Happy New Years 2007!!!!!!!

New and Exciting things are going to happen on this blog in 2007! Depending on my work load at my job, I hope to publish more Bob Wilkins particularily his KTVU Creature Features and KTXL TV 40 years. At this moment I have been just publishing weekly listings of his KCRA Channel 3 show of the late 1960's. Also expect a new look to this blog site. 2007 will definately be better than 2006. I promise you that at the very least a weekly column but hopefully more, depending on my free time. Also I need to let everyone know that "I AM NOT BOB WILKINS"! My name is "FLOYD PERRY, JR." and a avid fan of Bob and I am the one in charge of this blog. Bob Wilkins is too ill, to be involved. A lot of readers of this blog has assumed that Bob himself is doing this blog. I wish everyone a "Happy New Years"!!!!!

December 31, 1966 Schedule

On New Years Eve, of 1966 on KCRA Channel 3 at 11:30PM, Bob Wilkins showed a double feature of "Pyro" (1964) and "War Of The Colossal Beast" (1958). The first feature is about "A jilted mistress setting fire at a married man's house, hoping that if he had no family, he would return to her. However he is horribly burned while trying to rescue them. He then begins to plot his revenge against his former mistress". The second feature: "This 1958 AIP movie is the sequel to "The Amazing Colossal Man" (1957). Giant Lt. Col. Glenn Manning (Played by Dean Parkin who replaced Glenn Langan) is hiding in a mexican mountain range. He apparently survived the fall off Hoover Dam. They drug and capture him but he escapes and goes on a rampage in Los Angeles before killing himself by electrocution on high voltage power lines.

December 24, 1966 Schedule

Twas The Night Before Christmas And All Through The House, Not A Creature Was Stirring Except The Boils And Ghouls Who Were Awaiting Bob Wilkins That Saturday Night, December 24 Of 1966 , And To Their Horror, Found Out That Bob Wilkins 7 Arts Theatre Had Been Preempted For An NBC Christmas Eve Mass Show At 11:30PM. They Had To Wait One More Week To See Bob Wilkins And His Scary Movies. And To That, I'd Like To Wish Everyone A Very Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays!!!!!!:-)

Tower Records Stockton California Location closes its doors for good today!

Tower Records/Video/Books located at 6623 Pacific Avenue in Stockton, California closed its doors today (December 19) at 10:PM. Sad indeed. An end of an era. I hear that Tower's Sacramento location on Watt Avenue is set to close this Friday (December 22). I will miss Tower, but the good news is that Stockton's Tower is being replaced by Bay Area chain, "Rasputin's Music And Movies, which I am happy about. Though I loved Tower and will miss them, getting a Rasputin's is like replacing your old Dodge with a brand new Porsche!

December 17, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, December 17, 1966 on KCRA Channel 3 at 11:45PM, Bob Wilkins showed the double feature of "The Mind Benders"(1963) and "The Screaming Skull(1958). The first movie: "A dedicated british scientist tests the possibility of brain washing, when another scientist kills himself after passing information to the communist". The second movie: "A newlywed couple arrives at the home of the husband's late wife. Soon eerie events lead the new wife to think she is going out of her mind."

December 10, 1966 Schedule

On December 10, 1966 on KCRA Channel 3 at 11:30PM, Bob Wilkins showed the following 2 movies. The first feature was "The Evil Eye" (also known as "The Girl Who Knew Too Much"), A Mario Bava Giallo about "A tourist witnessing a murder and finding herself caught up in a series of bloody killings by a serial killer by the name of "The Alphabet Killer". A very good movie but probably edited for TV. The second feature was the AIP Classic: "The She Creature"(1956). "A mysterious hypnotist reverts his beautiful assistant back into the form of a prehistoric sea monster that she was in a past life". A Classic now available on DVD Via "Lionsgate Home Entertainment".

December 3, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, December 3 of 1966 at 11:45PM on KCRA Channel 3 , Bob Wilkins shows the double feature of "Burn Witch Burn"(1962) and "The Killer Shrews"(1959). In the first feature, "A skeptical college professor discovers that his wife has been practicing black magic for years...". This movie is based on the story "Conjure Wife" written by Fritz Leiber, Jr. and was filmed two other times, the first being a Universal Inner Sanctum Mystery starring Lon Chaney, Jr. called "Weird Woman"(1944) and a comedy starring Richard (Westworld) Benjamin called "Witches Brew"(1980). "Burn Witch Burn" is the best of the three. The second feature is "The Killer Shrews"(1959). "A group of people are trapped on a remote island by a hurricane, which is being overrun by giant, venomous shrews which were created by a mad scientist living on the island." The shrews in this ultra low budget movie are actually small dogs dressed in animal skins.

