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Back in the 1970’s, if you were growing up within broadcast reach of The Empire State Building, and you loved horror films, then you definitely remember television treats like CHILLER THEATRE and CREATURE FEATURES. These weekly broadcast showcases for horror and science fiction films had many youthful film buffs glued to the family television set. Before the era of Tivo, DVD collections and downloading, broadcast TV was it. This was the only venue one could catch those wonderful horror flicks that budding film fanatics would read about in monster magazines like FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and THE MONSTER TIMES. If the station ran a baseball game instead, or your parents decided this was the weekend to take you to see Colonial Williamsburg, you were out of luck. No monster movie for you!

WPIX, Channel 11 ran CHILLER THEATRE on Saturday nights from 1971 to 1982. Its famous logo featured a six-fingered clay-mation hand oozing from a swamp and forming the words CHILLER. Primitive, eerie electronic music accompanied a spooky moan – “Chillleerrrrrrrrrrrr…..” This little bit of animation would then fade out and up would come the featured movie. CHILLER usually ran AIP horror films (AIP made many of the drive-in shock films), Hammer films, Japanese Toho films, and more. CHILLER was the first place I saw Vincent Price trip out over THE TINGLER, London get smashed to match-sticks by GORGO, and Fay Wray scream in DOCTOR X.

WNEW – Channel 5, which later became Fox, ran CREATURE FEATURES at the same time as CHILLER. Its first logo featured the Frankenstein Monster’s face (as played in the 1940’s by Glenn Strange) in negative, backed by the monster-on-the-march music from IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE. Somewhere in the mid 1970’s, this was replaced by an introduction by a dignified man in tux and sunglasses known as “The Creep”. The Creep told us what movie was in store. He sometimes gave some quick production background, and possibly offered a joke. (I remember his comment about bra sizes for ATTACK OF THE FIFTY FOOT WOMAN) Regardless of how campy the movie was, The Creep never trashed the upcoming film. “The Creep” was actually Channel 5 announcer Lou Steele. The late Mr. Steele was also famous amongst New York parents for his nightly question: “It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?” CREATURE FEATURES ran the classic Universal Horror Films such as FRANKENSTEIN, THE BLACK CAT, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE WOLF MAN. They also showcased bargain basement Monogram films from the 40’s, and the Allied Artist films. Allied Artist made lower budgeted films than AIP, but they had more imagination. Who can forget Richard Boone in the wonderfully minimalist, but chilling I BURY THE LIVING, or the totally ridiculous but fun walking tree in FROM HELL IT CAME?

CREATURE FEATURES ceased to be in August 1973, but picked up for a year starting in late 1979, playing triple feature horror films at midnight. Rival station WOR-TV (Channel 9) entered the horror ring in 1973 with FRIGHT NIGHT. Their assortment of films was much wider, and more contemporary, so many of the films they played – like PSYCHOMANIA and INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS (both from the early 1970’s) were aired in censored versions. This is where I was able to catch then obscure British horror films like THE MIND OF Mr. SOAMES and Michael Powell’s disturbing PEEPING TOM. FRIGHT NIGHT occasionally played non-horror films with fantasy elements (like the romantic ghost classic HERE COMES Mr. JORDAN) and normal films with horror movie like titles, such as the neglected noir crime drama KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS or the Lon Chaney bio-pic MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES. While home video nailed the coffin shut forever on CHILLER THEATRE and CREATRE FEATURES in the early 1980’s, FRIGHT NIGHT stayed on until 1987.

These weekly horror shows provided so much film knowledge. As a child, I noticed how formulistic most horror films were. The 90-minute horror show started at 8:30 pm. For the next half hour, either the monster would create small introductory damage (like icing the town drunk) or we’d sit and squirm through dull character development or a romantic subplot. The middle third of the movie is when the monster would start causing havoc, and the thrills would abound. The final thirty minutes of the film had our heroes finding a solution to defeat the creatures. Many films became so routine here that you could set your watch to CREATURE FEATURES.

But then the odd film would come through. We are only five minutes into CARNIVAL OF SOULS and the leading lady dies. Or halfway through RODAN you realize that the man-sized insects aren’t the monsters – they’re the little snacks for a really large monster. You noticed that the brazen monster movies tossed the recipe book out.

Many times I pleaded for my parents to get us all home from Saturday evening shopping because THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS or something started at 8:30. The watch-whenever-you-want luxury of Tivo and DVD today is great, but it does deprive young film goers of movie-watching as an anxiously waited-for event.

If you grew up with CHILLER and CREATURE FEATURES, you really have to visit www.dvddrive-in.com. The web-builders here have created the ultimate reference guide to this long-gone movie-watching venue.