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Among campy and classic on TV for Halloween is the toothless Vampire Bats, which nevertheless gives a local actor his big break.

By CHASE SQUIRES
Published October 24, 2005

Whether viewers are craving classic or campy or downright gross, television delivers this week with a trick-or-treat bag full of Halloween programming.

New shows from CBS and Showtime top the list for big-budget fare, but it's hard to argue with the classics, Hitchcock and Brown, Charlie Brown, that is.

CBS gets credit for filling the glaring cultural need for a companion to last spring's bugfest Locusts with a sequel, Vampire Bats, on Sunday. Though it's disappointingly short on bats and bat attacks (Locusts featured creepy rubber- and computer-generated bugs in virtually every frame), Bats gets extra credit for giving Pinellas County actor Brandon Rodriguez his first big break.

"I did theater all through high school. Acting is just something I've loved since middle school," Rodriguez said. "I've always known I wanted to make this a career."

But until Vampire Bats, Rodriguez, 20, was a waiter, working at a Macaroni Grill in Clearwater. He left Florida State University to pursue his acting dream, and his parents warned him that while they were behind him, he would be on his own financially.

A graduate of East Lake High School, Rodriguez had done a few commercials, some crowd scenes, but never a major role.

Then, he got a call. His Orlando agent told him about the new Lucy Lawless tour de force, Vampire Bats, where the former Xena: Warrior Princess reprises her role as Dr. Maddy Rierdon, sexy expert on everything. With some actor friends, Rodriguez hit the road, headed for a casting call in Louisiana.

"We got about two days' notice," Rodriguez said. "We drove all the way over to New Orleans, four of us booked one room and it had one bed."

All part of the acting game, he said. Wanna-bes bet their own money, spending everything for a few minutes of audition time to impress a casting agent. This time, it paid off.

"It was amazing, I met so many great people," Rodriguez said. "Just working with Lucy was great, she was really encouraging."

Bats filmed in New Orleans in August, and the crew had a week to go when Hurricane Katrina swooped in. Lawless, in a conference call with reporters last week, said evacuations came down to "controlled chaos" as the cast inched out of the city while the first rain bands swept ashore.

The experience haunts her. "I was really quite bummed out about it for about a month," Lawless said.

The ensemble moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for final shots.

Lawless remembered Rodriguez fondly and said she adopted the mother role during shooting, keeping him and his cut-up pals in line, reminding them to behave professionally on set.

"I wasn't going to let them be shoddy, they should know they can't get away with bad behavior early on," Lawless said. "I felt it was important to them. I just love them."

She said the young cast performed admirably and predicted strong futures in acting for all, including Rodriguez.

A few new Hollywood projects are already brewing for Rodriguez, who's moving to L.A. in December.

As for Bats, it struggles, even in the genre of schlocky made-for-TV fare (too much convoluted environmental stuff, not enough pictures of bloodthirsty bats). But Rodriguez does a solid job of playing a college kid and scores a lot of screen time.

Bats gets bonus points for shots of Lawless in tight T-shirts and for bringing back Brett Butler, who's been pretty much invisible since Grace Under Fire.

Showtime gets into the Halloween spirit at 10 p.m. Friday, premiering its new series Masters of Horror. In each episode, the premium cable outlet gave a noted filmmaker an hour of air time and the challenge to create a miniature horror film.

The first episode, Incident On and Off a Mountain Road, confuses scary with gross.

Directed by Don Coscarelli (Phantasm), Incident is just mean. Strapping a woman to a board and boring a drill bit through her eye is not entertainment.

Upcoming episodes are crafted by John Carpenter (Halloween), Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist) and John Landis (An American Werewolf in London). Look for zombies. Lots and lots of zombies.

ABC presents 1966 animated Halloween classic It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at 8 p.m. Tuesday , and the family friendly "new classic" Monsters, Inc., at 8 p.m. Saturday.

PBS's A Cemetery Special (8 p.m. Wednesday) is more thoughtful than frightening. The hour-long show takes an offbeat look at cemeteries around the country, including a tour of a granite quarry where tombstones are cut, and a tour of a cemetery outside Boston where dozens came last year to give their dearly departed the good news when the Red Sox finally won the World Series.

American Movie Classics presents a week of bad tidings with its movie Monsterfest. Nightly offerings include Friday the 13th, Village of the Damned, Carrie, Hellraiser, The House That Dripped Blood, and Arachnophobia.

Turner Classic Movies, not to be outdone, counters with a week of Alfred Hitchcock movies including Psycho, Jamaica Inn and The Birds.

Sci-Fi Channel delivers Cerberus, an original movie, at 9 p.m. Saturday. "Now, Hell's three-headed hound is loose upon Earth, and one woman is mankind's only hope of salvation" the promotional material reads.

And, could it be? Nooo! Geraldo Rivera launches his new syndicated show, Geraldo At Large on Halloween, 7 p.m. on WTVT-Ch. 13. Boo!

Chase Squires can be reached at 727 893-8739 or squires@sptimes.com His blog is www.sptimes.com/blogs/tv

Alfred Hitchcock Week, all week, check listings, Turner Classic Movies

Monsterfest, all week, check listings, American Movie Classics It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, 8 p.m., Tuesday, WFTS-Ch. 28

A Cemetery Special, 8 p.m., Wednesday, WEDU-Ch. 3

Masters of Horror, 10 p.m., Friday, Showtime

Monsters, Inc., 8 p.m., Saturday, WFTS-Ch. 28

Cerberus, 9 p.m., Saturday, Sci-Fi Channel

Vampire Bats, 9 p.m., Sunday WTSP-Ch. 10

[Last modified October 22, 2005, 08:13:02]