American Scary is a 2006 American documentary film about the history and legacy of classic television horror hosts, written and directed by American independent filmmakers John E. Hudgens and Sandy Clark.

American Scary
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn E. Hudgens
Written by
  • Sandy Clark
  • John E. Hudgens
Produced bySandy Clark
Starring
Distributed byCinema Libre Studio
Release date
  • October 2006 (2006-10) (Hollywood Film Festival)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Background

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The film features nearly 60 horror hosts,[1] including interviews with and vintage clips of many of the genre's stars, such as Washington, DC's Count Gore De Vol, New York City's Zacherley, Los Angeles' Vampira, Cleveland's Ghoulardi, and Chicago's Svengoolie, among others. Non-host celebrities such as Neil Gaiman, Tim Conway, Forrest J Ackerman, Tom Savini, Leonard Maltin, Joel Hodgson, and Bob Burns appear[2] to reminisce about the influence of horror hosts on their careers and/or lives, as well as many modern hosts who keep the tradition alive in modern shows on public-access television cable TV or the internet.

The film premiered in October 2006 at the Hollywood Film Festival,[3] and was released on DVD in February 2009.[4] In April 2010, it won the award for Best Independent Production of 2009 at the 8th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Colton, David (October 20, 2007). "Halloween horror hosts rise again on radio, TV, film". USA Today. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  2. ^ "Video Review Spotlight: American Scary". Library Journal. February 6, 2009.
  3. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 22, 2006). "Out of Africa, off the beaten path". Variety.
  4. ^ "American Scary DVD Review". IGN.com. February 20, 2009. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  5. ^ "8th Annual Rondo Hatton Award Winners Announced". DreadCentral.com. April 6, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
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