# The Return of Paul Bearer



## DinoMike (Jan 1, 1970)

Those who remember Dr. Paul Bearer, horror film host in Florida from the 1970s til 1980s,might be interested in this: A couple of fans are bringing Creature Feature back for a trial run of 6 episodes with host Professor Paul Bearer, Dr. Paul's "nephew". (Played by an unnamed Orlando actor.) Clips will also be shown of Dick Bennick as Dr. Paul Bearer from the original Creature Feature.

(I believe Mr. Bennick also played Dr Paul on stations in North Carolina area prior to coming to Florida.)


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

DinoMike said:


> (I believe Mr. Bennick also played Dr Paul on stations in North Carolina area prior to coming to Florida.)


Indeed he did. The height of my pre-adolescent week for a couple of years in the late Sixties was Saturday night at 11:30. After a half hour of rabbit-ear twisting, and with my Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee Mini-Pizzas fresh out of the oven, accompanied by a 16 oz. bottled coke and a packet of Twinkies - I would settle down for a grainy transmission of "Shock Theater" hosted by none other than the pop-eyed, scarfaced Dr. Paul Bearer. He was so cool!


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## beck (Oct 22, 2003)

Zorro , you're giving me a seriuos trip down memory lane bud . our guy was called Mr. Crypt and it was Chiller Theater . 
wish someone around here would start one up again .
hey , remember adding foil to the rabbit ears . kids today would probably laugh their hineys off if they saw something like that .
hb


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## DinoMike (Jan 1, 1970)

The only thing I question is the choice of movies:


Critters 4
Aberration
Humanoids from the Deep
Nightmare on Elm Street 4
Freddy's Dead: the Final Nightmare
Amityville Dollhouse

No classic Universal flicks.... no Godzilla movies... it's just not Creature Feature without them!

(Part of the problem may be that WTOG is not an independent station any more.... they're part of the UPN network. That may impact what films they can show... or that they choose to show.)

Amyway... if there are any Tampa Bay area lurkers here... show's on Saturday at 2pm, starting on Oct 9 and running through a 3-film marathon on Halloween.


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## Ravenauthor (Jan 24, 2004)

I watched Creature Feature on a South Bend station on weekends. don't remember if there was a host. 

And if I was lucky enough, I could try and tune in a Chicago station to watch horror movie host, Svengoolie. 

Larry

added: Rich Koz is doing Son of Svengoolie and still hosting horror movies in Chicago last I heard. Miss those days sometimes.


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## LGFugate (Sep 11, 2000)

Here in Peoria, we had the "Acri Creature Feature" on Sunday afternoons. Acri was a siding/windows company, so all the ads were for them. There was a host, but he wasn't dressed up as a monster or anything. (Unless you consider those people who call at dinnertime to sell you siding monsters...)

Larry

:wave:


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## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

Around these parts (mine & Zorro's neck of the woods), Paul Bearer appeared on WGHP--High Point Channel 8 (ABC) on "Shock Theatre," Saturday nights at 11:30. He was really cool. WRDU Channel 28 (NBC) tried to copycat the success of the show with something called, "The Web" which aired 30 minutes earlier at 11pm. Dr. Paul Bearer had no competition.


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

yamahog said:


> Around these parts (mine & Zorro's neck of the woods), Paul Bearer appeared on WGHP--High Point Channel 8 (ABC) on "Shock Theatre," Saturday nights at 11:30. He was really cool. WRDU Channel 28 (NBC) tried to copycat the success of the show with something called, "The Web" which aired 30 minutes earlier at 11pm. Dr. Paul Bearer had no competition.


... and as I remember, Dr. Bearer didn't air the "A" list horror and sci-fi movies either. None of those classics like "Frankenstein" or "The Day The Earth Stood Still". Nosiree! We're talking _the really good stuff_ like "The Creeping Terror" and "The Killer Shrews" and "The Brain That Wouldn't Die". Those cheesy, creepy movies were greatly enhanced by the viewing experience - Mom and Dad already asleep in bed, all the lights turned out, and that fuzzy, snowy image from many miles away fading in and out on our black and white Motorola. As the silver light from the TV screen barely illuminates the room - I notice the wind rustling the trees outside my window. Damn! I want to be 12 years old again!


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## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

Scott,
Dag, y'all had a Motorola? I had a 16-inch Philco (Ford) in my bedroom (complete with luggage-like handle on the top). We didn't have cable so our roof-mount Channel Master roto-antenna had to fill the bill. Reception was no better at my house than it was at yours, evidently.


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## rw2516 (Jun 1, 2002)

LGFugate, we also had the Acri Creature Feature. I lived in Davenport, Iowa and it was shown by WQAD of Moline, Ill. This was in the late 60's, early 70s. Each show would begin with two siding salesmen coming to this old spooky house to sell the owner siding. The owner was a vampire named Vincent Hedges, his sidekick was called Emmett. The salesmen would sit in the spooky house waiting on the owner and show us the movie while they waited. There would be interludes of Hedges and Emmett torturing a girl in the dungeon, etc. Also pictures on the walls behind the salesmen would slide aside and revealing Hedges and Emmett spying on them.

Also remember back in the 80s the Creature Feature on The Nashville Network. The host was called The Phantom of the Opry. He would host the movie from his lair below the Grand Ole Opry House.


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

yamahog said:


> Scott,
> Dag, y'all had a Motorola? I had a 16-inch Philco (Ford) in my bedroom (complete with luggage-like handle on the top). We didn't have cable so our roof-mount Channel Master roto-antenna had to fill the bill. Reception was no better at my house than it was at yours, evidently.


