B-MOVIE HOSTESS MISTY BREW (1982-1983)

MISTY BREW – Faye Fisher (later Faye Fisher-Ward) played Misty Brew, the witch hostess of Creature Feature. The program aired Friday nights on Green Bay, Wisconsin’s WLRE from October 29th, 1982 – September 9th, 1983. For the most part, this show started at Midnight but was moved up to 10:30pm start times on nights when Misty presented double or even triple features.

Wanting to hop on America’s renewed Movie Host mania prompted by Elvira’s Movie Macabre, WLRE launched their Bad Movie Show Creature Feature. Auditions were held and the winner was Faye Fisher, who was in her senior year at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, majoring in Visual Arts. She had hoped to name her hostess character Natasha, but the station manager had already finalized the name Misty Brew. 

Faye Fisher stated she was not a horror fan but her friends in UW-Green Bay’s Theater Department encouraged her to try out for the hostess role. Ironically, though WLRE was riding the Elvira train, they did not want Misty Brew to show a lot of skin. She wore vintage formal gowns which she selected each week from a Green Bay clothing store called Glad Rags.

When Misty presented The Bride of Frankenstein, she wore a wedding gown from Glad Rags and wore the same gown for her wedding in 1984. The Movie Hostess’s hair and makeup were done by Bananas of Green Bay.

Fisher recalled “I had ‘cat’s eyes,’ and long, dark, defined eyebrows. I used red lipstick, and rouge on the cheekbones. They just highlighted what I already had. Once I saw myself, it helped me get into character. Here I was dressed exquisitely, with the make-up. There was a sexual edge to my character, but it wasn’t overt … I was just this classy, sophisticated, spooky person.” 

Misty Brew would rise from her coffin at the start of each show and at the end would lie back down in that coffin and pull the lid closed. After a few episodes Misty got a sidekick who played spooky organ music. He was played by a WLRE cameraman named Jim (no last name known) while wearing a suit.

The character was called Klystron, after a vacuum tube used in broadcasting back in the 1980s and earlier. Klystron merely grunted, never truly spoke.

Faye graduated in May 1983 but continued hosting Creature Feature through September 9th. She and her boyfriend at the time then moved to Chicago, where they married the following year. Faye Fisher went on to become an artist and designer.

Misty Brew had at least 3 fan clubs in Wisconsin and was so well remembered that she supposedly inspired the Movie H0stess character Ivana Viktimm in Paul McComas’s novel (and later stage show) Unplugged.   

Here are some of the Psychotronic movies presented by Misty:

RITUALS (1977) – Aired Oct 29th, 1982. This still-neglected horror movie was made in Canada and depicted five MDs on an excursion into the wilds where they fell victim to a proto-slasher figure who lives in a creepy cabin. Hal Holbrook starred.

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939) – Aired Nov 5th. The son of Dr. Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) discovers the remains of the Monster (Boris Karloff) in his father’s castle. With the help of Ygor (Bela Lugosi), he rebuilds the creature.

THE MUMMY (1932) – Aired Nov 12th. An archeological expedition unearths the mummy of ancient Egyptian Imhotep (Boris Karloff), who was put to death for trying to resurrect his lover. The mummy comes back to life and searches for his reincarnated lady love.

TARANTULA (1955) – Aired Nov 19th. A scientist’s nutrition experiments result in a 100-foot tall tarantula, which goes on a rampage. Starred John Agar, Mara Corday and Leo G. Carroll.

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) – Aired Nov 26th. An expedition into the Amazon jungle encounters a deadly humanoid amphibian beast which is the last of its line.

WEREWOLF OF LONDON (1935) – Aired Dec 3rd. A British botanist travels to the Himalayas, where he is wounded by a furry creature while obtaining a rare plant which thrives on moonlight. Back in London, he starts turning into a werewolf.

CURSE OF THE UNDEAD (1959) – Aired Dec 10th. My favorite genre-bender about a vampire out west! An undead gunslinger strikes at a female rancher. FULL REVIEW HERE.

THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956) – Aired Dec 17th. A mountain expedition sets out to follow caves all the way down to a Hollow Earth civilization which is being terrorized by the creatures of the title. With Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier and John Agar.  

