American Scary (2006)

Director:

John E. Hudgens

Writer:

Sandy Clark (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

It's about that favorite show you forgot you loved ...

Plot:

American Scary is a look at the nation's tradition of horror hosting, from Ghoulardi to Ghoul-A-Go-Go...

Plot Keywords:

Horror Host

Cast

Forrest J Ackerman	...	Himself
Douglas Agosti	...	Himself / Dr. Shock
Ernie Anderson	...	Himself / 'Ghoulardi' (archive footage)
Curtis Armstrong	...	Himself
Bob Beidman	...	Himself / 'Carpathian'
Terry Bennett	...	Himself / "Marvin" (archive footage)
Bob Billbrough	...	Himself / "Hives the Butler"
Jerry G. Bishop	...	Himself / 'Svengoolie'
John Bloom	...	Himself
Ken Bramming	...	Dr. Lucifer (archive footage)
Nicole M. Brooks	...	Herself
Bob Burns	...	Himself
P.D. Cacek	...	Herself / 'Moira the Banshee'
Bill 'Chilly Billy' Cardille	...	Himself
George 'E-Gor' Chastain	...	Himself
Tim Conway	...	Himself
Lowell Cunningham	...	Himself
Shane Dallmann	...	Himself / 'Remo D.'
Frank J. Dello Stritto	...	Himself
Jeanne Dietrick	...	Herself / 'Joan E. Cleaver'
John Dimes	...	Himself / 'Dr. Sarcofiguy'
Penny Dreadful	...	Penny Dreadful (as Danielle Gelehrter)
Richard Dyszel	...	Himself / 'Count Gore DeVol'
Brian Easterling	...	Himself / 'Butch R. Cleaver'
Andrew C. Ely	...	Himself / 'Grimm'
Hart D. Fisher	...	Himself
Joseph Fotinos	...	Himself / 'Professor Anton Griffin'
Tim Fox	...	Himself
Neil Gaiman	...	Himself
Chris Gore	...	Himself
Billy Hall	...	Himself
Jeff Hall	...	Himself (as Jeff 'The Sickie' Hall)
Jim Hendricks	...	Himself / 'Commander USA'
Timothy Herron	...	Himself / 'Baron Von Wolfstein'
Bob Hinton	...	Himself / 'A. Ghastlee Ghoul'
Barry Hobart	...	Himself / 'Dr. Creep'
Joel Hodgson	...	Himself
John Kassir	...	Himself
Adam Kolesm	...	Himself
Eric Lobo	...	Himself / "Mr Lobo"
Leonard Maltin	...	Himself
Russ McCown	...	Sir Cecil Creepe (archive footage)
Alan F. Milair	...	Himself / "Dr. E. Nick Witty"
Michael Monahan	...	Himself / 'Doktor Goulfinger'
Joseph Monks	...	Himself
James Morrow	...	Himself
Mark D. Newman	...	Himself / 'Dr. Mor B.S.'
David Nielsen	...	Himself
Bob Paulin	...	Himself
Brittany Paulin	...	Herself
Mike Price	...	Himself / "Baron Daemon"
Jimmy Psycho	...	Himself
John Rinaldi	...	Himself / "Li'l John"
Tom Savini	...	Himself
Keven Scarpino	...	Himself
Chuck Schodowski	...	Himself / "Big Chuck"
Karen Scioli	...	Herself / "Stella"
Roberta Solomon	...	Herself / 'Crematia Mortem'
John Stanley	...	Himself
Ron Sweed	...	Himself / 'The Ghoul'
Patricia Tallman	...	Herself
Malena Teves	...	Herself
Jeff Thompson	...	Himself
Phil Tippett	...	Himself
Larry Underwood	...	Himself / 'Dr. Gangrene'
Vampira	...	Herself (as Maila Nurmi)
Len Wein	...	Himself
Darren Wilhite	...	Himself
Bob Wilkins	...	Himself
John Zacherle	...	Himself / 'Zacherley'
Randy Zimmerman	...	Himself

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

POOB Productions

Valuable, entertaining look at the Horror Host phenomenon

I got a chance to see American SCARY at Comic-Con 2007 and was thoroughly impressed and entertained by the film. John Hudgens and Sandy Clark have collected a most impressive treasure of interviews and archival footage of the most notable (and notorious) horror host personalities spanning the decades of the horror host phenomenon.

The documentary is a great treat for horror fans who may have been born in the wrong time or the wrong city to have seen classic hosts like Zacherley, Vampira, Ghoulardi of the 1950s and 60s to more contemporary hosts like Elvira, Son of Ghoul and Count Gore De Vol. Unless you're an avid bootleg collector, the video clips and old kinescope transfers may be the first footage you'll see of these monster mavens in action. Even based so much on archival material, the production quality remains excellent throughout.

Horror host interviews are well balanced with comments and recollections from many prominent filmmakers, critics and fans including genre historians Forrest J. Ackerman and Bob Burns, makeup artist Tom Savini (the Romero DEAD films), TV host Joel Hodgson (MST3K), Leonard Maltin and many more.

With the recent passing of Maila Nurmi (Vampira), this fondly crafted tribute to television horror hosts deserves to be seen and enjoyed by fans everywhere. I hope the filmmakers will release it on DVD soon so its value and quality can be appreciated by all.