5 Scarily Silly Facts About ‘Saturday the 14th,’ Svengoolie’s Movie of the Week
Just when you thought it was safe to look at a calendar, Svengoolie and the Sven Squad bring you 1981’s Saturday the 14th, on the Dec. 14, 2024 edition of the MeTV series Svengoolie Classic Horror & Sci-Fi Movie.
The horror-comedy, starring real-life couple Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, focuses on the Hyatt family, who inherit a haunted house in Eerie, Pennsylvania. Parodying classic horror film the conventions, the movie — distributed by B-movie legend Roger Corman‘s New World Pictures — was lambasted by critics, but popular enough with moviegoers to merit a 1988 sequel.
1It’s One of Jeffrey Tambor’s First Roles
Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Today, Jeffrey Tambor is best known as an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning TV comedy heavyweight who starred on Arrested Development and Transparent. But decades before he became a familiar face on television, Tambor was primarily known as a secondary character on the Three’s Company spin-off The Ropers. His role as a vampire looking to get his hands on a cursed book that is hidden within the Hyatt family’s new home was his first major film appearance.
2Richard Benjamin & Paula Prentiss Had Never Acted Together In a Film Before
Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
Actor/ director Richard Benjamin and actress Paula Prentiss had been married since 1961, starred on the sitcom He & She together in 1967, and performed together periodically, including hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live as a couple in 1980. However, though they had both appeared in the same movie (1970’s Catch-22). the pair never starred in a movie together before Saturday the 14th.
According to producer Julie Corman, working with the couple actually made the film’s production easier, because she could ask Benjamin to smooth things over with Prentiss. “Dick was generally in charge of presenting a message that maybe I wouldn’t like to say to Paula,” Corman recalled. “For example, Paula, who’s supposed to be a vampire in the movie, didn’t want to wear fangs. I thought, ‘How can I tell Howard [Cohen, the director] that Paula says she’s not wearing these fangs?’ Dick assured me, ‘Trust me, you will believe she’s a vampire.’ He was right.”
Benjamin and Prentiss must have enjoyed acting in a film together, because they did it again in the 1983 movie Packin’ It In.
And for anyone who’s curious — the couple are still together! Prentiss and Benjamin, both 86, celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary this year. They have two children, son Ross and daughter Prentiss.
3One Detail Accidentally Parodies a Future Horror Film
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors; ©New Line Cinema/courtesy Everett Collection
The house that the Hyatt family inherits is located 329 Elm Street, an infamous street name feels like just another horror parody element. But A Nightmare on Elm Street wasn’t released until 1984 — three whole years after Saturday the 14th. Rather than being an intentional joke, it seems like both movies simply drew from the same generic, peaceful suburban vibe the name “Elm Street” evoked.
4The Movie Raced to Beat Another Horror Comedy to Theaters
Everett Collection
Horror had been a cinematic juggernaut throughout the late ’60s and ’70s, but by the late ’70s, horror comedies were picking up steam. Beginning with hits like 1978’s Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and Piranha, horror movies that mocked the conventions of recent horror movies were starting to become a steady box office draw.
In fact, by early 1981, when Saturday the 14th started production, horror comedies were so popular, a similar parody titled Thursday the 12th was also in production. What’s a horror comedy to do? Saturday the 14th became determined to hit theaters first, and did so by completing filming in just three weeks. It worked: the movie was released in August 1981, and Thursday the 12th, which wouldn’t be released until the following year, was forced to change its title to Pandemonium to avoid confusion.
5The Director Had One Very Unexpected Credit
(c)Hallmark Entertainment. Courtesy: Everett Collection.
Saturday the 14th is the directing debut of Howard R. Cohen, who started his career writing exploitation films with titles like Vampire Hookers (yes, really). In fact, if you look over Cohen’s filmography, you’ll find it packed with low-budget action films with titles like Barbarian Queen, Lords of the Deep and Deathstalker. There are, however, two exceptions: from 1984 to 1985, Cohen took a break from B-movies to write on the Rainbow Brite animated TV show. In fact, Cohen has sole writing credit on seven of Rainbow Brite‘s 13 episodes. When Cohen passed from a heart attack in 1956, both Saturday the 14th and Rainbow Brite were mentioned in the first line of his obituary.
Saturday the 14th will air as part of a double feature with Dinosaurus! on Dec. 14, 2024. Dinosaurus! will air at 8pm EST, and Saturday the 14th will air at 10:30pm EST.
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