Real name: Sandra Bernhard
Years active: 1994-1996, USA Network
We’ve mentioned the USA Network before, but there was
another host that didn’t get much attention. Comedian Sandra Bernhard was the
host to the late night show Reel Wild
Cinema on USA from 1994 to roughly 1996.
A somewhat controversial choice, as Ms. Bernhard didn’t play
a character and more importantly the films she hosted were stripped down to fit
into the hour running time. The show was also moved around the schedule at
random. I remember staying up till 3 AM one summer to try and catch it. The
main reason I’m including her is that while Monstervision
showed me slashers and Commander USA had marital arts, it was Reel Wild Cinema that introduced me to
Russ Meyer and Doris Wishman.
This was also first place I witnessed the sheer glory that
is Tura Santana, so it has a special place in my heart. The show would showcase
either one particular film or several ones, edited to fit the time format.
Sandra Bernhard would introduce the film and provide facts and things were
usually capped off by an interview with someone. Sometimes it would be someone
connected to the film shown (Santana) or someone else (Dana Gould, while funny,
doesn’t have much of a connection to El Santo that I’m aware of) and the two
would chat.
I’ve seen mention, but no actual video, that Bernhard was
replaced and the show retooled with the host being Elvira herself Cassandra
Peterson as Cassandra Peterson, but according to the Internet Movie Database
that is not the case. If anyone can verify that, drop us a line.
The show was a wonderful introduction to the wild worlds of
B-Movies and coupled with the emerging Internet ushered in a brand new world
for bad movie fans to explore. Sandra Bernhard is still performing and can be reached via website.
On a related not, USA’s
Up All Night didn’t quite make the cut this year, for while they showed
many horror films they also showed an equal amount of comedy. They’ll be a
subject of a future article.
No comments:
Post a Comment