Just received my first Christmas Card! It comes from Penny Dreadful and the Shilling Shockers Gang at NBTV95. Looks like Santa has his hands full. Between you and me, it also looks like getting on the naughty list can be more fun. Love the antlers, Garou.
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This just flew in from Dr.Gangrene and Penny Dreadful...
"Hallowed horror hosts Penny Dreadful and Dr. Gangrene are teaming up to save Halloween in an all new half-hour television special entitled “The Dreadful HallowGreen Special” premiering in October on stations around the country.
"The duo finds themselves readying for the upcoming Halloween season when suddenly all things go awry. It’s up to the physician of fright, Dr. Gangrene, and the eerie enchantress, Penny Dreadful, to set things right and save Halloween for everyone in a brand new television special."
The Dreadful HallowGreen Special premieres Halloween weekend 2010 on finer television stations. Check local listings for show times. For more information on Dr Gangrene or Penny Dreadful please visit www.drgangrene.com and www.shillingshockers.com.
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Flashback courtesy of Professor Kinema...and Terence O-Flaherty writing in the San Franciso Chronicle, 1984 (click to enlarge)...
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More Zach from the vault of Professor Kinema...(click to enlarge)...and Part 1
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From the vault of Professor Kinema...(click to enlarge)
Continue reading "Professor Kinema's Zacherley Fanzine
Issue 2 (Part 1)" »
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Here's the last installment of Zacher-Lore, Issue 1 (1988). But have no fear! Issue 2 of Professor Kinema's (that's Jim Knusch, natch) Zacherley fanzine, is arriving by bat-courier next week. And Vampira waits patiently in the wings--just for you, darlings.
"Jim Knusch's articles on film and TV history have appeared in numerous magazines including FilmFax, Scarlet Street, Psychotronic Video, Screem and Scary Monsters. He is also the co-editor (with Dennis Daniel) of a superb book called The Famous Monsters Chronicles, detailing the life and times of the legendary original monsterzine and its creators." (E-gor's Chamber of Horror Hosts)
Continue reading "Professor Kinema's Zacherley Fanzine
Issue 1 (Part 3)" »
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More photos, articles, and ghoulish delights to warm the cockles of your nostalgic heart... with the Cool Ghoul Zacherley. Brought to you by Jim "Professor Kinema" Knusch.
Continue reading "Professor Kinema's Zacherley Fanzine
Issue 1 (Part 2)" »
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By Professor Kinema (Jim Knusch)
In the 'golden age'- the late 1950s and early 1960s- of monster fandom a lot was happening. A generation weaned on television and made fearful of the evils of communism and the reality of nuclear war was coming of age. That is, they were into their teens. Both the USA and Great Britain began to resurrect (in more ways than one) and breathe a new life into many of these classic monsters in updated productions for the big screen. These new offerings were embellished with color and gore. Life magazine of Nov 11, 1957 featured a two page spread promoting new and upcoming horror and sci-fi releases from American-International Pictures. Big screen horror and monsters were in. Vintage horror movies, especially of the 1930s, were finding a welcome audience on the tube. This acceptance was so strong that it led to a repackaging of select titles being syndicated and offered weekly under the title of SHOCK! The SHOCK! TV package was seen in some areas as SHOCK THEATRE, NIGHTMARE and HOUSE OF HORROR. As was suggested by the SHOCK! promo book, some of these were hosted locally by bizarre personalities. These personalities in themselves became phenomenally popular. This was evidenced by major pictorial articles in national magazines, hundreds of fan clubs, the marketing of premiums and-most importantly-high TV ratings. To the teenage fan caught up in all of this a trip to the local newsstand would result in the purchase of a comic book, a humor magazine or an occasional 'Tales of the Crypt'- type of periodical that was somewhere in between a comic book and pulp magazine. By 1958 something new was added to the racks; the Monster Magazine.
Continue reading "Professor Kinema's
Horror Hosts In Magazines" »
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Helena is a guest this week on Count Gore de Vol's Weekly Web Program at http://www.countgore.com.
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These days, it is hard to pin the popular Mr. Lobo down. What with his involvement in one of the upcoming Plan 9 From Outer Space remakes (believe it or not, there are two remakes in the works), hosting of the documentary Virginia Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition of the Old Dominion, and his incessant verve as he guides us through all those bad movies we just misunderstand on Cinema Insomnia, I was lucky to get a few questions in edgewise. Of course, the first thing I had to know was how Miss Mittens, his houseplant, was doing...
I must ask you, how is Miss Mittens doing these days?
She's working with a private gardener and her leaves have "filled out"...she's looking better.
She's was transferred to a new planter after getting out of rehab. She also still has some personal problems that she's working out. She blames me for a lot of it. We're spending some "time apart". We almost thought she wasn't coming back to the show as my co-host. She wants to come back to work. To her credit she's willing to set that aside our differences for the sake of the show. She doesn't want to negatively effect the 10th Anniversary stuff and the new syndicated season.
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Helena, Hussy of Horror has launched her new monthly web series with Drinks With Swamp Thing, a brief look at finding the perfect cocktail for your spring party as well as a review of the 1982 cult classic, Swamp Thing.
Originally done as a one shot for last fall’s Miss Horrorfest contest, Helena soon found new life by shooting an introduction for the festival run of the upcoming Anthem Pictures DVD release, Deadlands 2, Trapped. New Videos will be posted monthly. On the docket are shows about the original Friday the 13th and Jaws 3. For more go to www.HussyOfHorror.com.
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This news just in from horror host John Stanley...
