for the Flashback Weekend, Chicago fans don't have to wait to see him. On March 15th-16th, Reggie will be attending the Hollywood Collectors & Celebrity show, at the Chicago Marriot O'Hare. So make sure all you Phantasm Phans head out there and meet one the nicest guys out there.
    But also attending the show that might interests horror fans is the legendary Mr. BIG...aka Bert I. Gordon. Gordon was the man responsible for movies like The Amazing Colossal Man, The Beginning of the End, Empire of the Ants, Food of the Gods, and many other great classics. Also attending is Margot Kidder. Sure, most might know her from the Superman movies, but what about Black Christmas or the original Amityville Horror? Or, for you Hammer fans out there, the every lovely Caroline Munro will also be there. Munro was in Hammer's Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter and Dracula 72 A.D., not to mention being in the James Bond film A Spy Who Loved Me.
    For more information about the show, click HERE for their website. We won't be set up there, but we will be there to hang out for a while. Hope to see you there.

3-3-08 COSCARELLI JOINS FLASHBACK
The Flashback gang have just added Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli to their lineup for this summer's show. Coscarelli will be there, joining Angus Scrimm. Who knows, maybe we'll get Reggie Bannister and even some more Phantasm people. We can hope, can't we?
For more information about the show, click HERE.

HAMMER ADVENTURE DVDs
Okay, sure these titles aren't really horror, though one is close. But they are Hammer Films, so we feel that it's important enough to mention. And plus the fact that it's my website. So there.
But this Summer, Sony will be releasing a box set that will contain the following films: Stranglers of Bombay, Terror of the Tongs, Pirates of Blood River, and Devil Ship Pirates. Some of the films will have commentary by Hammer screenwriter/producer/director Jimmy Sangster. Just remember, if it came from Hammer, you can usually get your fill of entertainment.

MORE HORROR COMING TO TV
    Now that Masters of Horror won't be coming back, hopefully we'll have something decent to replace it. Coming this summer, NBC will air a 13-episode series called Fear Itself. The series will features driectors like John Landis, Stuart Gordon, Darren Bousman, Ronny Yu, Brad Anderson, Breck Eisner, Mary Harron, Ernest Dickerson, and more.
    According to the vp of NBC Entertainment Teri Weinberg, "We've teamed up with some of the most illustrious writers, actors and directors to create a distinctive, scare-filled series that will push the boundries of this classic genre." The show is being produced by Lionsgate and Industry Entertainment, who were behind the Showtime Masters series.
    Now while this is great news, since it's going to be on regular TV, they are not going to be able to go to the extremes that Masters of Horror was allowed to. But...as far as I'm concerned, now maybe they'll be able to concentrate on good scary stories instead of gore. God...never thought I'd be saying that. I must be getting old.

3-01-08 ONE MUTHA OF AN UPDATE!
    We've had pretty busy time this last week. We got plenty of good stuff this time out though. Some great news bites, a new convention report, reviews, and more. So sit back and enjoy!
    And on a slight personal note, some crazy place out there had the even crazier idea to hire me! So after my short-lived forced vacation, it seems that I'll be back again, joining the ranks of the working force. And I can't tell you how great a feeling that is. Thanks to my friends out there for all the support giving over the last month and half. It meant a lot.
    Of course, now you'll just hear me that I don't have any time to watch movies and get stuff done again, but you knew that was going to happen.

CHICAGO FANGORIA REPORT
First off, last weekend was the kick off of our 2008 Kryptic World Domination Tour, at the Chicago Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors. Which is why we didn't have an update last week. But not only did we have a great time at the convention, but it was even better because of the late night screenings at the Music Box Theatre, where they had special guests with Q&A's. A big hand going out to Rusty Nails for throwing it all together. It was a fun time.
We have our review now posted in our Convention Reports, which is located in our Features section. Check it out, since we got plenty of great photos of most of the guests there.

UPCOMING INTERVIEW
While at the Fangoria show, we were able to sit down with director Douglas Buck and writing partner John Freitas, to talk to them about their recent remake of Sisters, as well as their unforgettable collection of short films, Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America. We are working on getting the interview written up, and hope to have it posted in the next week or so. Stay tuned.

