Unwrapping the Mummy's Rage with Dennis Vincent

Dennis Vincent is a multi-talented artist and filmmaker who is perhaps known in horror circles for a pair of award-winning documentaries he produced/directed, The Witches Dungeon: 40 Years of Chills and The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze That Gripped the World. I first got to know Dennis when he illustrated a poster for my director Cameron McCasland’s short film, Tailypo. I was so impressed with his work that I asked Dennis to illustrate the cover of my collection of short stories in 2013, Tales from Parts Unknown. Dennis has since turned to narrative filmmaking, and just wrapped his first feature film, Rage of the Mummy. I invited Dennis into the lab to unwrap the details of his new movie and much more…

Hi Dennis, great to talk to you again! This was your first feature film, but you made a couple of documentaries before this. Can you tell folks about those?

Sure! Well, the first film I ever made was a 2-hour documentary entitled “The Witch's Dungeon: 40 Years of Chills” (2006). It centers around a museum that housed life-size figures of classic movie monsters and its founder, Cortlandt Hull. There are interviews with the museum's supporters and it covers the history of the museum. It features interviews with people like Christopher Lee, Dick Smith, Tom Savini, Basil Gogos, Ricou Browning, Bob Burns, Ben Chapman, June Foray, Michael Ripper and others. The entire presentation is very colorful and has good pacing. The interviews are insightful with plenty of photos to accompany them. Dick Smith told me when he received the DVD he'd only planned on watching twenty minutes because he was really busy that day. He laughed and said he ended up watching the entire thing. That was a real compliment. The movie did quite well and sold lots of copies. But I think it's out of print now.

When it came time to do my second documentary, Cortlandt and I decided to collaborate. We wanted to create a series of documentaries about Hollywood moviemaking that was to be called “Legends of Film and Fantasy”. We had interviews and footage with Hollywood prop houses, costume makers, and special effects departments. Interviews with Mark Hamill, George Romero, Bill Mumy, Rick Baker, Julie Adams, Leonard Maltin, Don Sullivan, Lori Nelson, and many others. Mark Hamill even pitched it for us in a preview trailer.  And if you go to YouTube and search for The Witch's Dungeon channel under Dungeonghouls13 (no spaces), you can see that trailer. Unfortunately, those documentaries never got made. What did happen though was while at WonderFest in KY, we were talking with Donnie Waddell and Dave Conover. They told us that we should make a documentary on the Aurora Monster Model Kits simply because no one had done it. We thought it over and decided to do it because all the details for the “Legends of Film and Fantasy” series had not been fully worked out yet and doing a documentary on model kits would probably be easier. And that's how “The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze That Gripped the World” (2010) happened.

We really wanted to get James Bama in the documentary, who was the artist who painted the artwork on those original Aurora Monster Model Kit boxes in the early 60s. The only person that we knew who was in contact with him was the “Jaws” movie poster artist, Roger Kastel, whom we knew from the Chiller conventions. Roger didn't think Bama would do the interview because he had done an interview back in the 70s with a major network. Bama hated it and swore never do another one. Apparently everyone from “60 minutes” to “Good Morning America” had tried over the years to get an interview with him and failed. So Roger sent James Bama a copy of my documentary because he said he was a fan of the classic monster movies and it might pique his interest. A month passed, we left LA and we were back in Connecticut. Then I get a call from James Bama. He tells me he just watched the “The Witch's Dungeon” documentary and loved it. He said he'd do the interview if I did his interview just like that. I said, “Absolutely”. We were thrilled.

Somebody at WonderFest got us in touch with Andrew Yanchus who was the project manager for Aurora Plastics when they were in existence. So we went to NYC to do an interview with him. He was so helpful and generous. He let me make copies of his personal collection of photos, artwork, blueprints, concept art, comic inserts, and ads that were used in the movie. We wouldn't have had those without him. Then he told us that he was still in touch with Ray Meyers, one of the original sculptors who sculpted The Bride of Frankenstein, Ghidrah, Godzilla and others for Aurora. We would have liked to have interviewed Bill Lemon as well, but he had passed away in 1994. Andrew arranged the interview with Ray. I think we ended up having several people tagging along with us for that interview because they wanted to meet him. It was a fun interview and Ray didn't really understand why we were so interested. He thought that his claim to fame were these cars that he once sculpted for The Franklin Mint. He had the ads cutout from a magazine and framed on the wall. He pointed out to us that his name was in the ads. He couldn't grasp the concept that the Aurora kits were hugely popular and that there was a convention called WonderFest that would love to have him as a guest. We also tried to get James Bama to attend WonderFest, but no one could get him to do it.

