DtH Episode 128 – Cryptids (From the Last Decade)

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The Hallow (2015), The Ritual (2017), and Antlers (2021)

Cryptids occupy a couple of different categories in modern life. One of them is fun, if a bit kitschy and silly: think concrete bigfoot statues sitting in whimsical gardens or funny little Mothman plaques hanging on the wall. But another is truly terrifying, buried down deep below the surface of our culture and our geography, a place where most people refuse to even touch the soil, much less dig. On this episode, we are going to dig deeply into those terrifying cryptid myths and uncover some wonderful horror films. Because in the last decade or so, a handful of filmmakers have chosen to put spade to soil and go deeply into that taboo territory and yielded some wonderfully horrific results.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Jim Krut – Rest in Peace

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We have lost another character that is forever immortalized because of playing not just a zombie in George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978). Jim Krut was known as the “helicopter zombie”, the one that stands up and has the top of his head chopped off from the helicopter blades. It’s a scene everyone remembers once they’ve seen it.

But it was all over the internet that Krut has recently passed away. He was a guest at the very first Cinema Wasteland show back in Sept. of 2000 and was such a friendly guy. He will be forever remembered to so many horror fans, both old and newer ones because of this one character. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Mystery Photo 8-3

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Welcome to August! Just one more month until (hopefully) the heat starts to lighten up a bit! And of course, we’re then closer to the Halloween season! Then again, we also know that EVERYDAY is Halloween, right? We survived our weekend at Flashback Weekend and had a lot of fun, as usual. This week we’ll be heading to Atlanta for our first time at Monsterama and really looking forward to that one! But let’s get to business. Our photo from last week was from the classic big monster film Them! (1955), the one that started it all here in the states. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Jennifer Pike-Cruz, Christopher Dyer, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Charles Miller, Bryan Senn, Vincent Simonelli, and Mickey Thompson. Well done, folks!

Now take a look at today’s photo and see if you can recognize this one. Might be a little tough, so don’t think too long or get stuck in the mud! Remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And most of all, Good Luck!

BAVA-THON!

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For those of you closer to the Eastern side of Pennsylvania, and love the work of Mario Bava, then you have the opportunity to see 10 of his films on the big screen, all showing from 35mm! As much as I love the Chicago area and the amazing programming the Music Box does, seeing these events on the far side of the country really makes me jealous!

Brought to you by Exhumed Films and The Gap Theatre, located in Wind Gap, PA, they will have two nights of Mario Bava features, 3 on Friday, Aug. 7th, and then 7 (!) on Saturday, Aug. 8th. Having the opportunity of seeing 10 titles from the master is just amazing. From the man who pretty much invented the giallo, then set the standard, but then giving fans so much more in the way of some incredible cinematography, you hit some of the best in Italian cinema right here. And seeing these on the big screen is so different than watching them on your TV. Here are the titles:

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Mystery Photo 7-27

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Yeap. Today definitely was a Monday. Granted, since we’re off Friday for the Flashback Weekend convention, I’ve always said that just means 20% more crap for each of the four days prior! And today was a perfect example. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to miss out on posting today’s photo!!! Our last photo was from the amazing made-for-TV movie Satan’s School for Girls, from 1973, when you could have teleplays about Big Lou trying to entice young girls at school. Great cast too, with Pamela Franklin, Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd, and Roy Thinnes. Fun stuff. Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, AJ McIntyre, Mike Shields, Vincent Simonelli. Well done!

Now on to this week’s photo. Going with another black and white classic, but maybe not too easy to recognize from this particular shot. Take a good look and see if you can figure it out. Just remember to send your answer to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

Dick Warlock: The Shape of My Career

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It’s funny how there are some stuntmen that have done some incredible work over their careers, yet for the most part, they go unnoticed. Unless they portray a famous movie monster, such as Jason Vorhees or Michael Myers, and then their fan base explodes. That’s great and all, but it’s a shame that it takes something like playing Jason to bring attention to their career, that could be amazing in its own right! But again, whatever helps, right? I’ve talked to many stuntmen over the years, and it always amazes me the work they do with little or no credit, so I am always excited when the spotlight gets put on them. That is the one thing that playing famous movie monsters can do, so for that, because when you work in the horror genre, us fans take notice!