FLASHBACK WEEKEND ADDS TALL MAN
    Angus Scrimm, the Tall Man from the Phantasm series, will be stalking the Flashback Weekend show, this June. I believe this will be his first appearance in Chicago in over 15 years. Scrimm will be there, along with the 40th Anniversary union of Night of the Living Dead, including eight of the original cast and crew, including director George Romero. Hard to believe that Night is that old of a movie. But it still holds up today, showing it to be the masterpiece that it is.
    Other guest include the three babysitters from Rob Zombie's Halloween: Scout Taylor-Compton, Danielle Harris, and Kristina Klebe. And from the original Halloween, Tony Moran, who played the unmasked Michael Myers, will be there as well. And of course, Chicago's own horror host, Svengoolie will also be there in attendance.
    So make you're plans to come to the show and have a great time. I know we always do.

MACHETE COMES TO HORRORHOUND
And while on the subject to shows, HorrorHound has added Danny Trejo to their show in March, in Indianapolis. Don't forget to make your plans, since that is only a few weeks away.

MYSTERY PHOTO
We only had one correct answer for our last Mystery Photo, though we did get a few good guesses. At least there's some effort there from some of you. I knew it was a tough one, and really didn't expect anybody to come up with the correct answer. So that means even a bigger congrats go out to Hoby Abernathy. The film in question was Paul Naschy's Night of the Werewolf (aka The Craving). If you don't know the film, I would highly recommend checking it out, especially if you like werewolf movies. It is available on DVD from Deimos/BCI.
Now check out our latest photo and see what you can come up with. It's a nice pic of someone desperately in need of a facelift....Just click HERE to send us an email with your guess.

NEW REVIEWS
We have a couple of new reviews posted. Unfortunately, nothing that we would really recommend. But maybe if you're in the right mode for some cheesy no-brainer fun, then you might enjoy them. But you can read our full details about Robert Kurtzman's The Rage, and the new low budget zombie flick Automaton Transfusion in our usual Review section.

BEN CHAPMAN - RIP
Classic horror fans have had another great loss recently. Ben Chapman, who played the the title character in The Creature From The Black Lagoon, passed away on Feb. 21st. Chapman had spent the last few years of his life making the rounds at the horror conventions meeting his fans. He really loved the fact that he had a part in the Universal classic monsters. He played all the scenes where the creature was on land, while Ricco Browning did all the underwater scenes. We had the chance to meet him a couple of times over the years, and was always great to talk to.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to him, and his family and friends.

MUSIC BOX THEATRE SPRING SCHEDULE
    Anybody who comes here often has heard be rant and rave about Chicago's Music Box Theatre. It's a beautiful old theater that shows great movies. They have just posted their spring schedule on their website, which does have some interesting titles. Such as Army of Darkenss, Teeth, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Big Trouble in Little China, Troll 2 (with cast present), Blade, and many more. For all the dates and more details, go to their website HERE.
    And then on May 10th, they will be holding the 2nd Annual Sci-Fi Spectacular, with over 12 hours of sci-fi madness. But don't just blow it off because it's sci-fi, because there's plenty of horror to be found in their lineup. Here's what they have listed to play: Island of Lost Souls, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Road Warriors, Death Race 2000, Star Trek 2, and Robocop.
    Plus, Mary Woronov, star of Death Race 2000, will be there in person.

DARK SKY UNLEASHES SIMON
    Back in December, we posted a little note about Dark Sky Films releasing the cult film SIMON: KING OF THE WITCHES. But on recently on Fangoria's website, we learned of some more news on this release. It seems that Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures is going to be working on the supplements for this release. This is great news, since we've always been impressed with Felsher's supplementary work. The disc not only will have a new widescreen transfer, but Felsher also got interviews with not only Andrew Prine, but also the director Bruce Kessler.
    We've been dying to see a DVD release for this film, since even the original VHS release was terribly dark and grainy. We can't wait to see what this disc is going to look like. Put this title on your want list, people. Andrew Prine is awesome about this modern day (for the time) tale of a warlock.
    And while on the subject of Dark Sky Films, don't forget that on March 25th, they release THEM on DVD. And if you pre-order it from Dark Sky before the 14th, you'll get a free THEM t-shirt. For more information, click HERE.

