SCARTICIA (1971-1975) BAD MOVIE HOSTESS

SCARTICIA – From 1971 to 1975 Annette Stutzman starred as the witch Scarticia, hostess of Horrible Movie late Saturday nights on WAPT-TV in Jackson, MS.  Stutzman also worked as the personal secretary of the station manager.

Scarticia, the Mistress of the Night, would welcome her viewers every week with the words “Greetings, animals” and close each show by saying “Pleasant nightmares.” The witch’s main sidekick to abuse was her gravedigger Scoop Gravely, played by famous local DJ Ed Hobgood (lower right).

Filling in for Scoop from time to time was Dr. Choke Throttle, a vampire mad scientist played by Marvin Gardens, who also worked on the show’s set, did Scarticia’s makeup and served as cameraman. As usual, the can’t-miss format of Bad Movies presented by a sarcastic host or hostess and their sidekicks became a hit.

Soon, Jackson, MS teens and 20-somethings began holding Horrible Movie viewing parties on Saturday nights. Inevitably, hundreds of fan letters began pouring in every week.

Part of what made Scarticia and company stand out was the way they made many of their Host Segments as parodies of the iconic program Dark Shadows. What comedies like Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Soap were to traditional soap operas, those Horrible Movie sketches were to the Gothic horror soap with Barnabas Collins, etc.   

When they weren’t sending up Dark Shadows, the Mistress of the Night was ripping the week’s movie to pieces. Fans who still remember Horrible Movie state that Scarticia and company were utterly merciless in their criticism, even when showing Universal films or Hammer Horror flicks on top of the usual So-Bad-They’re-Good movie fare.

Jokes at the expense of Jackson, MS politicians were a staple of the program as were segments devoted to local folk horror lore. The Black Genie was the tongue-in-cheek archenemy of Scarticia and was played by a black actress whose name I have not been able to find.

As usual, during some Host Segments the sketches were related to the night’s movie. For instance, during a showing of The Mummy’s Hand, Scoop found an ancient seed in an old Egyptian sarcophagus and planted it. The result was a hostile living plant which prompted Scarticia to conjure up an axe to fight it off.

Scoop sometimes had misadventures when he would try cashing in on the news reporter meaning of “Scoop” and embarrass himself trying to get stories published in the Supernatural Times.

Annette Stutzman made promotional appearances in costume as her Mistress of the Night character during a few showings of Let’s Scare Jessica to Death in 1971.  

Other bits of business included ads for a Hippy emporium called the Zzap Boutique, a portrait of Scarticia’s “Momma” holding a rat by its tail, and bumper signs saying “Stay tuned, animals! There is more to come!”

After this original incarnation of Horrible Movie went off the air in 1975, WAPT tried reviving it in 1977 at an earlier hour, but without Scarticia. It didn’t last long. 

In a 2011 interview for the show’s 40th Anniversary tribute, Annette Stutzman expressed amazement that fans are still so passionate about Horrible Movie. She said she never wanted to act again, but the experience she gained from working on the show prepared her for television production jobs when she moved to California.

Stutzman further stated that back in the 1970s she was one of the few women with production careers and she worked in television for over thirty years before retiring. Her closing words for the anniversary interview were “Rock on, animals!”    

Scarticia was inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame in 2016.  

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