MovieChat Forums > American Scary (2006) Discussion > Mistake in the director's commentary!

Mistake in the director's commentary!

posted 14 years ago by stevenbyczek
6 replies | jump to latest

During the commentary, one of the guys (I am not sure if John Hudgens, or Michael Monahan, made this statement) says that by the 1970's, most, if not all, of the horror movie hosts around the country were NOT showing the classic Universal Horror Movies. This is not true! I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and Sir Graves Ghastly showed the classic Universal Monster package (all Universal titles from Lugosi's "Dracula" to "The Leech Woman" 1960)) from when I started watching him (1976) until he went off the air (1983). "Graves" may have shown these flicks during a time-frame before 1976, too. I didn't start watching him on a regular basis until '76. I guess I was very privileged when it came to horror movie host exposure. When I was a teenager (circa 1983), I had access to Sir Graves and Count Scary (both from Detroit), Son of Svengoolie (visiting temporarily from Chicago, Illinois), and The Ghoul, and Big Chuck and Little John (visiting temporarily from Cleveland, Ohio)!!! When we went "up north" for a vacation, I would watch Count Zapulla (from Traverse City, Michigan).

Great documentary! I enjoyed it very much, and watched it three times!

Thanks!

Cheers!

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] JohnHudgens 14 years ago

Steven:
I don't recall exactly what was said in the commentary (we recorded that two years ago!), but our research showed that the Universal package wasn't in general distribution at that time. It's possible that the stations Sir Graves was on made a deal on their own for the films - however, the commentary track shouldn't be taken as gospel in regards to things like that, as it was just Sandy Clark and I (not Michael Monahan) playing off each other while we watched the film.

Still glad to hear you enjoyed the film - as you can see, we've got our own fair share of trolls coming out of the woodwork - it's a shame, really...

John Hudgens
http://www.zteamproductions.com

[–] stevenbyczek 14 years ago

John:

You are probably right. The station that "Sir Graves" was on "WJBK TV2 Detroit", a CBS affiliate, and they probably made special arrangements to show the classic Universal Monster films. They must had the rights to show the movies for a long time, because I vaguely recall watching "The Wolf Man" on "Sir Graves Presents", as a five year old (circa 1973), and the Universal flicks were still being shown when Channel 2 fired him (in 1983). They even continued to show them after he was terminated (on Saturday nights, without a host, up until 1987).

By the way, do you recall the "comedian" that you and Sandy interviewed for the documentary that suprisingly did not know anything (trivia-wise) about horor movie hosts? During the commentary, you said it was not "Weird Al", "Doctor Demento", or Ernie Kovacs. The name of the comedian slipped your minds while the both of you were recording the commentary, and I was wondering if you ever thought of his name afterwards.

Thanks!

Cheers!

[–] stevenbyczek 14 years ago

Bump!

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] 14 years ago

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