As a little kid growing up in Oakland – somehow managed to stay up late on Saturday nights and watch Bob Wilkins hosting Creature Features. He passed away yesterday and I find myself melancholy at the thought of Bob not being around anymore.
To my 7-year-old-eyes Creature Features was forbidden cinema. Bob himself would often warn you against watching the often terrible films he would screen. The joy that can come from bad cinema, trash art, obviously rubbed off on me – as, often on TFT, I seem to be more exercised by poor films than good ones.
As far as I can see the late night horror movie host format is dead and gone now – and with it the low-production values, (I mean look at that set! though as a kid it was dark, inviting, a window into an unknowable realm), and charm that comes from someone inviting you to watch a movie with them just for fun. These local TV shows often had charm, a low key wit and weren’t burdened by the graceless ambition of modern day programming.
I’m going to stay up late tonight and watch Matango, (aka Attack of the Mushroom People, aka Curse of the Mushroom People, aka Fungus of Terror, aka Matango the Fungus of Terror, aka Matango: Fungus of Terror, a film I remembered scared the ever-loving bejeesus out of me when I saw it on Bob’s show.
(Additional notes: as JHarris says in this thread – the fact that Bob had to hock DVDs of his show to pay for his medical treatment shows that the Health Care system in this country is far scarier than anything we saw in Creature Features.
Also so I don’t leave you on a somber note – please watch the opening credit sequence of Creature Features at the beginning of the clip below – note how practically the only lyrics of the title song are the words ‘Creature’ and ‘Features’ !)
posted in forum Miscellaneous by zad1138
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posted in forum General Movie Stuff by seanpdudley
posted in forum General Movie Stuff by Jett Loe
posted in forum General Movie Stuff by prawnman
I loved the show — and Captain Cosmic, too!
ya – Captain Cosmic! I had a silver decoder card and everything! :)
a sad day – one of reasons I do this Show has got to be Bob Wilkins – a real inspiration.
Wow! I wish we had Bob Wilkins here in Ga! We had Elvira, who was substantially more interesting to look at than Bob, but she was more main stream and most certainly not as good, I would predict.
[...] time with friends sitting around the TV not knowing just what kind of weirdness would show up next. Jett Loe over at thefilmtalk.com has an epitaph for one the original [...]
I grew up in Brentwood, in East Contra County (aka, the far East Bay) and loved watching Bob Wilkins creature Feature on saturday nights with my friends. They would bring sleeping bags, and we would “camp out” on the living room floor in front of the television. We would munch on corn chips and Frito Lay bean dip, with a Pepsi chaser. Some of Bob's movies were to become classic cult icons, such as 'Creature from the Black Lagoon', or 'The Blob' starring a very young Steve McQueen. And yes, the simple, late night programming presented by the local stations, WAS very low key, and for me, represented a time when 'The digital revolution' and 24/7 television didn't exist to overtake and overwhelm the simple treat that could be found in a good old cheezy, low budget horror film. Bob, you will be missed.
Nice to hear from ya cstanleycook – yes he will be missed – in a simpler time with less access to media the ['gatekeepers' / those who able to dig up those cult gems] really meant something.
I grew up in Brentwood, in East Contra County (aka, the far East Bay) and loved watching Bob Wilkins creature Feature on saturday nights with my friends. They would bring sleeping bags, and we would “camp out” on the living room floor in front of the television. We would munch on corn chips and Frito Lay bean dip, with a Pepsi chaser. Some of Bob's movies were to become classic cult icons, such as 'Creature from the Black Lagoon', or 'The Blob' starring a very young Steve McQueen. And yes, the simple, late night programming presented by the local stations, WAS very low key, and for me, represented a time when 'The digital revolution' and 24/7 television didn't exist to overtake and overwhelm the simple treat that could be found in a good old cheezy, low budget horror film. Bob, you will be missed.
Nice to hear from ya cstanleycook – yes he will be missed – in a simpler time with less access to media the ['gatekeepers' / those who able to dig up those cult gems] really meant something.
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