Monster Movie Matinee

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

I lived in upper NY as well for a while...but that was in the 60's. I remember CHILLER THEATER,though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXi4NFgG_Vs

Werd, and I grew up watching the other opening with the 6 fingered hand, I first started watching that in 1970 when I was 6. That's the one most of us Tri-State area folks remember the best.

As far as that goes, I also wonder if you remember WNEW 5's Creature Features and "The Creep"?  I watched him in the early 70's and then again from 1979-1980 in the all night CF marathon.   In fact, a guy at Youtube created a damn-near perfect repro of the opening of CF not long ago, and shocked the hell out of a lot of us!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Mb60KMOJc&feature=related

[Hammock Rider]

In Chicago we have Svengoolie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFYvHcPn9D4

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

In Chicago we have Svengoolie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFYvHcPn9D4

I remember Svengoolie-occasionally he would be on WKBS 48 (UHF) on Creature Double Feature as a guest back in the 70's. That's when TV was great..you didn't know what you were getting back in those days.  WKBS 48 was a gold mine of classic TV goodness.

[Flangepart]

Gotta question: Do you prefer the hosts to be serious and try to be scary, or are you like me, you know the flick ain't Shakespear, and being a good smart a$$ is the better way to go?

I like BOTH Svens! How is Jerry G. bishop these days?

[Sheila]

I LOVED monster movie matinee.  Tried telling my kids about it.. I wish I oculd find some old videos on youtube or something to show them.  Anyway.. Does anyone remember the show starting with that eerie looing house up on a hill... and that music? Whoa.  Also, anyone recall the episode/movie called 13 Ghosts with the ghosts of the lion tamer etc etc?  Then a few years back another movie called 13 Ghosts came out and I was so excited.  Turned out, it was NOT EVEN THE SAME PREMISE!! I was so disappointed.  The original one gave me bad dreams for a month. lol

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

I LOVED monster movie matinee.  Tried telling my kids about it.. I wish I oculd find some old videos on youtube or something to show them.  Anyway.. Does anyone remember the show starting with that eerie looing house up on a hill... and that music? Whoa.  Also, anyone recall the episode/movie called 13 Ghosts with the ghosts of the lion tamer etc etc?  Then a few years back another movie called 13 Ghosts came out and I was so excited.  Turned out, it was NOT EVEN THE SAME PREMISE!! I was so disappointed.  The original one gave me bad dreams for a month. lol

Here's another matinee that played on late Sturday night-early Sunday morning.  It was called Fright Night and it was an early 70's show that came on at 1AM, right after a then-unknown Vince McMahon's Professional Wrestling Hour. It ended in 1987 but there were a lot of fun memories. Here's the opening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEvR9jZ5O6o

[somps]

I lived for Monster Movie Matinee dudes! Through the years, I've managed to collect around 90% of all movies shown; which took a lot of detective work as they never showed the title sequence. "hotspur" made a post and I have all the movies he described: "Invasion of the Saucer Men", "The Eye Creatures", "The Giant Gila Monster", "Tarantula" and "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms". I know, get a life, believe it or not, I do......active Respiratory Therapist, in a rock band and mountain bike. Later all.

[somps]

I remember watching Monster Movie Matinee many a dreary (in CNY that means Nov thru April) weekend afternoon.  I remember being a little spooked by it, but you see the clips now and, well, they're laughable.  I'd love to see - though I doubt I could sit through a whole 90 minutes - some of the movies they used to show.  I remember 1 where there were aliens with heads shaped like light bulbs who abducted people by injecting them with alcohol that came from needles in their fingers.  Then next week it was basically the exact same idea except different looking aliens.  I also remember a giant iguana that was supposed terrorizing a town, creature from the black lagoon, a giant spider "attacking a desert town" and I thinkt here was one with a huge dianosaur that they were doing to kill with an "a-bomb" but had to stop at the last moment because if they blew it to pieces each pieces would grow back a full sized creature. 

Funny to think about all the people churning out what were, basically, pretty lame movies.

The movies you mentioned are...
.INVASION of the SAUCERMEN
.the GIANT GILA MONSTER
.One of the CREATURE films
.the giant spider was either TARANTULA or EARTH vs.the SPIDER.
.Not sure of the last one,though it sounds familiar.