November 26, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, November 26 in 1966 at 11:15PM on KCRA Channel 3, Bob Wilkins showed a couple of good movies. The first movie was "Night Tide"(1961) directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Dennis Hopper. "On leave in a shore side town, Johnnybecomes interested in a young dark haired woman. They meet and he learns that she plays a mermaid in the local carnival. After strange occurences, Johnny begins to believe that she may actually be a real mermaid that habitually kills during the cycle of the full moon." The second movie was an AIP classic called "How To Make A Monster"(1958). "When master monster make up man, Pete is fired by the new bosses of American International studios, he uses his creations (via a new concocted make up formula) to exact revenge." Both movies are available on DVD. If you get "Night Tide", Be sure to get "The Milestone Collection" edition by Image. Excellent quality. Avoid those budget dvd's. As for "How To Make A Monster", Lionsgate has released an alright version of it. Not Bad, But then again, Not Good.

November 19, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, November 19, 1966 on KCRA Channel 3 at 11:30PM, Bob Wilkins showed a double feature of "Return Of The Fly"(1959) and "Invasion Of The Saucer Men"(1957). "Return Of The Fly" was an alright sequel to the classic "The Fly". It was apparently lower budget as while it was widescreen(2.35:1), it was in Black & White not Technicolor and this time The Fly's Head on the human body is about 5 times the size of the original. Vincent Price reprises the same role from the original. The second feature was "Invasion Of The Saucer Men", a classic 50's sci-fi movie about teens tangling with bug eyed aliens. It was remade by Larry Buchanan a decade later in a awful movie called "The Eye Creatures".

November 12, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, November 12, 1966 on KCRA Channel 3 at 11:45PM, Bob showed two excellent horror movies. The first was "The Spider"(1958), an AIP classic directed by Mr. BIG himself, "Bert I. Gordon". It was also known as "Earth Vs. The Spider". "When a man doesn't come home one night, his daughter and her boyfriend go out searching and encounter a giant spider in a cave near the man's wreck." Now it is Bob's second movie that is a true classic.Bob's very first showing of a Universal Classic. I am talking about "The Creature From The Black Lagoon"(1954). "Creature From The Black Lagoon was originally released in movie theaters in 3-D. It is one of a few of the Universal classics to be shown on Bob's KCRA show. The more common and popular Universal Classics like Frankenstein(1931) and Dracula(1931) were shown during the day like KCRA's "Treehouse Theatre(I think that is the name of the show) that was on Saturday Mornings at 9:AM preempting some of the NBC Cartoons to show assorted kid friendly movies like Horror/SciFi Genre, Hercules, Tarzan and a few feature length Cartoons like "Gay Puree".The Universal Classics were also shown occaisionally on Harry Martin's Playhouse Theatre during the week usually around Halloween. KTXL TV 40 would later pick up the Universal Classics in 1969. Also the Universal classics would be a staple on Bob's KTVU "Creature Features" in the 1970's.

November 5, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, November 5 in 1966 on KCRA Channel 3 at 11:45pm, Bob Wilkins showed a double feature of "The Tingler"(1959) and "The Headless Ghost"(1959). "The Tingler" is a very good scary movie from Columbia Pictures and directed by the famous king of gimmick directors, William Castle. "After much hard work, a pathologist discovers and captures a creature that lives in every vertebrate and grows when fear grips its host" This movie stars the late Vincent Price. A very good and scary movie!, Something which the next movie is not. "The Headless Ghost" An AIP Herman Cohen Movie is a Horror Comedy. "Three teenagers encounters a ghost who is in limbo until he retrieves his lost head. They do their bit to help him." Very Ho-Hum Movie unlike "The Tingler".

October 29, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, October 29, 1966 at 11:45pm on KCRA Channel 3, Bob Wilkins showed a double feature of "Black Sunday" and "Night Of The Blood Beast". "Black Sunday"(1961) was an excellent scary movie directed by Mario Bava and starring Barbara Steele. "Black Sunday' was also known as "La Maschera Del Demonio" which translates into The Mask Of The Demon". It was released in the U.S. by AIP. "Princess Asa Vajda(Barbara Steele) is executed as a witch. 200 years later she is revived and plots to take over the body of Katia(also Steele)." The second movie, also by AIP but produced by Roger Corman. "Night Of The Blood Beast"(1958) is about "an astronaut returning from space dead. The base that recovered him is the cut off from the outside world by an alien. The revival of the dead astronaut, the death of a scientist and the discovery of alien embryos inside the resurrected astronaut's body bodes ill for the survival of those trapped at the base and the rest of humanity.

