B-MOVIE HOSTESS: HAWAII’S VAMPIRA (1962-1964)

VAMPIRA SHOCK THEATRE was hosted by Margaret “Marty” McGuire as Hawaii’s very own Vampira, no relation to Maila Nurmi’s original Los Angeles version from 1954-1955. McGuire’s program aired LIVE on Honolulu’s KTRG-TV Saturday nights at 8:30pm from November 3rd, 1962 until June 6th, 1964. 

This Vampira was never as heavily made-up as the original but was sharp-tongued and charismatic. Vampira Shock Theatre‘s major sponsor was Island Lumber, but the undead hostess was known for her comedically off-beat and possibly ad-libbed on-air ads for various other products, all performed sitting up in her coffin.

Vampira’s harried assistant was Charles the Ghoul, played by local deejay John Henry Russell, who went on to appear in a few episodes of Hawaii 5-0 and did voice work in the movie Tora, Tora, Tora. McGuire herself worked at KTRG-Radio before her television gig as Vampira. Her husband was a Lt. Colonel stationed in Hawaii. The couple had two sons and a daughter.

Among McGuire’s promotional appearances as Vampira was at the Iolani School Carnival alongside teen idol James Darren on April 19th and 20th, 1963. At the height of her popularity, Margaret was receiving up to 100 fan letters in a single day during her run hosting Vampira Shock Theatre. In December 1962, McGuire received a Christmas Card from female inmates at Oahu Prison. 

Vampira Shock Theatre presented some of the usual horror movie staples, like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, etc. as well as their many sequels. In addition, of course, the program featured many of the bizarre and So Bad They’re Good schlock films that most of us love about these Movie Host Shows. 

For some examples:

NIGHT MONSTER (1942) – This flick aired January 19th, 1963 and starred Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Don Porter and future High Chaparral star Leif Erickson as “the sex crazed and sociopathic chauffeur.” Physicians are invited to a creepy old mansion where they are killed one by one by a former patient whom they left crippled. 

CALLING DR. DEATH (1943) – Aired February 16th, 1963. Lon Chaney, Jr. starred as a doctor who may have killed his wife during one of his blackouts. He has his sultry female assistant (Patricia Morison) hypnotize him to begin their investigation. With J. Carroll Naish.

PILLOW OF DEATH (1945) – Aired March 30th, 1963. Lon Chaney, Jr. was back as a philandering attorney suspected of murdering his wife (yes, again). He starts getting harassed by a sleuthing psychic and his late wife’s ghost. The title is one of the silliest in horror movie history.

HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944) – Aired April 20th, 1963. A Psychotronic classic and one of Universal Studios’ “Monster Rally” flicks. Mad scientist Dr. Niemann (Boris Karloff) escapes from prison with his loyal hunchbacked sidekick Daniel (J. Carroll Naish). They round up Dracula (John Carradine), Frankenstein’s Monster (Glenn Strange) and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.) to help them get revenge on the world.

THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU (1942) – Aired June 8th, 1963. Some of the bad movie fun is lost because this movie is clearly trying for laughs. Actress Jeff Donnell plays Winnie Slade, who buys an old mansion from mad Professor Billings (Boris Karloff) to convert it into a hotel. She lets him, his crazy associates and his experimental subjects stay on in this odd blend of The Addams Family and Arsenic and Old Lace. Also with Peter Lorre.

DANGER WOMAN (1946) – Aired June 22nd, 1963. Don Porter stars as an atomic scientist whose cheating ex-wife and various accomplices show up to steal his secrets for a foreign power. Also starring Brenda Joyce, Patricia Morison and Gunsmoke‘s Milburn Stone.

THE MAD DOCTOR OF MARKET STREET (1942) – Aired August 24th, 1963. A mad scientist flees San Francisco when his bizarre experiments on human beings are exposed. He takes over a remote island and subjects the natives to a reign of terror. Starring Lionel Atwill, Una Merkel and Noble Johnson.

CHINATOWN SQUAD (1935) – Aired February 8th, 1964. No horror, but lots of camp as cops try to nab a Communist Chinese agent who stole $700,000 from Chinese Americans. Only ex-cop turned bus driver Lyle Talbot can save the day! With Andy Devine.

*** Hawaii’s Vampira may have lasted longer than the original, but her show had nowhere near as much cultural impact.

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