Last one sounds like REPTILICUS. 
No, it's "Beast From 20,000 Fathoms"............I lived for MMM.

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

The thing I remember the most about the Tri-State Area Chiller Theatre I mentioned before a few posts up, is that they also showed more of the serious horror films, and not the B-stuff.

I remember movies like "What!" ( the edited version of Mario Bava's "The Whip And The Body"  and Graveyard Of Horror, as well as "The Horrible Dr. Hitchcock.

Then you had the more of the silly stuff, like The Brain That Wouldn't Die and, of all movies, "Robot Monster".

Lastly, Chiller Theatre used the commercial spots to promote the more shocking of films, like "Beyond The Door and the emerging Italian slasher films, and Fulci's "Zombie 2.  The late-night spot is where I also had seen the first TV spots for George Romero's Dawn Of The Dead.

[RobertwII]

I can't remember the name of the character on the right, who was your basic Transylvanian Count. I don't recall ever seeing his face on screen. All you ever saw on MMM was his hand.

Dr Whitte (pronounced witty)

I was brought up in Oxford, and faithfully watched it whenever my mom would let me!!

[JoeCapuana]

A documentary is currently in the works about Monster Movie Matinee. Monster Mansion Memories is a documentary in production now by Wind Up Films. It tells the history of the local show that aired on WSYR TV in Syracuse New York. The show ran for 15 years from 1964 until 1980 and was loved by many throughout central New York. Wind Up Films has done interviews with Alan Milair who played Dr. E. Nick Witty, Joe Turrisi a crew member that was there for the run of the show. Chuck Waltz, a local collector that purchased the remaining set pieces including the casket and has them on display. Shooting is on going and should wrap up in May. A tentative deal is in place to air the doc on WSTM channel 3 sometime in October. A DVD release is also expected around that time. There is information on Facebook just search "Monster Movie Matinee."

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

I remember watching Monster Movie Matinee many a dreary (in CNY that means Nov thru April) weekend afternoon.  I remember being a little spooked by it, but you see the clips now and, well, they're laughable.  I'd love to see - though I doubt I could sit through a whole 90 minutes - some of the movies they used to show.  I remember 1 where there were aliens with heads shaped like light bulbs who abducted people by injecting them with alcohol that came from needles in their fingers.  Then next week it was basically the exact same idea except different looking aliens.  I also remember a giant iguana that was supposed terrorizing a town, creature from the black lagoon, a giant spider "attacking a desert town" and I thinkt here was one with a huge dianosaur that they were doing to kill with an "a-bomb" but had to stop at the last moment because if they blew it to pieces each pieces would grow back a full sized creature. 

Funny to think about all the people churning out what were, basically, pretty lame movies.

The movies you mentioned are...
.INVASION of the SAUCERMEN
.the GIANT GILA MONSTER
.One of the CREATURE films
.the giant spider was either TARANTULA or EARTH vs.the SPIDER.
.Not sure of the last one,though it sounds familiar.

I lived in upper NY as well for a while...but that was in the 60's. I remember CHILLER THEATER,though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXi4NFgG_Vs

I barely remember the original opening to WPIX 11's Chiller Theatre (but do have some primal memories of the opening from my childhood, perhaps a TV promo or something.)

However, the WPIX 11 Chiller Theatre opening that most of us 40-somes grew up with in the 70's and the early 80's was THIS one, with our old friend, The Hand. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATUJG3DSziw

[Deek Skusting]

Used to watch MMM faithfully every Saturday. You couldn't have had better hosts.
It didn't hurt that Willard Lape also played Salty Sam. I was (and still am) a big Popeye fan

[alandhopewell]

    On Saturdays in Cleveland in the 70;s we had this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xoy_pdJA52A

    Superhost showed two movies, horror and sci-fi, from noon until 4. then, there was another movie show, generally also horror / sf. At 6, STAR TREK,  at 7, SPACE: $19.99, then the Star Movie at 8, yet more horror / sf.

[Kevin Bachelder]

In the Boston area we had the "Creature Double Feature" on channel 56 on Saturday afternoons.  I loved those.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m--ayWTBWi0


There's even a fun fan site dedicated to it here...

http://www.creaturedoublefeature.org/


Kevin