From Vampira to Commander USA: A Review of Elena M. Watkins' "Television Horror Movie Hosts"

Are you among the millions of film buffs first introduced to Universal horror classics such as Bride of Frankenstein by the likes of Zacherley, Ghoulardi, Sir Graves Ghastly, or The Bowman Body? If so, you will certainly enjoy Television Horror Movie Hosts, Elena M. Watson's informative, affectionate examination of 68 horror film hosts. These denizens of local, late night television range from Vampira (who made her debut at KABC in 1954) to Elvira (who was popular enough to appear in her own 1989 feature film).

Watson estimates there has been over 200 local horror movie hosts, most of whom appeared in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Vampira, who was played by Maila Nurmi, laid the groundwork for her successors. A Finnish actress with a modest filmography, Nurmi was "discovered" at a costume ball in which she dressed in a form-fitting, low-cut black gown with shredded sleeves. The costume was inspired by Morticia Addams, the Charles Addams cartoon character that appeared in The New Yorker. The striking Nurmi caught the eye of television producer Hunt Stromberg, Jr., who eventually signed her to host horror movies as "Vampira" on a local Los Angeles TV station.

Maila Nurmi as Vampira.

Vampira became an overnight celebrity and also the prototype for all horror movies hosts. She opened her shows with lines like: "I hope you were lucky enough to have a horrible week." She mastered the macabre pun and introduced viewers to her pet spider Rollo. However, her career proved to be short-lived, a fate that would befall future television horror hosts as well. Her KABC series was cancelled in 1955, although she continued to appear as Vampira elsewhere on TV and at special events. She returned to acting and, in 1956, appeared as Vampira in Ed Wood's infamous Plan 9 from Outer Space--ironically, a film that would secure her fame for later generations.

Yet, if Vampira set the stage, Watson credits Screen Gems with starting the horror host craze. After a television showing of King Kong set ratings records in 1956, Screen Gems acquired the television rights to 52 Universal horror films from the 1930s and 1940s. It sold these films to local stations in 90 markets as its "Shock!" package. Part of Screen Gems' strategy was to "encourage the local stations showing the films to add their own macabre hosts." Thus, local television viewers were introduced to Gorgon the Gruesome (Dallas-Fort Worth), Mad Daddy (Cleveland), M. T. Graves (Miami), and Gregore (Omaha).

Bill Bowman as The Bowman Body.

Watson's entertaining horror host profiles reveal the varied backgrounds of the men and women behind the make-up and costumes. Many of them were working in other capacities at their TV stations--making them in the right place at the right time. Bill Bowman was a production supervisor at WXEX in Richmond, Virginia, when the station manager cast him as a horror host. Bowman told Watson: "I thought he was putting me on, until the day the carpenters came to measure me for a coffin." Bowman subsequently became The Bowman Body and enjoyed a long career in television. He still makes occasional appearances in Richmond.

Other horror hosts boasted resumes with acting experience or perhaps a touch a of magic. John Zacherle, who played Roland and later (more famously) Zacherley the Cool Ghoul, appeared in a Western serial called "Action in the Afternoon." Larry Vincent, who played horror host Seymour at a couple of Los Angeles TV stations, was once Kirk Douglas's understudy in a Broadway production of Alice in Arms. And Joseph Zawislak, who played Dr. Shock on WPHL-TV, Philadelphia, was a former magician and insurance agent.

Chilly Billy Cardille in Night of
the Living Dead.

Watson also points out that a handful of hosts, like Vampira, extended their fame to other media. Zacherley had a Top Ten hit on Billboard with the novelty song "Dinner with Drac." Chilly Billy Cardille from Pittsburgh appeared as a news reporter in George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968). John Stanley, who hosted Creature Features for six years on a Oakland station, wrote The Creatures Features Movie Guide, a lighthearted collection of capsule horror film reviews.

Although the popularity of horror hosts had already faded by the mid-1970s, Watson credits Saturday Night Live and the late night talk shows with putting the final nail in their coffins. Dr. Paul Bearer (Dick Bennick), the longest-running horror host, shifted successfully to Saturday afternoons and Elvira made a splash in the 1980s--but they were the rare exceptions. Most horror hosts returned to their day jobs. Still, some seem to return from the dead on rare occasions, such as Chicago veteran Svengoolie (Rich Koz) who now introduces horror films on Me-TV on Saturday nights.

Elena M. Watson, who died in 1994, successfully captures the history and pop culture impact of these mostly-forgotten local celebrities in Television Horror Movie Hosts. I think she would have been pleased to  know that Svengoolie is on the airwaves again and that The Bowman Body still enlivens Halloween festivities.



This post is part of the Classic TV Horror Host Blogathon, sponsored by the Classic TV Blog Association. For a list of all the blogathon entries, click here. McFarland & Co., Inc. (www.mcfarlandpub.com) provided a courtesy copy of Television Horror Movie Hosts.