2-17-08 HIDE THOSE HORROR TATTOOS!
First of all, let me say that our prayers and thoughts go out to those effected by this recent shooting spree from some whack-job, which took place at Northern Illinois University couple of days ago. We know that there are just some people out there that are nuts. Plain and simple.
But now, since the press is reporting that the shooter had tattoos all over his arm, including skulls and even a character from the movie SAW, I can just see where this will be heading. So if you are out there with some horror related tattoos, I'm sure you're going to get even more stranger looks now.

HAMMER HORROR POSTERS
In case you didn't know, we are a huge fan of poster art. I truly think that poster art really is a lost art form. Years ago, some real talent was put into creating something that was going to make the viewer want to see this movie. And that was without having to paste the leading star's mug over the whole thing. But I digress. But that is our main point with our Poster Gallery that we have (in our Features section). To show fans some movie poster artwork that they might not have ever seen before, but also so they can enjoy the beautiful works of art displayed there.
But in our internet travels, we came across another website that does this same thing, except dealing with the poster art from Hammer Studios. The images here are incredible. And so was the talent that was use to created this wonderful images. There are plenty of images, not from just the movies that Hammer made, but also for movies that Hammer never got around to making! Check the website out by clicking HERE, and make sure you check out the section on artist Tom Chantrell, who did a lot of work for Hammer.

MYSTERY PHOTO
Seemed we forgot again in our last update to post a new photo. Busy, busy, busy.....well, sort of. Anyway, that photo was from none other than Clive Barker's Hellraiser. Fooled a lot of you out there, didn't I? But at least I can always count on some of the usual suspects to come through with the right answer. At least someone out there is doing their homework! Kudos go to Aaron Christensen and Hoby Abernathy. You know, it sure would nice to see some new names here on a regular basis. I know there's a lot of educated fans out there. Let's hear from you!
Anyway, here's the latest photo to glance at. Good luck, and click HERE to send us an email.

TALES FROM VARIETY
John Landis is now set to direct a biopic based on the life of William M. Gaines. Gaines is the man who created E.C. Comics, best known for their horror series like Tales From The Crypt and Vault of Horror. Of course, Gaines is also the creator of MAD Magazine, the longest running humor magazine. According to Variety, the film is going to be about the group of artists and writers that Gaines employed, and the trouble they came into when the government came down on them for their horror comics and the supposed effects they had on young Americans. This could be very interesting and educational for everyone to learn of the fight that Gaines put up, going right up against a Senate committee and fighting for his First Amendment rights.
And while on the subject of Gaines, while going through our reference library, I came across this quote from him that I find pretty appropriate. It kind of shows what Gaines was about. And it makes me feel good that were, and still are, many people out there that do "get it".

"A lot of people have the idea we're a bunch of monsters who sit around drooling and dreaming up horror and fifth.
That's not true. We try to entertain and educate. That's all there is to it."

2-14-08 HAPPY BLOODY VALENTINE'S DAY
Hopefully everyone is planning to spend their holiday watching some love-inspired horror movies, such as The Prowler or the obvious My Bloody Valentine. And don't forget that if you're in the Chicagoland area, tomorrow at the Portage Theater, they are having a Valentine's Day double feature of My Bloody Valentine and Happy Birthday To Me. Two movies for only $10, plus horror host Svengoolie will be there signing autographs. Check out the website for more details HERE.

WINTER MASSACRE AT THE MUSIC BOX
    Since next weekend is Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors in Chicago, Fangoria has teamed up with the Music Box Theatre to present two nights of double feature madness. On Friday the 22nd, the Music Box will be screening FRIDAY THE 13th at 10pm, with a live cast reunion and introduction. The second feature for Friday will be the French film A L'INTRIEUR (aka INSIDE) and will start at midnight.
    On Saturday the 23rd, they are having a Wes Craven double feature. At 10pm, they will screen a beautiful new 35mm print of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, which will be introduced by Robert Englund. And then at midnight, they will screen the unrated version of SWAMP THING, which will be introduced by a few special guests.
    Tickets can be purchased in advance from Ticketweb.com. Each ticket is good for 2 movies on the same night. The tickets are $11 in advance, or $13 at the door. Or if you are going to the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, make sure you wear your wristband and you can get in for free.
    For more information about the Music Box Theatre, click HERE. For more information about Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors convention, click HERE.
    Since this is our first convention of the year, we are pretty excited to get the ball rolling. If you're planning on attending, please stop by our table and chat. We'll be there with Dr. AC selling our usual wares, as well as help promoting the Horror 101 book. Have you picked up your copy yet???

