Every Other Day Is Halloween

Quite a few people, if this documentary is to be believed. The Horror Host phenomenon has always been largely self-generating and self-sustaining; and the biggest fans of classic monster and horror movies do the only thing left to fans of a finite genre: Become the content itself. Behind that story is another less told, however, and it's here that we find personalities like Dick Dyszel, the Illinois native who became a driving force in the local television of Washington D.C. in the 70's and 80's as a Jack-of-all-Trades at the now long gone WDCA Channel 20. "Every Other Day is Halloween" wisely gives only a brief glimpse of Dyszel's myriad of roles at the station - the Sci-Fi star of safety PSAs, "Captain 20", and his stint as the 2nd D.C. area "Bozo the Clown" (the first was Willard Scott). Instead it concentrates on his most enduring creation. The Saturday night Horror Movie host vampire Count Gore De Vol's misadventures with ramshackle sets, stalker scream queens and overeager interns leave him little time to scare anyone, let alone drain blood, but it's hard to find a better archetype of the Horror Host thriving in the last days of non-cable television. Wisecracking Patriarch of Horror movies and their fans was a role Dyszel scarcely understood but nevertheless grew to love, parlaying a more locally infamous than nationally famous TV career into an enduring web presence for Horror fans and Monster movie convention personalities. At times the documentary falls prey to the principal foible of all Horror Hosts: In its swooning love affair with its material it lingers too long on some footage and provides a bit too much voice to some personalities who are better off preening than paneling. But the history is plentiful, the self-awareness keeps it from going over the top, and the nostalgia warms the heart. Dick Dyszel was/is unique, all the moreso because it took dressing up like a vampire to make the world see it.

I grew up in a very dysfunctional family in the DC/Virginia area and TV became my escape from what would have been a lot of sadness. UHF Channel 20, with its kid friendly programming and the Host characters Captain 20 and Count Gore De Vol meant everything to me then and still has a great deal of memories now. That being said, the accidental discovery of this documentary was amazing and was like welcoming an old, long lost (and undead) friend into my home. I loved this film and enjoyed hearing all the information I didn't know from back then. Some other reviewers have said they didn't appreciate the last half segment of this documentary as it focused more on the newcomers to horror/monster movie hosting that they didn't care about, but really that wasn't the point. The point was more about the influence that Richard "Dick" Dyszel had on the next generation of horror movie fans, that Dick Dyszel pretty much created the entire profession and passion of horror movie hosting. If you love the Horror/Monster movie genre this is a good bit of documentary to see and enjoy but if you are one of the privileged few who were there to see the Count for yourself then this documentary is a must!

As a little kid growing up in Northern Virginia in the 1970's, Channel 20 was a huge part of my life. Central to that life was Captain 20, the host of all the kids shows on the station. Dick Dyszel was my hero, both as Captain 20 and Count Gore De Vol on Creature Feature. Discovering "Every Other Day Is Halloween" was a huge shout out to my childhood and great fun to watch.The first half of the documentary is the history of Dick Dyszel and his time on Channel 20. Truly awesome and worth every cent. Unfortunately, the second half gets into a long-winded showcase of the "new generation" of horror hosts, which gets very boring very quickly. I bought this DVD to get the history of Dyszel and Channel 20, and the documentary strays from that pretty heavily in the second half. It would have been much better to cut it to an hour and lose most of the other stuff.That being said, still a fabulous find for the first half alone. Highly recommended if you grew up around the beltway in the 70's. Ultraman, Marine Boy, Speed Racer, The Banana Splits, Lancelot Link...Channel 20 ruled!

I have nothing but wonderful memories of Dick Dyszel on the remote, zero budget, Washington DC station Channel 20 who hosted the Bozo Show, Captain 20 (after school kids shows) and Count Gore De Vore, who was a character that would introduce science fiction movies on Saturday nights in the 1970s. I was delighted that Dick is still around. He was funny, sarcastic and did well with no budget and no doubt most of his work TV seemed unscripted and unplanned.This movie: 1/2 the movie is what we want to see: The story of Dick and his many B rate, back station TV shows that influenced a generation of Washington DC area kids. Interviews with Dick, and the very interesting stories of that small TV station. How, in spite of competition like "Saturday Night Live" in the 1970s, Dicks show would still have great ratings.1/2 of the movie is irrelevant.....you get sick of the interviews with people who merely say the same thing over and over (what I have basically said above) and I don't understand why they focus on some strange goth band, who hosts some other show...who also watched Dick when they were kids and were fans.

Very fun video. Even though I didn't grow up in DC it reminds me of kids show host from my childhood.

I had the opportunity to see a preview of "Every Other Day Is Halloween" last year (2009) at the Horrorfind convention in Hunt Valley Maryland. Although, I've been a fan of Dick Dyszel forever, this documentary would appeal to just about everyone. Dick's career is an intriguing one, as is the entire horror host concept. Anyone that loves Bozo, Captain 20, Count Gore De Vol, CHEF COMBO, or horror hosts will love this documentary! Anyone who grew up in the Washington, DC area in the 70s and 80s is gonna pee themselves with excitement when they watch this!

A charming story of a tv presenter on a small channel in the Washington DC area. Loved by the small circle who were regular viewers and appreciated by the population knowing it was just on - Creature Feature was late night fun for all ages - if you could sneak a viewing. Hosted by Dick Dyszel who began his channel 20 career as a children's TV/gameshow host and still broadcasts today over the internet as he has done since 1998! it's 2014 and counting....You may also have seen him alongside Eleanor Herman in a couple of Don Dohler films which were also based in the DC area.