Klara Kackel, Hannah Hag, and "Beyond Our Control"

One of the more obscure television horror movie hosts, Klara Kackel, appeared on Saturday nights with her Kreepy Kauldron on WHME, Channel 48, in South Bend, Indiana. Klara, a witch who was played by a guy, debuted in the mid-1970s and lasted for a couple of years. She--or rather, he--may have been forgotten if not for being immortalized via an amusing spoof called "Hannah Hag's Horrible Hotplate" on Beyond Our Control, another locally-produced South Bend TV show.

You can watch the full nine-minute skit below. In addition to recreating the pun-filled humor of many horror hosts, the skit offers delightful black-and-white homages to some of the cheesy fright films that once appeared on Friday and Saturday nights.

Beyond Our Control wasn't just any local TV series. It was  written, directed, and produced by an immensely talented group of teenagers--many of whom went on to fame in movies, television, radio, and literature. Its alumni includes:  producer screenwriter David Simkins (wrote Adventures in Babysitting, wrote and produced episodes of Charmed, Human Target, and many other TV series); producer-director-writer Larry Karaszewski (co-wrote Ed Wood and The People vs. Larry Flynt); Daniel Waters (wrote Heathers and Batman Returns); radio personality/sports broadcaster Randy Rhinehart (hosts the syndicated Nostalgia Express), and film reference book author Mary Willems Armstrong (Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series).

Beyond Our Control, produced by a Junior Achievement company, was shown on WNDU-TV in South Bend from 1967 to 1986--an amazing 19-year run. Each season typically started in January and ended in May. The half-hour show consisted of comedy sketches written, produced, and acted by the company's teen employees. Each year, Beyond Our Control would hold open auditions attended by hundreds of hopeful youths and select just 25 to 30 for the season.

BOC, as its alumni fondly call it, gained national recognition courtesy of feature articles in TV Guide, Seventeen, Parade, and Scholastic Magazine. It also earned several awards, including Best Locally Produced Variety Show [for markets under the top 25] by the National Association of Television Program Executives and a Gold Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival.

Today, you can enjoy many of BOC's best skits on YouTube, including Night of the Pooh (ideal for Halloween!); Blimp Port (a silent disaster movie spoof), and, one of my personal faves, How Do You Play This Game (a very funny quiz show shown below).

This post is part of the Classic TV Horror Host Blogathon, sponsored by the Classic TV Blog Association. For a list of all the blogathon entries, click here.

Dr. Paul Bearer Is "Lurking for You!"

Dr. Paul Bearer (Dick Bennick)
hosted Shock Theatre.

My affection for classic horror films can be largely attributed to watching Shock Theatre on Saturday night from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, broadcast on WGHP-TV, Channel 8 in High Point, North Carolina. Shock Theatre  presented a wide variety of horror and science fiction movies. Its programming included Universal classics, Hammer shockers, obscure "B" films (Stranger on the Third Floor), and best-forgotten cheapies (Voodoo Woman starring Michael "Touch" Connors). This horror "late show" debuted in 1963 and ran on Friday nights for a few years. It then shifted to Saturday at 11:30 p.m. and stayed there until 1981.

For a seven-year period starting in 1966, Shock Theater had the added distinction of being hosted by Dr. Paul Bearer, a deep-voiced ghoul played by former radio disc jockey Dick Bennick. Amazingly, Dr. Paul Bearer's hosting duties spanned two TV stations over a 30-year period, making him television's longest-running horror movie host played by the same individual.

A contest at the Carolina Theatre
hosted by Count Shockula.

Dick Bennick started his broadcasting career in radio in 1949. I can vaguely remember him spinning records at WTOB, the only rock'n'roll station in Winston Salem, North Carolina, in the 1960s. In 1966, he took the job of hosting Shock Theatre and created a gruesome skeleton character known as Count Shockula. After a few months on the air, Bennick decided that Count Shockula wasn't working, so he convinced the station to sponsor a "how to kill Count Shockula" contest. Not surprisingly, the winning method was a stake through the heart--which was accomplished by a new character called Dr. Paul Bearer played by...Dick Bennick.

The new pun-making host (his favorite cereal was Lice Crispies) was a hit and Bennick was a fixture on Shock Theatre until 1971. When he moved to Cypress Gardens, Florida, he took the Dr. Paul Bearer character with him. While he worked at radio stations as a program manager and later sales manager, Bennick concurrently hosted horror movies on WTOG-TV, Channel 44, in St. Petersburg. His show, Creature Feature, debuted in 1973 and ran on Saturday afternoons until his death in 1995 at age 66.

Dr. Paul Bearer became immensely popular in "St. Creaturesburg" and often traveled to special events on the weekends in his black 1963 hearse. He would typically tape Creature Feature segments for 13 movies in a single day. At the height of his popularity, the Mayor of Tampa issued a proclamation designating October 30, 1993 as "Dr. Paul Bearer Day" in honor of the 20th anniversary of Creature Feature.

This profile of Dr. Paul Bearer kicks off our Classic TV Horror Host Blogathon, sponsored by the Classic TV Blog Association. For a list of all the blogathon entries, click here.

Newspaper ads courtesy of Carroll W. Hall at Piedmont Triad Nostalgia.