2-10-08 HORROR THEATER IN CHICAGO
    Starting this month, a new theatre will be opening in Chicago with us horror fans in mind. WildClaw Theatre will open Feb. 24th, with Arthur Machen's classic tale of horror, The Great God Pan, which is about "Arthur Machen’s classic tale is the story of an horrific experiment performed upon an innocent young woman, resulting in a trail of sex and bloodletting spanning generations and crossing many countries." Sounds like family fun, right?
    The WildClaw Theatre has plans of producing horror themed plays for people just like us. Their intention is to "attract a new kind of audience which does not usually go to the theatre, an audience craving strange journeys of dread, suspense, terror and wonder. In other words, Horror Theatre."
    So if you are in the Chicagoland area, you just may want to look into this. This starts the same weekend as the Fangoria show, but we're still going to try and make it there. Support your brothers of horror! For more information about the show and the theatre, go to their official site HERE.

NEW REVIEWS
Yes, believe it or not, but another update with yet some more reviews! I'm sure it has nothing to do with all the downtime we've had lately....of course not. This time out, we check out another release from Dimensions Extreme label. It's the latest film from TETSUO director Shinya Tsukamoto, entitled NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE. Then we also take a look at DEADLY END, yet another film in the "let's see how gross and twisted we can be" category, with some success. Check out our full reviews in the usual place.

KNIGHTRIDERS COMES TO CD
Perseverance Records has recently announced that later this year, they will be releasing an official release of the soundtrack for George Romero's KNIGHTRIDERS. Perseverance is a small label, but so far we've been pretty impressed with what they have released. And that's all that matters. For more information about them and their releases, check out their website HERE.

CARLOS AURED - REST IN PEACE
The horror genre has lost another one of it's talented directors. While not a huge name in the industry, fans of Spanish horror will either recognize his name or at least the films he directed. Between 1972 and 1973, he directed four films with Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy: HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB, BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL (aka HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN), CURSE OF THE DEVIL, and THE MUMMY'S REVENGE. And thanks to companies like Deimos/BCI, we can see these films in beautiful DVD releases. So that their hard work can be enjoyed for years to come, by new generations year after year.
Aured pasted away last Sunday from a heart attack. As always, our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.

JUST WHO IS K. GORDON MURRAY?
    Does anybody know that name? No? Well, if you grew up watching movies on TV in the 60's and 70's, then you might have seen some of the movies that he was responsible for bringing to your little screens. For me, he was the guy that introduced tons of horror fans to the wonderful world of Mexican horror movies, like BRAINIAC, CURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN, THE VAMPIRE, and many, many others. But it wasn't just those films that he had his hand in.
    And now, thanks to devoted fan of Murray's, his story will now come to light. Daniel Griffith as spend the past few years researching Murray's work and interviewing people that knew him and his work. Just go over to the official website HERE to check out this great trailer. You can also visit his MySpace page HERE.
    We are pretty excited about this. First of all, we're a sucker for a documentary giving credit and showing the hard work that some of these early movie showman would put it.   And second of all, because it's about K. Gordon Murray.

2-04-08 FULCI LIVES!
Any Lucio Fulci fans out there? Coming later this month is a DVD entitled PAURA: LUCIO FULCI REMEMBERED, that is the result of 4 years of gathering interviews for an upcoming book on the Italian director. But creator Mike Baronas decided to put the interviews he had to good use and combine them into a DVD documentary. Check out the official site HERE for more information about the DVD, such as the huge list of names that were involved in the making. Plus there is ordering information as well. The pre-order price for the DVD is only $20. They also have a special signed edition for $275. Yea, I know. But before you scoff at that price, it comes with 50 different autographs from people that worked with Fulci. People like Al Cliver, Catriona MacColl, Ray Lovelock, Florinda Bolkan, Dardano Sacchetti, and many more.
Baronas will be hitting several conventions this year to promote the DVD, such as HorrorHound and Cinema Wasteland. But why wait until then to order your DVD?

