Creature Features is a program of horror shows broadcast on local American television stations throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The movies broadcast on these shows were generally classic and cult horror movies of the 1930s to 1950s, the horror and science-fiction films of the 1950s, British horror films of the 1960s, and the Japanese kaiju "giant monster" movies of the 1950s to 1970s.
Screen Gems In October 1957, Screen Gems released a bundle of old Universal horror movies to syndicated television, naming the collection "Shock!". They encouraged the use of hosts for the broadcasts. This is why many of the early programs were called "Shock Theater". Viewers loved the package, as well as the concept, and ratings soared. A "Son of Shock!" package was released in 1958.
Creature Features was another film package that was released in the early 1960s and added to in the 1970s. The films in this package ranged from horror and science-fiction films of the 1950s, British horror films of the 1960s, and the Japanese "giant monster" movies of the 1960s, and 1970s. This package also included an uncut print of Night of the Living Dead
The movies Creature Features normally showed all the classic Universal Horror movies from the 1930s and 1940s, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and others. Several old RKO films such as King Kong, Son of Kong, and the original Mighty Joe Young were also included. They aired all the movies produced and distributed by American International Pictures, including all the Roger Corman B-movies of the 1950s and 1960s such as The Raven and The Terror, plus most of the Japanese "monster movies" produced by Toho Studios, and Daiei Motion Picture Company (famous for the Gamera movies).
They broadcast all the best British horror films by Hammer Film Productions, such as The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, The Phantom of the Opera, The Curse of the Werewolf, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. Later, during the 1970s, the films of Amicus Productions and Tigon British Film Productions, which included Dr. Terror's House of Horrors and The House That Dripped Blood, became popular features on the shows.
Creature Features also aired many "nuclear monster" and "space alien" science fiction movies. Created in the 1950s, these movies generally featured giant mutant monsters or aliens from outer space terrorizing Earth. These included Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Amazing Colossal Man, Them!, Tarantula, The Thing from Another World, It Came from Outer Space, The War of the Worlds, and Forbidden Planet.
Air times Creature Features usually aired on Friday or Saturday night, around eight or nine o'clock. In some cities it aired on Saturday afternoons alternating with Kung Fu Theater and/or Bikini Theater. Because it aired after the traditional Saturday morning cartoon time block, it introduced many teenagers to classic monster movies.
Later history TV horror shows of this sort became more scarce during the early and mid-1980s, partly because acquiring broadcast rights for these films became considerably more expensive in the new era of cable television. Another reason for the decline of these shows is the change in Friday and Saturday night viewer demographics, as young people are decreasingly likely to stay home on those nights. Or, if home, unlikely to watch broadcast television, being more likely to be gaming or engaged in social media.
Broadcast cities (US) Metropolitan Areas These are the major metropolitan areas of the United States in which Creature Features was seen: Northeast New York Metropolitan Area WNEW Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area Greater Boston Area Philadelphia metropolitan area South Louisville North Carolina channel 6 every Friday night at midnight Nashville Tampa Bay Area South Florida New Orleans, LA Midwest Detroit metropolitan area Chicago Metropolitan Area Cape Girardeau, Missouri Saint Louis, Missouri Kansas City Metropolitan Area Omaha Metropolitan Area Quad Cities South Bend Metro Area West Coast San Francisco Bay Area KTVU KOFY Los Angeles
1968, WQAD-Channel 8 (Quad Cities) Creature Feature was also the name of a horror program broadcast on WQAD-TV in the Quad City area. From 1968 until 1977 it was hosted by a local business man named Chuck Acri, sponsored by Acri's home improvement business. ("Acri" rhymes with "BAKE-ree").
In addition to Acri's signature greeting, "Hi, Chuck Acri here!", and pitches for his company's products, some intermissions featured a comical Dracula imitator called "Vincent Hedges" (played by actor Ken Gibson) along with other actors playing classic movie monsters. The short filmed segments were produced as silent movie skits, underscored by an instrumental version of "The Windmills of Your Mind".
Acri marketed and distributed the program from the Quad Cities, including Milan, Illinois, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa (KCRG) to Peoria (WEEK) and Springfield (WICS), Illinois. Acri's Creature Feature may have had the widest distribution of a local, hosted TV horror movie program in the U.S.
1968, WSJV-Channel 28 (South Bend, Indiana) Creature Features was also the name of a horror show which aired on Saturday nights in the South Bend Metro Area on WSJV-TV Channel 28, from 1968 till 1977. The show featured artwork of 4–6 monster heads on a blue background used during announcements, or another watercolor of a black castle on a long winding road in the moonlight. It was mentioned in a letter from Joseph Meeks in issue #10 (March 1994) of Scary Monsters.
It also played as "Double Creature Feature" and featured the bug-eyed monster from Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (1966) in the title card.
1969, WNEW-Channel 5 (New York City)
Creature Features was broadcast in the New York Metropolitan Area, on WNEW, Channel 5 (Metromedia Broadcasting). It was hosted by Lou Steele (The Creep), who became familiar to Channel 5 viewers as the guy who started off the 10 o'clock News by asking: "It's 10 p.m.; do you know where your children are?"