Things were arranged and Ray's son brought him to the next WonderFest convention in May 2010 where he was the guest of honor and was inducted into The Monster Kid Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend because I was back in Connecticut editing the final cut of the movie. People were disappointed that the DVD would not be ready in time for WonderFest. So I told Cortlandt that we could print 100 copies of the movie to where it was at this point to satisfy the people who couldn't wait. Frank Winspur from Moebius Models caught wind of it and said that he would add a special Frankenstein monster model figure to go along with that special Aurora Monsters DVD. That was such an amazing and generous thing Frank did for us. So Cortlandt and Bill Diamond went to WonderFest and assisted Ray and his son. I sent Disc Makers hot off my computer, a Special Aurora Monster DVD master disc. And they quickly duplicated 100 copies of it, and shipped them over to WonderFest where Cortlandt and Bill nervously awaited their arrival. There they sold and promoted that Special Aurora Monster DVD. Then about a month later, I officially finished the final cut of the movie and it sold like hotcakes.

I was personally financing these films on a school bus driver's salary. So it was difficult. I think we lived on chicken everyday for 4 years while I made that movie. We were doing a lot of on-the-road traveling to get those interviews. Especially the James Bama interview. From Connecticut where we lived, to Bama's house in Wyoming and back again. Not to mention the drives to Hollywood to get those interviews. But it was worth it. Back then, Cortlandt and I worked well together. We'd get to the location and he'd talk to the talent while I set up all my equipment, lighting, camera, sound, etc. I can't be involved in conversation when I'm getting sound calibration, camera settings and lighting. I need to focus, otherwise I'm going to screw something up. Cortlandt would ask the talent the questions during the interviews and I would man the production from behind the camera. It was a one camera setup on the talent. It was better that way because it gave more screen time for them. So you never saw or heard Cortlandt asking the questions. We told the talent to repeat part of the question in the first part of their answer. For example: “When did you first become a contract player for Universal?” They would answer “I first became a contract player for Universal back in...” and so on.

Do you think the experience of working on those documentaries helped prepare you for shooting a feature film?

Those two documentaries only prepared me for postproduction work. Preproduction and production work for “narrative” filmmaking and “documentary” filmmaking are two different animals. That is unless you're doing some reenactments in your documentaries, but even the script writing is very different. When I was preparing to make my first monster movie “The Cosmic Creature”, I knew I was going to have to direct actors. I'd interviewed a lot of actors, but I didn't know anything about acting. So I took acting from an acting coach when I moved back to Denver for about four and a half months. Ironically, we had interviewed Brett Halsey years before, and he actually gave me my first acting lesson. I asked him about the craft of acting and he told me a few things. But the one thing that he said to me that I never forget was that he hated when a director would tell him, “I just want you to say no”. He would tell the director “But I can say no fifty different ways. I can make ‘no’ sound like ‘yes’”. Studying acting can really help you as a director, and many actors respect directors who have done some acting. Let me make it clear, I'm a fair actor, but I'm not great at it. But you don't have to be a great actor to understand and communicate effectively with other actors. It just really helps if you've done some acting yourself.

Tell me about working with the legendary John Zacherley in the Aurora Monsters documentary. Knowing Zach, I’m sure that was a blast.

Before we got started with Zacherley, I pulled out my checkbook and began to write him a check. He looked over and saw what I was doing, and in that classic voice he said, “Put that away, this is for fun”. What could I say? Zacherley was loved and respected by everybody on that set. There was a lot of dialoge that Cortlandt and I had written for Zacherley, and Bill Diamond who was the puppeteer for Gorgo. Bill was under the desk so he had the script in front of him. But for Zacherley, Cortlandt took a black Sharpie and wrote his lines on blank 8x10 sheets of paper and held it up for him just out of frame. He would glance over to it every now and then. Some of the lines he got, some of it he improvised. And what he improvised was always better than what Cortlandt and I wrote. Zacherley was a hoot, and he was in his element whenever you called “action”. What a legend, what a gentleman, and what a privilege it was to work with him.

You won a Rondo Award for Best Documentary for the Aurora documentary and were inducted into the Rondo Hall of Fame a couple of years later! Congratulations! Can you talk about what that meant to you?

Thank you. Actually, Cortlandt and I were inducted together, into The Monster Kid Hall of Fame for 2007, in 2008, first. Then the Rondo Award for best Documentary for 2010, in 2011 happened later. So, yes, “The Aurora Monsters” did win best documentary for 2010. But I was unable to attend the ceremonies and I never received the Rondo Award statuette.

But, The Monster Kid Hall of Fame Rondo Award 2007 plaque, hangs on my wall in my bedroom. I'm very proud of it. To be in the company of people like George Romero, Rick Baker, Uncle Forry, Paul Blaisdell, Ray Bradbury, Joe Dante, Greg Nicotero and Roger Corman, just to name a few for crying out loud! Real giants, and who am I? Yeah, it's a big deal to me. And believe me, I work damn hard every waking day to uphold that honor.

