51-541: John Zacherle ( / ˈ z æ k ər l iː / ZAK -ər-lee ; sometimes credited as John Zacherley ; September 26, 1918 – October 27, 2016) was an American television host, radio personality, singer, and voice actor. He was best known for his long career as a television horror host , often broadcasting horror films in Philadelphia and New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. Best known for his character of "Roland/Zacherley", he also did voice work for films, and recorded
102-588: A Rondo award . Zacherle continued to make appearances at conventions through 2015, and his collectibles, including model kits, T-shirts, and posters, continue to sell. The book Goodnight, Whatever You Are by Richard Scrivani, chronicling the life and times of The Cool Ghoul, debuted at the Chiller Theatre Expo in Secaucus, New Jersey , in October 2006. Scrivani and Tom Weaver followed it up with
153-542: A direct-to-video program called Horrible Horror , where he performed Zacherley monologues in between clips from public domain sci-fi and horror films. In 1988, he struck up a friendship with B-movie horror director Frank Henenlotter . He voiced the puppet "Aylmer", a slug -like drug-dealing and brain -eating parasite , one of the lead characters in Henenlotter's 1988 horror-comedy film Brain Damage , and made
204-596: A cameo in his 1990 comedy Frankenhooker , appropriately playing a TV weatherman who specializes in forecasts for mad scientists . In late 1992, Zacherle joined the staff of "K-Rock", WXRK , at a time when the roster included other free-form radio DJs including Pete Fornatale , Jimmy Fink, Vin Scelsa (with whom he'd worked at WPLJ) and Meg Griffin . For the next four years he hosted a Saturday morning show called "Spirit Of The Sixties". He departed in January 1996 when
255-434: A direct-to-video movie may get a limited theatrical screening in order to build excitement for the actual release of the video such as was done for 2010's Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths , and Planet Hulk , 2016's Batman: The Killing Joke or 2013's Sharknado . In some cases, other direct-to-video films can also be theatrically released in other countries. As DVDs gradually replaced VHS videocassettes ,
306-481: A high-profile star) can generate well in excess of $ 50 million revenue worldwide. A production studio may decide not to generally release a TV show or film for several possible reasons: a low budget, a lack of support from a TV network, negative reviews, its controversial nature, that it may appeal to a small niche market , or a simple lack of general public interest. Studios, limited in the annual number of films to which they grant cinematic releases, may choose to pull
357-477: A new head-shrinking formula on four volunteer apes; it backfires and an ever-expanding mass of hair threatens to fill the crypt. Zacherley campaigns to be chosen leader of the Transylvania gypsies, and is miffed when Isobel is selected Queen of the tribe instead. Zacherley tries to force Isobel to abdicate from gypsy royalty by means of a love potion. When that fails, explosions follow. Zacherley builds
408-485: A packing-case from his old channel. Using Isobel as a trance medium, Zacherley communicates with the beyond...and some very active ectoplasm. Zacherley celebrates that holiday of holidays, All Hallows Eve, with a special radio address by Count Dracula in Transylvania. A pumpkin explodes. Zacherley decides to put together a brain for the Cardiff Giant, but over-activates the parts. Zacherley experiments with
459-467: A stigma of lower technical or artistic quality than theatrical releases. Some films released direct-to-video are films which have been completed but were never released in movie theaters. This delay often occurs when a studio doubts a film's commercial prospects to justify a full cinema release or because its release window has closed. In film industry slang, such films are referred to as having been "vaulted". Like B-movies shown in drive-in theaters in
510-460: A successful live action film straight to DVD, due to a lack of budget in comparison to the original. During the Golden Age of Porn in the 1970s, many pornographic films were released in theatres, some of which became some of the highest-grossing films in their release years, and in the pornography industry altogether. Toward the 1980s, porn began to shift to video release, because video allowed
561-499: A telescope just in time to do battle with some spores from outer space. Zacherley puts on a magic show, climaxing it by sawing Isobel in half. Zacherley reminisces about prehistoric times with a pasty-faced Glob that dates far, far back. Zacherley welcomes his always-failing son Gasport home from Transylvania University for the Christmas holidays and opens some rather unusual gifts. These shows were later syndicated to KHJ-TV ,
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#1732802419871612-469: A third of the average cost of a Hollywood release. According to Variety , American Pie Presents: Band Camp sold more than one million copies in a week. Some direct-to-DVD releases recently have tended to feature actors who were formerly bankable stars. In 2005, salaries for some of these direct-to-DVD actors in the multimillion-dollar range from $ 2 to $ 4 million ( Jean-Claude Van Damme ) and $ 4.5 to $ 10 million ( Steven Seagal ), in some cases exceeding
663-555: A trend in China; these films are called "Online Big Movies" ("OBM"; 网络大电影 in Chinese, or simply 网大). The word "Big" in the name was meant to be sardonic , as most of these films are often made on a very low budget and featuring mostly unknown cast members and sometimes nonprofessional actors. However, increasingly, the budget for these films have been slowly climbing up, due to the success of these films on digital distribution platforms;
