Such a frustrating disappointment

Pretty Good

It is a performances centric movie

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Because I grew up watching late-night horror hosts on television (in glorious black and white) and going to drive-ins, I watch documentaries like American SCARY and DRIVE-IN BLUES and long for "the good old days." The last time I searched the 'net, I found- much to my amazement- that there are, indeed, a number of drive-ins still operating around the country (none of them, unfortunately, near enough to make a trip practical)- but of the venerable late-night horror hosts there doesn't seem to be any sign. Certainly not locally: hereabouts, interactive programming like Public Access or locally-hosted "creature features" simply aren't part of the Corporate Plan (what the local low-brow commercial cable system hasn't monopolized, the Media Mogul has). American SCARY isn't quite as nostalgic as I'd hoped it might be (too many hosts are given too little time), but it's worth a look and is a reminder, if nothing else, that there once were Late Night Giants who strode the Airwaves.

American Scary (2006) *** (out of 4) Good documentary covering the history of horror hosts in America. Through interviews and clips, we see how this phenomenon started off in just one city and before long they were popping up all over the country. Among the people interviewed are Mike Price (Baron Daemen), Joseph Fotinos (Professor Anton Griffin), Leonard Maltin, Joe Bob Briggs, Jeff Thompson, Donald F. Glut, Maila Nurmi (Vampira), Bob Burns, Forrest J. Ackerman, Tom Savini and John Zacherle. Dozens of other hosts from various cities are also interviewed so more than likely you're going to see your favorite if you grew up with these sort of hosts. I grew up with a couple horror hosts in the late 80s but I think most people my age were just familiar with Joe Bob Briggs and his days on TNT. Those older are the ones that this documentary is really going to hit a core with because they discuss how studios were just starting to open their vaults to TV so these hosts had a whole slew of horror movies to show people. The hosts each talk about what they wanted to do with their cheap sets and what they did or didn't want to do with the movies. A lot of people look at these hosts (and stuff like Mystery Science Theater) as insults to the movies because they cut the films up and sometimes super-imposed themselves into the film. Maltin talks about being a film buff and looking back at some of this stuff and being horrified at what they were doing but he admits that as a kid he loved it. Fans of these hosts are going to love hearing from them after all of these years and if you never got a chance to see them then you're in luck because the documentary is full of clips showing some of their highlights.

*Spoiler/plot- 2006, American Scary, A documentary exploring the horror host TV shows. The TV show subjects covered were primarily from the eastern beltway cities and does not cover the subject well. *Special stars- John Hudgens is the film's director (yawn). *Theme- Horror host can bring back B-movies. *Based on- low cost documentary schlock*Trivia/location/goofs- The director of this documentary is a Star Wars fan video maker for many years. It shows here. Hollywood's Vampira was highlighted.*Emotion- American Scary is so extremely limited or myopic in covering the vast, interesting subject of horror TV hosts. After viewing this documentary, I was left unsatisfied and frustrated. Mr. Hudgen's job of director, editor, and camera person is responsible for this film's terribly slow pacing as to be boring and sleep inducing. Also, there are many more unexplored influential Californian horror hosts of the same time period like: JEEPERS KEEPER- Fred Stuthman, OTTOLA NESMITH, SEYMOUR, aka SINISTER SEYMOUR- Larry Vincent,ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK-Cassandra Peterson, ASMODEUS- Frank Sheridan, GHOULITA- Lietta Harvey,BUTCH PATRICK and IVONNA CADAVER-Butch Patrick and Natalie Popovich, SHRIMPENSTEIN and DR. VON SHTICK- Puppet character worked by Gene Moss as "Dr. Von Shtick". The coverage of this subject matter was shallow and very pedestrian. A much better & more complete documentary is about the horror hosts in Virgina called, "Virgina Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition of the Old Dominon", 2009.IMDb LINK: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1524050/combined

Not a lot of documentaries shot on a shoestring like this one is convey the love and admirations the filmmakers of "American Scary" do for their overview of local horror hosts. The unpolished nature of this film actually adds to the overall message- that the horror movie host was something from another time and is (with few exceptions) sorely missed. Interviews with the people that brought these characters to life as well as people who were influenced by them are slices of time that make us lucky they've been captured on tape; too many people (Forry Ackerman; Vampira; Bob Wilkins plus quite a few more) have died since being interviewed for this piece which is a pity. Thank God these people are on here to share their thoughts. A small film with a giant heart- buy it or rent it, but SEE IT!