THE GHOULARDI SHOW - Stay Sick!! (1963-1966)

One step closer to Halloween on this 2012 countdown, and what better way to celebrate than to talk about one of the wackiest horror hosts to ever grace the airwaves, straight out of Cleveland, and every bit as talented as the Indians, It's Ghoulardi! Now I never got to enjoy the Ghoulardi experience first hand until Professor Grewbeard, wherever he is, sent me a DVD chock full of this wild man's antics! So if Ghoulardi is too weird for you, it ain't my fault, you just might have needed to be there!

Ghoulardi, Oh Oh, Cantare, Oh Oh Oh Oh!!! Horror host Ghoulardi was a nut, pure and simple, and unlike somebody like Zacherley, his unique character was that of a hipster, calling his own shots, making up his own slogans and phrases, and doing pretty much whatever the Hell he could conjure up and get away with!! His tomfoolery was something akin to what people used to call fun, pure, unadulterated, unpretentious fun!

Ghoulardi somehow managed to stay on the air in Cleveland from 1963 to 1966, unfortunately today, he wouldn't last five minutes, that's how sick our world has become! His show was called "Shock Theatre" and it played on WJW Channel 8!

Ghoulardi was unique in the fact that he didn't just introduce films, he had skits, music, and was even known to intersperse his own footage into a chase scene of a film he was showing! At one point, he also hosted  a weekday children's show titled  "Laurel, Ghoulardi, and Hardy!"

"Cool It!"

"Stay Sick!"

I love this letter from a fan, "Please try to be less obtrusive." Like that was even close to being in the realm of possibilities of  an option! Not in Ghoulardi's world!

One of Ghoulardi's ongoing skits was titled "Parma Place," a takeoff on a popular mainstream soap opera of the time "Peyton Place!" Although nothing and nowhere were safe, Parma, Ohio, and Oxnard, California were the most frequent targets of his sarcasm!

Ghoulardis' real name was Ernie Anderson!

Ghouldardi's influences go on to this day! Jazz Organist Jimmy McGriff released a song called "Turn Blue," and everybody's favorite band, The Cramps titled their 1990 release, "Stay Sick!"

If you just happen to find yourself in the area, the 2012 "GHOULARDIFEST" will be held in Parma, Ohio in just a couple of weeks on the weekend of  November 2nd, 3rd, and 4th! Be there or be sick!

If you don't know what a 'knif' is, then I guess you're just not sick enuf! Pretty simple, 'knif' was fink spelled backwards, that's how elegantly simple Ghoulardi's schtick was!

No medium was spared the comedic forces of Ghoulardi's wit and wisdom! Irreverent? Sure! Irellevent? You betcha! Freakin' Prefect? You can bet your sweet ass!

Some of the artwork sent in by the minions of Ghoulardi's fans was brilliant, some of it was rubbish, but he would show it all off, and treat it all with the same amount of folderol!

After Ghouldardi left the airwaves in Cleveland, he moved to L.A. to do voiceover work!  He passed away in 1997, another victim of cancer, but his spirit will live on forever!! So remember not to forget,
                                         "Stay Sick!"

THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS / Warner Bros. Pictures - 1946

It's another Friday Fright Halloween Countdown 2012 with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Peter Lorre is great in this little weirdie, also stars Robert (THE DEVIL'S HAND) Alda, Andrea (RED PLANET MARS) King and J. Carrol (HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN) Naish, Curt (THE WOLFMAN) Siodmak helped in the writing, Robert (MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE) Flory directs.

Eegah!! sent over a teriffic little soundclip for our enjoyment, sooooo, you can go ahead and push the big red 'GO' button located directly above the atomic slab buffer, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our audio offering for... THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS!

Lorre's maniacal laughing in the soundclip is amongst his very best!

And, the story goes like this... Locals in an Italian village think that evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist who was associated with the occult. Several murders have taken place, and, the alleged killer is believed to be the pianist's severed hand! This movie played occassionally on TV in the late fifties and it was always a fave, crawling hands are way cool!

Victor Francen plays master pianist Francis Ingram, supposedly, he has a ring that gives him supernatural powers! He's assisted by his nursemaid, Clara. He's paraylized on the right side, in a wheelchair and plays the piano with just his left hand!