714-622: A two-hour show at WCBS-FM with Ron Parker on October 31, 2007. (By this point, the 89-year-old was one of the very few people left in radio that was older than the medium itself.) Zacherley and Chiller Theatre returned to the WPIX airwaves on October 25, 2008, for a special showing of the 1955 Universal Pictures science fiction classic Tarantula! . The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted Zacherle into their Hall of Fame in 2010. He died on October 27, 2016, at his home in Manhattan at
765-529: The Tribeca Film Festival in April, where it was reviewed positively, but only received modest distribution offers. At the time, it was not very common for consumers to make digital movie purchases. As part of a push by the service towards original content, the subscription video on demand service Netflix began to acquire feature films for distribution on its service in the 2010s, including
816-672: The release of a film , television series , short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere . This distribution strategy was prevalent before streaming platforms came to dominate the TV and movie distribution markets. Because inferior sequels or prequels of larger-budget films may be released direct-to-video, review references to direct-to-video releases are often pejorative . Direct-to-video release has also become profitable for independent filmmakers and smaller companies. Some direct-to-video genre films (with
867-409: The 1960s. Clark reportedly gave Zacherle his nickname of "The Cool Ghoul ". In 1958, partly with the assistance and backing of Clark, Zacherle cut Dinner with Drac for Cameo Records , backed by Dave Appell . At first, Clark thought the recording – in which Zacherle recites humorously grisly limericks to rock and roll accompaniment – was too gory to play on Bandstand , and made Zacherle return to
918-642: The 1980s and 1990s, once narrating Edgar Allan Poe 's The Raven while backed up by the Philadelphia Orchestra . In 1983, he portrayed himself in the feature length horror comedy Geek Maggot Bingo produced and directed by Nick Zedd in sequences shot in Zacherle's apartment on the Upper West Side. In 1985, he hosted a special for Newark, New Jersey music video station WWHT U68 entitled "The Thirteenth Hour". In 1986, he hosted
969-475: The 2013 documentary The Square , and its first feature film in 2015 — Beasts of No Nation . Netflix pursued a simultaneous release strategy for its films, partnering with a distributor for a limited theatrical release (in order to maintain eligibility for awards requiring theatrical release, such as the Academy Awards ) simultaneous with their availability to subscribers. As this practice violates
1020-579: The 2014 film The Interview was released simultaneously on digital and at selected cinemas, after major chains dropped the film due to terrorist threats by a hacking group believed to have ties to North Korea (whose regime is satirized in the film). The group had also leaked confidential data from the internal servers of the film's distributor, Sony Pictures . The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in worldwide closures of cinemas due to economic restrictions and guidance against public gatherings, which prompted direct-to-digital releases for several major films;
1071-591: The Afternoon , a Western produced by the station and aired in the New York City market. Three years later, he was hired as the host of WCAU's Shock Theater , which debuted on October 7, 1957. it was so popular that when Zacherle asked for three human hairs to make a pillow, he received 23,000 replies. He was a close colleague of Philadelphia broadcaster Dick Clark , and sometimes filled in for Clark on road touring shows of Clark's American Bandstand in
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#17328024198711122-714: The Chinese film Lost in Russia was acquired by ByteDance for 630 million yuan (almost 100 million in US dollars) and streamed on its platforms (including TikTok ) for free in lieu of a theatrical release, as part of a larger relationship with the company and the film's distributor Huanxi Media. A number of U.S. films were shifted directly to video-on-demand rentals in lieu of a theatrical release, while some have been sold directly to subscription services, including Disney+ , Max , Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video . OV ("original video") are movies made for direct-to-video release in
1173-487: The Japanese market. OVA (" original video animation ") is distinguished from OVM ("original video movies") or V-Cinema, which usually refer to non-animated works. Different production studios may use other labels like "V drama". The OVA market developed in the mid-1980s. The lax restrictions and censorship in comparison to broadcast television appealed to filmmakers, allowing them to include more controversial content, as
1224-466: The Los Angeles market, but Nurmi's persona (based on cartoonist Charles Addams 's "Morticia" character) would gain fame in magazines, TV, and film. In 1957, John Zacherle of Philadelphia's WCAU (and later in other markets) set the standard format for horror hosts with his "Roland" character for the station's Shock Theater . This was made possible due to RKO Pictures' new ownership licensing out
1275-563: The RKO General station in Los Angeles. Zacherle edited two short story collections for Ballantine Books in 1960. Listed here are their contents. Horror host A horror host is a person who acts as the host or presenter of a program where horror films and low-budget B movies are shown on television or the Internet. Usually the host assumes a horror-themed persona, often a campy or humorous one. Generally there are breaks in
1326-463: The United States was Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation in 1992. The practice of creating and releasing regular fiction specifically for video did not really take off until 1994, with Disney 's The Return of Jafar and Universal 's The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure , neither of which was intended to hit theaters at any point in its production. Several of
