MrGKB ...and thus perhaps limited in its appeal to a general audience, "American Scary" will nonetheless keep most genre fans happily entertained and somewhat enlightened. Its through-line struck this viewer as more of a history lesson than anything else, but the various anecdotes and reminisces are well-edited and introduce a reasonably diverse array of the notables being examined/interviewed. The main thesis of horror hosts as archetypal storytellers/jesters---as well as their inspiration to several generations of creativity and culturally acceptable transgression---is amply supported, as are the factors that allowed them to come into being, most notably the economic motivations of local TV stations in the formative decades of the Fifties and Sixties. As an Ohioan, I was pleased to see the prominence of Cleveland explored, and glad to see luminaries with whom I was more closely familiar, i.e. Dayton's "Dr. Creep" (RIP) and Cincinnati's "The Cool Ghoul" (RIP). On a side note, I was just a touch disappointed that another of Cincinnati's inimitable late-night hosts, Bob Shreve, couldn't be mentioned, although understandably since he wasn't, strictly speaking, a horror host, despite his shtick and spiel being very much in the same vein as his spookier brethren.No matter. Director John E. Hudgens and writer Sandy Clark, "Star Wars" geeks both, have apparently moved on to other pursuits, but can be justly proud of the loving homage they put together back in the mid-Oughts, some half a century after the cultural meme they've examined first saw the moonlight of deepest night. Highly recommended to anyone who stayed up past their bedtime to join one of these beloved entertainers.

jonandshellie Although this documentary was a nice, brisk walk down memory lane, it failed to truly tap into what made these weekend horror-hosts so appealing and why they are thought so fondly of now.The filmmakers had their hearts in the right place when they ventured on this endeavor, but it falls short in so many places. First and foremost is the almost machine-gun style they employ with their interview snippets. Each snippet is about 5 seconds long or so on average and seem to be thrown into the documentary at random places, without any real structure to it at all. Second is the length of the interview snippets. I would have loved to have heard more from people like Chuck Schowdowski, Jim Hendricks, and Joe Bob Briggs. The filmmakers chose to focus so much attention on trailblazers like Zacherley, Vampira, and Baron Daemon- which was fine, but they jipped the fans of latter day horror hosts like Commander USA, Sammy Terry, Joe Bob Briggs, Big Chuck & Lil' John, Son of Svengoolie, Son of Ghoul, Elvira, etc. I think the filmmakers got caught in the unfortunate web of making a documentary for themselves rather than for the fans of horror hosting in general which limits the scope of what this documentary could be.Not to mention that they basically failed to show anything remotely resembling a horror con which are so important in keeping the memories of these old horror hosts (as well as movies and actors/actresses) alive and help fans get closer to the people they watched every week and idolized.In the end it was a solid effort, but a more in depth documentary focusing less on the origins of horror hosting and focusing more on the impact over the broad history of horror hosting and why it's memory still burns so brightly now is a necessary follow-up. I would like to see something that caters to the fan side of the screen. Something that delves into the cultural impact that these horror-hosts made and does not neglect the horror hosts of the late 1970's throughout the 1980's and 1990's (which is the era that most of the DVD buyers likely remember the most).Here's a suggestion - why not use a portion of the documentary following someone like Kevin "Son of Ghoul" Scarpino or Joe Bob Briggs around as they attend the horror conventions to get a up close and personal look at how these hosts have impacted the culture and help get more of a casual fans perspective. I would have been far more interested in watching the interaction between these hosts and the fans for an hour and a half than almost anything.Again, a solid effort that has it's heart in the right place but suffers from being a salute to the filmmakers favorite hosts rather than to the industry as a whole.

jbeeching 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!

pastorZ Many, many years later my childhood memories of Milwaukee horror movie hosts Dr. Cadaverino, Shirley the tarantula and Tolous NoNeck often rivals my memory of the movies themselves.Though none of my childhood horror hosts were included in John Hudgens shockumentary (no surprise considering the hundreds of hours of footage squeezed into this precious 90-minute film), American Scary still brought back a cavalcade of warm memories from my childhood in Milwaukee to watching Son of Svengoolie with my wife and my own children in Chicago.All-in-all, American Scary is a very entertaining and inspiring look at a uniquely American phenomenon: the late-night horror movie hosted by the big kid who never grew up and seems to have forgotten that Halloween only comes but once a year. The inspiration of my local horror hosts has never left me and apparently neither has it left all the others who, inspired by their own local childhood horror hosts, continue to host those same low-budget, z-grade sci-fi and horror movies on cable access TV and on the web; carrying the torch to a new generation.