2-03-08 SHARE THE SCARE
    Yesterday, we have several of our buddies over for a duel celebration. First up was to officially break in our newly painted and re-designed movie room. It took several weeks for this to come together...granted most of that time was to figure out just which posters were going to go where....but none the less, I think it turned out pretty cool. At the end of the day, we had gotten through 4 movies, and had lost count at how many pizzas that we'd gone through. The movie list consisted of XTRO, THE CHILD, THE BOOGENS, and STORM WARNING. A pretty diverse run of films.
    The second event was the birthday of our buddy Dave Kosanke, creator of the Liquid Cheese fanzine. We surprised Dave with a cake that had one of his issues one the top. Never thought I'd see the Melting Man on a cake before.
    Now here's the feel-good-message of the day, people. There are two important things in life: friends and family. No matter how bad things can get, it's these two things that you can always count on. So thanks to everyone who came out for the celebration and to start out February right....and that's with a bunch of friends eating tons of food and watching horror movies! What more could you ask for!

NEW REVIEWS
We have some new reviews posted this time out. The first one is for STORM WARNING, a new film from Jamie Blanks. While pretty similar to a lot of films these days, the gore and effects make it worth it if you can make it to the end. Next up is another release from Dark Sky Films, RICCO THE MEAN MACHINE. So check out our Reviews section for the full details.

DIRT ON CORALINA
Coralina Cataldi Tassoni, star of DEMONS 2 and more recently MOTHER OF TEARS, has made a short film called DIRT. Directed by Simona Simonetti and Claudio Simonetti. Of course, we all know the name Claudio Simonetti, right? He was one of the members of the band Goblin, who gave us those incredible scores for Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA and DEEP RED, among many other ones. Besides co-directing, Claudio has also done the music for this as well. The special effects were done by Sergio Stivaletti. The film stars Coralina, along with Robert Madison, Urbano Lione, and Beatrice Arnera Gavarotti.
For more information, you can check out their MySpace page HERE.

MORE HORRORBLE SCREENINGS
In our last update, we mentioned the Valentine's Day double feature that would be showing at the Portage Theater in Chicago, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME and MY BLOODY VALENTINE, on Feb. 15th. But the sponsor for these shows, Horrorbles, has also announced what the shows will be for March and April. On March 21st, they will be screening THE STUFF (at 8pm) and THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN (at 9:45pm). Then on April 18th, they will be having screening THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (8pm) and DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (9:45pm).
We are hoping to make it out to some of these shows. I know I am very excited to see the MELTING MAN on the big screen. For more information about the theater, check out their website HERE. For more info about Horrorbles, check out their site HERE.

MYSTERY PHOTO
    Our last photo was from the incredible film SESSION 9. If anybody out there still hasn't seen this film, please do yourself a favor and find a copy of this movie. It really is a great movie, not to mention scary as hell. It was nice to see a few people got this one. And it was even nice to see a few people that didn't have the right answer, but were willing to send in their guess anyway. Keep trying. The lucky ones were Hoby Abernathy, George Pensten, Rob Weber, Michael Trapp, and William Wilson. Job well done people.
    Now let's take a look at this one. Really give it a good look, since it's really not an obscure title. Good Luck!
    Just click HERE to send us your email.

1-27-08 STILL TREADING WATER...
    I know we missed our update last week. One would think that since I'm not working right now, I would have a lot of free time on my hands. Well, that is true. But I'm been spending a lot of time dropping off resumes, scouring the internet sites like Monster.com and the rest, and then even trying to get some work done around the house. So it's been kind of a busy time right now.
    Last weekend, we finally got our basement painted. We've been planning to do this for over a year, to really get started on our Movie Room transformation. Well, we finally got the biggest part done and am halfway there. The other half will have to wait until I get some extra cash, since it involves some construction and new carpeting. But the cosmetic part is done. We painted, put up a cool wallpaper boarder, and then spent the rest of this week trying to figure out exactly which posters were going to get hung where. This is not easy, my friends.
    Once again, how lucky am I that my wife lets me cover the whole room with all of those posters? Also mucho kudos go out to my buddy Matt for coming out and helping with the painting. I know if I would have done it on my own, it would have taken much, much longer. Thanks again, my friend.

