TV Reviews : Horror of Horrors! A Salute to Scare Tactics

For an event that features special appearances by such lowbrow icons of modern horror kitsch as Freddie, Jason, Chuckie, the Cryptkeeper and Joan Rivers, “The Horror Hall of Fame” (airing Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channel 9) is nearly a high-class affair, paying tribute as it does to a number of inarguable classics of the genre.

Not that lip service--or, in the case of the skeletal puppet the Cryptkeeper, lipless service--isn’t given to a fair share of contemporary schlock. Having Robert Englund (the star of the “Nightmare on Elm St.” series) host the brisk two-hour special, taped live at the Universal Amphitheatre, is only the first of many such concessions.

But the six inductees into this hall of fame, which was formed by media executives with the purpose of starting an annual TV special, are all given informative, affectionate toasts worthy of them. Vincent Prince, Boris Karloff and monster-mag editor Forrest J. Ackerman are the human honorees; “Psycho,” “Alien,” “The Exorcist” and “Night of the Living Dead” are the honored films.

The film clips are too many and too fast--images seem to be what’s being saluted, not acting, an unfortunate oversight in the cases of Karloff and Price. Still, a surprising number of the principals have been interviewed for the show, telling not-widely-heard anecdotes--director William Friedkin recalls shooting blanks on the set of “The Exorcist” to rattle the cast; Ridley Scott and Veronica Cartwright tell of the unrehearsed “chestburster” scene in “Alien.” These segments are relatively fresh and unpatronizing.

(Parents and others beware: The very first film saluted is “The Exorcist,” complete with a rapid barrage of clips from the picture’s most terrifying moments.)

Meanwhile, though, why is Phyllis Diller, among others, on this show doing her mother-in-law jokes? Why Rivers, of all people, giving taped congratulations to Price? As Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster would say, Unnnhhnnhhn .