My introduction to horror came, oddly enough, at the hands of the great Abbott & Costello. Their movies aired after church every Sunday on one of the local Philly UHF channels (I believe it was WKBS-48) and their wonderful monster-mash ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948) was my gateway horror film. It remains, to this day, my favorite horror-comedy.
My mom, the true movie nut in our household, said that if I liked that, I should probably start sampling the classic Universal horrors that ran every weekend on the local stations. (Thank you, 1970s television!) THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942) was next, and I was hooked.
Universal led to Hammer, which led to trashy cable viewings, VHS rentals, and spending afternoons cutting classes in Philly to go catch Lucio Fulci’s 7 DOORS OF DEATH (1981), watching NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES (1980) with out-of-order reels at the drive-in, consuming copious amounts of beer along with ALIEN: CONTAMINATION (1980) at my buddy’s house, or hopping around area theaters soaking in every moment of DEMONS (1985), EVIL DEAD 2 (1987), DAY OF THE DEAD (1985), LIFEFORCE (1985—which I’m seeing on the big screen again tonight!), and more while scribbling notes for our trash cinema zine.
My goal isn’t to focus on new viewings, though I hope to lean into stuff I haven’t seen as well as flicks that are crying out for a rewatch. But I hope you’ll forgive me if a certain year rolls around and I just can’t help indulging in a JAWS (1975) or a RE-ANIMATOR (1985). — Dan Taylor
Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and The Hungover Gourmet. He used to think 60 was old.
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