KRYPTIC WORLD TOUR 2008
Our 2008 World Tour starts next month at the Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors in Chicago. They have actually added a guest that I haven't seen before and am pretty excited to hopefully get a chance to meet. And that would be Neil Marshall, director of DOG SOLDIERS, THE DESCENT, and his newest DOOMSDAY. Really enjoyed his first two films, so we are looking forward to seeing what he can do next.
Fango has also added genre icon Robert Englund to their lineup as well. So with the FRIDAY THE 13th reunion they have, along with Adrienne Barbeau, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, Elieen Daly, Ray Wise, Sid Haig, and a few others, they should have a decent crowd. But one newly listed name that got me excited is that of Douglas Buck. Now many of you might now know that name. But I think you will. Buck has directed the recent remake of SISTERS, which looks pretty good. Now while we're usually not that fond of remakes, we think Buck is a talented filmmaker and am excited to see what he can do with this. If you have checked out his earlier film FAMILY PORTRAITS: A TRILOGY OF AMERICA, I highly recommend it. But be warned. It is really good, but not the most uplifting of cinema.

The next stop on our tour will be a brief stop at the Hollywood Collector's & Celebrity Show, at the Chicago Marriot O'Hare, on March 15th & 16th. We used to set up at these shows years ago. But it became too tough for us to compete with all the $20 autographs from the celebrities they would have at the shows. It wasn't bad when you would have 5 or 6 celebrities there. But once they started to get 20 or 30 of them, nobody had any money once they got to our table. But we still head out for one of the days to check it out, if there's a celebrity there that we'd like to meet. It was at one of these shows where we were able to meet and interview Andrew Prine and Juliet Mills. So it's not all bad.
They have only started to list their guests, but so far there is one BIG name that is going to get me out there. And that is the one and only Bert I. Gordon. Gordon is the man behind such classic films like THE BEGINNING OF THE END, THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, FOOD OF THE GODS, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, and many other fun movies. If you want to see the entire guest list (so far), check out the website HERE.

Then 2 weeks after that show, we will be heading off to Indianapolis for the HorrorHound Weekend. As usual, we will be set up at this show. If you are a fan of HELLRAISER 1 & 2, then you won't want to miss this one, with 7 guests from those movies. And they have recently added Lance Henriksen as their headliner. We had a chance to see him at a Monster Mania show a couple of years ago, and he's a great guy. Then they also have other great guests like Chris Saradon, Ruggero Deodato, Reggie Bannister, and too many more to list here. Check out their website HERE for full details. It's looking to be a pretty great show.

And then only a week after that, we will be heading off to Ohio for the Cinema Wasteland show. They have reunions for SPIDER BABY, the ILSA films, and for Italian horror fans: Giovanni Lombardo Radice (aka John Morghan) and Catriona MacColl. Plus a bunch of other guests like Robert Dix, Glen Coburn, Brad Loree, Elizabeth Shepherd, Austin Stoker, Mink Stole, Tom Towles, and many more. Check out their site HERE.

So we hope to see you at one or all of these shows coming up. If you are able to make it out to one, please stop by and say hello. We always love to put a face to the names, and to nerd out and talk horror. See you there!

MYSTERY PHOTO
Once again, I was very happy to receive correct answers for this last photo. Not only because it was kind of a tough one, but also because it showed me that Hammer Films fans are still around there. The pic was from CAPTAIN KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER. Job well done to Hoby Abernathy and Aaron Christensen, and from MySpace, we have Wednesday from The Addams Family and The Clumsy Alchemist. You all have earned your Hammer Horror Merit Badge.
Now check out our latest one and see what you can do. Good luck.

NEW REVIEWS
    We do have 3 new reviews up with this update. The first one is TRAGIC CEREMONY, which stars Camille Keaton and is soon to be released by Dark Sky Films.
    The other two films have something in common: Lucio Fulci's THE PSYCHIC and the 1939 version of THE HUNCHBACK OF NORTE DAME. Not the films themselves, but because I had seen both of them years before and never really thought that much about them. But once I sat down and gave them a new viewing, it's amazing how much I enjoyed them this time around. That just shows you that something that you might have seen years ago and didn't think that much of, could change after a while. While the film never changes, we as viewers, do change. Sometimes we watch these films with different, and possibly more educated and / or open eyes. I know that was the case for personally with these two movies.
    So just because you've seen a movie years and years ago and didn't think much of it, doesn't mean that it's a terrible film. Maybe you need to give it another chance. Of course, on the flip side, this could also work the other way when watching a movie that you thought was incredible as a child, only to find out it really doesn't hold up today. But that is the chance that we are willing to take. Right?

