Wednesday, October 31, 2012

2012 Halloween Party and Safety Videos

Happy Halloween 2012! Here is vintage short film from 1953 about how a small suburban family celebrates Halloween in America. Covers decorations, pumpkins, balloons, and activities. Meant for children of all ages:



Here are 2 vintage videos with safety tips to follow this Halloween:

Halloween Safety Educational Film (1977, Centron)


Halloween Safety Educational Film (1985, Centron)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

1982 Trick or Treats

Trick or Treats is 1982 horror/comedy directed by Gary Graver and starring Jacklyn Giroux, Peter Jason, Carrie Snodgress, David Carradine and Steve Railsback. A young woman babysits a young brat on Halloween night who keeps playing vicious pranks on her. Meanwhile, the boy's father has escaped from a mental institution and returns home to terrorize his ex-wife, who committed him. But, the wife's away at a party in Las Vegas with her new husband and they have left their son and the babysitter alone in the house.

This is a really low budget production, the whole film is badly-lit, the plot makes little sense, it's filled with scenes that just drag on, and for being a slasher/horror film it has a low body count and really lacks any suspense and scares. But it does have a spooky Halloween atmosphere, seeing all the colorful Halloween decorations and the trick or treaters costumes kept me entertained and that's what I liked about this film.

A much better looking version of the film was finally released on Blu-ray by Code Red on October 5, 2021. The YouTube video below is gone but you can watch the full movie on TubiTV.com.


Monday, October 29, 2012

2009 Spooky Bats and Scaredy Cats

Spooky Bats and Scaredy Cats is a stop-motion animated Halloween special released on DVD in 2009. As two kids, named Katie and Makean, delay their trick or treating to deliver Halloween party invitations for their old friend "The Candleman", they find themselves caught up in a spooky adventure to frightening forests, scarey swamps and a chilling cemetery where they meet classic monsters including Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, The Wolf-man, The Grim Reaper, a scarecrow, a witch and a swamp monster. Though not as good as "A Nightmare Before Christmas" this is a fun special that kids will love and fans of the old Universal monster movies will love it too.

Part 1:


Part 2:

Sunday, October 28, 2012

1998 The Worst Witch - A Mean Halloween

This is not the 1986 movie starring Tim Curry and Fairuza Balk. This is a TV series that is more like the Jill Murphy books, broken up in episodes. It ran for three seasons from 1998 to 2001 and originally aired in UK and Canada and later in other countries as well. Many say it's the girl version of Harry Potter. A second series called the New Worst Witch was produced from 2005-2006 which carries on from this series. I posted the Halloween episode of this second series last year which you can find here.

In this episode titled A Mean Hallowe'en, the Chief Wizard has been invited to attend the school's Hallowe'en celebration and Mildred is thrilled to have been chosen to lead the traditional first-year flying display. However, Ethel Hallow is still furious that Mildred turned her into a pig earlier on and vows revenge. This was a delightful series with beautiful sets and outdoor scenes and a wonderful cast, great for children and people young at heart. You watch other episodes on youtube by clicking here.



Saturday, October 27, 2012

1971 Funky Phantom - Headless Horseman

Similar to Hanna-Barbera's successful Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Funky Phantom featured three teenagers Skip, April, Augie and their dog Elmo who release the ghosts of an American Revolution patriot named Mudsy and his pet cat Boo from a longcase clock. Mudsy and Boo now accompany there new friends on many mysteries, always giving an invisible helping hand. The voice of Mudsy is identical to the character Snagglepuss, down to the use of Snagglepuss's catchphrases, even. Micky Dolenz from the Monkees voices the character of Skip.

In this episode Mudsy, April, Skip, Augie, Elmo and Boo visit the famous town of Sleepy Hollow. April becomes a little jealous when the boys begin flirting with Laurie Elwood, the manager of Sleepy Hollow Inn, who introduces them to the great, great, great grandson of Ichabod Crane. The gang soon discovers the town's ghostly legend, The Headless Horseman, is all too real as he eventually kidnaps Icky Crane. They also clash with Richard Travers V, a descendant of the town bully. This is the fifth episode of a total of 17 made in 1971-72.


