In the realm of low budget filmmakers, Al Adamson, along with his partner, producer Sam Sherman, are gods among men. They created a wide variety of pictures, in just about every sub-genre out there, and made with more love than money. But they were entertaining, and always memorable. Perhaps their most memorable (and successful) film was 1971's Dracula vs. Frankenstein, in no small part thanks to the casting of a young, unknown actor in the iconic role of Dracula. Raphael Engel, rechristened Zandor Vorkov was a whole new kind of creatue of the night-longhaired, goateed, and able to shoot fire out of his ring, this was a brand-new Dracula for a brand-new age. Zandor's Dracula stalked across the screen of virtually every grindhouse and drive-in screen in America in the early 70s and then across every television screen in America for a couple of decades after that. While his Dracula was being elevated to pop culture celebrity, Zandor himself left the movie business and fell out of the public eye for decades. Go to a convention, and bring up Al Adamson, and someone would eventually say "I wonder what ever happened to Zandor Vorkov?"

Like any good vampire, he was just lying in the shadows, waiting to emerge anew!

And on this very special episode, we have asked Raphael to join us to and talk a little about himself, his time working with Adamson and Sherman, and his fascinating take on the horror fandom that he's only recently learned existed, but has embraced warmly.

You can check out Zandor's website by going to https://zandorvorkov.com or hitting him up on Facebook by clicking HERE.

And if you love Al Adamson and Sam Sherman, check out the next episode we're going to do, where we dig into three of our favorite films from them!

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Golem (1920), and Waxworks (1924).

In the very beginning of cinema, it was the German filmmakers who took cinema to the next level, even when it was still in its infancy. Creating strange angles, weird landscapes and buildings, and bizarre stories, these filmmakers gave audiences something completely new and different. It made such an impact, that it would inspire future filmmakers for generations to come.

While being silent, these films still created such haunting images, wild characters, and fantastical designs of the sets, that can still make an impact to today's modern audiences. When Discovering the Horror, it is always important to know how we got to where we are, and the German expressionist horror films of that era is a great place to start. If you want to scoff at silent cinema, then you are depriving yourself of some truly great pieces of art, and of history.

Films mentioned in this episode:

The Arrival of a Train (1896), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Casablanca (1942), The Cat and the Canary (1927), The Devil and Daniel Webster, Dr. Caligari (1989), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Golem (1915), The Golem (1967), The Golem (2018), The Golem; How He Came into the World (1920), The Golem and the Dancer (1917), The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), It! (1967), Ivan the Terrible (1944), The Man Who Laughs (1928), The Mummy (1932), Nosferatu (1922), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Unknown (1927), Waxworks (1924)

In the mid 1950's an overzealous witch hunt took place in the United States focused on the corrupting effects of comic books on young people, which ended in horror comics being banned from the shelves by a draconian comics code. But why? What did those comics contain that got people so riled up? Well, it depends on who you ask.

WE asked Dr. Dan Yezbick, a comics scholar, and he sparked a lively discussion. If you're only vaguely aware of this chapter of horror history, strap in, because pre-code horror is one of the more fascinating areas of the history of the genre.

Comics mention in this episode:

Adventure into Darkness, Adventures into the Unknown, Amazing Mysteries, Archies, Beware, Black Cat Mystery, Boris Karloff’s Tales of Mystery, Boris Karloff’s Thriller, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Chamber of Chills, City of the Living Dead, Creepy, Crypt of Terror, Dark Shadows, Dead of Night, The Dead That Walk, Eerie Comics, Eerie, Grimm’s Ghost Stories, Haunt of Fear, Horrific, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Judgement Day, Master Race, Mister Mystery, Morbius, The Occult Files of Dr. Spector, Ripley’s Believe It or Not True Ghost Stories, Shock Suspense Stories, Skeleton Hand, Tales from the Crypt, Tales from the Tomb, Tales Too Terrible to Tell, Terror Tales, Tomb of Dracula, Tower of Shadows, Twilight Zone, Vault of Horror, Werewolf by Night, Witch Doctor

Them! (1954), The Deadly Mantis (1957), and The Black Scorpion (1957)

The decade of the 1950s gave horror fans a ton of different giant monster flicks, but usually taking something seemingly harmless, such as ants or grasshoppers, but somehow, someway, are mutated into growing into gigantic proportions! We had giant spiders, praying mantis, mollusks, and anything these creative filmmakers could come up, just make them bigger and let them loose!

