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"Mommy,
I want Dr. Terrible to come play at our house..." Hey Gang! Bring your torches, pitchforks, a picnic lunch, and gather 'round The Gallows ! It's me, it's me, A. Ghastlee G., tapdancing on the trapdoor once again. Let's see if I can talk my way out of this one, hmm...? I've tried to wrap my warped mind around the idea of attempting a genre television column again this week, and have once again come to the conclusion that we are being outclassed by the Brits; the Brits, who from all I've been able to gather from their posts on the subject, don't even appreciate what they have. As I mentioned in the last installment, our ol' horror host buddy Doktor Goulfinger from Berkeley, Ca. recently turned us on to a couple of cool ghouls from the BBC. NINA and her SCI-FRIGHT program have been drawing deservedly rave reviews, so no need to climb on the high-horse and/or bandwagon to champion their already-kickin' cause. The second show that Doktor Heironimous Bullwinkle Goulfinger, SIR, (I can call him that 'cause we're friends) screened for us, was the wonderfully laughable DR. TERRIBLE'S HOUSE OF HORRIBLE. Though highly recommended by Doktor G. and me, Ghastlee, it is apparently being accepted less kindly by the UK horror crowd. On a recent web-scouting expedition, (read: " While having some beers and surfing the 'net ... ") I discovered very little save some bad reviews from our English cousins when it came to Dr. T. -- which genuinely took me aback! Here I was thinking that the folks on the other side of the big pond had it so good, only to find them missing and moaning about what good tv they do have! Ok, so I'll go reassess BUFFY. Until then, here are a few initial and/or reactionary reactions to my first exposure to Dr. T's House of H. (Sounds like an After School Special when y' say it like that...) ------ THE REVIEW ( such as it is...) ------ Dr. Terrible's cla-sick slice of cheese unfolds with the drooling, cockeyed Doc (sleazily portrayed by comedian Steve Coogan), bringing us a perverse parody of all that was the golden-age of Hammer horror. Pointing out the obvious overtones, undertones, and blatant socio-political implications of the horror genre--particularly of the dry, English variety--serves this crew well. From the drearily cozy ensconcment of his timeless Victorian study, Dr. Terrible unleashed a "biting" satire of the oft' staked territory of the bloodsucker mythos with the hilarious LESBIAN VAMPIRE LOVERS OF LUST. Coogan, out of the Dr. T. makeup, also heads the ensemble cast of this Tales From The Darkside/ Tales From The Crypt -esque vignette, playing the uncomfortable-in-his-own-skin arch-hero of the story with a gloriously pretentious aplomb. To put that into North Americanese, he plays the perfect ass perfectly. Until the credits rolled, I never realized that this young "leading man" and the decrepit host were, in fact, one and the same actor. While I wouldn't go so far as to compare Coogan's characterizations to Robin Williams or Dustin Hoffman, by any stretch, he does have a kind of Martin Short talent working for him; an ability to absorb into and become a caricature, and then milk that for all it's worth. As Doctor Terrible and the wannabe-hero of LVLOL, Coogan uses the same comedic devices of the character-deprecating joke, and the intentional foible ( the staples of any good horror host ) to both pay homage to and poke a little fun at horror hosts and the Hammer strain of horror films/ tv. The English "I'm the eternal victim of life" character play is Coogan's strong-suit, and it works fantastically for him in this format. Things never seem to go exactly as planned for the Doc -- and they definitely don't pan out the way LVLOL protagonist Hans Bracken think they will -- and that is the essence of good comedy, good parody, and even good horror. It was either Hitchcock, Corman, or Corman quoting Hitchcock who said, " Anything unexpected will either scare the hell out of you or make you laugh". Seems like it would be tough to miss that target, eh? Well too many recent shows do miss the mark. DR. TERRIBLE, on the other hand, scored direct hits on this old ghoul's heart and funnybone. The humor is sometimes bawdy, there are inside jokes that only a genre fan would get, and there are some great t&a shots that our U.S. cable networks wouldn't dare -- or deign -- to broadcast. (Juggies on trampolines, eat yer hearts out!) This is entertaining stuff from start to finish, and besides, with titles like DR. TERRIBLE'S HOUSE OF HORRIBLE and LESBIAN VAMPIRE LOVERS OF LUST, how can you go wrong?!? Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Spin and Marty wait for Ghastlee to find a point, or point out a find. Ok, the find is Dr. Terrible. Seek it out! This is great tv! If you have digital or sat-e-lite, tune in BBC to and see what we're missing and British audiences have--but apparently don't appreciate. As for a point... Well, we'll work on that next time... Doin' the boogie-woogie on the big trapdoor, and waitin' for the snap !
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