Friday, October 26, 2012

1988 Fun House - Halloween

Here is the Halloween episode of a game show for kids called Fun House that was recorded on Oct 31, 1988 from KCOP Los Angeles. This, along with Double Dare, were my favorite game shows to watch after school.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:

Thursday, October 25, 2012

1983 Walt Disney Cartoon Classics: Scary Tales

Walt Disney Cartoon Classics was a series of home videos that contained compilations of Disney's old animated shorts from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Scary Tales is the third volume of the series of videos and was released in 1983. It contains 6 Halloween-themed animated shorts. You can buy this video online but expect to pay a lot of money because they are a rare find. The 6 videos below, plus the intro, is a recreation of the Scary Tales VHS video. I am a huge fan of Disney cartoons especially these Halloween-related ones.

Intro of the VHS video:


Donald Duck and the Gorilla 1944:


Duck Pimples 1945:


The Skeleton Dance 1929:


Haunted House 1929:


Donald's Lucky Day 1939:


Pluto's Judgement Day 1935:

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

1977 Donny & Marie Osmond - Halloween skits

Here are some crazy cheesy clips from the Halloween episode of Donny & Marie's variety show that originally aired October 28, 1977, plus other Halloween-related skits from 1976 and 1980. I love Halloween so much that I'd watch any show that mentions or is related to Halloween, even if it's Donnie & Marie.

Spooky Opening with the introduction of the special guests Billy Crystal, Shirley Hemphill, Kristy McNichol and Ben Vereen:


Concert Spot - Mustache Disguises with Kristy McNichol:


Trick Or Treat Skit - Donny and Kristy McNichol go trick or treating and meet Billy Crystal & Shirley Hemphill:


It Takes Two segment with a spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's movie "the Birds" starring Big Bird and a skit with Frankenstein's Monster and his Bride:


Donny as Dracula, Marie as his Vampire sister?, Michael Landon as a werewolf, Don Knotts as Dr. Frankenstein with his monster and Billy Barty as Igor. Monster Mash song. This is not from the Halloween episode but it's related to Halloween. Originally aired 4/30/1976:


Another Halloween-related clip with Marie Osmond & Jeff Conaway in a Werewolf Skit from The Marie Show that originally aired 12/12/1980:

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

1991 Miss Switch Mystery Special

Strand Video Entertainment released the following two specials in 1991 on one VHS tape titled Miss Switch Mystery Special. This is a recreation of that vhs video.

The first animated special is called The Trouble With Miss Switch which premiered in 1980 and re-aired numerous times on TV as an episode of the "ABC Weekend Special." It's about two students, Amelia and Rupert, who find out that their substitute teacher, Miss Switch, is a real life Witch. When an evil witch named Saturna takes over the coven of witches and tries to destroy Miss Switch, the teacher and her magical talking cat, Bathsheba, ask for the children's help to stop her. Due to this special's immense popularity, a sequel cartoon titled Miss Switch to the Rescue was made soon after. The sequel can be found below this video.

1980 The Trouble With Miss Switch:


1982's Miss Switch to the Rescue is the follow-up to 1980s The Trouble With Miss Switch. Miss Switch is back for another adventure. School isn't the same for students Rupert Brown and Amelia Daley without Miss Switch, their incredible broomstick-riding, spell-casting former teacher! But, when Amelia is kidnapped by Mordo the warlock, Miss Switch the witch returns in the guise of a substitute teacher to help Rupert rescue his friend and classmate.

1982 Miss Switch to the Rescue:


Both stories are fun and the animation style reminds me of "The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries" animation from the eighties, which I always liked and was the typical animation style of that time. Both specials are something you can let your kids watch without hesitation.

