TV Horror Host Remembered

Memphis, Tn - Long before frenzied movie audiences were entranced by the novel-based sexy vampires incarnated by the "Twilight" series, Memphis had its own unique weekly television ambassador of horror.

He was the campiest, corniest jester of the macabre this side of Bela Lugosi.

"Good evening. I am Sivad! Your "monster of ceremonies" for Fantastic Features."

Good Morning Memphis weatherman, Leon Griffin, who appeared on Sivad's show reflected, "Watson Davis was this old vaudevillian...had an over the top sense of humor. He would write an old set of gags that were older than Henny Youngman's material. He even took his name Davis...spelled backwards is Sivad."

A station promotional tape from the 60's serves up samplings of vintage Sivad wit:
"I went in to get something for my wife and the manager said, What are you asking for her?"
"Like my friend, Dracula, we would like to have a "stake" in your future!"

Beginning in the 60's and continuing into the mid-70's, Watson Davis' creation of the eerie, but loveable, character of Sivad became a local phenomenon haunting Saturday night television airways on WHBQ-T.V.. The manager of one of the first Malco movie theatres in town, after hitting vaudeville stages at the tender age of 13, Davis' ghoulish, yet gentlemanly, portrayal of a vampire provided the station with solid ratings and a vehicle to present a vault-full of some of the worst produced horror movies ever made.

Memphis independent filmmaker, Mike McCarthy cited, "Before there were film festivals or anything like that, you could set in your living room and watch weird Japanese or Italian, weird American horror films as hosted by Sivad on Channel 13."

Some of the movie-fare included titles such as the Japanese produced "The Giant Claw." One such stinker had the late Michael Landon in his first starring role in the cult classic "I was a Teenage Werewolf." Others standouts of the obscure were "Bucket of Blood" and "The Tree Monster."

Sadly, just as extinct as the monsters he once introduced, is the scarcity of any recorded material from Sivad's hundreds of live television shows.

Enter...McCarthy, who recently spent a location shoot at our studios as part of an upcoming short film in homage to the premier horror host, adding a slightly spicier artistic license with the appearance of a bawdy new edition of the "WHBQ Cuties."

McCarthy explained the need to recreate the time rather than depend on tape by saying, "Most of them were recorded over one tape for nine years. Tape was rather expensive. There's no preservation of these shows. Happy Hal. Fantastic Features and probably even Talent Party. So, what I'm doing today is I'm recreating a lost episode. Episode 623."

Though the project is a labor of love for McCarthy, its celebration of horror implies somebody, in this case the man playing Sivad, actor Don Myers, has to suffer in the name of art.

Myers complained of his heavy makeup and false fangs lamenting, "The makeup is painful. Very painful. In fact I can't speak!"

However, for those lucky enough to remember the final dregs of live television's "golden age", the opportunity to work with a local entertainment legend was reward in itself.

Griffin concluded of the experience, "All I can say is it was eerie. But, a whole LOT of fun!"