Personally, I like to get well rounded by visiting the donut section at the 7-11 one too many times.

Others, thankfully, show their versatility off in other ways. Honored genre actor Tom Atkins (The Fog, Halloween III, Night of the Creeps), for example, proved his elastic mettle in a couple (early career) made for television movies.

As Buddy in 1977 nature-gone-wrong horror Tarantula: The Deadly Cargo (which was actually nominated for 2 primetime Emmys for sound design), Atkins provides an easy going joviality to his party happy pilot. He works well off of (fellow character actor) Howard Hesseman and their early demise, nicely, sets up the terror-ific, multi-legged antics that follow.

Meanwhile, Atkins is given much more to do as Jack Vance in the 1983 Mike Hammer flick Murder Me, Murder You. Vance, a notorious arms dealer, provides our silver haired gent with the chance to intermingle masculine bravado with an almost childlike neediness. Atkins’ tender scenes with the sexy, surprisingly eclectic Randi Brooks (TerrorVision, Looker), whom plays his secretary/lover Arla, are almost creepy in their sensitivity and he, also, handles the character’s vocal handicap (an intense stutter) with natural ease, as well.

Atkins will be appearing the weekend of April 4th – 6th, 2014 at Cinema Wasteland, the true film buff’s paradise, in Ohio.

http://www.cinemawasteland.com

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan

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