Monday, October 22, 2012

1985 The Fall Guy - October the 32nd with Elvira

The Fall Guy was an action drama series that starred Lee Majors as a Hollywood stuntman named Colt Seavers who moonlights as a bounty hunter. The show originally aired on ABC from November 4, 1981 to May 2, 1986. This is the second Halloween episode of the series that featured Elvira. After filming a horror film, Colt's team and the Mistress of the Dark spend the night in an old haunted mansion. As a storm hits, they soon realize an escaped psychotic mental patient is loose in the mansion. With Elvira along for the ride, things are bound to go bump in the night.

Full Episode:

Sunday, October 21, 2012

1979 The Flintstones Meet Rockula And Frankenstone

This is a recreation of a VHS video released in 1989 that contains the following two Flintstones TV specials that were never released on DVD. The first special is the 48 minute The Flintstones Meet Rockula & Frankenstone from 1979. In this one, Fred and Barney appear on a spoof of the game show "Let's Make a Deal," where they win vacations to Rocksylvania. Shortly after arriving, the deceased former owner of the castle where the families are bunking, Count Rockula, awakens from a 400 year slumber and decides he has to wed Wilma -- but the only way he can marry her is to make her a widow first. Pebbles is mentioned near the end, but strangely neither her nor Bamm-Bamm are seen.

1979 The Flintstones Meet Rockula & Frankenstone:


The second special on the tape is the 24 minute, Emmy-nominated The Flintstones' New Neighbors from 1980. A creepy Addams/Munsters-like family moves their home onto the vacant lot next door to the Flintstones. After bidding the new family welcome, Fred decides that they're "freaks" and quarrels with Barney, who likes the newcomers. But when Pebbles winds up in the path of a Pterodactyl, the three families must work together to save her. Father Frank Frankenstone is the exact same character design from the previous special, but he speaks with an English accent and is obviously not supposed to be the same character (which could be a bit confusing considering they've packaged them back to back). A slightly different variation of the Frankenstone family had already been seen in the previous year's "The New Fred and Barney Show."

1980 The Flintstones' New Neighbors - Part 1:


1980 The Flintstones' New Neighbors - Part 2:


1980 The Flintstones' New Neighbors - Part 3:

Saturday, October 20, 2012

1987 Creepy Classics with Vincent Price

What fun! This VHS video features trailers of classic horror and sci-fi films from the 50s and 60s, some starring Vincent Price himself, who is also the narrator of this video. The now out-of-print, "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" is a special "kick" as a detached hand crawls around haunting Christopher Lee. You'll view excerpts from "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" (the original), "The Blob", "I Was A Teenage Werewolf", "Day Of The Triffids", "Pit And The Pendulum","The Raven", etc.etc., and all the screaming headline hype from the coming attractions. Really a bunch of ballyhoo of eras gone by. Good eras of classic horror before computer graphics. I cannot imagine anyone that would not enjoy this peek into the past with Vincent Price as our guide.


Friday, October 19, 2012

1972 Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies

Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies is a 1972 one hour special that aired as part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. Warner Bros. "loaned out" their famous Looney Tunes characters to interact with the characters from the Filmation animated series Groovie Goolies that aired on CBS from September 12, 1970 to September 4, 1971. The Goolies were a group of hip monsters who looked and sounded like comedic versions of the classic horror-film monsters created in the 1930s and 1940s, mostly by Universal Pictures.

The concept is pretty wild: The Groovy Goolies are big fans of the Looney Tunes characters and while watching them on TV they hear that a King Arthur movie that Daffy is making, is being sabotaged by a mysterious Phantom character. What happens next? Why Drac, Frankie, Wolfie and the other Goolies rush off to Hollywood to help save Daffy and Porky's film. Other characters featured include Petunia Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepé Le Pew, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, and Charlie Dog. Oddly, Bugs Bunny is absent from this project.

Mel Blanc voiced the Looney Tunes characters but notice how Daffy's voice has been sped up too much instead of only a little bit, like in the classic shorts. Daffy now sounds like his late 1930s self, or even Woody Woodpecker! (I was half-expecting Daffy to start acting like his classic "crazy" self at times.) Also note how Porky's voice was NOT sped up at all, and sounds awkward. Tweety's dialogue is also too fast. And like most Saturday morning cartoons from the 1970s, this special also has an adult laugh track which laughs at everything, even if it's not funny.