THE RAVEN (1963) – Aired Dec 31st. One of Roger Corman’s cheapo Poe movies. It has little to do with Poe’s The Raven, but features Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre as black magic practitioners warring with each other. Also with JACK NICHOLSON and Hazel Court.

DOUBLE FEATURE: Aired Jan 7th, 1983. First Film: THE THING THAT COULDN’T DIE (1958) – The disembodied head of a sorcerer executed 400 years ago mentally enslaves people who discover that head. He has them dig up his body so it and the head can go on a new reign of terror.     Second Film: MAN-MADE MONSTER (1941) – The sole survivor (Lon Chaney Jr.) of a bus hit by falling power lines proves immune to electricity from then on. He falls in with a mad scientist who experiments on him with higher and higher voltage until Chaney can kill people with his touch. Not even the electric chair can hurt him so he goes on a rampage at the Big House.   

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943) – Aired Jan 14th. John “He’s probably even in the Zapruder Film if you look hard enough” Carradine plays a mad scientist who transplants human glandular material into a female ape, causing her to transform into a beautiful human woman. (?)

Because she retains the ape’s mind he also kills his lady lab assistant and places her brain into his captive wild woman. Things go wrong and the body count rises.

TRIPLE FEATURE: Aired Jan 21st. First Film: SON OF DRACULA (1943) – The vampire son of Count Dracula (Lon Chaney Jr.) moves to the U.S. under the name Count Alucard. Drac Jr. preys on victims and makes a college student’s girlfriend his mate in undeath.     Second Film: CULT OF THE COBRA (1955) – Men who witness a ritual by a cult of snake worshipers are hunted down and killed by a cobra-priestess who can appear as a beautiful woman.     Third Film: DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS (1965) – Peter Cushing stars as the famous time-space traveler as he clashes with those ol’ cyborg monsters called Daleks on their home planet Skaro.

DOUBLE FEATURE: Aired Jan 28th. First Film: HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945) – The schlock sequel to the Golden Turkey House of Frankenstein. Both Dracula (John Carradine) and the Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.) arrive at the castle used by mad scientist Dr. Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) seeking a cure for their respective supernatural curses. Edelmann and his female hunchback experiment on them, but the Frankenstein Monster gets revived and we get another clash of monsters.     Second Film: THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (1940) – A mad scientist (THE John Barrymore) invents an invisibility treatment which turns beautiful model Kitty Carroll (Virginia Bruce) transparent. He wants to turn her back but gangsters steal the device and our title character must retrieve it. Also with Margaret Hamilton. 

DOUBLE FEATURE: Aired Feb 4th. First Film: FRANKENSTEIN (1931) – Possibly for Sweeps Month, Creature Feature had Misty host a pair of great Universal movies. First was the original classic starring Boris Karloff and Colin Clive.     Second Film: BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) – Elsa Lanchester achieved screen immortality for the few minutes that she plays the mate that Dr. Frankenstein has been forced to make for his first monster. 

DOUBLE FEATURE: Aired Feb 11th. First Film: THE SENTINEL (1977) – Sweeps Month may be behind this respected movie being shown. Model Cristina Raines moves into an old New York Brownstone filled with perverse residents and a sinister secret.     Second Film: HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971) – Jack the Ripper’s daughter seems possessed by her late father’s evil spirit, causing her to commit copycat murders.

DOUBLE FEATURE: Aired Feb 18th. First Film: THE INVISIBLE MAN (1935) – Claude Rains stars as mad scientist Dr. Jack Griffin, who devises a means of turning invisible. He forms evil plans and is soon murdering anyone in his way.     Second Film: THE MUMMY’S CURSE (1944) – Construction work is about to drain the swamp where the mummies of Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Princess Ananka (Virginia Christine) have been bogged down since the previous movie. Their menace is unleashed again.

DOUBLE FEATURE: Aired Feb 25th. First Film: THE WOLF MAN (1941) – Lon Chaney Jr. plays Larry Talbot, who kills a werewolf (Bela Lugosi) in Wales. Bela wounded Larry before dying, so Talbot is now doomed to become a werewolf too. He kills and kills until seemingly slain.     Second Film: MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932) – Virtually Poe-Free schlocker with Bela Lugosi as a mad scientist who uses a carnival as a cover for his deadly experiments on humans and gorillas. Medical student (?) Pierre Dupin opposes him. 

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