October 22, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, October 22, 1966 on KCRA Channel 3 at 11:30PM, Bob Wilkins showed the AIP Double Feature of "X-The Man With The X Ray Eyes" (1963) and "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" (1957). The first movie was directed by Roger Corman and starred Ray Milland and Don Rickles. "A world renowned scientist named Dr, Xavier experiments with X-ray vision and things go horribly wrong." The second movie was produced and written by Herman Cohn and starred Michael Landon and Whit Bissell. "Landon plays a angry young man who undergoes hypnosis for his problem but the practitioner he seeks out is a very disturbed man who successfully regresses his patient into a werewolf with tragic results."

Former KCRA Reporter, Mike Boyd, Passes Away

Mike Boyd, A former reporter for KCRA Channel 3, passed away at the age of 74 on Saturday, October 14 at Sutter Hospital. Mike Boyd joined KCRA, the same time as Bob Wilkins, in 1963. Mike Boyd was at the Ambassodor Hotel in Los Angeles when Democratic Presidential hopeful, Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. Mike Boyd also interviewed Charles Manson several times plus he escorted and interviewed killer, Dorthea Puente in 1988 from Southern California to Sacramento on a KCRA Airplane. Mike Boyd was born the same year as Bob. Mike Boyd retired from KCRA in 2001.

October 15, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, October 15, 1966 at 11:30PM on KCRA Channel 3, Bob Wilkins showed a "Herman Cohen" Double Feature from "AIP". 1.) "Horrors Of The Black Museum" (1959) A frustrated thriller writer wants accurate crimes for his next book, so he hypnotizes his assistant to make him commit the required crimes. 2.) "I Was A Teenage Frankenstein" (1957) stars Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway. Professor Frankenstein, a University Lecturer, steals Body Parts of Dead Athletes from a wreakage of a crashed airplane. He builds a Hunky Male Monster with a Hideously Disfigured Face, which goes on a campus wide killing spree.

In Loving Memory Of Brian Edward Lowes July 1, 1961- October 13, 2002

This post is dedicated to my Best Friend, Brian Lowes. I had known Brian since I was in Junior High School in 1975.He and I was the best in buddies. When we were teenagers, we went to the local movie theaters to view such scary movies like "Squirm" (1976), "Phantasm" (1979), and "Friday The 13TH" (1980), not to mention the Star Wars Movies. In later years, we took trips to Canada, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, Washington as well as to Los Angeles and San Diego. We even took a trip to the Famous Ackermuseum of Former Famous Monsters Editor, Forrest J. Ackerman in 1995. We also took numerous trips to the Tower Records/Books/Video Stores in Sacramento, Campbell, Mountain View as well as in Stockton. We also went to Tower Classics in San Francisco plus Amoeba Music stores in SF and Berkely. We also enjoyed Clarkes Charcoal Burgers in Mountain View. Not only did we share the interests in Horror Movies, but also Classical Music. He also loved the Rails especially AMTRAK. He lived in Tracy and commuted to the Bay Area using the Altamont Commuter Express Train also known as "ACE. In 2002, at the age of 41, Brian passed away of a heart attack. The coronor thinks Brian passed away in the early hours on Wednesday Morning, October 9, 2002, however we didn't find Brian until Sunday October 13, 2002. He is buried in Saratoga, CA. The photo on the top of the page was taken on May 3, 2002 during a Rally at the ACE Train Station in Tracy when Congressman Richard Pombo visited. Brian is to the left holding the sign with the words : "I went from a crowded lane to a comfortable train. Thanks, ACE!" He maybe gone but I still remember him! I miss you Brian!!!!

October 8, 1966 Schedule

On Saturday Night, October 8, 1966 on KCRA Channel 3 at 11:45pm, Bob Wilkins showed the double feature of "Circus Of Horrors"(1960) and "Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow"(1959). "Circus Of Horrors" is about a plastic surgeon wanted by the police who flees to a circus and befriends the owner. It stars Anton Diffring and Donald Pleasance. The Second Feature,"Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow" is an AIP Horror/Comedy about Hiram Stokly who dies and must do one good deed to get into heaven. Both films are available on DVD. "Circus Of Horrors" is available from Anchor Bay while "Ghost Of Hollow Dragstrip" is available from MGM as part of a "Midnite Movies Double Feature" with "Ghost In A Invisible Bikini"(1967).