Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Horror Host 2013 Retrospective: Peter Lorre, Jr.


Peter Lorre, Jr.

 

Real name: Eugene Weingand

Years active: 1976-1977, Austin, Texas

Peter Lorre (left) and Peter Lorre, Jr. (right)
Still in the 1970’s, we turn our attention to a rather odd case. Peter Lorre, Jr. was a German born character actor named Eugene Weingand. Despite his facial features and near perfect impersonation the man was of no relation to the famed actor. Lorre actually sued Weingand to stop using his name, but when the elderly horror actor passed away Weingand went back to using the junior moniker.

Hosting the Night Creatures Show on KTVV channel 36 in Austin, Lorre Junior was an ace at promoting himself and the show, such as sponsoring an all-girl softball team with the show’s logo. The show itself seemed fairly average, with skits and the like between breaks on the film. He was also a bit eccentric, as he took possession of the master tapes of the show, apparently not wanting anyone to steal his image or ideas. The tapes, if they still exist, are in his estate.

Peter Lorre, Jr. died in 1986.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Horror Host 2013 Retrospective: Professor Cerberus


Professor Cerberus

Real name: Greg Bransom

Years active: 1973-1975, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

 


Moving ahead yet while staying in the past, we find ourselves looking at Professor Cerberus. Curator of the Museum of Horrors on KXAS channel 5. Instead of the standard vampire, Bransom played Professor Cerberus as more like a Victorian scientist, aided and abetted by the standard issued hunchback, Frankenstein Monster, a Wolf Man, and someone named Uncle Creepy, all played by various assistants and writers.

 

Like many other hosts, surviving video footage is nonexistent. The Museum of Horrors seemed to be bounced around the schedule, airing sometimes after Saturday Night Live, but finally ending up on Saturday afternoon. Bransom would continue on Dallas television, especially in the 1980’s, but those tales are for another day.

Horror Host 2013 Retrospective: Count Harold/Captain Harold


Captain Harold

Real name: Harold Gunn
 
 
Years active: Late 1970’s through mid 1980’s, 2000, Houston, Texas

Moving ahead a wee bit, we find ourselves with a host who is still with us and one who is still working. Harold Gunn was already one of the hardest working men in the Houston television industry when he became the host of Boo Theatre on KRIV Ch. 26 as the vampire Count Harold. Playing the standard vampire character, the show included parodies and various other characters.

 

Gunn brought something new to the horror host table in the 1980’s, however, when he came back as Captain Harold, a flying ace who broadcasted the films from his secret bunker. Captain Harold’s Theater of the Sky, on channel KPRC channel 26, ran for a good while on the channel before Gunn moved on to other pastures.

It would be 2000 before Captain Harold took wing again, but from a few accounts the spark was gone. Harold Gunn is still very much alive and occasionally appearing on radio in the Houston area.

 
 

Monday, April 28, 2014

Horror Host 2013 Retrospective: Dr. Bela Zarbo


Dr. Bela Zarbo

Real name:  Marvin Wheatley

Years active: 1971, Corpus Christi, Texas


From here we move into the more obscure. Wide Scream Theatre ran on KIII Ch.3 in Corpus Christi for about a year in 1971. The host was Dr. Bela Zarbo, but that seems to be about all that can be found. No photos or video clips have survived and what articles point to his existence seem to have dried up roughly around the late 90’s.

The few memories that exist don’t paint a terribly good legacy for the man. He was recalled by a few, but nothing in particular about his character, act, or even if the show was any good. There is nothing of the films, although since the show aired in 1971 we can assume it was the standard black and white Shock package with maybe Night of the Living Dead being thrown in there.

Sadly, much like Dungeon Doug, Dr. Bela Zarbo is a lost host. 

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Horror Host 2013 Retrospective: The Host


The Host

Real name: Joe Alston

Years active: 1959-1965, San Antonio, Texas

 


Like many hosts of the time, Joe Alston served as a man with many hats. Not only was he the horror host of KENS-TV, Ch. 5, he also served as the local kid show host Captain Gus and announcer. From Shock Theater to Five Star Shock to its final version (Project Terror), but the thing that really makes the Host a host with the most was the addition of Bob Burns.

Bob Burns, fresh off a stint in the Air Force, found the Host through the local television and a friendship was born. Burns used this opportunity to practice his makeup skills, creating a gruesome and impressive array of monsters and ghouls, including a rather disturbing looking Miss Shock, as played by Kathy Burns.