To help with that education even more so, Harker Press has announced their latest book, Dick Warlock: The Shame of My Career by Warlock, along with John Copeman and Kevin Dennis. Warlock has over 200 credits in the stunt world, playing in just about every type of genre out there, but also doing plenty of work in the horror genre. From his work with John Carpenter to even before that working with Spielberg and even Alfred Hitchcock, Warlock’s career that has spanned over 40 years is just epic. And now you will get to read all the details about it.

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Chuck Russell – Rest in Peace

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My very first horror convention was a Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, in California, in April of 1988. At that show, promoting their latest film, the remake of The Blob, were screenwriter Frank Darabont and director Chuck Russell. They talked about being told that they can’t kill a kid in their version of The Blob. Chuck said, “Watch me.” And let’s not forget that the previous year, him and Darabont helped catapult Freddy Kruger into real stardom with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Years later, here in Chicago during a screening of The Blob, he gave another great Q&A after the screening, which is where I took this photo.

But it is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Mr. Russell, who left us on Wednesday, July 22nd. While he didn’t have a huge filmography, what he did do was always pretty damn entertaining. A talent that will truly be missed. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

DtH Episode 127 – Shock Theater

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Believe it or not, there was a time when instant access to hundreds of horror movies didn’t exist. Scary thought, huh? Before in the ’50s, unless you caught a movie in the theater, you probably weren’t going to see it, especially when you’re talking about the classic monster films, like Dracula and Frankenstein. But then in October of 1957, Universal had sold 52 of their titles, many of them being the classic monsters, were released to TV in what was called the Shock Theater package. And to help promote these, it was suggested for TV stations to have a “horror host” that would introduce the features. Simply put, it exploded. And help give birth to the Monster Kid generation.

Add in that Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine started the following year, there really was no turning back. Now you could see these monsters in the safety of your own home. A long way away from being able to hop on your computer or streaming TV service and find thousands of titles at your fingertips. But this was starting of real horror fandom, where you could get your weekly fix of monsters, as well as be reading Famous Monsters, buying your very own Aurora Monster model kits… life was great.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of this event and how it really was a game changer for horror movie fans. 

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Movie Review: Snowbeast

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(1977)
Directed by Herb Wallerstein
Starring Bo Svenson, Yvette Mimieux, Robert Logan, Clint Walker, Sylvia Sidney

Only a couple of years after the release of Jaws (1975), doing similar themed movies were still in force. But this was one made-for-TV, as well as getting about as far away from the water as you could, setting it in a ski lodge up in Colorado! Instead of a rogue shark, we have the title character, sort of winter version of Bigfoot, but much more menacing.

Bo Svenson plays Gar Seberg, an Olympic gold medalist in skiing a few years earlier, but hasn’t been able to hold onto that former fame and glory and is now down on his luck. Along with him is his wife Ellen, played by Yuette Mimieux, a TV journalist. They arrive at the Rill Lodge and Ski Resort, run by an old friend, hoping that Gar can get a job. Gar and Ellen obviously are having trouble with their marriage, which doesn’t help when Tony Rill, the manager of the lodge, is not only an old friend of theirs, but an old flame of Ellen’s. But Tony has other things on his mind, like a female skier going missing earlier that day. Her friend says she was attacked by something, even though she didn’t see it. When Tony when to check out the area, he thought he saw something huge and white amongst the trees along hearing a loud and terrifying roar. Something that wasn’t human.

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Van Helsing and His Kin

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It’s strange that with the beginning of Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula that the title character has lived on and on over the centuries, just like the character from the book. Granted, through cinematic adaptations, the character has changed a bit over the 129 years, not to mention just that of the vampire. But usually in any vampire movie, there is a character stepping up to do battle with this mighty creature. In Stoker’s novel, it was Professor Abraham Van Helsing, the old but learned scholar that knew what was behind this recent infection. While he was brought over to the original stage play adaption, and then into the 1931 film, Dracula. But while there were countless variations on Dracula, as well as the vampire, for some reason, the character of Van Helsing, who usually is there to save the day, doesn’t seem to get the credit he deserves.

Until now!

Van Helsing and His Kin is a new book from Daniel O’Brien coming from Telos Publishing that not only covers the different variations of this character through film and television, and who played him, but also digging deep into the character and characteristics of this age-old vampire hunter.

This book will be published in September of this year, running a little over 300 pages, and priced at £16.99 or $22.85. For more information, head over to Telos Publishing’s site HERE.