Late Night At The Horror Hotel: Episodes 3 & 4
2010 – NR – Variable
D – John Cannon and Rob Dimension
DVD Provided by Late Night at Horror Hotel
Article written by Douglas A. Waltz

Horror hosts are nothing new. I grew up with The Ghoul, have a soft spot for Dr. Dreck (I have a helmet that covers up the soft spot when I’m o

Horror hosts are nothing new. I grew up with The Ghoul, have a soft spot for Dr. Dreck (I have a helmet that covers up the soft spot when I’m out in public), and think that Count Gore DeVol is the grooviest vampire east of the Pecos. With cable access and the internet, the horror hosts are experiencing a boom not seen since the early days of local UHF programming. This is both a good and bad thing.

Enter John Cannon and Rob Dimension with Late Night at the Horror Hotel (soon to be known as Necrocomicon TV). The disc I received had two Gamera movies: the first GAMERA flick and ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS. Both excellent flicks, so good choice there, gentlemen.

Here’s the thing, of my three favorite horror hosts, two of them are veteran local TV people. Gore DeVol at one point did Bozo the Clown, Captain 20, Count Gore, and did the news. Sometimes all in one day! The Ghoul was also around for UHF infancy and it shows with both of these gentlemen. They have created characters, know what they are, and run with it. Mistakes are just another reason to go in another direction. Shoot it fast, furious and off the cuff. As for Dr. Dreck, well, Michael Legge has been acting for so long that improvisation is something that comes naturally.

In other words, these three guys do what they do and it has an organic, natural flow to it. The duo at The Horror Hotel feel, well, forced and over-scripted. I think that scripting a horror host show can be the death of spontaneity. If you overdo it, then you’re just hammering another nail in that particular coffin. That’s strike one.

One of the guys (Cannon) plays a chef. So every episode there is a recipe for something related to the show. It’s a yummy little treat and the recipe is flashed on the screen as the chef talks about it. I think that with a show that seems this scripted they should actually show Chef John making the dish. That would be a great segment. As it stands now, it just seems like a missed opportunity.

The little pond of horror hosts is filled with stuff that captures your imagination and makes the movies shown seem a little better. While I can see the love these guys have for the genre, I think they need to just loosen up and play with the concept a little more. Oh, and add that cooking segment. That would just make the show.