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I'm going to agree with you wholeheartedly regarding the heaven-sent drumsticks of Scarlet von Harlot. There's really nothing to add...

The question of humor, horror and respect is a more difficult one. One of the jobs for the earliest hosts was to tape some of the edge of the genuinely unsettling classics in the original SHOCK! movie package. When it was discovered that kids were hooked on these shows, some hosts became more family friendly, while others, like Ghoulardi, were more rebelliously hip.

The TV horror movie host always appealed to the rebel. In the best of times, horror was forbidden and hosts were inviting you to break taboos. Unfortunately, being hip turned to not appearing uncool, as the SHOCK! package gave way to genuinely awful low-rent quickies. A host could have friendly fun with Frankenstein, without undermining its power. But a host couldn’t accord the same level of respect and enthusiasm to Astounding She Creature or Phantom from Space without losing a great of credibility. So they had to sneer at the films they were “forced” to play in order to retain their coolness. And mockery is easy.

The relationship between host and audience change from co-conspirators in the forbidden, to a shared superiority in acknowledging the movies were laughable crap, and only suckers took them seriously.

As far as developing an appreciation for horror movies of all types, I think I grew up in the perfect time and place. Throughout the 60s in the San Francisco Bay Area, horror movies were popular across the dial, and you could watch at least three or four, sometimes half a dozen, monster movies in the course of the day. Black and white TV is a great equalizer, especially when you’re a kid. If I saw 20 Million Miles to Earth, switched over to see Bride of the Monster, Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man, and then maybe Kronos or Zombies of Mara Tau...it was all the same at some level. I was watching monster movies. And this was without the guiding influence of a host to tell me which films I should respect or disdain. I fell in love with a wide range of films all on my own.

I wouldn’t give up modern accessibility for anything, but It does mean that people – particularly young people- tend to watch only what they specifically want to watch. They’ve lost some capacity for discovery. Broadcast stations were a mosaic, and you ran into amazing things you weren’t looking for.   

I was lucky that my first TV horror host was Asmodeus on KEMO TV 20. He was sardonic and sarcastic, but he had a classical bearing. Just as importantly, he had classic films. It was in 1970, on Asmodeus’ Shock It to Me Theater, that I first saw many of the Universal horror films. His castle setting and elegant presentation perfectly suited the material.

When Bob Wilkins arrived on the scene, it was the polar opposite. Creature Features booked “bad” movies and Wilkins treated them with a dry and gentle contempt. This was attractive because it was new, and because Wilkins was a real talent. At the same time, because I had a substantial variety of movies under my belt by that point, I could laugh along with Bob as he took some swings at Jesse James meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, and still want to watch it again when it popped up on another station without a host.

Ironically, Wilkins’ Creature Features stumbled a bit when they picked up the Universal package, and gave him more recent Hammer and big budget sci-fi movies to boot. The show’s humor had to find targets other than the films.

But unlike other hosts who trash eccentric films in a mean-spirited way, Wilkins had a light touch and live-and-let-live attitude that made these films attractive. I’d argue that Wilkins’ own offbeat personality helped open the door for a generation to enjoy Horror of Party Beach and Village of the Giants on their own skewed terms.

Creepy KOFY comes directly from the too-hip mockery school. That, plus the biker bar atmosphere of the show, make it tough - but not impossible viewing – for anyone over 25. That said, there are a lot of positives – not the least being their support and promotion of local artists. I like Brian “Balrok” Hall’s boyishly naïve demon act. I find some of his observations genuinely strange and funny. Hall grew up watching Bay Area TV in the 70s and 80s, and has a real love and respect for local broadcast history.  

I’m way outside the target demographic, and often find myself appalled at some of the excesses and “shock” humor. But Brian Hall and Mike “No Name” Nelson are both exceptionally nice and positive people on the set. It’s not really to my taste, the guys work hard to make the show they want to make.

But yes, I think the show does continue to feed the attitude of disrespect for horror movies of all levels. They’re talking to the zombie and machete generation. Them kids just ain't got no respect. 

The newer Euro-Horror is DEFINITELY more their style . . . !