Funny thing, the night they presented the Rondo Awards, Cortlandt and I couldn't make it to the ceremony to accept the award because one of us got sick and I don't remember who, but we were fine the next day. So, David Colton and the coordinators at WonderFest held another event the following evening just for us to accept the award. I couldn't believe it. It was the nicest thing and one of the most surreal moments in my life. When I was 8 years old I saw “2001: Space Odyssey” at a neighborhood theater a few years after it was released. That movie blew me away and has always been a huge influence on me. So, who was in the audience sitting at a table applauding as Cortlandt and I went up to the podium to receive our Hall of Fame Awards? Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, who were guests that year at WonderFest. A moment I will never forget. There's a photo somewhere on the Internet of Cortlandt and I getting that award, and I laugh because I look like a deer in headlights, as they say. I was such a different person back then, painfully shy and awkward. Today, I couldn’t be any more opposite.

So tell folks a bit about Rage of the Mummy if you would.

Well, “Rage of the Mummy” is about a group of occultists who steal thirteen sacred relics from a mummy's tomb. The occultists believe the relics will empower them with supernatural powers they themselves do not have. The mummy, of course, leaves his tomb to seek out the thieves and brings deadly vengeance upon them. It's really a revenge story with subtle humor like “The Abominable Dr. Phibes”. For my first time, I really wanted to make a fun and simple monster movie that could be enjoyed with a family. I didn't want to shoot something too serious where I would get bogged down with heavy drama, very elaborate gore makeup effects, or holding actors hands and trying to get them through complex scenes. I know I'd be dealing with all the technical issues on the set. The camera, the lighting, storyboards, set design and dressing, costumes, makeup effects, props, you name it. Many times I had to shoot the movie while in the mummy suit. I shot this movie fast. The principal photography was shot in three months, mostly on the weekends in the Summer of 2016. The average time spent on set with the actors was between 4 and 5 hours. The longest shoot was the gathering scene with all the occultists at Greyson's house. That was 8 ½ hours. The rest of it was second unit stuff, pickups with the mummy and mostly postproduction all of which took me up until 2018 to complete.

It’s interesting that you set your mummy movie in modern times, but then so did the Universal films when you think about them. Of course, nowadays it feels different, with cell phones, computers, and modern technology.

I would love to make a period film, but it becomes too expensive. And hats off to indies like Joe DeMuro’s “Tales of Dracula”, Larry Blamire’s “Dark and Stormy Night”, and Eben McGarr’s “House of the Wolfman” and others who've done it.

Are you a big fan of the old mummy films, and if so what are some of your favorites? (I’m partial to the Hammer Mummy movie with Lee and Cushing, personally).

I like all monsters in general without favoring any one particular monster type per se. However, I find myself drawn to creatures or mutant creatures like, “The Hideous Sun Demon”, “The Monster of Piedras Blancas”, “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”, “Octaman” and all of Paul Blaisdell monsters. But I do love mummies as well. My favorite mummy movie is “The Mummy's Shroud” second to that is “Blood from the Mummy's Tomb” and that one doesn't even have a mummy in it. Maybe I'm just in love with Valerie Leon? And after that, all the Chaney mummy movies, “The Mummy's Hand”, “The Mummy's Tomb”, “The Mummy's Ghost” and “The Mummy's Curse”.

What were the biggest challenges in making Rage?

The same for all indies... money. And when you don't have enough to pay skilled professional people to help you through every phase of production, then you're still going to need some money to do it yourself.

In addition to producing and directing, you also played the monster in your film! Did you enjoy that?

No, I did not. I did it because I had already made a mummy mask for another feature I was going to make but lost the funding for it. It was called “Creepy Island” and there were supposed to be 8 mummies breaking out of their sarcophaguses towards the end of the movie. I needed to see how I was going to make the mummy's headpiece first. So like most makeup artists, I experimented on myself first. I did a build up of the mummy's face over an ultra cal casting of my face. So the mummy mask only fit me. I had only a few weeks before shooting began for “Rage of the Mummy” and I didn't have enough time to find an actor who would be available to do a new casting, a new build up plus fabrication, and then tailor the fitting of the suit. Then have them come back to my house when their schedule permitted, for me to do final fittings and final touches on the suit. Not to mention, all the pickup shots needed to complete the film. It was just easier for me to do it. However, there were two shots in the movie that are my nephew in the suit, because I had to do the camera work and I didn't trust anyone else to do it. If you don't see the mummy, then I did the camera work. And even then, there were other times where I had to shoot myself in the suit because I didn't have anyone available to help me. I usually got the shot I wanted after 60 takes. I'd run in my house to my computer to upload the shots and see if they were good. If they weren't I'd run back outside and do them again. Neighbors would watch this mummy running in and out of the house carrying a camera. That's indie filmmaking.

Which phase of filmmaking do you like best? Writing, shooting, editing, etc.?

Editing, and all the postproduction work that goes with it for sure. It's exciting because it's where you really meet your film for the first time. And it is there where you decide what to keep and what to leave out. And what you need to add in order to get something that you feel is going to work best, because the film is no longer what you thought it was going to be.

What piece of advice would you give to other newer filmmakers who are taking the leap to shoot their own feature film?

I think the same stock answer that most filmmakers give. Just get out there and start shooting. But I would start with small, simple projects that are manageable. I've seen people take on huge projects and become overwhelmed, get discouraged and then never finish. There's a lot of free help on YouTube to get you started, but the best teacher is direct experience.

