Lenora’s Midnight Rental - “Based On A Novel By Stephen King”
It seems like horror hosts are making a big comeback via streaming and the net. Arguably this was signaled by the return of Joe Bob Briggs (grumble mumble) to Shudder, which shined a spotlight on other acts that have still been going for years like Mr. Lobo and Svengoolie. Plus there’s the revamped interest in goth Dolly Parton, aka Elvira, along with many other. What were once relegated to regional programming have become the horror comedy influencers of pockets of the Internet, as foretold by the prophecy.
One such horror host is Lenora (played by Laura Wimbels), who hosts Lenora’s Midnight Rental for The Found Footage Festival. Born out of her similar local television program in Cleveland, Lenora’s Midnight Rental is a now monthly show on YouTube that highlights the yesteryears of VHS, movies, and horror phenomena as well. Here’s the synopsis for the show on the Found Footage Festival website:
Welcome to the pilot episode of ‘Midnight Rental’! Hosted by late night horror hostess Lenora, who currently co-hosts ‘The Big Bad B-Movie Show’ on The CW in Cleveland, ‘Midnight Rental’ takes viewers on a tour of tapes that are of lesser known and lesser loved movies who never quite found their footing, but still deserve their 5 (15 would still be too generous) minutes of fame. Set in a video store, ‘Midnight Rental’ even has a back room. But, it’s not THAT kind of back room. Designed with late night b-movie level love and campiness in mind, you’re bound to learn something while you’re at ‘Midnight Rental’, whether it’s a bunch of facts about Tom Savini, or the correct pronunciation of Miguel Ferrer’s name (honestly, the jury’s still out on that one.) Just remember, we close at midnight. Join Lenora once a month at ‘Midnight Rental’, exclusively on The Found Footage Festival’s YouTube channel.
The inaugural episode finds the villainous video store vixen diving into some adaptations of works by Stephen King, including THE MANGLER and MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (both of which will be featured on this very site as part of our month-long Pumpkin King celebration). It’s a fun time with many different and clever segments and I truly cannot wait to watch the next installment.
Be sure to subscribe to Found Footage Fest’s YouTube channel to watch the show once a month. You can also follow Lenora’s Midnight Rental on Instagram, where you can also follow Lenora (aka Wimbels), and you can try to follow her on Twitter as well.