Now on DVD! The story of one of the most popular Bay Area television shows ever: CREATURE FEATURES. As told by Bob Wilkins, John Stanley,film critic Bob Shaw, Japanese monster movie expert August Ragone, film maker Ernie Fosselius, Bob's wife Sally, daughter Nancy, son Rob, John's wife Erica, Creature Features Archivist Tom Wyrsch and Planet X magazine publisher Scott Moon.
Take a journey down horror's memory lane and keep America strong!
Packed onto 2 discs are:
WATCH HORROR FILMS, KEEP AMERICA STRONG
This 75-minute documentary - produced by Tom Wyrsch, official archivist and historian of the CREATURE FEATURES TV series - retraces the legendary show, which was one of the most popular in the San Francisco-Bay Area for 13 years.
MONSTER MOVIE GAME
In 1974, to promote John Stanley's new book THE MONSTER MOVIE GAME, Bob Wilkins formed a panel of movie experts to answer questions thrown at them by Stanley. It was pure tongue-in-cheek with Bob Wilkins at his amusing best. "Beat the Clock" and "Jeopardy" were never the same again.
I WAS A TV HORROR HOST: THE JOHN STANLEY STORY
As a companion to the new documentary, WATCH HORROR FILMS, KEEP AMERICA STRONG, John Stanley has created another insider's look at the CREATURE FEATURES legacy from a personalized point of view, molding it with pieces of history, comedy, and special effects.
BOB WILKINS: THE SACRAMENTO YEARS
Produced by Scott Moon and Mr. Lobo. Bob Wilkins began his horror host career at KCRA in Sacramento before he came to the San Francisco-Bay Area, but he remained a TV icon in his old stomping grounds for 15 years (1966-81) by keeping a second show alive at Channel 40 in Sacramento.
CREATURE FEATURES COMEDY PROMOTIONS & OTHER ODDITIES
For six years (1979-84) John Stanley created 30-second promotions for his upcoming shows, spoofing lousy movies and himself -- and often joined by celebrity guests. This is a compilation of some of the best, featuring Buddy Ebsen, Chuck Norris, Angelique Pettyjohn and others. Even the "Bowery Boys" (or a facsimile) make an unusual appearance.
August Ragone is a member of the League of Tana Tea Drinkers and author of the book, EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS.
John Stanley is the author of I Was a TV Horror Host.
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Creature Features horror host Bob Wilkins passed away on January 7th from complications of Alzheimers disease at the age of 76, in a care facility in Reno, Nevada, surrounded by his loving family.
"Don't stay up late, it's not worth it," Bob Wilkins warned as he leaned back in his yellow rocking chair, smoke wafting from his big cigar. But monster movie fans in Northern California stayed up with him every Saturday night anyway. Creature Features made it's debut on Channel 2 (KTVU) in 1971, and was an immediate success with it's grade- Z horror films and Bob's dry sense of humor. His cool, low-key deadpan helped him rise above it all, elevating films like The Navy Vs. The Night Monsters as well.
Horror host John Stanley, who subsequently took over the Creature Features hosting chores (from 1979 to 1984) from Wilkins, shares the following biographical information with us.
Born April 11, 1932, Bob Wilkins grew up in a small two-bedroom house in Hammond, Indiana. He was the eldest of seven children and the only son. With six sisters and one bathroom you’d have to laugh at the situation or go crazy. He worked at a number of odd-jobs, including: making ice cream, pinsetting in a bowling alley, writing ad copy, managing a car wash, and working at a steel mill in East Chicago.
After three years of military service in Korea during the early fifties, he decided to go to college. He majored in Marketing. After graduation, he moved to Chicago and landed a job as a copywriter with Post-Keyes-Gardner, one of Chicago’s largest advertising agencies. Bob soon grew tired of the winters in Chicago. A friend with whom he had gone to school lived in Sacramento, California and invited Bob out to see that part of the country. On New Years day 1963, Bob jumped into his old Oldsmobile, drove across country to Sacramento and immediately began to look for a job. He got an offer from a TV station that was looking for someone to write and produce television commercials. They wanted to create their own in-house advertising agency. These were the days when local retailers still used the newspaper and radio formats. Only a few had attempted to use TV.
Bob accepted the job and got his first venture into television with Channel 3 (KCRA) in Sacramento, an NBC channel. One day, when Bob hadn’t been at the station long, he went to a farewell party for the sportscaster who was leaving the station. All of a sudden he called on Bob to give his farewell address. Bob hardly knew the guy, but he got up in front of everyone and did a four or five minute monologue, sort of off the top of his head. It must have made an impression on management, because shortly after that they called him in and asked him if he wanted to host a late night movie on their TV station. They had an old library of horror films that was just gathering dust. Bob was taken back a bit and asked what they had in mind. They wanted him to take home a couple of horror movies and see what kind of ideas he could come up with and maybe have some fun with them.
The first one Bob watched was "Attack of the Mushroom People." He had grown up like everyone else watching Karloff and Lugosi but had never seen this type of Japanese low-budget horror films. Bob thought "Attack of the Mushroom People" was a hilarious title and thought he would have some fun with it. He also felt he would have to be honest with the audience because in those days young people didn’t trust anyone over thirty. He had about two weeks to come up with a format and to decide if he even wanted to do the show.
Bob Wilkins did decide to continue doing the show and the rest is now history; and many fond memories for all the horror fans he entertained through Creature Features. Thanks Bob.
Read about Creature Features.
Read Blog Wilkins.
Cinebeats remembers Bob Wilkins.
The Good, the Bad, and Godzilla remembers Bob Wilkins.
Horror host John Stanley.
Zombos' Closet review of Attack of the Mushroom People.
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