The good folks at the American Genre Film Archive put together this uneven but mostly amusing mixtape that collects bits and pieces from retro television broadcasts and old horror-related videos. The snippets come from USA Up All Night’s B- Movie Awards Show where hosts Gilbert Gottfried and Rhonda Shear hand out awards to Scream Queens like Linnea Quigley. Also featured are the interview with Stuart Gordon, some behind the scenes footage of Bride of Re-Animator, and the profile on F/X artist Screaming Mad George that originally appeared in Gorgon Video Magazine Vol. 2. Robert Englund, Wes Craven, Rick Baker, and Walter Koenig also appear in clips from Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors tape.
Lesser-known bits are taken from a documentary on The Exorcist called Didn’t You Used to Be Satan? We also get scenes from The Making of a Horror Film, a profile on producer Dick Randall made during the production of Don’t Open Till Christmas. Randall is a real character and is a lot of fun to watch. The scene where he watches dailies of the film and makes Mystery Science Theater 3000-style commentary on the action is pretty funny. It all ends oddly enough with Scatman Crothers rapping about Stanley Kubrick.
Maybe I would’ve given this a higher rating if I hadn’t already been so familiar with a lot of the footage. Because of that, there wasn’t really any sense of discovery for me. I also wish they had culled more snippets from other sources instead of just using bits from the same four or five tapes. In fact, you’re probably better off just watching Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, Gorgon Video Magazine Vol. 2, or the Up All Night special in their entirety.
That said, they do use some choice clips. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see Bill Moseley give an award to The Toxic Avenger? That alone is worth ** ½ in my book.
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