What’s next for you, do you have another film in mind?

It's an anthology of murder and the supernatural, with ghosts and demons, for which I'm already writing. It will be a far cry in tone from “Rage of the Mummy”. I'm interested, at the moment, with the Italian “Giallo” films of Argento, Bava and Fulci. That doesn't mean that I'm done with classic monster movies. I just want to try something new right now.

Thanks again for chatting with me. Where can folks find Rage of the Mummy?

Thanks for having me Dr. Gangrene! It was fun! You can see “Rage of the Mummy” at Amazon. Available on DVD to buy, rent, or stream on Prime. And you can go to rageofthemummy.com or the Facebook page of Rage of the Mummy for more photos and behind-the-scenes content.

The Walking Dead Violence continued...

I had several people on facebook message me about my post on THE WALKING DEAD earlier this week. Most were in agreement with me that it was a terrific episode, full of tension and drama and heartbreak. A few sided with the show's detractors that it went too far, that there was no reason to show that level of gratuitous violence.


I had time to reflect on it a bit more over the past couple of days, and have come to the conclusion that this is really much ado about nothing, or at least nothing new. You see, the Walking Dead has been doing this for years, the public had just conveniently forgotten it. Remember Noah, the character who had his face literally ripped apart by a hoard of zombies while Glenn watched on a mere inches away behind a pane of glass?




How about in Season 5 when the bad guys had our heroes lined up, once again on their knees, hands bound and mouths gagged, bent over a trough so they could BASH THEIR HEADS WITH A BASEBALL BAT, slit their throat and drain their blood to use their meat for a community of cannibals?






Or the violent deaths of any of a number of characters over the years, not to mention the many, many disgusting things done to walkers over the years. No love for them?


So why not the outcry over any of these things? Why the current batch of complaining like the violence in this year's opener is something new?

If the very same things that Negan did in the most recent episode were done to a walker, or a less prominent character, you wouldn't hear this outcry. It is because it was a main character, a beloved character, and that really is a testament to the writers of the show, that they can make people care that much about the characters.


The premiere drew 17 MILLION viewers, which tells me the WD cast and crew is doing something right, so don't expect it to change anytime soon. And it shouldn't. It's a HORROR show, directed (at least that episode was) by makeup special effects genius Greg Nicotero. Of COURSE it's going to be special effects laden! And dark - I would expect no less. This is a horror program kiddos, not THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. Tune in to the CW if you want lighter fare, but don't be surprised or feign shock at what should be pretty damn apparent. This ain't gonna be pretty. It hasn't been for some time now. So stop with the false outrage already, the complaints and whining. If you don't like it, stop watching. The ratings will just continue right along swimmingly, and your fair sensibilities won't be upset.


But I bet you still tune in, despite your weak protests to the contrary. Because, as I mentioned before, the writers have presented characters you care about, and the majority of you will be tuned right back in Sunday night to see how far it goes this time.

New Story published in SIREN'S CALL eZine

Issue #27 of the eZine THE SIREN'S CALL (June 2016) was released today, and I'm proud to announce my story, THE PROMISE, is among those featured in this issue, which was dedicated to horror.


Check it out for free at:


http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/pdfs/SirensCallEZine_June2016.pdf

The Lashman Trailer

My director Cameron McCasland has finally released the trailer for the long awaited LASHMAN movie, due out in the next few months. Cameron shot this a couple of years back, but due to a number of real-life setbacks the project was shelved until recently. Now finished, the film will be making the film festival rounds then hopefully land a distributor and on to DVDs and streaming for all to see - in the meantime, check out the trailer for the Lashman, with a cameo by yours truly.

New Midnight Syndicate CD released today!!

 

Midnight Syndicate releases MONSTERS OF LEGEND album

July 19, 2013 (Cleveland, OH) - Symphonic gothic horror musicians MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE have just released their sixteenth studio album, MONSTERS OF LEGEND. This "tribute to the golden age of horror" is inspired by horror films from the silent era, Universal Studios' horror classics, Hammer Films, and other European horror films of the 60s and 70s. It features sweeping symphonic horror instrumental music and sound effects in the signature style the band helped pioneer. "We want to make you feel like you are a character in one of those classic horror films - that you've entered a world where any one of those iconic Universal monsters could be right around the corner," said composer EDWARD DOUGLAS. The CD artwork features original images from classic Universal Studios horror movies including BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, WEREWOLF OF LONDON, and DRACULA.

"Those classic horror films are at the core of what we do in Midnight Syndicate, so to do an entire disc based on them was a lot fun," added Douglas. "Musically it required us to use more traditional orchestral instruments, and use them in more ways than we have in the past. The result is a fuller orchestral sound with a heavy classical music influence. There are plenty of nods to James Bernard, Bernard Herrmann, and other early film composers." Although the band promises the new disc will deliver the dark atmosphere haunted house designers, roleplaying gamers, and Halloween music enthusiasts expect from them, they feel they've crafted a disc that transcends their favorite time of the year. "Like CARNIVAL ARCANE, we feel we've taken things up a notch both musically and with the sound design on this release," said GAVIN GOSZKA. "There's a lot there to listen to and lose yourself in."

