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The Mad Doctor is In!

Published May 30, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

`One of the things that I think surprised myself and my fellow writers when doing research for Queer Horror: A Film Guide was discovering how much early genre cinema had gay coding. 

Therefore, I’m thrilled that I got to talk with editor Sean Abley (on his official podcast for the book) about 1941’s The Mad Doctor. 

One of my favorite movies covered in the book, it features a very special relationship between the murderous Basil Rathbone and the very devoted Martin Kosleck.

This episode is available to listen to at many of your favorite listening stations including https://www.audible.com/podcast/Queer-Horror-A-Film-Guide-The-Podcast/B0GFPZ3QPT?eac_link=3XnmNpb7Ij8z&ref=web_search_eac_asin_2&eac_selected_type=asin&eac_selected=B0GFPZ3QPT&qid=Vdi2agu8Vn&eac_id=143-4659088-4035769_Vdi2agu8Vn&sr=1-3.

Jaws of Life: Matt Houston’s Shark Bait

Published May 23, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

Before Lori Loughlin encountered the deadly pools of Amityville (in Amityville 3-D) and the teenage tyrants of The New Kids, she almost became a waterlogged beach corpse. Yes, Uncle Jesse’s favorite bride faced down a Great White in a first season episode of Matt Houston, a detective show that ran for three seasons in the early ’80s, and lived to tell the tale.

There, as Sue Landa. a sweetly determined lifeguard, she helps private investigator Houston, played by the swaggering Lee Horsley, discover that a series of attacks by the deadliest predator this side of Jaws are caused by the vibrations emanating from a sand dollar necklace, gifted to the victims by a vengeful billionaire.

Thus, the episode’s title, Shark Bait, and a seasoned group of guest stars including Dynasty‘s Lloyd Bochner, Family‘s Gary Frank and The Mamas and the Papas’ Michelle Phillips, hired by producer Aaron Spelling to help this preposterous tale ring with a semi-dash of truth.

Hollywood legend Dorothy Malone also stops by for a scene as Landa’s concerned mother and Houston’s hardworking employee. Malone, as many Academy-nominated greats before her, wound up her career doing such genre projects as The Day Time Ended, The Being and Rest in Pieces. For lovers of celluloid grue, of course, this is a boon of epic proportions, and her appearance here ultimately appeals on multiple levels.

The same can also be said for this episode’s nature-gone-wild meets twentieth century TV excessiveness esthetic.

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Published May 16, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

Frankie Goes to Hollywood, fronted by the irrevocable Holly Johnson, was perhaps the first New Wave-style band with a decidedly homosexual attitude to make it to the big time. In the early to mid-80s, you couldn’t escape their sexually charged hit Relax. It was even memorably used in Brian DePalma’s kinky, Vertigo-like Body Double.

While their second album, Liverpool, couldn’t compete, commercially, with Welcome to the Pleasuredome, their debut, it still produced a number of singles and beloved songs. The first track off of that LP, Warriors of the Wasteland, was even used in the latter-day giallo Too Beautiful to Die in a fashion shoot sequence worthy of The Eyes of Laura Mars.

While that initial two-fer marked the extent of that pertinent band’s output, Johnson has continued to record on his own. More importantly, having lived with HIV for decades, he is a true symbol of the power and beauty of the queer community. 

A legendary fighter and a LGBTQIA icon, you can keep up with his upcoming activities at http://www.hollyjohnson.com.

Heavy Metal Stacey

Published May 2, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

Ciji: Say, I know a boy who plays bass in the Sub-Deviates. His hair is the same shade of blue as yours.

Mama: Small world.

She undoubtedly survived unscrupulous music executives while also helping to accentuate some of celluloid’s greatest graveyard mayhem in Return of the Living Dead. But the most frightening obstacle that Stacey Q faced in her entire career just might have been Vicki Lawrence’s no-nonsense Mama.

Famously remembered as Cinnamon, a glittery pop star much like herself, from an iconic run of The Facts of Life episodes, Stacey returned to sitcom musicality in a 1989 episode of Mama’s Family, Bubba’s House Band. Based on The Carol Burnett Show skit, this show ran for 6 seasons, focusing on Vicki Lawrence’s sarcastic, hard-to-please character. 

Nicely, unlike Cinnamon, Q’s Ciji here is a member of the chainsaw wielding rock band The Bonecrushers. Her fierce partners in leather include Terrah Bennett Smith (Mojo) and Lisa Michelson (Snake) & the trio, initially, turns the Harper household into a zone of dominatrix-like rebellion. But soon the women reveal themselves to be experts at crafts and the culinary arts & are more than willing to help the formerly antagonistic Mama (Vicki Lawrence) succeed at her local bazaar.

Sweetly outfitted for that event, the trio perform the standard Sugar in the Morning to help sell the titular matriarch’s candy cakes. But by the credit crawl, they have returned to their heavy metal ways, much to concert promotor Bubba’s (Allan Kayser) delight and Mama’s scowl mouthed regret. 

