Another Example of The Horror Host Underground Network In Action!
This is the fourth in a series of articles related to the Horror Host Underground – a self syndication network that encourages and promotes current horror hosts, most of whom, through production and sponsorship, are fulfilling a valuable public service by continuing to support and advance local television traditions.
“The Spooky Movie with Dr. Sarcofiguy” was an accident – it wasn’t suppose to be more than a one time Halloween special on a regional Virginia cable access station, way back in 1995. In fact, moments before we filmed our very first segment, John Dimes (who had been hosting a monthly community entertainment program I produced – “Tales to Make You Say, ‘Goodness!’” – and had agreed to do a spoof of the horror host genre we both loved – we both credit “Count Gore De Vol” in helping raise us) was going to make the character German. German? Dr. Sarcofiguy was German? He was – right up until I turned the camera on, and out stumbled a thick, rich deep Southern accent from John, that over the years harkened back to Foghorn Leghorn, by way of Charlottesville, Virginia.
“I thought Dr. Sarcofiguy was German?” I asked when the first bit was complete.
“Yeah…I don’t know what happened,” John laughed – a distinctive signature the actor shares with his unique creation.
“Well, don’t change it,” I said, in my revisionist memory, convenient for the narrative of this article. “It’s perfect.” A perfect accident.
And so, to paraphrase “The Clash,” Dr. Sarcofiguy and “The Spooky Movie” were not
born so much as they fell out. Ten years have come and gone since we taped that first
segment for a local Northern Virginia public access station, and since then we have
benefited from not only fulfilling a childhood fantasy, but have also helped forge a
community of friends, fans and colleagues that goes across the entire country – a
collective that realizes one of the best way to help with self-promotion is to help others as
well.
What is so wonderful about this genre of “current horror host” that The Horror Host
Underground and horrorhosts.com is dedicated to, is that each host and each show brings
something news, fresh and completely different to the party. From the sublime, to the
slapstick, to the thoughtful, to the playful, to the saucy, to the silly, each and every one of
the hosts involved with the HHU is able to present their distinctive perspectives through
their shows, providing all viewers with entertainment both rewarding and memorable.
While this is also very true with “The Spooky Movie,” the road to achieve our “slapped
together look and feel” is far from just a happy accident. For a simple television show,
with no budget, a small cast, and a one man crew, there are specific elements that help
make “The Spooky Movie” a unique, and different, experience. From the aesthetic
(opening credits, intimate hand held camera work shot in black and white and an original
musical score ) to the content (Dr. Sarcofiguy, aka: John Dimes), TSM is part
experimental performance art, and part traditional horror host apparition.
THE AESTHETIC
Along with Dr. Sarcofiguy’s voice and laugh, many viewers seem to appreciate the
completely silly and disarming opening credits sequence that lets the audience know right
up front that we (as the show’s producers) know this is a public access program, and we
won’t take it seriously if they don’t.
For those of you who have not seen it, imagine a montage of famous clips from a variety
of spooky movies, with an agonized, plaintive, “Oooooh! Ooooooh! Oooooh!
OOOOOOOH!” being moaned on the soundtrack, only to discover the sound coming
from “Dr. Sarcofiguy,” sitting alone in a cemetery, and startled at the discovery.
“I love that opening sequence,” the brilliant horror host, Dr. Gangrene, told me when we
first met back in 2001, as we swapped notes on producing horror host shows.
“I wish John did!” I admitted – John, for whatever reason, was never wild about doing
that more than once, hence why we primarily use the same one for most every episode.
Interestingly enough, that meeting, between myself and Dr. Gangrene at the “Neon All
Nighter” in Dayton, Oho, which also included New Jersey horror host and renounced
historian, Halloween Jack, and long time Dayton host, A. Ghastlee Ghoul, planted the
seed of the idea that would become The Horror Host Underground just months later – as
detailed in Scary Monsters #48.
Since the “The Spooky Movie” was originally filmed on Hi8 video, and then transferred
to ¾ inch tape (often recycled from the station’s old masters), a decision was made that it
would actually improve the look if all the color from the taped wrap-arounds were
drained out, and the show (and Dr. Sarcofiguy) were put in black and white.
This worked better than imagined, since most of the public domain movies were not in
color – having the before, in between and post movie breaks consistent with the films
gave it a seamless quality. Even if the Doctor never mentioned the actual flick (which he
rarely has), viewers identified right away with that subtle, visual nod, that movie, and
host, were tied together.