The complete Groovie Goolies animated series and the classic Looney Tunes shorts have been released on DVD but this special has never had a VHS or DVD release due to various rights issues. This really isn't a Halloween special but it is rare and I figured the Goolies are based on the Universal classic monsters and I love watching those monster movies when October rolls around. Finally I must admit, this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd say it's a "so bad it's good" type of special and required viewing for anyone who's a fan of the Looney Tunes characters and/or the Groovie Goolies.

Heres a 2018 Restoration by YouTuber netscapenow. Spliced from a 2013 German TV broadcast (first part only), "Groovie Ghouls" 1980s UK VHS, 1972 original broadcast (B/W print), and "The Haunted Heist":


Part 1 Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies by Wiley208


Part 2 Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies by Wiley208


Part 3 Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies by Wiley208


YouTuber wileyvision13 corrected Daffy, Porky and Tweety's voices in this version of the entire special:


Thursday, October 18, 2012

1992 & 1995 The Three Stooges Fright Night

This is a recreation of two Halloween TV specials that originally aired on TBS in 1992 and again in 1995. Starring The Three Stooges: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard or Shemp Howard, a comedy act best known for their numerous short subject films that were made for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959. The 1992 version of the Halloween special features the following four frightening Stooges shorts, "If a Body Meets a Body," "We Want Our Mummy," "Dopey Dicks," and "Three Pests in a Mess".

If a Body Meets a Body (1945) - look out for the funny Halloween related scene, the bird in the flying skull:


We Want Our Mummy (1939) - look out for the Curly dressed up as a mummy scene:


Dopey Dicks (1950) - look out for the mad scientist in need of human brains for his ghastly experiment:


Three Pests in a Mess (1945) - look out for the spooky cemetery scenes:


1995 The Three Stooges Fright Night


The 1995 version includes the first 2 shorts above: "If a Body Meets a Body," "We Want Our Mummy," plus the 3 following shorts: "Spooks!," "The Hot Scots" and "Malice in the Palace."

Spooks! (1953) This version is in Red Cyan 3D - look out for the mad scientist Dr. Jeckyl and his assistant, Mr. Hyde, who keep a gorilla for experimental purposes:


The Hot Scots (1948) - this short takes place in a spooky haunted castle:


Malice in the Palace (1949) - look out for Larry's cooking skills:


I love these guys so much. I don't remember seeing these specials air on Halloween but growing up in the 80's channel 38 in Boston would have a 6 hour Three Stooges marathon every New Years Eve.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

1927 Felix The Cat - 1931 Toby the Pup

Here are two Halloween-themed vintage animated shorts from the late 20s and early 30s. Seeing the old style animation is incredible, and it's great to find them so easily online.

This is a Felix The Cat short, called Switches Witches, with an added synchronized music and sound effects score added for early TV showings in the '50s. Even though producer Pat Sullivan's name is the only one credited, Otto Messmer [Felix's creator] was largely responsible for this one. Originally released in October 1927.

1927 Felix The Cat - Switches Witches:


This Toby the Pup short, called Halloween was made by Dick Huemers, Sid Marcus and Art Davis. Originally released May 1, 1931. Twelve Toby cartoons were produced from 1930 to 1931, though very few still survive today.

1931 Toby the Pup - Halloween:

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

1997 You Wish - Halloween

You Wish is a comedy that ran from September 26, 1997 to June 23, 1998. It started as part of ABC's TGIF programming and was a 1990s version of "I Dream of Jeannie." But in this situation, a single mother and her 2 kids release a male genie who's been imprisoned in a magic carpet for 2,000 years. The Mother reluctantly accepts the services of the genie who begins to live with the family. The genie's name is simply "Genie." Jerry Van Dyke was introduced to the show in the third episode as Genie's Grandpa Max.

