In the middle 1980s/ Way down on Level 31 …
Before MST3K we had The Texas 27 Film Vault! Before Joel and Mike we had Randy and Richard! Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this neglected cult show from roughly February, 1985-August, 1987.
EPISODE ORIGINALLY BROADCAST: Saturday October 26th, 1985 from 10:30pm to 1:00am. Broadcast throughout Texas and Oklahoma.
SERIAL: Before showing and mocking the movie Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, our Film Vault Technicians First Class showed and mocked a chapter of the 1940 serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.
FILM VAULT LORE: Randy and Richard’s presentation of Ghosts of Hanley House has occupied a very odd niche in Movie Host trivia for quite a long time. Among people who remember The Texas 27 Film Vault this episode is famous as “the one where Psychotronic‘s Michael Weldon seems to have confused T27FV with MST3K.”
In Weldon’s 1996 book The Psychotronic Video Guide he refers to Ghosts of Hanley House as having been riffed on by the folks at Mystery Science Theater 3000. Actually MST3K NEVER showed Ghosts of Hanley House but The Texas 27 Film Vault DID.
Randy Clower and Richard Malmos of The Texas 27 Film Vault (both lower right) featured in a Movie Host article with Stella from Saturday Night Dead and Elvira.
Weldon was a fan of Movie Host shows like Ghoulardi, Zacherley, Svengoolie, Elvira and others, so it’s possible he had also sampled episodes of Randy and Richard’s show in the 80s but the subsequent years blurred his memory to the point where he confused T27FV with MST3K in this instance. It’s a very easy mistake to make given the similarities between the shows.
THE MOVIE: The Texas 27 Film Vault often presented low-budget movies that had been filmed right there in the Lone Star State. Larry Buchanan’s ouevre was covered almost in its entirety on the show as were films by Russ Marker and Hal Warren. Ghosts of Hanley House, a low-budget horror flick filmed in Victoria, TX fit right in. Continue reading
BATTLE BRICK ROAD IS NOT TO BE MISSED.
Get ready for Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion like you’ve never seen them before – as technologically and biologically enhanced warriors in a dystopian world that not even Mad Max could survive. 
APOCALYPSE CULTURE (1987) – Call me a purist, but the only Apocalypse Culture book I like is the very first one from 1987, not the later editions nor the sequel from the year 2000. By 2000 the book was pointless and unnecessary since the internet was already replacing such publications as Apocalypse Culture, Answer Me! and much of the Loompanics catalogue. 
THE AUTOMATIC MOTORIST (1911) – Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at another silent movie short by England’s Walter R. Booth. It’s a remake of his own 1906 short film The Mad Motorist but taken to the extreme. Running time is 6 1/2 minutes. 
JOURNEY WITH DEATH – Talimbo, one of the Indian members of the Luftschiff’s crew, has died. His widow Siva is devastated and asks to travel on the spaceship Meteor‘s next journey. Kapitan Mors okays the request little dreaming that the widow blames Machinist Mate Schrecken for stopping her from immolating herself in mourning and wants to kill him for revenge. 
Merchant Ships was written and publicly staged in approximately 424 B.C. to 421 B.C. according to the available data. It was another of Aristophanes’ comedies protesting the pointlessness of the Greek city-states warring among themselves instead of uniting against the encroachments of the Persian Empire.
FRONTIER CIRCUS (1961-1962) – The traveling Thompson & Travis Circus roams the 1880s American West performing for audiences and having adventures. 
DEPTHS OF FEAR (1st episode) – Ben Travis signs a formerly great Lion Tamer (Aldo Ray) who has become a town drunk. Ben coaches the man back to performing status despite the attempts to derail him made by a jealous bully. Guest stars Vito Scotti, James Gregory and Bethel Leslie.
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the Union Army’s Michigan Brigade of Volunteers – nicknamed the Wolverines – from the U.S. Civil War. I’m focusing on them because, though not unknown, increasing numbers of people have taken to ignoring their contributions to the Union victory just because of the post-Civil War career of the Brigade’s commander – General George Armstrong Custer. 
The brigade was first being formed in December, 1862 and on June 29th, 1863 newly promoted General Custer assumed command. 
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