 

In addition to over 50 minutes of new music, the band went back into its archives and recreated several tracks from its early releases Born of the Night and Realm of Shadows, bringing the total runtime of the disc to over 65 minutes. "Both the new album and those older ones are set in and around the mysterious hamlet of Arcacia. We felt it would be a great opportunity to breathe new life into a few of our lesser known tracks from those discs to help tell this story. For additional atmosphere the band called on voiceover artist Dick Terhune. "Dick's known throughout the haunted house industry as the "Voice from Hell," needless to say he was the perfect match for this disc," added Goskza.

The CD is available now through the band's website, as well as iTunes and Amazon.com. It will also be available in select Halloween retailers beginning in August. A collector's edition 12" vinyl version is also available on the band's site.

--- 7 / 19 / 13

Official Midnight Syndicate website: www.MidnightSyndicate.com
Midnight Syndicate on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/MidnightSyndicate
Midnight Syndicate on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/MidSyndicate
Dick Terhune - Voice From Hell website: www.VoiceFromHell.com

Daughters of Satan/Superbeast half-sheet

Here's an awesome half-sheet from 1972 for the double bill of Daughters of Satan and Superbeast. Gotta love the advertising campaign - "A secret cult of lust craved witches torturing their victims with fire and desire" and "See a half-man half-monster ripping helpless victims to shreds in his mad hunger for human flesh."

No movie could ever live up to that awesome description!!

Dr. Lucifur, Tennessee's First Horror Host

This post is carried over from my old website, where I had a special page set up called The Vault, dedicated to the horror hosts of the great state of Tennessee. I thought I'd add that webpage onto the blog  here as well, so this is the first in a series of posts about the Tennessee hosts...