The Halloween episode originally aired on October 31, 1997 and was the 6th of a total of 12 episodes made. In this ep, Genie turns the daughter into a witch, the son into a road warrior and helps with the Halloween decorations. Mom makes a wish for Genie to be human for just one Halloween night. All while Grandpa Max loses his hand, and conjures up Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula and the Mummy. Then a Werewolf and the Bride of Frankenstein make an appearance.

Part 1:


Part 2:

Monday, October 15, 2012

1997 Disney's Quack Pack - House of Haunts

Quack Pack was a short-lived but excellent '90's afternoon animated series from Disney. Donald Duck is still living with his mischievous nephews Huey, Louie, and Dewey, but they're now teenagers. Donald works as a camera man and Daisy is a TV reporter for a tabloid news show. Together the group of ducks get into crazy adventures they constantly have to get themselves out of. It was a well animated and very entertaining series.

This VHS video was released in 1997 and is called House of Haunts. It features 2 spooky Quack Pack episodes. The first is called "The Boy Who Cried Ghost," Dewey's practical jokes gets on everyone's nerves when the Ducks have to spend the night in a deserted mansion on Halloween, but when he tries to convince the others he's really seen a ghost no one believes him. And in "Cat and Louse," Huey has to ask his family to help him face his fears when he finds he's terrified of black cats.

Quack Pack - The Boy Who Cried Ghost:


Quack Pack - Cat and Louse:

Sunday, October 14, 2012

1988 Grampa Munster's Monster Movies

Another video of Al "Grampa Munster" Lewis as he hosts a collection of film clips and the original theatrical trailers of Universal's classic horror films staring Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman plus others. The comedy bits in between the film clips were a little funnier than the Silly Scaries videos that I posted here but like the Silly Scaries videos, this is a very low budget production. A collection of great classic horror trailers hosted by Grampa Munster, what more would you want to watch on Halloween?

Saturday, October 13, 2012

1999 The Scooby-Doo Project

The Scooby-Doo Project was a collection of animated/live action segments that spoof the horror film The Blair Witch Project, It featured those meddling kids arriving in the woods to investigate strange events only to have things start to go wrong. Originally aired during the Cartoon Network's 24hour marathon of Scooby-Doo episodes on Halloween 1999.

At the end of the marathon, all the segments were then supposed to be shown in its entirety but for some reason the network did not include all of the filmed clips. Below is a fan edited full version. I love Scooby Doo and The Blair Witch Project and I think this is an amazing parody of the horror film. It's funny and a little creepy. I really wish they would release this on dvd.

The Scooby-Doo Project (full version):

Friday, October 12, 2012

2000s Real Scary Stories - Scary...But True

Real Scary Stories was fantastic paranormal show that debuted on FOX Family channel in the early 2000's and aired during the "13 Nights of Halloween" programming block. It was about real kids telling real scary ghost stories and also featured kids investigating locations across the country that are reported to be haunted. The show was canceled soon after the FOX Family channel switched owners and became the ABC Family channel. SYFY channel aired reruns of the show a few years ago, but they renamed the show to Scary...But True and only a couple episodes were shown. I have wanted this program to return to air for the past 10+ years. I remember watching on Saturday mornings on FOX Family. I'm not sure how many episodes were made but here are 4 episodes that were recorded off of ABC Family in 2002:

Agnes in the Wall, Room 347, Bodie's Curse:


The Lady in Gray & The Deacon:


Danny's Bed, Haunted Home Video, Green Man Tunnel


Part 1 Gurdon's Light & Condie's Ghost:


Part 2 Condie's Ghost:

Thursday, October 11, 2012

1988 Grampa Munster's Silly Scaries - 1989 More Silly Scaries

Here we have two videos starring Al "Grampa Munster" Lewis hosting a collection of classic animated shorts from 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. The first 60 minute video is called Grampa's Silly Scaries and contains the following eight shorts:

1. "A Haunting We Will Go" (1949) staring Casper the Friendly Ghost.
2. "The Cobweb Hotel" (1936) about a spider catching flies.
3. "The Mad Doctor" (1933) starring Mickey Mouse.
4. "The Impatient Patient" (1942) starring Daffy Duck.
5. "Hollywood Capers" (1935) staring Beans, with a caricature of Frankenstein's monster.
6. "Mummies Boys" (1965) starring The 3 Stooges animated.
7. "Fright To The Finish" (1954) staring Popeye, Bluto and Olive on Halloween.
8. "The PincushionMan" (1935) about balloons terrorized by pins.

1988 Grampa Munster's Silly Scaries:


The second video, which is a sequel to the first, is called More Silly Scaries. It contains the following six shorts:

1. "I Don't Scare" (1956) starring Popeye, Bluto and Olive on Friday the 13th.
2. "The Friendly Ghost" (1935) starring Casper.
3. "Magic Mummy" (1933) starring Tom and Jerry (not the cat and mouse).
4. "The Raven" (1942) based on Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem.
5. "Gypped In Egypt" (1930) starring Waffles the Cat and Don the Dog.
6. "Is My Palm Read?" (1933) starring Betty Boop.

1989 More Silly Scaries with Grampa Munster:


The Munsters was one of my favorite shows and even though he appears in poor white face powder, cheap costumes and a blue screen set with horridly made backgrounds and effects, it was a real treat to see Al Lewis as Grampa Munster once again.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

1987 Werewolf - All Hallow's Eve

Werewolf was one of the original shows created for the FOX network in the 1987-1988 season. It's about the adventures of a young man, Eric Cord, who is inflicted with the werewolf curse after he is bitten by his friend Teddy who is a werewolf. To rid himself of his curse, Eric must find and kill the apparent originator of his "bloodline," a drifter named Janos Skorzeny, all while being chased by a persistent bounty hunter called "Alamo" Joe Rogan.

A two-hour pilot, which is better than most big budget werewolf movies, and 28 half-hour episodes were created before the show was cancelled in 1988. The show featured great real make up and special effects (not fake CGI) by monster master, Rick Baker. The complete series was to be released on DVD in 2009 but was canceled when an agreement could not be reached with the artists for the rights of the songs used in the series.

The Halloween episode takes place on All Hallow's Eve, Eric finds an abandoned house to lock himself up in on the night of a another change, not realizing that a disfigured man with a sad backstory lives/hides in the old house because of his appearance. To watch other episodes of this show click here and here.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

2000s Cartoon Network/Adult Swim Halloween bumpers

From 1999-2003 Cartoon Cartoon Fridays was a 4-hour block of programming in which Cartoon Network aired all of their original "Cartoon Cartoons" series. The on-going series slowly changed from a series of cartoon injected parodies (such as fake cooking shows and weather forecasts), which were used from 1999-2000, into a full series of segments and bumpers hosted by one of the network's animated stars.

Each week, a new character such as Bubbles (The Powerpuff Girls), Eustace (Courage the Cowardly Dog), Edd (Ed, Edd n Eddy), or Johnny Bravo (Johnny Bravo) would actually host the program by announcing upcoming episodes and interacting with other random cartoons on the set. To tie this all together, there was an off-screen announcer that introduced each host as well as the weekly commercial ads.

Here are the bumpers and segments from the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays Halloween Party that originally aired on October 27th, 2000. This is hosted by "Cartoon Cartoons" characters dressed in Halloween costumes of other "Cartoon Cartoons" characters:


Starting in 2003, the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays block was simply called Fridays and was hosted by 2 live hosts, Tommy Snider and Nzinga Blake in 2003-2004 with Nzinga being replaced by Tara Sands in 2005-2007.