Today, working on state of the art digital equipment it seems almost a crime to take away
the rich colors. On some episodes, including our live shoot and the Christmas special, we
kept the color in to vary things up a bit.
Another important identifier for the show has been the music – a brooding, melodic organ
theme, that is both familiar, and yet completely salubrious. It often runs during the
closing credits, and is usually underneath Dr. Sarcofiguy when he is talking. This
imaginative composition was provided to us by North Carolina artist and musician, J.C.
Williams, who created this original theme for the silent classic “Nosferatu.” An episode
of TSM is not complete until this music is in place.
THE CONTENT
The heart and the soul of “The Spooky Movie” is John Dimes’ portrayal of “Mental
Health Professional” Dr. Edgar Sarcofiguy. For a full decade Mr. Dimes has ironically
taken the character from sinister proprietor of “The Ida Lupina Memorial Theatre” in
downtown “Hope Valley U.S.A.,” dividing his time between his insane patients (like the
babbling and ranting “Anne Rice”) and insane colleagues (like the world’s only plastic
surgeon employed by a mental hospital, “Dr. Bombay”), to loopy straight man, breaking
up at the slightest raised eye-brow from one of the costars or guests.
“How did I go from being Harvey Korman to Tim Conway?!” John screamed one day,
unable to stop laughing during a shoot – a reference to the old “Carol Burnett Show,”
famous for its on camera crack-ups. Having spent years as a prominent, and award
winning, stand-up comedian in Washington D.C., working alongside such professionals
as David Chappelle, Patton Oswald and Wanda Sykes, John is one of the best audiences
anyone could be privileged to have. This development as the funny straight-man has been
advantageous when it’s come time for the good Doctor to interact with guests and
recurring performers.
Over the years there have been frequent regular characters on the show to keep things
different. Aside from “Dr. Bombay” and “Anne Rice” (both played by to the hilt by
funnyman, Mark R. Blackmon), there was “E” the zombie Elvis impersonator (Matt
Langley), “Pip Umney” and “Teenage Satan” (Scott Hartman), “Barbara from ‘Night of
the Living Dead’” (Cynthia Hamill), “’Ash’ the ‘Ykoops’ kid” (Jeff Hartman), Dr.
Sarcofiguy’s son “Fred Sarcofiguy” (Binium ****), Dr. Sarcofiguy’s gardener “Mikey
from ‘The Scream Skull’” (played by me), “Bat Boy” and the “Little Mummy” (played
by Nate Hartman), “R.J. Baber” (himself), and ‘Mrs. Umney” and “Myrtle Fargate”
(Megan Owens), two very funny characters that eventually morphed into one role, acting
as Dr. Sarcofiguy’s whacked out landlady who talks to stuffed pigs and is always after
that mad doctor for rent.
Not your typical cast of creatures, witches and specters – and it only gets worse!
“As far as you know,” I was asked in 2002 for an article in a Washington D.C.
metropolitan newspaper, “Is this the only horror host show that makes fun of poet
laureates?”
“Uhhhhh,” I said, attempting to stifle a laugh. He was serious! “I believe so.”
Aside from stand-up comedy and horror hosting, Mr. Dimes is a talented artist (whose
work has been seen in local galleries), singer (who did not get booed when he sang at
“The Apollo Theatre”), playwright (even if our musical “Sing! Mandingo! Sing!”
remains incomplete) and prolific author (whose novels, including 2002’s
“Coincidesisdence,” can be purchased through your favorite online bookseller).
Also, aside from TSM he has performed in a number of independent movies, including
the 1999 satire “The Blair Bitch Project” and the experimental “Sleeping Back Man.”
John has also played himself in one and a half documentaries (“The Wave,” which
debuted at the 1995 Los Angeles Film and Video Festival, and later screened at the
American Film Institute Theatre in Washington D.C., and “Uncle Tom,” a 30 minutes
work that makes fun of John’s middle name), recorded the opening for a third
(“Sharlene’s House”), and was recently interviewed for the forthcoming non-fiction
feature film on horror hosts, “American Scary.”
He is a man of many, many talents and gifts, and is someone who is very well respected
artistically, socially and intellectually, which helps explain that one of his greatest,
chilled to the soul fears is that he will forever be remembered as playing his arch
nemesis…
MAYA ANGELOU
“Hello…I’m Maya…Maya…Maya Angelou…my name is your name too!”
The most consistent recurring character on TSM, aside from the good Doctor himself, is
the one creature John hates the most – “Maya Angeleou;”
This insane poet laureate (played by Dimes), who is the upstairs neighbor of Dr.
