The Cryptoscatology Top 33 Films Noir List

As I write these words, the Noir City Film Festival  is about to kick off at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. To commemorate this annual event, I've decided to post my own "Cryptoscatology Top 33 Films Noir List" for those of you interested in exploring the seedy back alleys of cinema's dark past. If you want to freebase film noir, these movies represent the cream of the crop in terms of delivering a premium dose of crime, corruption, and conspiracy...

Edgar Ulmer's DETOUR (1945)

 

Joseph H. Lewis' GUN CRAZY (1950)

Joseph Losey's THE PROWLER (1951)

Robert Aldrich's KISS ME DEADLY (1955)

Nicholas Ray's THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (1948)

Anthony Mann's SIDE STREET (1949)

Orson Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL (1958)

Roman Polanski's CHINATOWN (1974)

Jacques Tourneur's OUT OF THE PAST (1947)

Alexander Mackendrick's SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957)

John Huston's THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)

David Lynch's BLUE VELVET (1986)

Curtis Hanson's L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997)

 

Don Siegel's THE LINE-UP (1958)

Billy Wilder's SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)

Carol Reed's THE THIRD MAN (1949)

Charles Laughton's THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)

James Foley's AFTER DARK, MY SWEET (1990)

Fritz Lang's THE BIG HEAT (1953)

Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER (1976)

Howard Hawks' THE BIG SLEEP (1946)

 

Rudolph Maté's D.O.A. (1950)

Orson Welles' THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947)

 

 Joseph H. Lewis' THE BIG COMBO (1955)

 

Anthony Mann's RAW DEAL (1948)

Ulu Grosbard's STRAIGHT TIME (1978)

Orson Welles' THE STRANGER (1946)

Robert Siodmak's THE KILLERS (1946)

Irving Lerner's MURDER BY CONTRACT (1958)

Samuel Fuller's SHOCK CORRIDOR (1963)

Fritz Lang's MINISTRY OF FEAR (1944)

Robert Siodmak's PHANTOM LADY (1944)

 

Samuel Fuller's THE NAKED KISS (1964)

Drone Attack on U.S. Soil

Here's a brief excerpt from Stephen Bryen's 3-22-26 ASIA TIMES article entitled "Sophisticated Drones Attacked Louisiana’s Barksdale Bomber Base" (hat tip to Steven Snider for bringing this report to my attention):

Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, in Bossier Parish not far from Shreveport, was attacked by drone swarms during the week of March 9. The attack disrupted B-52H aircraft launches in support of Operation Epic Fury against Iran. It is the first time a US airbase was temporarily put out of operation in wartime, something that never happened even in World War II.

Each wave forced the Air Force to halt operations and send its personnel to shelters. Barksdale is the command hub of the US Air Force Global Strike Command. Not only are B-52s based there, but the base is part of America’s nuclear triad. It shelters long range nuclear cruise missiles (such as the AGM-86B) and will soon house a new Long Range Standoff cruise missile. Shelters and storage sites for the new missiles are under construction.

The only other significant US airbase for B-52s is in Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. Both bases are supporting Epic Fury. The aircraft can either fly to the UK and then on to Iran, or (as they did during the period when the UK blocked them) fly directly from Barksdale to Iran, a very long mission requiring eight in-air refuelings.

The drone waves lasted around four hours each day, an extraordinarily long loiter time for a drone. It is not known if the drones were fixed wing or quadcopter types, or how they were powered (liquid fuel or electrical). Each wave consisted of 12 to 15 drones, and the drones flew with their lights on, intentionally making them visible.

Barksdale AFB does not have air defenses, nor does it have fighter jets that can take down drones.

The airbase does have some electronic countermeasures that were designed to disable GPS and the datalinks between the drones and their remote operators. The electronic countermeasures failed to work.

The drones themselves may have been autonomous or semi-autonomous, and operated in ways suggesting the drones were equipped with multiple sensors that directed the behavior of each drone over the base and in response to attempts at jamming...

To read the entire article, click HERE. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Plane crashes, buildings collapsing, countries overthrown, toxic waste buried... People will accept a lot of death if it's for money or politics. It's all here in these pages. Every day something new... You know, way back when, they used to sacrifice people for a bountiful harvest. You have to wonder if we really left that behind."

