PENSACOLA, Fla., October 22, 2021 ― Mike Ensley, Chip Chism and Lemmie Crews — the writers and hosts of WSRE’s production, “Nightmare Theatre” — are now presenting B-movie horror films on seven PBS stations in the Southeast. A special Halloween Weekend launch of the show’s third season will air on Oct. 30 on WSRE, where the series is regularly scheduled on Saturdays at 10 p.m. and streams live at wsre.org.
The new season will begin with “Dementia 13,” a 1963 thriller directed by the legendary Francis Ford Coppola. “Nightmare Theatre” executive producer Brent Burton describes the film as “proving conclusively that even cinematic geniuses can make crummy movies.”
That’s the show’s appeal: presenting a bit of intriguing film history with movies that are so bad that they are humorous and hard not to watch.
In the series’ plot, the Baron Mondo Von Doren (Ensley) is a minor demon assigned to the physical plane to inflict misery upon mankind by way of terrible movies. With his sidekicks — the masked wrestler El Sapo (Chism) and pet werewolf Mittens (Crews) — the Baron introduces old horror films in a fun manner.
The new season is also scheduled for release in 2022 on WFSU in Tallahassee; East Tennessee PBS (WETP) in Knoxville, Tenn.; WGCU in Fort Myers; WJCT in Jacksonville; Nashville Public Television (WNPT) in Nashville, Tenn.; and WTCI in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Other films in the upcoming season are “Snowbeast,” “Hands of a Stranger,” “Teenage Zombies,” “The Devil’s Hand,” “Octaman,” “Night Fright,” “Bride of the Gorilla,” “Alien Factor,” “Wolfman,” “The Alien Dead,” “The Brain Machine” and “The Cremators.”
Ensley, Chism and Crews are part of the Horror Host Underground Network and were inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame in 2018. Their original “Nightmare Theatre” television show first aired in Pensacola on Cox Media Channel 39 in 2001.
WSRE began producing the show in 2018 with James Roy directing and editing. Past episodes can be viewed at wsre.org/nightmaretheatre.
About WSRE: WSRE, a PBS member station licensed to the Pensacola State College District Board of Trustees and supported by the WSRE-TV Foundation, serves as a critical media source for trusted content and a safe media space for children to grow and learn.