REFERENCE BOOKS!
    As everyone knows my favorite saying about reference books, its so nice to find a publisher that specializes in genre titles. And one of these companies is Tomahawk Press. These are ones responsible for the book and video on the work of Hammer makeup men Phil Leaky and Roy Ashton. They have also released a wonderful book about the making of the classic NIGHT OF THE DEMON (CURSE OF for us American fans).
    By checking out their website, you can see that they have tons of other great titles soon to be coming out. Including more on Hammer Studios, the Poe films that Roger Corman made, and biographies on Hazel Court and Elsa Lanchester. I know I'll be adding all of these titles to our collection.
    Books make wonderful presents as well. So if you know a horror fan out there, instead of getting them a DVD (that they might already have), spend a little bit more effort and time and get them a horror reference book. The more you read about the genre, the more you'll learn to enjoy it.
    You can check out Tomahawk Press at their website HERE.
    And of course, if you're looking for a good horror reference book, you can always pick up a copy of Horror 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies Vol. 1, which is available now. I can personally vouch for quite a few of the people involved with this book. They know of what they speak....or write technically. And while this may seem like a cheap plug because I had something to do with it (.....well, it is), that still doesn't mean that its not a great addition to any collector's.....collection. Check out the official website HERE, or you can ordered it through Amazon.com HERE.

A HORRORBLE DOUBLE FEATURE
Next month, what better way to celebrate Valentine's Day then to head out to the Portage Theater in Chicago to see HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME and MY BLOODY VALENTINE. And to make it even better, Chicago horror host Svengoolie will be there signing autographs from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. HAPPY starts at 8:45pm and BLOODY starts at 11:45pm. A ticket for both features is only $10. For more information, click HERE.

1-14-08 NEW REVIEW
We have just posted our review for Alex de la Iglesia's cult movie ACCION MUTANTE. We had hoped to get this done and posted with our update yesterday, but it just didn't happen. But now it is finished and up in our Reviews section. Check it out.

1-13-08 A NEW START
    I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by this, and can only hope that it's a good thing. But you won't hear me complaining about my job making my life hell anymore. As of this last Thursday, I am no longer working there. Funny how the corporate world works. The email that was sent out stated that I resigned, though I don't remember ever using that word, or even anything close to me quitting. But as I said, I can only hope that this is a good thing. After spending 6 months in hell, working 60+ hours a week, being treated like shit, how could it be a bad thing?
    Now I have the time to explore new opportunities, and maybe find something a little closer to home. Being happy is the most important thing in life, and I haven't been that in quite some time. And it's times like these that show a person the things that truly are important. And who your real friends are.
    So here's to the start of a fresh new year.

ANOTHER LOSS
We are sad to announce the loss of another horror celebrity. Maila Nurmi, better known to horror fans as the original Vampira, passed away on January 10th. She was 86. Nurmi created her alter-ego to become one of the first horror hostess, for her weekly TV show THE VAMPIRA SHOW, which aired from 1954 to 1955, and was nationally syndicated. She later worked on Ed Wood's epic PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE. Over 50 years later, her image has become that of a cult icon.
So we give out our thoughts and wishes to her friends and family. And know that her image will live on.

CONVENTION NEWS
We have some great news for some of the upcoming conventions that we (hope) will be attending this year. The first show that we will be attending is the Chicago Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors in Chicago, next Feb. 22nd-24th. They do have a nice FRIDAY THE 13th reunion lineup going, which is a first for Chicago. But they have just added a headliner that I am excited about. And that is the addition of Neil Marshall, director of DOG SOLDIERS, DECENT, and his new one DOOMSDAY. I've been very impressed with his first two films, so am looking forward to pretty much anything he is doing.
But the biggest announcement came from Ken Kish at Cinema Wasteland. For their April show, they already had a great lineup with reunions for both ILSA and SPIDER BABY. They also had Giovanni Lombardo Radice (aka John Morghen), who starred in just a few Italian horror films, especially Lucio Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (aka GATES OF HELL). Hard to forget when the poor guy gets his head drilled, huh? Well, they have just added Catriona MacColl to the guest lineup! MacColl not only starred in CITY as well, but was also in Fulci's THE BEYOND and HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY. For fans of Italian horror, this is great news. For full details of the show and their guest list, check out there website HERE.

