A HORROR DRUNX EVENT REPORT / MOVIE REVIEWS
CREATURE FEATURES NIGHT
WATCH HORROR FILMS:
KEEP AMERICA STRONG! (2009)
and
NIGHTMARE IN BLOOD (1978)
ABOVE: Bob Wilkins the original TV Horror Host
of CREATURE FEATURES
A exclusive HorrorDrunx.com article
by
SID TERROR
What we have here is our first two-for-one movie review and event report! The event, which took place on October 6th 2009 at our old stomping grounds The New Beverly Cinema in Hollywood, was actually a part of The Grindhouse Film Festival run by our friends Brian Quinn and Eric Cadin. The show would be a double-feature of the documentary about TV Horror hosts called WATCH HORROR FILMS: KEEP AMERICA STRONG! and the cult Horror film NIGHTMARE IN BLOOD. Our special guests for the evening were "Nightmare..." writer and director John Stanley and "Watch Horror Films..." producer Tom Wyrsch.
How did I get involved as Guest Host & Moderator you ask? Well, the long answer would be because I'm Editor-in-Chief of the online Horror magazine you are currently enjoying, as well as being just a bit of a film expert and historian with a half a lifetimes career experience of interviewing motion-picture film makers. The short answer is, I was invited to and jumped at this particular chance for my own personal reasons. But the actual answer is just a bit more involved than either of those. Let me explain...
CREATURE FEATURES was a San Francisco bay area Horror movie show that was probably the best show of its kind in the country. First hosted by Bob Wilkins starting in 1971 (for its first 8 years), when Bob left it was later taken over by S.F. Chronicle staff writer and film expert John Stanley (for its last six years ending in 1984. In that period of time it showed hundreds of films, interviews with Horror personalities, trailers, news on upcoming films and conventions plus a weekly cliff-hanger serial. It was one of the only places to see this great stuff and in short, it.gave this monster boy the best Horror and Science-Fiction education available outside of the pages of Famous Monsters Of Filmland, Castle Of Frankenstein, and a few other long gone magazines. My Saturday night was always dedicated to watching this show.
This is where I suggest that you also read Vampiro's article "The T.V. Horror Host Phenomena" also in this issue of TheHorrorDrunx.com Online Magazine. It will give you a great feel for the time, as well as catch you up to speed with a short Horror host history. It is located HERE.
Anyways, I not only grew up with the show Creatures Features, but also grew up ON Creature Features,
having appeared on the show at least 8 or 9 times over the years... First as a Horror movie fan, then as a bit of a movie expert and trivia buff, through
showings of films I'd made in film school (the first time my work was ever televised), right on up to being a guest talking about professional films
I'd worked on. I even made a couple appearances related to my band. My entire life from budding fan, to industry pro. Yeah, the show was pretty darn
important in my development.
ABOVE: A rare signed shot of both hosts on the
CREATURE FEATURES set. John Stanley (left)
and Bob Wilkins (right). (Authors collection)
With all those appearances, plus meeting up and socializing at other places, I got to know Horror hosts Bob Wilkins and John Stanley fairly well. I'd
go so far as to say they were more than aquaintences, they were friends.
So of course, when Eric and Brian at Grindhouse asked me to be a Creature Features expert, hosting the screening and doing interviews, I jumped on it. It was probably the first time I'd seen and sat down with John Stanley for over a decade, but after we shook hands and lied to each other about not aging a day, the old familiar friendship kicked in and we caught up on lost time.
Before you knew it, the show was starting and we had to introduce the first film by saying a few words.
First up was the 1976 film, NIGHTMARE IN BLOOD, which was both written and directed by John Stanley. Now I'm not going to fib to you, it isn't right up there with Count Yorga Vampire or Blacula, but even with a lower budget, it is a real crowd pleaser that lives up to its cult status. It's the story of a Horror actor named Malakai(Jerry Walter) who specializes in vampire films, making an appearance at a Horror movie convention. However it turns out that he really is a vampire!
The film is fresh in its approach, expanding on the vampire genre with some new angles, so doesn't fall into the stale traps that many do. The film is also incredibly well cast and features some great cameos (like Kerwin Mathews star of THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD) that set it head and shoulders above most independent films. Lastly there are some scenes shot on the old Creature Features set at KTVU... This in Bob Wilkins tenure before John Stanley had even dreamed he'd become the host. It isn't any wonder that this movie has become a fan favorite.