Creature Features first aired from July to August 1969 on a test run, and was found to be a hit. It was continued on the air from November 1969 to August 1973, but was cancelled due to poor ratings and competition from WPIX's Chiller Theatre. Over the next six years the show would be rebroadcast periodically, but never with great success. It was re-broadcast in 1979–1980, but cut again due to poor ratings.
1970, WGN-Channel 9 and WFLD-Channel 32 (Chicago) Creature Features was introduced into the Chicago metropolitan area on Chicago's WGN Channel 9 in the fall of 1970. Hosted by Carl Greyson, and later Marty McNeeley, this version of Creature Features ran until 1976. The show used the theme music of Henry Mancini's Experiment in Terror. After WGN canceled its version, WFLD Channel 32 briefly used the title (sans 's' – it was called "Creature Feature") for its own weekend screenings of horror movies; no host appeared on the WFLD version. This show ended with the premiere of Son of Svengoolie in 1979.
1970, KDNL-Channel 30 (Saint Louis) Baron Von Crypt's Shock Theater aired on KDNL TV Channel 30 in St. Louis Missouri from 1970 to 1971. with a refilmed reboot in 1976. KDNL's Shock Theater hosted by a campy vampire named Baron Von Crypt and his side kick Igor. Each week Shock Theater brought St. Louis its share of late night screams. Showing films by Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, and other classic horror favorites. During Halloween KDNL featured Shock Week. Where the Baron brought Horror Movies to the TV screens every night. Baron Von Crypt has made very few live appearance, but when did materialize it was at the legendary St. Louis Checkerdome where lines of fans waited to meet him. Baron Von Crypt had his share of catchphrases, "Blu", "Think About It" and "Trust me Punky" were some of his most known. Von Crypt made it into the pages of the now legendary TV Guide with full ads announcing his upcoming shows Shock Week Promotions. Mark Lashley as he is known in real life is also acknowledged as being the originator and designer of The McDonald's Happy Meal. Something he helped invent during his time in advertising. Out of nowhere in 2016 Baron Von Crypt reemerged. And with fan support he entered the modern era with interviews, Facebook pages, and chat groups. Soon classic episodes were revamped and showing worldwide on The Eerie Late Night Horror Channel and The Monster Channel on Roku. Again based on fan support and Peer group recognition, in 2017 Mark Lashley and Baron Von Crypt were inducted into the Horror Host Hall Of Fame at The Sharonville Center in Cincinnati Ohio. Where the legendary Baron Von Crypt made his first live appearance in 40 years.
1971, WUTV-Channel 29 (Buffalo) Creature Feature was the name of a show broadcast by WUTV Channel 29 in the Buffalo area. In 1971 WUTV aired the program on Saturday night. It later moved the program to Friday nights. It featured a collection of Japanese monster movies, American International Pictures movies and various titles from Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures and other B movie companies. It eventually changed the name of the program to Sci-Fi Theater and moved it to Sunday Nights. It made a brief return in the late 70's on Saturday afternoons, but the contracts for the rights to most of the station movie packages began to run out and the station did not have the financial resources to renew or acquire new packages.
1971, KMTV-Channel 3 (Omaha) KMTV Channel 3 in Omaha, Nebraska, aired a long-running show called Creature Feature. It was broadcast from 1971 to 1983, and was hosted by Dr. San Guinary (John Jones). It was broadcast throughout the Omaha Area. Long after the show was cancelled, and after its host had died in 1988, the show was rebroadcast from 2001 until 2003, hosted by a new character known as "Son of San Guinary".
Creature Feature returned in 2011 as a live theater show within Omaha as Creature Feature Live, featuring a reboot of the Dr. San Guinary character. This was followed by the return of Creature Feature to Omaha area television in February 2013 on Fox Network's KPTM Fox 42 station, in a one-hour format featuring locally produced horror shorts and the new Doc (Christopher Palmer) continuing the previous Doc's comedy, as well as performing charity events with the character.
1971, KTVU-Channel 2 (Oakland) Creature Features ran on KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1971 to 1984, hosted by Bob Wilkins, and later by John Stanley, who took over in 1979. Wilkins had been hosting a similar program on KCRA in Sacramento from 1966, Seven Arts Theater. Wilkins showcased many classic horror and sci-fi movies; the classic low budget Plan 9 from Outer Space, produced and directed by Ed Wood and which features the last footage of Bela Lugosi, was first televised in the Bay Area on Creature Features. He also interviewed many sci-fi and horror movie personalities on the show, including Ray Harryhausen, Christopher Lee, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, John Landis, Douglas Adams, William Marshall, Forrest J Ackerman, Buster Crabbe, and several Star Wars performers, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher. During later years, the "Bootleg chorus" from the Mike Oldfield album Tubular Bells served as the show's theme song.
During much of this era, KTVU also ran classic horror films on Saturday late mornings under the Chiller Diller title, with no studio host; these were generally seen after the day's airing of Soul Train.
1972, WKBG-Channel 56 (Boston)
Creature Double Features was the name of a show broadcast by WKBG Channel 56 in the Greater Boston area. In 1972 WKBG, a station in the Kaiser Broadcasting chain, aired its collection of Godzilla movies on Saturday under the title, The 4 O'Clock Movie.