Remember when locally produced TV meant more than carjackings and text message scandals?
Mac Kelly does.
He remembers a time when the local airwaves were filled with ghoulish hosts like
Sir Ghastly Graves or
Son of Svengoolie, who intoduced Grade Z horror classics like
The Brain That Wouldn't Die or Roger Corman's
A Bucket Of Blood.
Since July 2007, Kelly's been bringing the retro cheeseball humor of Wolfman Mac's
Nightmare Sinema to suburban cable access systems across Metro Detroit.
Actually, 20 different cable systems in nearly 300, 000 homes.
Shot in a state-of-the-art commercial photo/video soundstage in Warren, there's Wolfman Mac's wise-cracking sidekick Boney Bob, horror-themed videos and graphics created by
Darkhaus Sound and Film in Bay City, music from "The Rev. Rat Bastard" of the Casket Bastards (aka Dave Taylor of local surfcore faves the
Amino Acids), and a legion of volunteer fans who act as extras, audiences and crew.
And, of course, don't forget creature feature classics like
The Fiend Without A Face.
All these efforts did not go unnoticed. WMYD TV, Detroit's Channel 20, decided to get back into the local production game and has started airing Nightmare Sinema
Friday nights from 1am - 2:30am. (
starting April 26th, their time slot moves to Saturdays at midnight).
Tom Hendrickson takes a peak behind the scenes at this scare-larious show in the YouTube video below. Music is provided but
ZOOS OF BERLIN.