MYSTERY PHOTO
I really thought I had everyone stumped with that last photo. And for the most part I did. But regular winner Hoby Abernathy wasn't about to miss an opportunity to show that he spends too much time watching movies. Though, I guess living out in South Dakota, what else are you going to do? But Hoby was the only one to send in the correct answer, which was NIGHT OF THE DEMONS. So a big "job well done" to you, Mr. Abernathy.
Now everyone check out the new one and see what we can come up with.

DVD NEWS
    Once again, the DVD titles just keeping coming and coming. First up, on January 29th, Dark Sky Films will be releasing Richardo Freda's TRAGIC CEREMONY. The film stars Camile Keaton, who later went on to star in the cult film I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. The DVD has a featurette with Keaton discussing her work on this film and other European films that she worked on.
    Next up, BCI has announced another title for release in their Spanish horror film series. On March 25th, they will release Leon Klimovsky's THE DRACULA SAGA. This is a strange little film about vampires, but is well worth the watch, especially if you're a fan of Spanish horror cinema. The film stars the beautiful Helga Liné. Just like their other releases, the print has been remastered in High Definition from the original negative. Once again, this is one we can't wait to see again.
    And then lastly, for Hammer fans, Fox will be releasing THE NANNY on April 8th. Starring Bette Davis as the title character, this is another one of Hammer's greatly underrated thrillers that they had been making in the 60's. The film was directed by Seth Hold and written by Jimmy Sangster, who had written several of Hammer's gothic pictures as well as some of their great black & white thrillers.

RAISING HELL IN CHICAGO
    Last night, we headed into Chicago to the Music Box Theatre for a midnight screening of Clive Barker's HELLRAISER. Barker was there to introduce the film, and do a short Q&A. Unfortunately, Barker was hard to hear since he was losing his voice. He was in town for an art showing and book signing, and must have been doing a lot of talking. There were times where he was very hard to hear, even with the microphone. But the times we could hear him, he had some interesting and pretty funny things to say. Especially when talking about the ratings board.
    At one point during the session, Barker said that as he was sitting out in the lobby, watching all of these people piling through the door to see a film that was made 20+ years ago, it brought a tear to his eye. He had never thought that his first film would still be remembered this much, so many years later. That was proceeded with a huge round of applause.
    I was pleasantly surprised to see the theater packed with fans. Not only because they love this movie, but also to support this theater, that continues to have these types of screenings.
    Hosting the Q&A was Rusty Nails. Rusty once again did a fine job coming up with some interesting questions for the guest. Rusty also mentioned about the Sci-Fi Spectacular 2, which should be in May, and will feature about 12 to 14 hours of great Science Fiction cinema. He also mentioned that they are working on something for the summer time for us horror fans. Something that will hold us over until October's Music Box Massacre 4. So keep your eyes peeled for more information about that, which I'm sure we'll be listing here.

NEW NOX ARCANA SOON
The hard working boys at Nox Arcana are putting their finishing touches up on their latest release, Grimm Tales. With their 9th CD, the band takes us on a journey through those dark and twisted tales we heard and read as a child. For a sneak listen to the new release, click HERE, or just go check out their website HERE.

FRIENDS OF THE KRYPT
    We'd like to take a second to point you to some of our friends out there in the internet that are doing the fine job of spreading the gospel. First up, is one of our newer friends, Joe Wallace. He is the madman behind Zombie Project, which is a blog that boasts fun and interesting items, quite a few pertaining to the horror genre. We always like to check it out to see what might be happening in the world that we might have missed. You can get there by click HERE.
    Next, we have an incredible new website from our buddy Matt Black over in the UK. Matt's love for all things black and white is amazing. And his new website shows us just that. But don't think that this site just covers black and white movies. On the contrary. As stated on the website, it's a "labour of love, from the leftfield of film fandom. It is our intention to focus upon vintage genre cinema from the well renowned to the obscure, from the shadows lit world of the silent era through kitsch & trashy exploitation cinema of the 1970's". Just click on the banner below to get to the site.
    We highly recommend both of these site, where the authors not only know of what they speak, but share that same passion for the genre as we do.