_Heh!_ Yeah, yamahog - ours had a handle on the top too - a _portable_, you know - even though I'm sure the danged thing weighed 50 lbs. It was two-tone - tan and burnt orange and would put off that nice tube-heated plastic smell after a couple of hours. Cable? You mean _PAY-TV? *Naw!*_ We watched TV the way God intended it - 3 or 4 channels that came in clear _most days_ and The Star Spangled Banner every night by 1 a.m. - followed by five hours of "snow". My 5 year-old daughter doesn't even know what snow _looks like_ - _much less_ a test pattern.


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Zorro said:


> _Heh!_ ... The Star Spangled Banner every night by 1 a.m. - followed by five hours of "snow". My 5 year-old daughter doesn't even know what snow _looks like_ - _much less_ a test pattern.


Ah yes, the Star Spangled Banner and snow - the sound track to quite a few ends of dates... :devil:


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## Heavens Eagle (Jun 30, 2003)

In Tulsa OK back in the late 6'0s and early 70's we had a late Saturday nite guy by the name of Mazzeppa Pompazoidi. He showed all kinds of weird stuff. The interesting thing is Mazzeppa was actually Gaylord Sartain.


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

Ah yes ! "Back then" the Pittsburgh area had a guy named Bill Cardille, aka "Chilly Billy," who had "Chiller Theater" on channel 11, WIIC, now WPXI. He had a run of 21 years or more. Started out B/W in the early days, then went to color.He ran ALL the oldies he could get his hands on.
In the beginning it was just himself, and he would "cut in" to a movie and make comments and often really corny jokes. ( A feature I liked )
Later he had an ensemble, including "Terminal Stare". A REALLY foxy chick whom you 
couldn'tmake smile, just a staid, blank look, but she could give you the "Evil Eye". Also a midget named " Stefen the castle pranskter", and several others. "Terminal" is now a part time model and successful business woman. "Stefen" owns a few successful businesses in town. "Chilly" is in semi-retirement as a DJ on AM radio WJAS.
Several of us "young marrieds" got together at each others houses for a "Chiller Party" 
with pizza & beer. ( Um, one or two of my kids may be an after-effect of a chiller party ?? )


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

here in detroit we had a few of them, some were imported from other cities. the longest running and easily the best was the beloved "sir graves ghastly" portrayed by the late lawson demming, and enjoyed about a 20 year run on saturday afternoons running for the most part the old universals. he was enjoyed by people of all ages in this town. (when reading the birthday announcements, whenever he ran into someone over the age of about 35, as he did often, he'd arch an eyebrow, give the camera the proverbial "hairy eyeball", and say something akin to "getting up there, arent we?") he had a stage laugh that ranks right up there with ceasar romero's joker's cackle im memorability (and impossibility to duplicate).

during the 70's we had "the ghoul" and the "son of svenghouli" both were imports from other cities, although the ghoul eventually ended up broadcasting from detroit. both were late night fare.

towards the end we had dj tom ryan's "count scary" a total rip-off of second city's count floyd charater, so much so that sctv sued ryan over it (and iirc won).


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

I remember watching Paul Bearer in the 70's. I was spending the summer with my Grandparents in Tampa. I had forgot about him. Thanks for the jogging of the old brain cells, DinoMike!


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## Otto69 (Jan 2, 2004)

*East Coasters eh?*

Here in California I can think of 3 shows:

- Creature Features with Bob Wilkens as the host was the best by a longshot. He showed lots of bad movies, but also showed Night of the Living Dead, and had an interview withe Maude Adams on his show when Man With the Golden Gun came out.

- Castle Noir, but I can't remember the hosts name. An old bearded gentlemen with some sort of goth-like housemaid. He definately showed old Universal movies.

- The Ghoul. This may have been rebroadcast from the east coast I'm not sure. The Ghoul was a sort of crazed clown who had really long non-commercial breaks where he ranted, and blew up models with firecrackers. One show he opened the studio doors to fly his kite in the rain.....'"Ghoul! Watch out for those wires!" BZZZT.


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## CaptFrank (Jan 29, 2005)

I know I'm going to get abused for this, but...

Does anyone remember "Movie Macabre" with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark?

She sorta did the same thing: bad movies, jokes during breaks.

The only "Creature Feature" I ever had was on Saturday afternoons. There
was no host. Just two movies in a row. Always a Godzilla as one of them.
It was great!


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

http://myweb.wvnet.edu/e-gor/tvhorrorhosts/index.html


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## Dave Metzner (Jan 1, 1970)

Ah yes Elvira Mistress of the Dark!
She's kinda hard to forget!

Speaking of stuff your kid's have never seen How about Test patterns.
I remember that when the local channels would sign-off after the National Anthem they'd throw the test pattern up. 
If you turned the set on too earliy in the morning there was the good old test pattern...........with that whistling noise that'd clear your sinuses right out for you!
This'll make you feel ancient!!
My kids don't believe there ever was such a thing as a time of night when there was no TV. my oldest is 23 (BTW)

Dave


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## Otto69 (Jan 2, 2004)

Then they probably wouldn't believe there was a time when you didn't have cable. Or that you used to have to leave the TV 'warm up' before you could get an image on it. Or when there were actaully FEWER commercials


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

Ah ! I had forgotten until someone mentioned it here. If you see "Night of the living dead", it was made in Pittsburgh, and the Bill Cardille I mentioned as "Chilly Billy"was in it. He was the TV 'reporter' ( strange casting huh ? He was also a newsman and weatherman on channel 11). 
I also think he was in sequels, one of which was made in the Monroeville Mall, just outside Pittsburgh, but not sure. Bill's daughter, Lori, was also in a couple 'spookers' but the names escape my aged and feeble brain right now. They are all tight friends with George Romero.


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