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.

Mystery Photo 7-20

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Hope everyone is surviving this latest heat wave. I know parts have been absolutely brutal, so hang in there. Hopefully another month to go and we’ll get back to some cooler temps, as well as being closer to Halloween! Our photo from last week was from the 1927 version of The Cat and the Canary, and yes, there are a couple of versions of this title. But thinking of how great a time of being a horror fan is these days, you can get this film that is almost 100 years old on 4K! What a time to be alive! Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Gregory Avery, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Christopher Highland, Doug Lamoreux, Jeff Owens, Michael Pniewski, Bryan Senn, Mike Shields, Todd Warren, William Wilson.

This week’s photo is a little newer than 1927. There’s your clue! Just take a peek below and see what you can come up with. Just remember to send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And most of all, good luck!

Book Review: Monsters Unborn

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Monsters Unborn: The Lost Universal Monster Remakes
Published by Harker Press, 2026. 271 pages
By Bruce Kilkowski Jr.

Every time fans see another remake/retelling/sequel/or whatever they are calling their version of one of the classic Universal monsters, some tend to groan, thinking, here we go again. But the funny (actually no so funny) thing what this picture probably went through to even get started. And in this new book by Bruce Kilkowski Jr., you will get a good idea what I’m talking about.

This book goes through a bunch of unmade sequels or remakes, and proposals that were all based on some of the classic Universal monsters, mainly the Bride of Frankenstein, the Mummy, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. We learn how the story of a particular project got started, by who, and who else was involved, such as the writer(s), possible director(s), producer(s), and even the makeup effects guys who were going to design the new look.

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Criterion Releasing del Toro’s Frankenstein

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I can’t say I’m surprised to hear the news yesterday that Criterion will be releasing Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on 4K and Blu-ray this October. They’ve released a lot of his previous films, and have always done such stellar work, so while I’m not surprised, I am damn excited about it. With a planned release on Oct. 27th, the 4K+Blu-ray set will be 4 discs, that will feature 2 versions of the film, both in 4K. It will have the theatrical version on one disc and a new 158-minute extended director’s cut of the film, called Frankenstein: The Reborn Cut, both with Dolby Atmos soundtrack. The Reborn Cut will have a new commentary by del Toro.

Other features on the set include:

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The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

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(1958)
Directed by Nathan Juran
Starring Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Torin Thatcher, Alec Mango, Danny Green

Okay, so why are we reviewing a Sinbad movie here in the Krypt? Simple… it does have monsters! And more importantly, they were created and animated by the one and only Ray Harryhausen. It cannot be stated enough of what the impact of Harryhausen’s work had influenced not only the industry at that time, but all the people that would be so inspired by his work that they decided their future path would be connected somehow to what Harryhausen had started. So, while this film isn’t going to give you chills and goosebumps, I’m pretty sure it will still thrill you and just be in awe of some of the work that Harryhausen has given us. And now thanks to this incredible 4K that has just come out, along with a ton of extras, it’s going to help you fall in love with the master’s work, as well as still being so impressed with what he accomplished, I’m sure you’ll soon forget that it’s not a horror movie.

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Sam Neill – Rest in Peace

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Movie fans are definitely morning the passing of actor Sam Neill, who appeared in so many films, of all genres, and no matter what it was, it was always so entertaining to watch. He could play the bad guy that you would despise, or the hero that was out to save everyone. Most actors are always remembered from the first role that you remember him from, so for me, it was always the adult version of Damien Thorn from The Final Conflict (1981). Granted, he would go on to appear in quite a few other horror titles like Possession (1981), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), Event Horizon (1997), and of course the Jurassic Park films (yes, those are horror films).

So, we were very saddened to hear of his passing on the 13th. Such a talented actor, but one that never seemed to take himself too seriously. Our cinematic world has lost a real talent and a true icon. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.