Wednesday, October 4, 2017

1974 The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute

First broadcast 43 years ago on October 31st, 1974 on ABC's Wide World of Entertainment, Vincent Price and his hunchback sidekick Zuckman (played by great Canadian actor Billy Van) hosts The Horror Hall of Fame a corny but fun comedic special (laugh track included) featuring clips of classics films like "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," "The Golem," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "The Phantom of the Opera," Bela Lugosi's "Mark of the Vampire," and (at the time) current titles "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" (Christopher Lee pulling the stake out of his heart), "Blacula" and "The Exorcist."

The real highlights of the special are the scenes where Mr. Price sits and conducts interviews with guests including Batman's (1966–1968) Riddler Frank Gorshin (discussing his impression of Boris Karloff), Gomez Addams himself John Astin, "In Search of Dracula" author Raymond McNally, actress Candy Clark from "American Graffiti," who allows herself to be transformed into a monster by makeup artist William Tuttle, and the great John Carradine. Ivor Barry has a small role as mad scientist Murray Frankenstein, and his long awaited Monster escapes before we get a chance to see it. An affectionate salute to the horror genre:

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