While modern critics, or even those at the time when these titles came out, passed them off as something for the kiddies and not to be taken seriously. And sure, they were definitely made under the term of exploitation, but when you really look at them, there is a lot of talented people behind and in front of the camera, and some really well-made and creative craftsmanship going on as well. Some aspects may seem and are very dated by today's standards, but there is still a lot there, as well as a lot of entertainment value. So grab your can of raid, a giant size flyswatter, and maybe even some industrial strength gloves to wear so you don't have to tough any of these nasty little buggers, and listen to us have a little fun discussing some big creepy crawlers!

Movies mentioned in this episode:

Aliens (1986), Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), The Beginning of the End (1957), The Black Scorpion (1957), The Blob (1958), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), The Deadly Mantis (1957), The Gauntlet (1977), Godzilla (1954), House of Dracula (1945), King Kong (1933), The Lost World (1925), Mighty Joe Young (1949), The Monster that Challenged the World (1957), Son of Kong (1933), S.O.S. Iceberg (1933), Sudden Impact (1983), Tarantula (1955), Them! (1954), The Thing from Another World (1951)

Splinter (2008), Thanatomorphose (2012), and Contracted (2013)

When discussing films that deal with body horror, David Cronenberg and his work usually come up in the conversation. How can he not, when so many of his earlier films all dealt with some sort of body horror, mutations, and transformations? But there are plenty of films that go above and beyond (and even below) Cronenberg's impressive genre efforts... sometimes even making us wonder why we're watching them in the first place! Could it be that we just want to see how much grossness we can stomach? Or is there more to it?

Body horror is one of the most horrific of horror's subgenres, tossing heaping handfuls of disgust into the usual bag of scares. And maybe it's the hangover from the recent global pandemic, maybe it's the fact that by a certain age all of us have watched someone close to us fight a serious illness, or maybe it's just built into us by Mother Nature, but there's something especially horrific about body horror from infection. But what do we get from watching it? Disgust, discomfort, and maybe a deeper understanding of human experience and anxieties? We can for sure guarantee the first two- so let's dig in!

Disclaimer: by the end of the episode, you will be forgiven if you catch yourself looking at your body in a full-length mirror thinking "well, at least no maggots fell out of there."

Movies mentioned in this episode:

Abigail (2024), Beyond the Darkness (1979), Body Melt (1993), Carcinoma (2014), Contracted (2013), Creepshow (1982), The Fly (1986), Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), The Grudge 3 (2009), House of Wax (2005), Immaculate (2024), The Machinist (2004), Slime City (1988), Splinter (2008), Street Trash (1987), Thanatomorphose (2012), The Thing (1982), Toxic Avenger (1984)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Revenge of the Creature (1955), The Creature Walks Among Us (1956).

And now, we come to the end of our Universal Monster episodes, having made our way through all the Dracula, Frankenstein, Invisible Man, Mummy, and the Wolf Man films, we now take a dive into the Black Lagoon! Coming out a little less than a decade after the last Universal Monster film (no, I'm not counting A&C Meet Frankenstein), it gave birth to a whole new generation of monster fans that might not have been around for the first cycle. And it did make quite the splash amongst fans, enough to permanently give its spot in the Universal Monster class. And there is a reason for that.

Join us while we take a deep dive into these films, maybe pushing you into the deep end of some of them, discussing some things you maybe didn't know about them, and hopefully, if we're doing our jobs, make you revisit them and think about them a little differently, or at least a little more. That's the beauty of films, that no matter how many times you may have seen it, you never know what the next viewing experience will bring you.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), Curse of the Werewolf (1961), The Deadly Mantis (1957), Demon of Paradise (1987), Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982), The Giant Claw (1957), House of Dracula (1945), House of Frankenstein (1944), Humanoids from the Deep (1980), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), It Came from Outer Space (1953), Jaws 3-D (1983), King Kong (1933), Mad Monster Party? (1967), The Mole People (1956), The Mummy (1932), Octaman (1971), Revenge of the Creature (1955), The Shape of Water (2017), She-Wolf of London (1946), Son of Frankenstein (1939), Tarantula (1955), The Thing from Another World (1951), This Island Earth (1955), The Wolf Man (1941)