1377-408: The actors' theatrical rates. With the increasing prominence of digital distribution platforms in the 2000s and 2010s, direct-to-digital releases began to emerge alongside, or in lieu of home video. In November 2007, Ed Burns ' Purple Violets became the first film to "premiere" exclusively for sale on iTunes Store , being exclusive to the platform for a month exclusively. It had premiered at
1428-410: The age of 98. He was the uncle of My Little Pony creator Bonnie Zacherle . Channel 9's resident film historian Chris Steinbrunner compiled a listing of all Zacherley's shows from their start to New Year's 1960: Segments: Zacherley stumbled down into the crypt under Times Square and decides to make his home at Channel 9. Zacherley anxiously awaits the arrival of his wife Isobel, mailed in
1479-479: The animated sequels, like MGM 's The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue from 1998, have sparked criticism due to the deliberate neglect of the original source material by creative content limits as these franchises will abruptly discontinue. Several other film series will be continuous if they become more successful, like Scooby-Doo for instance (their video debut Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island became one of
1530-472: The best-selling DTV films of all time ). By 1994, an average of six new direct-to-video films appeared each week. Erotic thrillers and R-rated action films were the two most successful genres. Family films became more important than such genres later in the 1990s, as retailers stocked more copies of blockbuster films instead of more titles. According to the Los Angeles Times : Often,
1581-540: The budget for these films can now range from less than 1 million yuan to upwards of 10 or 20 million yuan. Although these "Online Big Movies" rarely feature well-known actors, in recent years, many "Online Big Movies" have hired veteran actors from Hong Kong action cinema and Taiwanese cinema to join its cast. These movies are also to be differentiated from films that are made for theatrical release but were later acquired by digital streaming services, in that these "Online Big Movies" are produced by internet companies with
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1632-563: The completed film from the theaters, or never exhibit it in theaters at all. Studios then generate revenue through video sales and rentals. Direct-to-video films are marketed mostly through colorful box covers, instead of advertising, and are not covered by publications like Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide . The first direct-to-video release to go into production was E. Nick: A Legend in His Own Mind in 1984 produced by CineTel Films . Direct-to-video releases have historically carried
1683-475: The credits. In 1963, he hosted animated cartoons , as well as Chiller Theatre on WPIX-TV . In 1965, he hosted a teenage dance show for three years at WNJU-TV in Newark called Disc-O-Teen , hosting the show in full costume and using the teenage show participants in his skits. In December 1968, Zacherle moved to radio as the morning host for progressive rock WNEW-FM . In the summer of 1969, he became
1734-498: The downfall of live-action family films at the box office is their strength on video. Their appeal is to families with young children, who may go to only a couple of movies per year but who will watch many videos multiple times. The teens and young adults who drive blockbuster box office statistics stay away from family movies. Some horror films that are unsuccessful in theaters, like Witchcraft , begin successful direct-to-video series. Studios may also release sequels or spin-offs to
1785-534: The explosion in quantity and variety of such movies established and cemented genres like J-horror and yakuza films . The success of OVAs and V-Cinema has resulted in less stigma regarding direct-to-video releases in Japan than in western markets. While there are still OVA and V-Cinema releases, the market is considerably smaller than it was in the 1980s and 1990s. In the mid-to-late 2010s, low-budget B-movies that are made exclusively for digital streaming became
1836-436: The film where the host comments on various aspects of the movie. Many horror host shows also include skits involving the hosts themselves, sometimes with a sidekick or other supporting characters. The first (proto) television horror hostess was Vampira (Maila Nurmi). The Vampira Show featured mostly low budget suspense films, as few horror films had yet been released for television broadcast. It ran from 1954-1955 only in
1887-461: The films did not need to rely on sponsored advertisements for financial support. The result was animated films with greater sexual, violent, or political content. The market continued to expand during the Japanese asset price bubble and began to decline with the collapse of the bubble in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With the rise of VHS home video and the decline of the Japanese economy in
1938-502: The last minute due to the success of another film with a similar subject matter or an ultimate studio decision. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is an example of this. However, despite the movie's critically acclaimed success, its box-office performance was very poor, which has been attributed to the last minute nature of its theatrical release. The film had much better commercial success in its subsequent home video releases. Other times,
1989-567: The late 1980s, film studios struggled to recoup investments on big-budget films. Inspired by the success of OVAs, Toei released its first V-Cinema, Crime Hunter , in March 1989. Following Toei's success, other studios began to release a slew of direct-to-video movies. Relaxed censorship in V-Cinema gave way to the premier and rise of expressive auteur directors such as Takashi Miike , Hideo Nakata , Shinji Aoyama , and Kiyoshi Kurosawa . As
