FANGORIA TV horror host Professor Anton Griffin (a.k.a. Joseph Fotinos) gave Fango the lowdown on the premiere and subsequent screenings of John E. Hudgens and Sandy Clark’s documentary AMERICAN SCARY, which traces the pop-culture phenomenon of late-night genre personalities like himself. Debuting this Saturday, October 21 at the Hollywood Film Festival in Hollywood, CA (at the ArcLight Cinemas, 6360 W. Sunset Boulevard), AMERICAN SCARY will also screen Sunday, October 22 and Thursday, October 26 at 7 p.m. at the Austin Film Festival in Austin, TX (at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek, 13729 Research Boulevard), with Fotinos slated to attend. “I am featured extensively in the film,” says Fotinos, “and the filmmakers have asked me to host a Q&A at the Texas premiere with Frank Della Stritto [of Cult Movies Press], who also appears in the film.”
AMERICAN SCARY takes a look at the history of the horror host from its beginnings through today, and covers the careers of such notable personages as Zacherley, Ghoulardi (Ernie Anderson), Vampira (Maila Nurmi), Big Chuck and Li’l John (Chuck Schodowski and John Rinaldi), Count Gore De Vol (Dick Dyzel), The Ghoul (Ron Sweed), Son of Ghoul (Keven Scarpino), Stella, a.k.a. “The Maneater from Manayunk” (Karen Stoli), John Stanley (also author of THE CREATURE FEATURE MOVIE GUIDE) and Bob Wilkins among others. Additionally, film critic and personality Joe Bob Briggs, Famous Monsters’ Forrest J Ackerman, author Neil Gaiman, FX legend Tom Savini and many others share their thoughts on an institution which shaped many a genre fan.
In addition to the California and Texas screenings, Ohio fans will have a chance to see AMERICAN SCARY on the big screen on Saturday, November 11 at the Ohio Independent Film Festival. For more information, visit the documentary’s official website here or MySpace page here.
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