Meet Our Judges
John Stanley
John Stanley is an entertainment journalist, author, publisher, television host, filmmaker, and lecturer whose career spans more than six decades. From 1960 to 1993, he served as an entertainment writer for the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Sunday Datebook, interviewing more than 800 of the biggest names in film, television, comedy, and literature, including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Mae West, Lucille Ball, Clint Eastwood, James Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, and Stephen King.
Stanley is best known to generations of fans as the host of the legendary Creature Features on KTVU in Oakland, California (1979–1984), where he welcomed many of Hollywood’s leading actors, directors, and filmmakers. He is the author of numerous books, including the six-volume Creature Features Movie Guide series and the acclaimed two-volume The Funniest Comedy Icons of the 20th Century. Through his publishing company, Creatures at Large Press, he has published works by notable authors including Robert Bloch and John Mitchum.
In addition to writing and publishing, Stanley wrote, produced, and directed the feature film Nightmare in Blood, which received theatrical and home video distribution in the United States and the United Kingdom. A sought-after speaker, he has presented extensively on classic film, television, comedy, and radio history, and his Creature Features interviews continue to entertain new audiences through YouTube. Today, Stanley remains an active voice in preserving and celebrating the history of classic Hollywood, horror, and popular entertainment.
Barry Ratcliffe
Barry Ratcliffe is an award winning actor best known as “Hollywood’s Auctioneer”, most recently on Dan Levy’s hit Netflix show “Big Mistakes”, NBC’s “Night Court”, “Outer Banks” on Netflix, Ryan Murphy’s “Hollywood”, and Marvel’s “Hawkeye”. His notable characters include CEO Don Foushee on the hit TV series “Outsiders”, Lenox Bidlow on M. Night Shyamalan’s “Servant”, city councilman Jason Tyler on the Lifetime drama “Army Wives”, as well as recreating the cowardly lion for the feature film “Dorothy and the Witches of Oz” and the Starz miniseries “The Witches of Oz”.
His extensive horror thriller resume includes “The Portrait” along side Oscar nominee Virginia Madsen, “The Penny Dreadful Picture Show”, “Candy Stripers”, “The Trinket Box”, “A Haunting”, Alice D”, “Piranha Sharks”, “Pocahauntus”, and many more.
Barry’s wide range spans from comedy to drama on such shows as “Dynasty” on Netflix, “Government Cheese” on Apple TV, “Bluff City Law” with Jimmie Smits, “Fresh off the Boat” with Constance Wu, “General Hospital”, “The Inspectors”, “Manhunt: Deadly Games”, “P-Valley”, “Enemy Within”, “Nashville”, “Person of Interest”, “House of Cards”, Tyler Perry’s “The Haves and The Have Nots”, “White Collar”, “Brothers and Sisters”, and many more. His film resume is equally extensive from his latest “Elvis from Outer Space”, the Nicholas Sparks film “The Longest Ride”, “Juanita” with Alfre Woodard, “Masterminds” with Zach Galifianakis and Owen Wilson, Seth MacFarlane’s “Ted 2” with Liam Neeson and Mark Wahlberg, to an assorted collection of wide ranging memorable characters.
Logan Hoover
Bay Area native Logan Hoover joins us as an alum of Loyola Marymount University’s film program and the newest addition to the Out Of The Cellar judging panel.
Logan’s cinematic passion began early with an appreciation for the magic of the practical effects of the OG Jurassic Park, leading him toward a career dedicated to the craft of filmmaking.
As a judge for the November 13-14th festival at the Chabot Theater, he prioritizes fingerprints; the intentional, personal artistic decisions that make a film unique, seeking organic dread over engineered jump scares, valuing films that earn their terror through atmosphere and craft rather than loud sound effects or cheap jolts.
He is incredibly excited to see the unique vision and community-driven spirit that OOTC is bringing to life for this year’s festival.