2040-495: The mid-20th century, direct-to-video films employ both former stars and young actors who may become stars later. Direct-to-video releases can be done for films which cannot be shown theatrically due to controversial content, or because the cost involved in a theatrical release is beyond the releasing company. Animated sequels and feature-length episodes of animated series are also often released in this fashion. The first feature length animated film to be released direct-to-video in
2091-420: The producers to work on extremely low budgets and dispense with some film production elements, like scripts, and the increased privacy and convenience of the format change were preferred by the target market. During the late 1990s and onward, pornographers began releasing content on the Internet. Occasionally, a studio that makes a movie that was prepared as a direct-to-video film will release it theatrically at
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2142-627: The ranks of the station staff. In the days of live television, it was not uncommon for the weather man or booth announcer to finish a nightly news broadcast and race madly to another part of the soundstage for a quick costume change to present the evening's monster tale. While a few early hosts like Roland and Vampira became the icons of this nationwide movement, most hosts were locals. The impact of these friendly revenants on their young fans cannot be underestimated. The earliest hosts are still remembered with great affection today. Direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to
2193-462: The release of these titles were outside of usual distribution, studios and directors worked quickly to capitalize on niche markets or upcoming and current trends to increase financial returns. This period of history in Japanese cinema has been described by film journalist Tom Mes as "a far more diverse and vibrant film scene [than previous eras]". By 1995, the V-cinema industry was in decline, but
2244-481: The rights to its vast B-movie horror film library. Zacherle's set, style, film commentary, and special effects (such as interjecting his image into the film) were quickly emulated at local stations around the world, and as an homage today by hosts such as the nationally syndicated Svengoolie (Rich Koz). Each station had its own host and style. Some hosts did regular commercials, while others presented fictional ads for bottled witches' blood. Hosts were often plucked from
2295-483: The scrapbook-style "The Z Files: Treasures from Zacherley's Archives" in 2012. The comic book anthology, Zacherley's Midnite Terrors (created by Joseph M. Monks , and featuring top artists like Basil Gogos , Ken Kelly , William Stout and Mike Koneful), was created solely as a tribute to "Zach". Three issues were published, and Zacherley acted in a commercial to promote them. Zacherle continued to make occasional on-air appearances, usually around Halloween, including
2346-774: The station night broadcaster (10 pm–2 AM); in June 1971, he switched his show to WPLJ-FM , where he stayed for ten years. On February 14, 1970, he appeared at Fillmore East music hall in New York City to introduce the Grateful Dead ; his introduction can be heard on the album Dick's Picks Volume 4 . In the early 1980s, he played a wizard on Captain Kangaroo , appearing without his Roland/Zacherley costume and make-up. He continued to perform in character at Halloween broadcasts in New York and Philadelphia in
2397-646: The station switched to an alternative rock format and hired all new jocks. In 2010, Zacherle starred in the documentary, The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze That Gripped the World . The film was written and produced by Dennis Vincent and Cortlandt Hull, owner of the Witch's Dungeon Classic Movie Museum in Bristol, Connecticut . The documentary includes a number of short pieces featuring Zacherly and his puppet co-host Gorgo, of Bill Diamond Productions. The film went on to win
2448-420: The studio to cut a second tamer version. Eventually both versions were released simultaneously as backsides on the same 45, and the record broke the top ten nationally. Zacherle later released several LPs mixing horror sound effects with novelty songs. The purchase of WCAU by CBS in 1958 prompted Zacherle to leave Philadelphia for WABC-TV in New York, where the station added a "y" to the end of his name in
2499-409: The term "direct-to-DVD" replaced "direct-to-video" in some instances. However, the word "video" does not necessarily refer to videocassettes. Many publications continue to use the term "direct-to-video" for DVDs or Blu-rays . Both disc-based release types may also be referred to as "direct-to-disc". A new term sometimes used is "DVD premiere" (DVDP). Such films can cost as little as $ 20 million, about
2550-518: The top ten novelty rock and roll song " Dinner With Drac " in 1958. He also edited two collections of horror stories, Zacherley's Vulture Stew and Zacherley's Midnight Snacks . Zacherle was born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . In 1954, he gained his first television role at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, where he was hired as an actor playing several roles (one was an undertaker) in Action in
2601-462: The traditional release windows mandated by the cinema industry, major chains have typically declined to screen the films. Since 2018, Netflix has partially backpedaled from this strategy, giving its films a one-month theatrical run before their premiere on the Netflix service. Unique circumstances have also resulted in direct-to-digital releases, sometimes alongside a limited theatrical release;
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