Peter plays Hilary Cummins, Ingram's personal secretary. He steeps himself in occult studies.

Hilary confronts Francis about what will happen to the library after he dies, Hilary wants the books. Francis chokes Hilary with his left hand, leaving bruises on his neck!

Francis starts hallucinating, then, tumbles down the stairs in his wheelchair to his death.

There's a mysterious murder at the estate, and, Ingram's ring is found on his piano after the crime was committed.

Here are two very interesting shots of the dudes investigating the mystery. The excellent cinematography was by Wesley Anderson.

Then, they come across this weird handprint in the soil outside the mansion!

Hilary has a dirty little secret, he's gained possession of Ingram's ring!

Thing, errr, the Beast comes out of it's box and gets Hilary to put the ring on on it's finger, then, it gets away and crawls behind the books...

The next night, the hand is playing the piano, driving Hilary freakin' insane!

Hilary laughs maniacally after he tosses the hand into the fireplace, but, not when it crawls out and grabs him by the throat! The hand disappears into thin air the second Hilary passes on...

Spend The Night At THE COBWEB HOTEL - Sammy Tinberg - Sung By Jack Mercer (1936)

So here we are a little over halfway through this years Halloween Countdown, and I think it's about time to present something really scary, so here we go, from all the way back in 1936, eight minutes of sheer terror known as "The Cobweb Hotel"

Just in case that little sound clip wasn't terrifying enough for you, then you can go Here and watch the whole thing for yourself at one of the coolest sites on the whole web, The Internet Archive!!! Even cooler than that, "The Cobweb Hotel" is just one of the many wonders you can find there if you start rooting around!

It all starts off innocently enough, but the proprietor of "The Cobweb Hotel" is actually a vicious serial killer!! The voice of this evil spider is a gentleman by the name of Jack Mercer! With 442 credits to his name, Jack Mercer should have been as well known as any major star of the last century! He was responsible for so many cartoon character's voices, I can only hope there's a shrine to him somewhere! In a standard 60's Popeye cartoon, Jack would do the voice of not only Popeye, but also, Pappy and Wimpy! In the Felix the Cat cartoons, he was not just Felix, but also the Professor, and the Genie! In the 40's, in a typical cartoon like "Snow Foolin'," Jack would be called on to do the voice of the rabbit, the skunk, the mouse, the swan, and the kangaroo, so actually, his credits are probably up in the 1000's!

If this wasn't a cartoon, there would be no way any God fearing parent would allow their children to watch innocent characters like this be bound and tortured like helpless flies in a web! No wonder there's so many krazy people running around today!

A nameless and naive couple checks into the Hotel on their honeymoon expecting a night of marital bliss, not unspeakable horror! Good thing the little guy is the flyweight champion of the world, he might just stand a ghost of a chance!!

The innkeeper prepares his deadly trap!! Do you like how he keeps his web material rolled up on a reel on his back? I guess that way they didn't have to show the web shooting out of his butt! Um, web shooting out of his butt, that sounds like a good portion of  the internet today!

Oh, No, it's Room 13!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And while we're on the subject of of "Zimmer 13," we'll take a break to let you know that the wonderful music throughout this whole ghastly ordeal was composed by Mr. Sammy Tinberg, the man who wrote such classics as "Don't Take My Boop-Oop-A-Doop Away," "Strike Up The Band For Popeye The Sailor," "Sinbad The Sailor," and "Christmas Comes But Once A Year!" What a guy!

Suddenly it becomes apparent to the unwitting couple that their life is about to turn into a living Hell as they hear the agonizing screams coming from some of the other rooms!! Omigod, the evil spider is not only a cruel killer, he's also a cannibal!!!!

The little missus gets trapped in the web bed, and the flyweight champ comes out throwing haymakers to little effect!

Mean Mr. Spider pins the champ's wings together to render his offense useless, and proceeds to do a shoeshine on his face with all eight legs!

A swordfight backs the hapless champ into one of the many webs Mr. Spider has positioned around the room!

While this all was going on, the champ's wife wiggles free from her bindings, finds a razor blade, and cuts loose all the other trapped residents of the hotel, who come back with a massive attack that includes sharp objects of all ilks! Mr. Spider gets poked in the butt more than once!!

In the end the heinous arachnid gets dropped into a jar of paste and put out of business for good! The Fleischer brothers strike again!