Randy (right) and Richard way down on Level 31 hosting The Texas 27 Film Vault
Balladeer’s Blog’s fondness for the old Movie Host Shows of long ago has been well established. Today is the 33rd Anniversary of the very first episode of The Texas 27 Film Vault from Saturday, February 9th of 1985. My psychotically obsessive research on the show has yielded a lot of info over the years but I have now worn out every source I could find.
Even the show’s co-host and co-creator Randy Clower has been bled dry of information on the show by me. Over the years other fans of the show – and a special shout-out goes to “the Cap’n” – have provided info here and there that often led me to concrete source material.
Anyway, here are some movies that we have general, varied reason to believe were shown on The Texas 27 Film Vault but I need original broadcast dates, info on comedy sketches or movie ticket give-aways, etc. Episodes aired for 2 and a half hours Saturday nights from 10:30pm to 1:00am in Texas and Oklahoma.
FIEND WITHOUT A FACE (1958)
The Film: “Thought Monsters” leech into atomic energy, then extract human brains and spinal columns to use as their corporeal forms. This is a Bad Movie Classic remembered largely because of the scenes where the flying brains, sporting antennae, attack their prey, with their spinal cord “tails” streaming along behind them.
Serial Episode: No idea, for now.
Reason for believing it was shown: Some of the Flying Brain Creatures are on the 1987 Texas 27 Film Vault poster.
EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956)
The Film: The title says it all for this fun but weird black & white time-waster.
Serial Episode: Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe.
Reason for believing it was shown: Tex (Ken Miller) announced it was to be the movie “Next time on The Texas 27 Film Vault” on one of the surviving episodes that I have.
THEY SAVED HITLER’S BRAIN (1963/ 1968)
The Film: This movie is so infamous surely nobody needs any information from me at this late date.
Serial Episode: No idea, for now.
Reason for believing it was shown: It is mentioned by the hosts in some episodes AND appears on the 1987 T27FV poster.
Recently I’ve gotten several requests to review Suburban Sasquatch, written and directed by Dave Wascavage. I’ve watched some of Wascavage’s flicks in response to those requests and I began to suspect that he is one of the faux-badfilm figures out there. 
BIGFOOT (1970) – Bikers battle Sasquatch!This neglected landmark in Golden Turkey history unites nearly all the bad movie Mafia from the American Southwest in the 1960s and 70s and throws in Haji, Doodles Weaver and a few Mitchums for good measure. 
Some of my e-mailers requested that I review this movie, but I already did years ago. Here it is again for those folks who requested it, along with a reminder that you could have instant gratification for your bad movie fix if you check my Bad Movie page first and see if I’ve already reviewed the film you have in mind. Here is the link: 
FEVER LAKE (1997) – I like to think of this hilariously lame horror film as Twin Peaks 90210. I sometimes toy with I Was A Teenage Shining but that mock title only applies to isolated parts of Fever Lake. Overall, I think the creative team was trying for an imitation Twin Peaks vibe, especially given the time period in which it was made. 
I’ll elaborate on that point in a bit, but for right now I’ll point out the enjoyable kitsch-casting that elevates this turkey slightly above other such dismal efforts. Corey Haim, one-half of the Haim-Feldman Colony Creature, stars as college student Albert. Saved By The Bell‘s Mario Lopez co-stars as college student Steve. 
MOTORCYCLE SQUAD (1937) – This neglected little honey is one of the earliest, if not THE earliest, biker films. Kane Richmond and Wynne Gibson star in a story about a motorcycle cop who is dishonorably discharged from the police force as part of a ruse to send him undercover. 
GHETTO BLASTER (1989) – Rose Marie, best known as Sally Rogers on the ancient Dick Van Dyke Show, started in movies at age 4 in 1927 billed as “Baby Rose Marie.” Legend holds she was in a Vitaphone SOUND short released as an opener for The Jazz Singer, usually credited as the first feature-length movie with sound. 
I’ll start the review-proper for Ghetto Blaster by pointing out that you should buy this film for the Battlestar Galactica (Original Series) fan in your life. Richard Hatch from that show tries to portray the kind of grim and relentless inner city vigilante made iconic by Charles Bronson in Death Wish. 
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