Sarcofiguy, has rhymed, sang, danced, cooked, gone “ghetto,” solved mysteries, given
birth (delivered by Dr. Sarcofiguy, no less!), celebrated Kwanzaa and developed quite a
crush on the Doc over the years – and John rues the day he ever donned that pink, poofy
dress I handed him and turned a black shirt inside out and plopped it on his head.
“This is just so done,” he informed me after our Christmas special in 2001. “Yes, I
believe this is officially done.” He felt, in all sincerity, that there was no more Maya to
give.
We shall see.
Recurring characters that go unseen include Dr. Sarcofiguy’s ex-wife “Clorenda” and
their lovely daughter, “Rashashanna.” Their whereabouts and histories have changed
episode to episode, but there has always been a hope that one day they could show up,
just to make Sarcofiguy’s life just a little bit more unpleasant.
“I can’t believe that Dr. Sarcofiguy has a back story!” Carpathian, from the Patient
Creatures, told me at Monster Bash 2003, and he is right – for a cable access show like
this, it is pretty ridiculous.
THE HORROR HOST UNDERGROUND
Aside from Carpathian and the Patient Creatures, a number of national horror hosts have
been part of the lunacy of “The Spooky Movie” in recent years, many reducing Dr.
Sarcofiguy to a howling, giggling mess. Dr. Gangrene, A. Ghastlee Ghoul, Halloween
Jack, Count Gore de Vol and the Patient Creatures were some of the hosts that joined Dr.
Sarcofiguy in hosting the November 2000 “Spooky Movie Thanksgiving Leftover
Special,” the first of several cross promotional endeavors that would lay the foundation of
cooperation that became The Horror Host Underground (www.horrorhosts.com).
In the four years since then, Dr. S. has appeared with many of the above mentioned hosts
across the country, as well as horror hosts Dr. Creep, Baron Von Wolfstein, The Bone
Jangler, Nocturna, Professor Anton Griffin, I. Zombi, Dr. Zombie, Mr. Lobo,
Shadowgoblin, Baron Mondo Von Doren and El Sapo de Tempesto, Butch R. Cleaver,
The Nightshadow, Dr. Freak, the group with “Ghoul A Go Go” and even Son of Ghoul.
At conventions John is still amused and flattered when someone recognizes him from a
taped appearance, or a showing of TSM in their own market, thanks to the HHU
Network.
As mentioned in SM #50, the network arm of the HHU works because of shows willing
to exhibit and swap out programs with other hosts on access stations all over the country.
Aside from being on in Northern Virginia every week since 1995, “The Spooky Movie”
is in the rotation of shows seen in California, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and New
Jersey, among others. And because of the special relationship TSM has with Falls Church
Cable, “The Spooky Movie” is proud to sponsor other horror host produced shows in a
weekly six hour block every Friday evening.
“Night Fright: Six Hours with the Horror Host Underground” is a weekly marathon of
horror host programming from all over the country. One host, blends into the next, as one
show goes to another, and then another, and so on. Since it debuted in January 2002,
viewers have reacted very positively, often e-mailing many of the hosts they have seen
spotlighted. As different as the shows and hosts are, the commonality of them bounds
them together (in a good way!); rewarding the viewers with some of the most diverse
entertainment they will likely ever see on one place!
With luck and hard work, hopefully the coming years will see an expansion of “Night
Fright” to the internet, where everyone can enjoy this entertainment – not just the viewers
in Falls Church, Virginia – a development that parallels several endeavors of the HHU to
disseminate everyone’s programming to the widest, possible audience, while remaining
true to the local communities.
“Host Local ~ Scare National!”
TEN YEARS DOWN…
A core conviction of “The Spooky Movie” has always been to supply memories for our
viewers; this form of entertainment is actually a service that we are providing, and it’s a
privilege we don’t take for granted.
In the ten years since John and I started this lucky accident, we have produced hundreds
of hours of material, been in Memorial Day parades, interviewed for newspapers,
appeared in local specials, attended conventions, have befriended our television mentor
(Count Gore!), made some great friends and have even been recognized. However, the
greatest achievement we have had, and something we are anxious to continue to pursue in
the next ten years, has been in furthering other horror host shows, and expanding the
knowledge that local television still exists –sometimes, unfortunately, you just need to go
out of town to find it!
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But you say you want to get to know JOHN DIMES even better?! Well...look no further...! Click here for more on Mr. Dimes! |
