Rockford Rewind: "The Wizard of Gore"

"I am Montag...Master of Illusions" He is the maniac magician in the 1970 horror film "The Wizard of Gore". The script called for shooting some scenes at a TV station. Director Herschell Gordon Lewis says, "My first thought was that we'd fake it. And it became quite obvious as we started to make this epic that that wouldn't work. We needed a TV station."

The then Chicago based director decided WTVO would be the perfect location with its willing participants. Lewis says, "The people in that control room who are on camera reacting were the people in your control room." The movie set was built right behind our current news set. "As they walk over, you can see the double doors that led to studio control which is now across this hallway which was built recently. But if you look up you can see the same dingy old insulation that was the back when they shot the film in 1970."

Shots of WTVO turn up in several scenes. "This is the garage door where the hero tries to bang on the door to save the day." The hero may not win in the end, but the movie gives WTVO and some past employees a touch of immortality. Lewis says, "Because today, 'The Wizard of Gore" still shows."