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Beast Wishes (2012)
Entertaining doc with great filmmaker interviews on Bob & Kathy Burns
Frank Dietz and Trish Geiger's fantastic documentary BEAST WISHES: THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF BOB AND KATHY BURNS, a loving and star-studded celebration of this couple's unique and influential place in preserving film history and fostering a generation of filmmakers.
If you are a fan of monster movies, haunted attractions or film history and don't know who Bob and Kathy Burns are, then this DVD is absolutely required viewing for you. For those who already know about Bob and Kathy, or have seen their amazing collection of sci-fi, horror and classic film memorabilia, this film will play like fond home movies. Ranging from one of the original stop-motion armatures of KING KONG to a restoration of THE TIME MACHINE vehicle, to modern props seen in ALIEN, THE TERMINATOR and much more, the Burns' collection is truly priceless yet Bob and Kathy refuse to sell them on eBay or at auctions. Instead they keep these treasures safe and on display to share freely with other like minded movie maniacs who also appreciate their inestimable value in cultural meaning far more than a prop market dollar amount.
BEAST WISHES tells Bob and Kathy's life story as well as their shared creature feature affection, which is actually how they met. Not only are the couple incredibly knowledgeable about film history and devout in preserving it for new generations, they're wickedly funny, sweet, smart people too. This documentary is so thorough in recreating these parallel life and film history paths that by the end of it, you may feel you've known the couple for years. You'll certainly wish they lived in your neighborhood this Halloween so you could share their creative spirit celebrating creatures, aliens and things that go bump in the night.
American Scary (2006)
Valuable, entertaining look at the Horror Host phenomenon
I got a chance to see American SCARY at Comic-Con 2007 and was thoroughly impressed and entertained by the film. John Hudgens and Sandy Clark have collected a most impressive treasure of interviews and archival footage of the most notable (and notorious) horror host personalities spanning the decades of the horror host phenomenon.
The documentary is a great treat for horror fans who may have been born in the wrong time or the wrong city to have seen classic hosts like Zacherley, Vampira, Ghoulardi of the 1950s and 60s to more contemporary hosts like Elvira, Son of Ghoul and Count Gore De Vol. Unless you're an avid bootleg collector, the video clips and old kinescope transfers may be the first footage you'll see of these monster mavens in action. Even based so much on archival material, the production quality remains excellent throughout.
Horror host interviews are well balanced with comments and recollections from many prominent filmmakers, critics and fans including genre historians Forrest J. Ackerman and Bob Burns, makeup artist Tom Savini (the Romero DEAD films), TV host Joel Hodgson (MST3K), Leonard Maltin and many more.
With the recent passing of Maila Nurmi (Vampira), this fondly crafted tribute to television horror hosts deserves to be seen and enjoyed by fans everywhere. I hope the filmmakers will release it on DVD soon so its value and quality can be appreciated by all.