It is with great sadness that we here at ZAAT Movie must announce the passing of one of the film’s stars, Paul Galloway, who played Sheriff Lou Krantz. Galloway passed away on Friday, Sept. 11 at the age of 92. ZAAT historian ED Tucker had these words to share about Paul:
In 2011, when the Jacksonville-lensed film ZAAT was being shopped around for a home video release on DVD and Blu-Ray, it was a running joke among the cast and crew that there would need to be two commentary tracks, one for Paul Galloway and one for everyone else. Galloway played the gruff redneck Sheriff in the film that must protect the residents of a small town from a rampaging monster. Just like the character he played, Galloway was colorful and larger than life. Whenever the ZAAT gang would do public appearances at screenings of the film, I would always volunteer to give Paul a ride. His Keystone Heights home was a good 45 minutes out of my way but I wouldn’t have traded those drives with Paul for anything in the world. He was never at a loss for a good story about his life as a firefighter, a pilot, an actor or whatever he had up his sleeve at the moment. In his later years, he still loved to perform before an audience, whether it was telling jokes to the ZAAT fans while still wearing his original uniform or dressing as biblical characters to illustrate Bible stories for Sunday School classes. No matter how late it was when we returned from these excursions, I never had to worry about falling asleep at the wheel with Paul in the car, only laughing so hard that I might drive off the road. He was part of a rare breed and he will be missed.
Thanks to our good buddy Daddy-O for the heads up.
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Wow, it’s a story like that that makes you appreciate both some of the obscure movies that are made (and sometimes riffed) as well as the folks who are in them.
Thanks for posting this, Sampo.
Ninety-fricking-two. And it sounds like he had a good time for much of that run. Screw RIP, I say congratulations.
I’m gonna have to watch that episode.
Just caught this one on PLUTO TV the other day. Old fashioned (even for the ’70s) man-in-a-suit horror picture. It would’ve been silly fun even without the riffs. So many horror/ sci fi movies now are joyless & depressing. Stuff like this and the AIP/ Corman pix are still around because they’re just fun. RIP Sheriff.
RIP to one of my favorite MST3K Sheriff’s…
Zaat is in my top five favorite MST3K episodes and it’s great that the film still has fans who obsess over it as I have. Just the fact that there is a “Zaat Historian” brings me joy. I personally own the original movie, as well as have purchased the song ‘World War Two Boy’ just so I can listen to it on my playlists. It’s pretty darn good song!
Rest in peace Sheriff Lou!
I grew up about 10 minutes from Keystone Heights! RIP, sir!
What Dan said. Also, I can’t remember much about this movie at all. Perhaps time to dig out the DVD again. As if I have nothing better to do! (Which I don’t.)
Actually, I do seem to recall thinking this was one of the lesser MST efforts. Not the strongest riffing. But it’s a season ten episode, whatcha gonna do?
I love so much that there is a Facebook page dedicated to this horrible, obscure lil film nugget. I also love reading more about the people that made movies like this come to life. It’s easy to mentally write off the efforts of these folks when watching the film but there are often really interesting and passionate people behind the scenes. RIP Mr. Galloway.