Creature Features

The weekly San Francisco Bay Area horror movie program launched on KTVU in February, 1971 with THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH(1964), hosted by Bob Wilkins. In contrast to the many ghoulishly costumed contemporaneous horror hosts, Wilkins opted for an urbane Ivy League type persona with an omnipresent trademark cigar. During the show's thirteen year run , numerous horror, sci-fi, and film industry luminaries made guest appearances, including Ray Harryhausen, Christopher Lee, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, John Landis, Cloris Leachman, William Marshall, and Forest J Ackerman. Though Wilkins continually mocked the quality of the films he presented in a humorously acerbic manner, the show proved immensely popular, prompting KTVU to extend its length for double features, even adding a second weekly slot. In 1979, Wilkins bowed as host and was replaced by genre-expert John Stanley, who brought an erudite genre incisiveness to the show until its ultimate expunction in 1984. Today, CREATURE FEATURES is historically noted as the confluence for broadcast premiers of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE(1959), and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD(1968).