From there things seem to go along more or less like other hosts, although the story of a visiting William Castle being presented with a skeleton key made from actual bones is something few others can boast.

Alston passed away in 1989.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Horror Host 2013 Retrospective: Madame Mortem


Madame Mortem

 

Real name: Samantha Ramirez

Years active: 2003, New Jersey

 

 
 

And now we have the last host to a debut in the Garden State, Madame Mortem! Host of the Magnificent Madame Mortem’s Midway of Madness, her show became the lead in for Halloween Jack in 2003. With her ravens Quoth and Uncle Nevermore, she hosted seven films. Ranging from the standard Night of the Living Dead to the surprising choice of King Kong VS Godzilla, Madame Mortem seemed to be on the rise.
 

Sadly that appears to be no longer the case, as a search of her geocities and aol backed sites have gone the way of the dodo.  Even her videos seem to have been scrubbed clean. Sadly there doesn’t seem to be anything else to go on.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Horror Host 2013 Retrospective: Angus


Angus

Real name: David Weber

Years active: 1980’s, New Jersey

 


Taking a break from the Lone Star State, we head back to the north towards the Garden State. When I covered Halloween Jack last time, I had assumed that he was the only host to have debuted in New Jersey. I was wrong, however, as there was another host prior to him.
 

Angus, as played by David Weber, seemed to be more of the kooky variety than the spooky kind. Hosting Meadowlands Showcase Presents from the local public access in Lodi, Angus smirked his way through whatever public domain cinema the station could find.

That is about all the information that could be found about Angus. Even the exact airdates are lost, and footage of the show is rarer than hen’s teeth.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Horror Host 2013 Retrospective: Dr. Ghoulman


Dr. Ghoulman

Real name: Fred Mils

Years active: 1958-1959, Texas

 


While Gorgon the Gruesome was still on the air, another host made his debut soon after. Dr. Ghoulman, played by college student Fred Mils, made his debut in 1958 on K-PAC TV. Hosting his version of Shock Theater in the Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange markets, Dr. Ghoulman was until fairly recently  considered a lost host. Sadly there are only stills of the man. Any video recordings are still lost. From the stills suggestions, Dr. Ghoulman seemed to be more goofy than scary, but the exact context is unknown.

As mentioned before, finding hosts from before the advent of home recording is a tricky business. If not for the hard work of the website Terror from Beyond the Daves, Dr. Ghoulman may have gone unnoticed.

Fred Mils passed away in April 2013.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Horror Host 2013 Retrospective: Gorgon the Gruesome

Gorgon the Gruesome

Real name: Bill Camfield

Years active: 1957- 1959, with occasional specials throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, Texas

 


Heading back to the musty vaults of horror, we find ourselves needing a host to make sense of the madness that inhabits our screens. As before I was unable to decide on a particular standard, but this year I decided to focus on the horror hosts of the Lone Star State. And starting the list off this year is the first host of Texas, Gorgon the Gruesome.

 

Bill Camfield was no stranger to television, as he was already playing the kid show host Icky Twerp, but starting in 1957 on K-FJZ, Ch. 11 in Dallas/Fort Worth viewers could tune in and watch Nightmare. The movies featured were taken entirely from the Shock video package, while the non-horror stuff was aired on Mystery Matinee, also hosted by Camfield.

 

Camfield took a massive departure from other hosts at the time. Whereas Vampira or Zacherley would snark and joke about the film, Gorgon made it quite clear that what you were about to watch was the scariest damn thing ever put to film. Camfield was also blessed with a fairly decent budget, as the set changed often and there were quite a few assistants often seen mulling about.

 

Gorgon’s tenure was rather lengthy. Officially Nightmare ended in 1959, yet Gorgon would appear regularly on Dallas airwaves, usually hosting a Halloween special. The serious host was an archetype that didn’t seem to catch on, as most hosts following Gorgon and especially today take a more campy approach to the films featured.

Of course, the films featured during Nightmare’s run would have been the classic black and white films of Universal and other studios. Having a serious approach back then would have made sense, although with such repeat viewings and parodies it is doubtful such an approach would be accepted today. Gorgon did set the standard for Texas hosts to follow however, and his contributions cannot be understated.

Bill Camfield passed away in 1991.

 

“When the night falls…when the shadows become deep and black…the silent pall of evil falls upon the Earth”