Obviously, many of us film fans see movies in theaters througout the year, whether it be at a national chain or at an independent, arthouse theater - or both. Some of us are even hitting film festivals, special screenings, and for the truly unhinged cinephiles, film marathons. For these kind of events to happen though, there have to be some mad geniuses behind the scenes. Those people are film programmers, and they do so much for our the culture of our fandom; from tracking down film the best quality prints available, to figuring out who owns the rights, to actually making the screenings happen. A lot of times their success comes down to the sheer passion they have for these offbeat, awkward, or just downright strange and fucked up motion pictures that makes them want to pass that along to new viewers. In other words, helping new fans Discover the Horror!

One of those mad geniuses is Will Morris, who is one of the programmers for the world-famous Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Will has been programming The Music Box of Horrors a 24-hour horror marathon for close to a decade now, as well as programming their yearly January Giallo festival, and much, much more. We invited Will to come on the show to not only explain a little of what he does, but why. Get ready for a fun and wild ride.

Movies mentioned in the episode:

964 Pinocchio (1991), Abby (1974), Alleluia (2014), Aswang (1994), The Beyond (1981), Blood of Ghastly Horror (1967), Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1974), Café Flesh, Calvaire (2004), The Carrier (1988), The Children (2008), Child’s Play 2 (1990), Class of Nuke ‘Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown (1991), Corruption (1983), Curucu, Beast of the Amazon (1956), The Demons (1973), Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972), Dr. Caligari (1989), Emaneulle and the Last Cannibal (1977), Ernest Scared Stupid (1991), Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead 2 (1987), The Exorcist (1973), Fiend with the Electronic Brain (1967), Fuck the Devil (1990), Fuck the Devil 2: Return of the Fucker (1991), Ganja & Hess (1973), Ginger Snaps (2000), The Granny (1995), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), The House on Haunted Hill (1959), Last House on Dead End Street (1973), Mystics in Bali (1981), Nekromantik (1988), Jaws (1975), Jurassic Park (1993), Meet the Feebles (1989), Mirror Mirror (1990), Organ (1996), A Patch of Blue (1965), Possession (1981), Psycho a Go Go (1965), Of Unknown Origin (1983), [REC] (2007), Repulsion (1965), Roman Holiday (1953), Santet (1988), Sex Demon (2019), Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Snorkel (1958), The Tenant (1976), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), The Thing (1982), Torso (1973), Vaya luna de miel (1980), When a Stranger Calls Back (1993), Witch with the Flying Head (1982), A Woman’s Torment (1977)

Show Notes:

THe Mondo fanzine mentioned: https://www.instagram.com/themondomaniac

The Music Box Theatre - https://www.musicboxtheatre.com

The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre (1964), Crowhaven Farm (1970), and Cruise into Terror (1978)

With this being our 3rd episode covering these little television terrors, one would get the idea that there is a lot of teleplays, or TV-movies, out there that deserve our attention. And you would be correct! From the '60s into the early '80s, there was a plethora of amazing features being made for the little boob tube, not to mention a wide variety to talent behind them too!

Unfortunately, a lot of these titles still wander in limbo, never getting a legitimate release, some never even seeing a VHS release. While you can find a lot on YouTube, we're all hoping for a real legitmate release at some point. Until then, we do what we must to see some incredible films!

So grab your notepad because we're going to discuss 3 titles that are definitely worth your time, and hope to spark you to take a little further adventure into Made-for-TV Terrors!

Titles Mentioned in this Episode:

American Beauty (1999), Are You in the House Alone (1978), Bad Ronald (1974), Blue Velvet (1986), Bog (1979), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), A Cold Night’s Death (1973), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Crowhaven Farm (1970), Cruise into Terror (1978), Cult of the Cobra (1955), Day of the Animals (1977), Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978), The Disembodied (1957), Fiend without a Face (1958), The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre (1965), Grave of the Vampire (1972), It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958), Marnie (1964), Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), North By Northwest (1959), The Night Stalker (1972), Psycho (1960), Rebecca (1940), Red Dawn (1984), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Salem’s Lot (1979), Satan’s School for Girls (1973), Shanks (1974), Simon King of the Witches (1971), Slumber Party Massacre 2 (1987)