We were really fortunate to secure the only known existing print of this film (outside of the Library Of Congress) for our screening. But no worries, the film is available on DVD so I would highly suggest you get it. Info on how to order it will be near the end of this article.
Nightmare In Blood over, John Stanley and I launch into about a half an hour interview and Q&A
session with the audience. After a short break, we are back to introduce the 2nd feature of the night, the documentary KEEP AMERICA STRONG -
WATCH HORROR MOVIES! For this, John and I are joined by Tom Wyrsch who is a producer of the film.
ABOVE: John Stanley, the 2nd host
of CREATURE FEATURES, is also a
writer of several film guides, film
critic for the San Francisco Chronicle,
and is a film maker in his own right.
KEEP AMERICA STRONG - WATCH HORROR MOVIES! is a mostly fascinating history in film clips and interviews of the CREATURE FEATURES program, which as I said
above was perhaps the best Horror Host program in the country. It traces its origins with Bob Wilkins through its years with John Stanley, touching on
its effects on the Horror & Science-Fiction film fan community, which were HUGE.
Now I know what you are thinking... You never watched Creature Features or even lived in an area that showed it, so why would you be interested? Well trust me, this documentary is available on DVD, which I've shown to several people who had never even heard of Creature Features, and they ended up being fans. With interview clips from appearances by Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Roger Corman, Robert Bloch, most of the cast of the original Star Trek, Ray Bradbury, Forry Ackerman and many others, what isn't to like? Hilarious interviews with the shows hosts about being the first show to ever televise NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and several Hammer films featuring nudity (somehow in the years before cable movie channels, they got away with it!) you'll be a converted Creature Features freak too! This was a local show that often had better ratings than the (then three) big national television networks ABC, CBS and NBC combined!
KEEP AMERICA STRONG - WATCH HORROR MOVIES! will leave you wanting more and wishing you were there watching every Saturday night too!
So now you are asking yourself the one-million-dollar question: If Creature Features was so immensely popular and had such high ratings (which never fully subsided in 14 years), why isn't it still on the air?
I asked that very question of John Stanley during our interview and his answers were surprising, yet made complete sense...
JOHN STANLEY: "Even when we warned people that the movies we were showing that night were rotten and that they should watch another channel, they still watched" said Stanley. "But the decision was finally made to pull the plug because the newer movies being offered us by the movie studios were considered even worse", he continued "The programing director just wasn't a fan of all the films like MANIAC, FRIDAY THE 13TH and all the other mindless slasher films that we were being offered".
Indeed, once you edit the blood and guts scenes out (Creature Features now had enough attention that the censors tightened up on them) of those films they are not only boring, but they aren't much in the scares department either. Given a choice between THEATER OF BLOOD, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH or even THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH (all Creature Features usual fare) and those films, I can see his point. Also, the gaining popularity of the new-fangled cable movie channels and home video, didn't help either. No need to stay up late for a TV horror show anymore when you could pop in a video.
See kiddies, it was the A.D.D. audience genaration and all those crappy 80's copy-cat slasher films more concerned with the body count than a story, that killed the Horror host shows. Let that be a lesson to ya, we need to get back to real, well crafted Horror movies.
I'd highly recommend you see both KEEP AMERICA STRONG - WATCH HORROR MOVIES! and NIGHTMARE IN
BLOOD. If you are interested in finding about more about CREATURE FEATURES or maybe ordering the DVD's of this docuentary and the film NIGHTMARE IN
BLOOD for your own home collection, here are some links to go explore...
BOB WILKINS' OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.bobwilkins.net/
JOHN STANLEY'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.stanleybooks.net/
"My name is Sid Terror and I am a Horror Drunx, in large part due to Creature Features"
SID TERROR
Editor-In-Chief
TheHorrorDrunx.com Online Magazine
Hollywoodland, California
October 2009
LEGAL NOTICE: Copyright 2009 THE HORROR DRUNX. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast, edited, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of the author or THE HORROR DRUNX. All articles printed here are HORROR DRUNX exclusives and are not authorized to be reprinted, nor their exclusive information reprinted, edited, or rewritten any other place.