Nicely, Q, while not really given a solo moment to shine, blends in well with her co-stars. She and Kayser have a little in common here, as well. While she harmonized her way into horror royalty on the ROLD soundtrack, he played the obnoxious Brad in another ’80s cult classic, The Night of the Creeps.

Va-Va-Villainess: Ann Miller

Published April 25, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

Always outshining her contemporaries, Ann Miller’s latter day gothic film career entry was not a slasher or a horror comedy. She actually played two characters, both named Coco, in David Lynch’s much lauded, eternally creepy Hollywood tale Mulholland Drive. This dual take allowed Miller to play with both sassy kindness and a more cryptic coolness, especially in her final scenes.

That perfected chill often played well during her major player days at MGM. Often cast as the other woman, Miller frequently tried to make life rough for her female co-stars. Whether it was Judy Garland, Jane Powell or Anne Francis, Ann continually used her feminine wiles to try to steal their men.

Of course, while all the roles were definitely of a certain type, Nadine Hall in Easter Parade was probably her penultimate creation. After dumping Fred Astaire’s smitten Don Hewes to achieve greener career pastures on her own, Hall about faces, mischievously trying to win him back after he finds success (and potential love) with Garland’s sweet Hannah.

Always playing this underhandedness with a bright smile, Miller also performs her iconic Shaking the Blues Away number here.

Impressively, she nailed this arduous routine while still recovering from a broken back, her physical agony making the victory of her performance here all the more significant. Importantly, this feat still echoes today, proving that, with grit and determination, absolutely anything can be obtained. 

As The Stab Burns: Loving’s Ava and Kong

Published April 4, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

Ava (to Kong): It would never work out between us. After all, you’re just a machine!

13 summers after Delia (Randall Edwards) was romanced by a gorilla named Prince Albert on Ryan’s Hope, Loving‘s Ava Rescott (Lisa Peluso) was kidnapped by an amusement park King Kong. This is seeming proof that the writers of ABC’s lowest rated soaps had a definite fascination with RKO Pictures’ most famous hirsute creation. 

This particular homage to Fay Wray occurred while Ava was immersed in a rollicking adventure, involving a multi-million dollar stamp (of all things), with art professor Jeremy Hunter (Jean LeClerc). Thus, throughout July of 1993, the oft-romanced Ava found herself being chased across the country, in trains, taxi cabs and other motorized vehicles, by seasoned criminal Cesar Faison (Anders Hove), a character famous for his many notorious stints on General Hospital. 

The dynamic duo of Ava and Jeremy eventually wound up In Universal Studios Orlando where, fearing for their lives, they donned various disguises as they romped, Hitchcock-like, throughout the grounds.  At one point, as Faison and his favored goon closed in on them, Ava was plucked from her escape by a very amorous, very mechanical Kong. Reasoning that their relationship would never work, the talkative femme fatale was soon dropped back into Jeremy’s arms by the very reluctant robotic beast. 

Resuming the chase, the duo continued to hide in a carhop, were they were impressively treated to musical numbers by colorful dressed workers, among the massive vacationing crowds and even in the Psycho house, where they were momentarily threatened by a Mrs. Bates approximation. 

Gamely, the ultra-handsome LeClerc and Peluso, whose character was the program’s Erica Kane equivalent, proved that even the least watched, although beloved, daytime dramas in that era had lots of money behind them. 

As seeming proof of this, the producers even hired acclaimed cult actress Shirley Stoler to play Faison’s female counterpart in the arc. Among Stoler’s many credits, she was probably best known for playing the vicious murderess in 1970’s acclaimed, documentary-like The Honeymoon Killers. 

Ava (to Jeremy): I’m telling you, King Kong is in love with me!!

Va-Va-Villainess: Emily (in Paris)

Published March 29, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

Sometimes indecisive niceness can be just as mean as abject cruelty.

Take Emily Cooper (Lily Collins), the titular focus of Emily in Paris, for example. Forever trying to spare feelings, particularly where her love for the chronically unavailable Chef Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) is concerned, has led her to commit countless faux pas. This has often produced hurt feelings & confusion for those around her. Even worse, perhaps, this wishy-washiness has resulted in the breaking of many a kind soul’s heart.

As of the first episodes of the show’s fourth season, the character that has been most shattered by Emily’s unintended recklessness is the gorgeous (and totally available) financial guru Alfie (Lucien Laviscount). Treated to an on and off again courtship due to the emotional craziness in Emily’s world, Laviscount truly nailed his character’s core deep ache upon realizing that Emily’s promises of total commitment were shattered after Gabriel decided he was finally able to pursue her once again. 

As charming & fun (and over-the-top glamourous) as Emily is, these behaviors definitely make her an occasional villainess in my book.

Agreed?

P.S.: Having just started watching the show a week ago, the fact that I am already so far into the mix, episode-wise, proves what a fan of Emily (and crew) that I really am. 

