Commander USA's Groovie Movies
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| Commander USA's Groovie Movies | |
|---|---|
 Commander USA | |
| Genre | Comedy Variety |
| Written by | Jim Hendricks |
| Starring | Jim Hendricks |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Original release | |
| Network | USA Network |
| Release | 1985 – 1989 |
Commander USA's Groovie Movies is an American movie showcase series that ran weekend afternoons on the USA Network.[1][2][3]
The show premiered January 5, 1985 and ran through 1989. It was hosted by Jim Hendricks as "Commander USA" (Soaring super hero! Legion of Decency - Retired), a wacky but slightly seedy blue-collar comic book superhero who occasionally displayed powers such as "microwave vision" (usually to prepare a mid-movie meal of fish or eggs).
Overview[edit]
The show originally ran double features of horror and science fiction movies on Saturday afternoons, then later a single feature on Sunday afternoons. Later movies on the show tended to be Mexican wrestling films or heavily edited violent films from Japan.
The Commander's show originated from a secret headquarters located under a New Jersey shopping mall. The Commander was almost always enthusiastic about the films he showed, whether it was a "gem" like Inframan, Blood Beast Horror, or any other number of Grade-Z celluloid oddities. The Commander was often joined on the program by either his agent (Barry Kluger) or "Lefty", a hand puppet created by drawing a face on his right hand with cigar ash. Over the course of a show, Lefty's face would inevitably get smeared or washed off, but the Commander would always redraw it with his unlit cigar.
In 1988, Eclectic Publishing published Commander USA's World of Horror, a 32-page magazine which was intended to be published bi-monthly, but only one issue was ever released.
In all, more than 200 episodes were produced.
Movies shown[edit]
- The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas
- The Alligator People
- Animal Crackers
- Alone in the Dark
- An American Werewolf in London
- The Aztec Mummy
- Bedlam
- Beginning of the End
- Black Carrion
- The Black Cat
- Blood and Roses
- Bloodbath at the House of Death
- The Blood Beast Terror
- The Blood of Nostradamus
- Blood Song
- The Bloody Vampire
- The Brainiac
- The Brood
- The Brute Man
- Bug
- Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter
- Cat People
- Cave of the Living Dead
- The Children
- Child's Play
- C.H.U.D.
- The Contraption
- The Corvini Inheritance
- Countess Dracula
- The Crawling Eye
- The Creature Wasn't Nice
- Cry Wolf
- The Curse of Frankenstein
- Curse of Nostradamas
- Curse of the Aztec Mummy
- The Curse of the Cat People
- The Curse of the Crying Woman
- Curse of the Doll People
- Curse of the Vampire
- Dance of the Dwarfs
- Dark Forces
- The Day Mars Invaded Earth
- The Death Kiss
- The Death of Bruce Lee
- Demonoid
- The Devil Bat
- The Devil Bat's Daughter
- The Devil's Gift
- The Devil's Nightmare
- Doctor of Doom
- Dracula
- Exorcism at Midnight
- The Final Terror
- The Flying Serpent
- Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
- Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
- Fräulein Doktor
- Friday the 13th
- Friday the 13th Part 2
- Friday the 13th Part III
- Gamera vs. Barugon
- Genii of Darkness
- God Told Me To
- The Hearse
- Hercules in New York
- The Hills Have Eyes Part II
- Horror of the Blood Monsters
- Horror of the Zombies
- Horror Planet a.k.a. Inseminoid
- House of Psychotic Women
- House of the Long Shadows
- House of 1,000 Dolls
- The House Where Evil Dwells
- I Married a Monster from Outer Space
- I Walked with a Zombie
- Inframan
- In Search of Dracula
- Invasion of the Vampires
- Island Claws
- Island Monster
- It's Alive
- J. D.'s Revenge
- Kingdom of the Spiders
- Land of the Minotaur
- Las Vegas Weekend
- Laserblast
- The Late Nancy Irving
- Let's Scare Jessica to Death
- Little Mad Guy
- The Little Shop of Horrors
- The Living Coffin
- The Living Head
- The Loch Ness Horror
- Mako, The Jaws of Death
- The Man and the Monster
- The Man and the Snake
- The Man With the Synthetic Brain
- Mark of the Devil
- Mark of the Vampire
- Mausoleum
- The Monster Demolisher
- Monster in the Closet
- My Bloody Valentine
- Night of the Creeps
- Pandemonium (film)
- Panic
- The Pied Piper
- A Polish Vampire in Burbank
- The Possession of Joel Delaney
- Princess of the Nile
- The Premonition
- Psychophobia
- The Psychotronic Man
- One Dark Night
- Q, the Winged Serpent
- Rabid
- The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
- Samson vs. the Vampire Woman
- Samson in the Wax Museum
- Satanik
- Savage Sisters
- Scared to Death
- Shanghai Massacre
- Simon, King of the Witches
- The Space Children
- Stranglehold
- Student Bodies
- Swamp of the Lost Monster
- Tales That Witness Madness
- Taste the Blood of Dracula
- The Terror
- They Still Call Me Bruce
- Three in the Attic
- Trick or Treats
- Toxic Zombies
- Undersea Kingdom
- The Unseen
- Up in the Cellar
- The Vampire
- The Vampire Bat
- Vampire Circus
- The Vampire's Coffin
- What?
- What's Up, Tiger Lily?
- The Witchmaker
- The Witch's Mirror
- The Woman Who Came Back
- Women in Chains
- World of the Vampires
- Zorro's Black Whip
References[edit]
- ^ "USA Lineup Home Of The Strange". The Rock Hill Herald. February 14, 1985.
- ^ "USA stings viewers with cult shows". The Free Lance-Standard. February 16, 1985.
- ^ "Command USA Groovie Movies Halloween Special". I-Mockery.com.