Here are bumpers and segments of Fridays from October 2004. This also has both versions of the Fridays opening, one at the beginning, and another at the end of this video:


And finally here are Adult Swim Halloween wraparounds from 2003 starring Brak's Dad. These were shown during the airing of "The Brak Show" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force":

Monday, October 8, 2012

1975 The Night That Panicked America

The Night That Panicked America is a made-for-television movie that dramatizes the events surrounding Orson Welles' famous - and infamous - War of the Worlds radio broadcast (based on the novel of the same name by English author H.G. Wells) of October 30, 1938, which had led some Americans to believe that an invasion of Martians was occurring in New Jersey.

The film tells the story of the 1938 broadcast from the point of view of Welles and his associates as they create the broadcast live, as well as from the points of view of a number of different fictional American families, in a variety of locations and from a variety of social classes, who listened to the broadcast and believed the imaginary Martian invasion was actually occurring, with some people even committing suicide.

It premiered on the ABC network on October 31, 1975 and starred Michael Constantine, Meredith Baxter-Birney, Tom Bosley, Eileen Brennan, Vic Morrow, Will Geer, and John Ritter. Paul Shenar played Orson Welles. Some local stations in various areas of the United States have annually rebroadcast the movie on October 30, the anniversary of the original radio broadcast or on Halloween itself, October 31.

The movie has never been officially released on VHS or DVD, but you can find bootleg DVDs online of an old VHS recording.


Sunday, October 7, 2012

1970s-2000s Monster Cereal commercials

Count Chocula was my favorite Monster Cereal growing up, my sister loved Frankenberry and Boo Berry was bought every once in a while. Never got the chance to try Fruity Yummy Mummy and I don't remember Fruit Brute. And I always loved the Monsters commercials just as much as the cereal. I grew up watching the commercials of the 1980's, but after watching a few on youtube, the 1970's commercials are my favorites.

For Halloween I created this as a tribute, a 28 minute video of 58 Monster Cereal commercials from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s staring Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Boo Berry, Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy. The video and sound quality of each ad varies from good to better to worse and there are a few duplicate ads that have different endings. I also tried to put them in the order they aired on TV, which I just guessed at. Enjoy!

58 Monster Cereal commercials - 28 minutes:

Saturday, October 6, 2012

1988 Unsolved Mysteries - Halloween Ghost Special

The special Halloween edition of Unsolved Mysteries premiered on October 26, 1988 and was the first episode to feature segments about ghosts. The four classic ghost stories, as told by the people who experienced them, include: "Queen Mary Ghosts," "Tallman's Ghost," "General Wayne's Inn" and "Tatum's Ghost." Hosted by the late Robert Stack and featuring the expertise of Dr. William Roll.

I was 12 years old when I first saw this episode and I remember it really freaked me out. Especially a scene from "Tallman's Ghost" story, when Mr. Tallman arrives home from work at 2am, he hears an eerie howling wind and a voice that says "come here" he looks back and notices his garage on fire, he runs inside with fear and then his lunchbox fly's out of his hands. I was so scared, this episode definitely left me with many sleepless nights.




Friday, October 5, 2012

2003 Looney Tunes - Twick or Tweety

This 4 minute Halloween-themed animated short is called Twick or Tweety and is one of 18 shorts on a DVD released in 2003 called "Looney Tunes - Stranger Than Fiction." It stars Witch Hazel, Sylvester and Tweety as they parody old horror movies on All Hallows' Eve. All 18 shorts were originally released online as flash webtoons so expect a choppy animation style that isn't that great compared to the classic WB shorts. But it does have a couple of funny lines. Note: this video is incorrectly named "8 Loch Ness Mess" on Youtube.

Twick or Tweety:

Thursday, October 4, 2012

1990s Elvira, Rick Dees and Halloween

Rick Dees interviews Elvira in this Halloween episode of a short-lived late night television talk show called Into the Night. Rick Dees hosted from 1990 to 1991 but he was replaced by a new celebrity guest host every week by the end of 1991. Some of the guest hosts included Joy Behar, Richard Belzer, Tony Danza, Suzanne Sommers and Brad Garrett. With new hosts, the show was also reformatted from a largely interview based program, to a sketch comedy show called STUDIO 59. But due to abysmal ratings the show was canceled soon after.