But still…poor Alfie!

Wrong Turn 4 Podcast

Published March 22, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

I grew up outside of Buffalo, a legitimate oasis for snow during the winter months ,,,and sometimes even well into spring. 

I’ll never forget one Easter break when I was a pre-teen. On our first Saturday off, the temps hit the ’70s. Annette Funicello beach movies were playing on the local station – and I thought we were heading into a summery paradise. That night, though, we were struck with a blizzard and I was dodging one frozen tundra after another for the next 13 days. 

Fortunately, that scenario wasn’t nearly as terrifying as the one that hits the ski loving gang in Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings. Out in the icy wilderness, they run into the extremely violent Hillicker brothers and, as it always does in this series, physical trauma & death soon come for them. 

Unlike the other entries, the LGBTQIA community enters the scenario here via two of the main characters, a frisky lesbian couple – thus earning it a spot as one of my entries in Queer Horror: A Film Guide.

Recently, during the official podcast for the book, I joined editor Sean Abley in looking at the sapphic intricacies of this fun offering in this long running, low budget horror series. 

Be sure to listen, hopefully in some warm & inviting environment, at Podcast Addict (link below) or your favorite streaming service!

Queer Horror: A Film Guide – The Podcast – Podcast Addict

Hopelessly Devoted To: Fay Bainter

Published February 22, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

Making history as the first actress to be nominated in both lead and supporting categories at the 1938 Academy Awards, the down-to-earth Fay Bainter played many a loyal mate and supportive mother throughout her career.

Always a savant for the text, Bainter was able to transform herself into controlling, dangerous women, as well. 

Indeed, in The Shining Hour, an MGM film packed with strong female artists, Bainter was able to show a skilled duality. As Hannah Lindon, the matriarchal figure of a wealthy dynasty, she effectively showed compassion and love for sister-in-law Judy, played by the ever authentic Margaret Sullavan. Her reaction to Joan Crawford’s Olivia Riley, a NYC showgirl who unexpectedly marries into the family, is one filled with derision and virulence, though.

Dramatically, her character’s hatred of Olivia eventually leads her into a moment of fiery mania. This act of violence inadvertently changes Judy’s life forever and gives Bainter a chance to utilize a more expressive energy than was typical in her many acclaimed performances. 

While her portrayal of the very vocal, very prejudiced Mrs. Amelia Tilford in The Children’s Hour (1961) earned her another Academy Award nomination, it is her role in Dark Waters (1944) that is decidedly her most lethal.

There, as the seemingly kindly Aunt Emily, she soon puts amnesiac heiress Merle Oberon’s life in danger. It is a subtly cool performance that is all the more effective for Bainter’s spidery sweetness.

Career Retrospective:

Any Bainter marathon should definitely include Jezebel, containing the performance that she actually won the Oscar for, and Cry Havoc!, a surprisingly effective war drama that also features such names as the above-mentioned Sullavan, Joan Blondell and Ann Sothern.

Van Johnson: Lady Killer

Published February 14, 2026 by biggayhorrorfan

He was Hollywood’s fresh faced hero, but Van Johnson caused more than certain pigtailed viewers’ hearts to flutter. The characters he played could also be very dangerous to the opposite sex,

Even the man-breaking Elizabeth Taylor suffered, cinematically, under his boyish spell. 

Sparingly adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Babylon Revisited, 1954’s The Last Time I Saw Paris found Johnson’s Charles Wills initially dating Donna Reed’s elegant yet doting Marion. But with one look at Taylor’s spoiled Helen, Marion’s younger sister, Johnson/Charles is smitten and Marion is quickly a mere footnote in his life. The tempestuous relationship between Charles and Helen soon produces a child…and mountains of heartache.

That destructive energy reaches its zenith, one rainy night, when the combative, overly emotional Helen is caught in a downpour after a battle with her disapproving spouse. Her deathbed gasps change Charles’ life forever.

Johnson lost another celluloid paramour due to excessively stormy weather in the three hankie Miracle in the Rain, released two years after Paris. 

Here it is Jane Wyman’s shy, inexperienced Ruth who falls under the spell of G.I. Arthur, whom Johnson plays with a worldly sense of charm.

Wyman’s character here is the exact opposite of Taylor’s, but Arthur proves to be quite the lady killer with her, as well, if only by accident.

After a tender courtship, Ruth is misinformed that Arthur has died overseas. Distraught and depressed, she exposes herself to the elements. Thus, pneumonia ridden and nearly delirious, she perishes in his arms as he reaches her just in time for her final collapse.

The moral of these stories?!? Avoid those charmers, ladies and gents!

Johnson’s Horror Express:

As with many Golden Age greats before him, Johnson appeared in a couple Euro Horror efforts in the latter days of his career: 1982’s The Scorpion with Two Tails and 1989’s beast in the wild entry, Killer Crocodile.