Dr. Lucifer Shock Theater - Ken Bramming WSIX-TV8 (1958-1967)    Nashville's first television horror movie host, Dr. Lucifer, hosted Shock Theater on Nashville's WSIX-TV8, which is now WKRN-TV2. Dr. Lucifer was played by Nashville radio broadcaster Ken Bramming. The show ran from November 1958 to April 1967, originally airing Friday nights at 10:15pm CST, and later moving to Saturday nights at 10:30. Bramming himself chose every movie, and edited them himself. Dr Lucifer was by far the best dressed of all Nashville hosts, always appearing in white tie and tails, black tuxedo and flowing black cape. He wore an eye patch over his right eye and carried a long cigarette holder.   Dr. Lucifer, played by Ken Bramming, c. 1960     Ken Bramming out of character, on the set at Shock Theater.  Between 1958 and 1962 Shock Theater was rated number one in the Friday and later Saturday night timeslot. It even beat the Tonight Show on NBC. After it's cancellation in 1967 Bramming took a radio announcing job, but re-emerged as Dr. Lucifer between Oct. 1968 and Nov. 1969 on WMCV-TV17, and independent station, to host weekend horror movies. His final appearance as Dr Lucifer was on Creature Feature, hosted by another Nashville horror host, Sir Cecil Creape.   Special thanks to Jeff Thompson, radio personality at WAMB AM in Nashville, and personal friend of Ken Bramming, for the help with this information. Much of it comes from his wonderful article for Filmfax magazine - Thanks Jeff.  Click HERE for an article celebrating the life of Ken Bramming Click here to read an obituary for Ken Bramming on Nashville Scene Newspaper's website    DR. LUCIFUR: NASHVILLE TV’s TASTEFUL TRANSYLVANIAN FILMFAX MAGAZINE by Jeff Thompson “He was a very elegant gentleman who had been the president of Transylvania for the past two hundred years. He spent a lot of time looking down his nose at people.” This is how Nashville broadcaster Ken Bramming (1926-1997) fondly remembered his horrific alter-ego, Dr. Lucifur, Nashville’s first TV horror-movie host. Bramming, the sonorous-voiced television and radio personality, hosted Shock Theater on Nashville’s WSIX-TV 8 (now WKRN-TV 2, then and now an ABC affiliate) from November 1958 until April 1967. The show originally aired on Friday nights at 10:15 PM CST—“That was in the days of the fifteen-minute newscast,” Bramming remarked—and later moved to Saturday nights at 10:30. “We knew we’d get a young audience on those nights,” Bramming said. “We were aiming for the ten- to fourteen-year-olds, but their parents ended up watching the show with them and liking it as much as the kids!” In the early months, Shock Theater opened with Modest Moussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” as its theme song and with Ken Bramming’s live, “straight-voice” (non-character-voice) announcement of that night’s movie. Shock Theater’s cinematic fare ranged from the classic Universal monster movies to the Sherlock Holmes and Mr. Moto mysteries to a few science-fiction titles. Bramming himself selected and prepared every film. In the summer of 1959, seven months after Shock Theater’s debut, Bramming decided to liven up the show by adding a ghoulish on-camera host—played by himself. Bramming created the character of Dr. Lucifur from an amalgam of “Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, some of John Carradine’s characters, and some Vincent Price things.” Bramming’s Lucifur, who always appeared in black-and-white even if the night’s film was in color, was a striking figure. The dapper Transylvanian sported silver hair, a black eyepatch over his right eye, a Ming moustache, and a cigarette holder. He dressed elegantly in white tie and black tails and a flowing black cape, and he spoke with a Transylvanian accent. The “Night on Bald Mountain” theme soon was replaced by “Blues for Lucifur,” a jazzy electric-guitar melody composed and performed by Nashville musician Norm Cole. As the theme played, a wavy circle—“We called it the Mystic Circle,” Bramming explained—appeared on the TV screen and framed Dr. Lucifur, who walked into a pool of light near a lamppost. Fog swirled around the devilish doctor as he greeted the viewers and urged them to come with him on “these journeys into the worlds of mystery, the supernatural, fantasy, and the world beyond.” At the conclusion of the film, Dr. Lucifur reappeared, invited the viewers back next week, and (with “a wild laugh”) said, “Good night—and pleasant dreams!” This atmospheric “intro and outro” featuring Bramming as Lucifur was on film; therefore, Bramming was free to appear as himself or as other characters in the five live breaks in the course of that night’s film. Dr. Lucifur rarely appeared on-camera in those five breaks although his rich voice was heard whenever the camera suddenly became Lucifur’s “eyes” and showed subjective shots of other people talking to “him” (the camera). Those people—or sometimes creatures!—who interacted with Lucifur and each other ranged from a demented grandmother and a comical beatnik to a wacky poet and a reanimated mummy. While Ken Bramming played Dr. Lucifur off-camera or a man-on-the-street interviewer on-camera, his several assistants portrayed Shock Theater’s other recurring characters. “My top assistant,” Bramming recalled, “was Corky Savely, a mad genius who was still in high school at the time. He would dress up as a character named Granny Gruesome, who one night showed the viewers how to knit a sports car out of 1500 pounds of steel wool. Corky also dressed as Frantic Freddy the Hipster or Cyril Songbird the Poet—that one we stole directly from Ernie Kovacs!—and Corky would dress up like a mummy whenever we showed a mummy movie. Other characters were played by Herschell Martin and Richard Dixon, and Norm Fraser played the ‘infamous’ Baron Von Sloucho. We did crazy things, and the show had no time limit. Sometimes, our breaks in the movie lasted ten minutes!” Except for Corky Savely’s mummy appearances and a few other tie-ins, Bramming and company’s live, ad-libbed routines during the movies were completely unrelated to the films. “We did take-offs of popular songs like ‘Monster Mash’ and ‘Tom Dooley,’ and we spoofed many TV commercials and TV series. We did a take-off of ‘The Loretta Young Show’ called ‘The Forever Young Show.’ Miss Forever Young’s famous doors were stuck, and she couldn’t get them open to make her entrance. We even did a take-off of ‘Batman’ when the TV show was popular—only we had [Nashville restaurateur] Mario Ferrari dressed as Batman and speaking Italian!” An instance when Bramming appeared on-camera as Dr. Lucifur during the comical breaks in the movie occurred in the autumn of 1960. At the same time that New York TV horror-movie host Zacherley was running for President of the United States, Dr. Lucifur ran for re-election to the presidency of Transylvania. Having held the office for the past two centuries, the arrogant aristocrat figured that he was a shoo-in for re-election. However, in a last-minute upset, Lucifur’s opponent Granny Gruesome was elected instead! These and many other zany stunts catapulted WSIX-TV’s Shock Theater through the ratings belfry. “Between 1958 and 1962,” Bramming revealed, “we were rated number one in Nashville in that Friday- or Saturday-night timeslot. We beat the ‘Tonight’ show on NBC and whatever was on CBS. Shock Theater was a family show. The movies weren’t really scary, and there was never any blood and gore in the movies or in our segments. I insisted on that. We were there to have fun. I never received any bad mail from parents. Instead, I got letters from parents telling me how much they liked watching the show with their kids. There were things for the adults to like, such as the jazz background music of our segments. I used nice things that the adults and I dug by people like [guitarist] Wes Montgomery, the Paul Smith Trio, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet.” Ken Bramming and his campy compatriots accomplished their live routines with a minimum of sets and props. Dr. Lucifur’s lamppost regularly reappeared as a set dressing for Bramming’s man-on-the-street interviews with Frantic Freddy, Mrs. Moshe Gumora, the Poor Slob, and other characters. “We often used fog for background,” Bramming continued. “The crew at WSIX made a dry-ice fog machine for us. When we did a take-off on ‘Tom Dooley,’ we went into the next studio, where the wrestling ring was, and used one corner of the ring for Tom Dooley’s gallows. But our best set was the Purple Grotto, a purple, cave-like flat with a door in it. The door had bloody handprints on it. One night, the whole Purple Grotto flat fell forward in the middle of our skit! We were live, so there was nothing we could do. That reminds me of another blooper. I often would do live commercials as myself, and one of our sponsors was a man named Fred Mabius, who installed glass shower enclosures. I was standing next to a four-sided shower enclosure [and] doing a commercial for it when the thing fell over and shattered into a million pieces. I looked at the camera and said, ‘Now, friends, if Fred Mabius had installed it, that wouldn’t have happened.’ We quickly went back to the movie after that because the crew was breaking up! “Television was brand-new,” Bramming continued, “and we did some funny things.” Sadly, because all of Bramming’s skits were performed live, no films or tapes of them exist. The only footage of Bramming as Lucifur is the black-and-white, filmed “intro and outro.” By 1967, although Shock Theater’s ratings were still good, both Ken Bramming and WSIX-TV felt that the Saturday-night show had run its course. Bramming left WSIX and took a radio-announcing job, but Dr. Lucifur and the Mystic Circle were back on the air in Music City just a year-and-a-half later. Between October 1968 and November 1969, Bramming, as Lucifur, hosted a weekend horror movie on WMCV-TV 17, an independent station. When Channel 17 threw a Halloween party for children in October 1968, Ken Bramming and Corky Savely were on hand as Lucifur and the mummy. This was Dr. Lucifur’s third personal appearance: during the WSIX days, Bramming had appeared in costume at two Nashville department stores. “And the kids climbed all over me!” Bramming laughed. After his Lucifur years, Ken Bramming re-connected with his horror roots when he served as the pre-recorded announcer for Creature Feature, a Saturday-night horror movie telecast on WSM-TV 4 (NBC) in the early 1970s. The host of Creature Feature was Sir Cecil Creape (Russ McCown, who went on to play the Phantom of the Opry on The Nashville Network). Bramming’s unmistakable voice at the beginning of Creature Feature provided a link between the two horror hosts as did Sir Cecil’s occasional mentioning of his friend Dr. Lucifur, thereby acknowledging that Nashville’s horror hosts existed in the same universe. Bramming even made one on-camera appearance as Lucifur in an episode of Creature Feature, which each week was scripted by WSM weatherman Pat Sajak, years before he too became a noted TV host. Dr. Lucifur’s latter-day radio incarnations in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s included his voicing a safe-driving public-service announcement for the Tennessee Department of Safety (“Don’t spill your blood on the highway!”) and his annual resurrection on Halloween to host a broadcast of Orson Welles’s 1938 War of the Worlds radio drama on WAMB-AM 1200, Nashville’s big-band/easy-listening station. Bramming was the mid-day announcer and program director at WAMB from 1979 until 1997. The first annual World Horror Convention was held in Nashville in 1991, and both Ken Bramming and Russ McCown were there. The horror hosts appeared together in a panel discussion about their years as Dr. Lucifur and Sir Cecil Creape, and each man re-created his character’s distinctive laugh for the delighted audience. The horror-hosts panel was a once-in-a-lifetime event, for McCown died several years later—and Bramming, a lifelong smoker, succumbed to lung cancer in mid-1997. In the late 1990s and continuing to the present, Dr. Gangrene (Larry Underwood), Nashville’s next great horror host, began keeping Lucifur and Creape alive by mentioning them on his award-winning horror-movie show, Chiller Cinema, later renamed Creature Feature, and on his Internet website. Despite the passing of Ken Bramming, the immortal Dr. Lucifur lived again on Nashville television on Thanksgiving night 2003 and 2004. In 2003, WKRN-TV 2 celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with a documentary, an all-day Thanksgiving cornucopia of classic TV shows, and a new edition of Shock Theater. That night at 10:30, Dr. Lucifur once again strolled up to the lamppost and welcomed viewers before Channel 2 showed The Brain That Wouldn’t Die. On Thanksgiving night 2004, Dr. Lucifur’s “intro and outro” began and ended a telecast of House on Haunted Hill.   In October 2006, the independent documentary film American Scary premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival. American Scary traced the rich history of mid-century TV horror hosts, from Zacherley, Ghoulardi, and Vampira to Dr. Lucifur, Sir Cecil Creape, and Dr. Gangrene, and it revealed how the horror-host legacy lives on today through public-access television, video and DVD, and Internet websites. Although his innovative live skits now exist only in the fond memories of long-ago viewers, Dr. Lucifur, Nashville TV’s tasteful Transylvanian, will live forever.