In this second video from Halloween 1997, Rick Dees incorrectly introduces Elvira as the Mistress of the Night (it's Dark) and she performs a spoof of the "Sweet Transvestite" song from "Rocky Horror Picture Show" called "Sweet Elvira" live from Knotts Scary Farms.


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

1983 Son Of Svengoolie - The Worst Of Svengoolie

Son of Svengoolie was a series that aired on WFLD 32 in the Chicago area which featured a horror host of the same name hosting low budget Sci-Fi and Horror movies with wisecracks, song parodies and various sound effects thrown in. The original weekly TV show ran from 1978 to 1986. The series and host returned to the air on December 31, 1994 on WCIU (Channel 26), using just Svengoolie as his name. New episodes featuring Universal's classic monster movies have been airing on the Me-TV Network here in MA.

This Halloween special originally aired on Saturday, October 29th 1983. It features Sven along with co host Jonathan Brandmeier ("Johnny B") throwing a Halloween party with many people who have attended wearing their Halloween costumes. The worst of everything the horror host has to offer is shown including the worst of his song parodies... clips of the worst monsters... the worst songs from the movies... and even the worst science fiction movie of all time. This could really be The Worst Of Svengoolie.

The playlist below contains 10 videos which add up to the 1h30min special with commercials. Full broadcast:


Or Click Here to watch the other parts on Youtube.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

1987 Tom & Jerry Halloween Special

Tom & Jerry Halloween Special was a primetime special that originally aired on TBS in October 1987. The live action segments were hosted by Josh Jarboe and Audra Lee who appear in various costumes and are filmed in a haunted house as they tell spooky jokes, share safety tips, and detail the history of Halloween, all in between introducing the following six classic animated shorts:

1. "The Flying Sorceress" (1955) starring Tom & Jerry.
2. "Ghost Wanted" (1940) starring a spirit resembling Casper the Friendly Ghost.
3. "Haunted Mouse" (1965) starring Tom & Jerry.
4. "Hair-Raising Hare" (1946) starring Bugs Bunny and Gossamer.
5. "Ghosks is the Bunk" (1939) starring Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto.
6. "Fraidy Cat" (1942) starring Tom & Jerry.

UPDATE #2: Watch the full special with original commercials as it aired:


UPDATE #1: Here are the wraparound segments only featuring Josh and Audra (as well as the accompanying commercials):


The whole special was on Youtube but due to a copyright claim, parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 have been removed. Part 5 is still up, it contains "Ghosks is the Bunk" and you can watch below:


Here are videos of just the animated shorts that were shown during the special:

The Flying Sorceress (1955):


Ghost Wanted (1940) (Incomplete)


Haunted Mouse (1965):


Hair-Raising Hare (1946):


Ghosks is the Bunk (1939)


Fraidy Cat (1942)

Monday, October 1, 2012

1973 Sigmund and the Sea Monsters - Trick Or Treat

Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (1973–1975) was one of many shows created by television producers Sid and Marty Krofft. It's about Sigmund who is a sea monster who is a tremendous embarrassment to his family because, unlike a normal sea monster, Sigmund has no desire to scare anybody. He runs away from home rather than scare people, and meets up with Johnny and Scott. The three become best friends and Johnny and Scott keep Sigmund in their clubhouse. Johnny and Scott spend their time alternately (A) keeping Sigmund from being kidnapped by his family and (B) keeping him a secret from everyone else.

In this episode, It's Halloween and Sigmund, who everyone believes is a boy disguised in a sea monster costume, discovers the joys of trick or treating along with Johnny and Scott. Meanwhile the Ooze family learns that Sigmund has won a TV contest.

I was never a big fan of Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf (I despised it with a passion) but I always loved Sigmund and Land of the Lost and I read online that the Krofft siblings also designed the characters and sets for Hanna-Barbera's Banana Splits series which I also loved as a kid. I remember watching these shows in the early to mid 80's when I would stay home from school sick.


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