--Patrick Horvath, BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES: RITE OF SPRING, 2026 

 

"Evolving Conspiracies"

Just a few days before Vice President J.D. Vance confessed to a MAGA podcaster that he believes UFOs are "demons," the folks responsible for the new SAUCERS, SPOOKS & KOOKS documentary posted the following relevant clip on their YouTube channel...

Christopher Doyle's "The Grand Guignol" in WEIRDBOOK!

In the dim dark past of 1996, I attended the Clarion Writers Workshop with a number of extremely talented budding writers, one of whom was Christopher Doyle. I'd like to direct your attention to the latest issue of Doug Draa's WEIRDBOOK (issue #49), which includes Christopher's short story "The Grand Guignol," a well-executed, Weird Tales-esque occult adventure that takes place in New Orleans and Paris in the late nineteenth century. The prose style reminds me of the stories of Dr. John Silence by Algernon Blackwood, though "The Grand Guignol" is not derivative of those tales by any means. Perhaps the piece could best be described as a supernatural version of the Jacques Futrelle "Thinking Machine" series from the early 1900s. I hope Christopher plans to write more stories featuring his pince-nez-wearing protagonist, "Monsieur Alexandre DuVent, the Man Who Solves Problems!" You can buy a copy of WEIRDBOOK #49 by clicking HERE.

ANOTHER YEAR AND ANOTHER CRYPTO BIRTHDAY MESSAGE!!!!!!

Today is my BIRTHDAY, and by this point you should know exactly what that means... it's Rondo Award Time! In honor of this most special occasion, consider voting for me in the 24th Annual Rondo Awards! I'm pleased to be included among the nominees in the BOOK OF THE YEAR (NON-FICTION) category for my latest book, HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CINEMA OF OCCULTED TABOOS. Yes, you too can vote in the Rondo Awards...

IN FACT, YOU CAN VOTE FOR HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD IN JUST 3 EASY STEPS:

1. Copy-and-paste the ballot below into an e-mail.
 
2. Choose HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD in the BOOK OF THE YEAR (NON-FICTION) category.
 
3. Then email to David Colton (taraco@aol.com) by midnight on May 1, 2026.

Don’t forget to include your name in the e-mail!

--START COPYING--

11) BOOK OF THE YEAR (non-fiction):
— HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD: An Investigation into the Cinema of Occulted Taboos, by Robert Guffey (Headpress, softcover, 368 pages, $29.95). From UFOs to JFK, how filmmakers have handled conspiracies and the supernatural.

--END COPYING--

By the way, you can hear me talking about the secret origins of HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD on several different podcasts including CONSPIRINORMAL, HI, STRANGENESS, THE NEW BOOKS NETWORK, RAVENSTAR'S WITCHING HOUR, THE WARPED REALITY PARANORMAL PODCAST, and WHERE DID THE ROAD GO?

PRAISE FOR HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD: 

"In HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD, Robert Guffey takes his readers for a trip behind the magic curtain to reveal the true Wizards at work - those behind the lenses, making magic and moving the secret levers. To this end, Guffey plays the role of Toto, tearing the curtain aside to reveal these flesh and bone Wizards of the military-industrial-entertainment complex, and the occult role they play in influencing our inner dreams and everyday realities."

--Adam Gorightly,  

author of SAUCERS, SPOOKS, AND KOOKS
and THE SHADOW OVER SANTA SUSANA: BLACK MAGIC, MIND CONTROL, AND THE MANSON FAMILY MYTHOS

"Hollywood has truly haunted the world. So too should this book, one of the best ever written on American cinema."

--Gary D. Rhodes,

author of THE PERILS OF MOVIEGOING IN AMERICA and TOD BROWNING'S DRACULA, 

from his Foreword

 

"A heady, occult-driven exploration of cinema!"

 

--Larry Wade Carrell,

director of GIRL NEXT, THE QUANTUM DEVIL, and THE DARKSIDE OF SOCIETY

 

 "This is a fascinating, mind-expanding trip into some seriously dark corners."

 

--CINEMA RETRO 

 

 "[An] enjoyable trip from a tour guide likely (and proudly) on at least one agency watchlist."

 

--FLICK ATTACK 

On Behalf of the Sovereign Order of Cosmic Tricksters, I Would Like to Wish John A. Keel a Most Sincere...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

For a previous Keel-centric CryptoPost, click HERE. 

And always remember, boys and girls...

"Belief is the enemy." 

--John A. Keel, THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES, 1975