My favorite Peter Cushing film - Island of Terror

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite Peter Cushing film - well, at least for today it is. It is definitely in my top ten. No I'm not talking about the Projected Man, the other half of this double feature, I'm talking about the one and only, mucho action, weird crawling terror, axe wielding sci-fi classic ISLAND OF TERROR. This one feels very much like a Hammer movie, though it's not. That is probably because it stars Cushing and is directed by the imitable Terrance Fisher. Definitely worth tracking down and definitely a movie worth a proper DVD release. click to enlarge this giant half-sheet

Scary Monsters Magazine #78 - Talking The Sadist with Arch Hall Jr.

For issue #78 of Scary Monsters Magazine I spoke with actor Arch Hall Jr. about his film THE SADIST, in what is probably the most extensive interview ever with him about this particular film. Many fun and interesting, and quirky, facts were revealed during the course of our conversation - enjoy!

Women in the Rondos Hall of Fame… or lack thereof

Driving home from Wonderfest I got into a conversation with my buddy Cameron McCasland about women in the Rondo Awards Hall of Fame. If you look through the awards you’ll notice that there aren’t that many women who have made it into the HOF, which is probably to be expected as the genre tends to be a male slanted one. But there are plenty of women who have contributed to the horror field, so we started discussing some who we felt were worthy of inclusion.

Before I get into that I have to say I am still a little cloudy on the criteria for the Rondo Hall of Fame, but David Colton cleared it up quite a bit in the interview he did with me here on this blog. He said it is sort of the second generation of monster kids they’re aiming for - Those who were influenced by the classics and that influence in turn fueled their creative endeavors. OK, cool – makes sense.


Top on both of our lists was  
Cassandra Peterson, a.k.a. Elvira. 

As a TV horror host myself I have to say she definitely is one of the most influential people of all time in the field. From time to time I find myself describing what I do to someone who just doesn’t get it – they have no idea what a “horror host” is. In such cases I say, “Think Elvira,” and they almost always know who I’m talking about. She is probably THE most widely known horror host, even eclipsing her predecessors Zacherly and Vampira in popularity. She had nation-wide syndication, two motion pictures and more marketing and merchandise than you can shake a well-stuffed brassiere at! She is funny, smart, and an icon in the field. I would love for Cassandra to make it into the Rondo Hall of Fame.

Poison Ivy, (a.k.a. Kristy Wallace)

Poison Ivy of the band The Cramps is a woman who should definitely be in the Hall of Fame. I wrote David Colton after Lux Interior was added to the Hall of Fame and asked him if she could be added too. If you’re going to have Lux Interior In there, you’ve gotta have Ivy too. Lux was the front man but Ivy provided that cool rockabilly rhythm that made it groove. The two were a couple for 37 years – they wrote everything together, and were a team. In my book most horror rock boils down to two camps – The Misfits and The Cramps. The Cramps were rockabilly garage punk and influenced a generation of musicians. Ivy’s guitar playing was a huge part of that.

Jessie Lilley 

Jessie Lilley is a woman who I think has a good shot at winning monster kid of the year this year. She is the newly named editor of the revived Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. She is also, in a sure sign of insanity, simultaneously Editor in Chief of Mondo Cult Magazine. How she’ll manage this juggling act I’m not sure but hey – more power to ya Jessie!  She is the former publisher and co-founder of Scarlet Street Magazine, Editor of Worldly Remains, A Pop Culture Review, and also served as Managing Editor for Retro Vision Magazine. She’s even acted in a few low budget movies to boot. She should be in the HOF for her years of dedication promoting the field.

Jovanka Vuckovic 

Jovanka Vuckovic is a woman who has a huge fan follow and is probably destined to get there eventually. What’s not to love about Jovanka? She’s smart, talented, and has that cool rock n’ roll vibe that she brought with her to Rue Morgue magazine. Under her leadership as Editor-in-Chief Rue Morgue Magazine became arguably the most popular genre magazine on the stands today, and the well oiled machine that has swept the Rondos the past two years.  She’s worked as a writer, visual effects artist, actor (as a zombie in the Dawn of the Dead remake and in Land of the Dead), and soon to be director. She may need to work in the field for a few more years to solidify her impact, but I certainly think she’s on her way.

Lorraine Bush 

Lorraine Bush is a painter specializing in classic monsters. Talk about someone fitting the description David laid out for the Hall of Fame, Lorraine is it. She picked up a passion for monsters and horror as a child, passed on from her dad. In 1993 she entered the painting competition at the Famous Monsters of Filmland Convention and won first place. She is the official cover artist for Monster Bash Magazine, and has won a Rondo for Best Magazine Cover. I think she should would be a nice addition to the Hall of Fame.

Dinah Cancer (a.k.a. Mary Sims) 

Dinah Cancer (a.k.a. Mary Sims) is another rocker who gets my vote for the Hall of Fame. She started her career in the 70s – her first band was an all woman punk band called Castration Squad. She sang for a couple other bands before forming 45 Grave in 1980. They sang exclusively about monsters and horror and were an early influential band in the field of horror-rock. In 1984 they recorded their signature track, “Party Time” for the cult classic Return of the Living Dead. You can’t think of that movie without hearing that song in your head. She has been in a number of other bands including Penis Flytrap (LOVE that name) and Dinah Cancer and the Graverobbers. She’s been an extra in a number of movies including Rock n’ Roll High School and Fright Night 2. Most recently 45 Grave have reformed and are performing again.

So there are a few of my choices to sort of get the ball rolling. There are. Of course, there are many other women out there who have kept that horror banner flying high, so feel free to leave a comment with your suggestions.