Halloween Month continues with this look at a Movie Host from the 1950s – Mad Marvin. For several more Movie Hosts from the 1950s to the 1980s click HERE. You’ll find Moona Lisa, Svengoolie and Son of Svengoolie, Stella from Saturday Night Dead and, of course, The Texas 27 Film Vault.
Chicago’s own Mad Marvin (Terry Bennett) was part of the First Wave of B-Movie Hosts and Hostesses of the 1950s. From 1957 to 1959 Terry (joined by his wife Joy soon after the show launched) entertained the Windy City late on Saturday nights with that metropolis’ version of Shock Theater.
Described as a “Mad Beatnik” and a “Mad Hipster”, Bennett’s Mad Marvin character had a macabre sense of humor that has made him a legend with Movie Host fans. In fact, television station management in Chicago and from around the country soon realized that, as with the likes of Vampira and Zacherley the Cool Ghoul, audiences were tuning in just as much (if not more) to watch the antics of Mad Marvin as they were to watch the movies. Continue reading
GHOST RIDER – Daredevil biker Johnny Blaze makes a deal with the devil: Johnny’s soul in exchange for Satan curing the cancer in the body of Blaze’s mentor “Crash” Simpson. We all know how deals with the devil go, and not only does Crash die anyway, but Johnny Blaze is cursed to periodically transform into the flame-headed monster called Ghost Rider.
GANJA & HESS (1973) – Duane Jones, immortalized as “the black guy who got screwed over at the end of Night of the Living Dead“, also starred in this offbeat, artsy vampire film which was also released as Blood Couple and many other titles. 
THE SCARECROW (1972) – Gene Wilder, Blythe Danner, Nina Foch, Pete Duel and Will Geer starred in this Hollywood Television Theatre production that first aired January 10th, 1972. Long time readers of Balladeer’s Blog may recall my remarks on previous Halloweens about how underused I feel scarecrows still are in Halloween movies. 
Percy MacKaye stretched the story out and altered some of the themes, so The Scarecrow is an adaptation of Feathertop, not a faithful dramatization of it. Gene Wilder portrays the scarecrow.
EERIE TALES (1919) – Conrad “Major Strasser from Casablanca” Veidt is, in my opinion, the most neglected figure from silent horror films. In this German work Veidt co-stars with Reinhold Schunzel and Anita Berber. The three portray various characters throughout the film. 
THE WERE-WOLF (1896) – By Clemence Annie Housman. Halloween month continues at Balladeer’s Blog! This neglected story features a female author writing about a FEMALE WEREWOLF so that makes it a bit special right there.
This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at Cassie Hack, the horror superheroine who battles a long line of slashers as stylishly as Buffy fought vampires. 
HACK/ SLASH Vol 1 #1 (Apr 2004) 
Readers are now dropped into the main story, set years later when Cassie Hack has established herself as a roving heroine who battles living and undead slashers alongside her African American sidekick – the hulking, gasmask-wearing Vlad. He views Cassie like a daughter and wields meat cleavers and butcher’s knives in battle. 
POSSESSION (1981) – Halloween Month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog with a review of the thoroughly bizarre cult film Possession, from Polish director Andrzej Zulawksi. Because I review everything from mild horror films to extreme works, I’m offering my usual COURTESY WARNING for readers who prefer less transgressive movies. 
I’m far from alone in praising Possession to the Heavens, so my take on it may seem like a mere rehashing for those who are already passionate fans. However, in my opinion only the full 2 hour and 4-minute version is worth watching, not the trimmed-down versions. 
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