Film

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Bobbie Gentry

Published August 16, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

The 1969 opening scene of Final Destination: Bloodlines hopefully introduced younger fans to one of pop & country music’s most distinctive voices. With this bloody revisiting of decades past, the film’s music producers were able to explore a number of interesting tunes to supplement the soundtrack. One of the coolest background fillers was the enigmatic Bobbie Gentry’s take on Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.

Of course, the gorgeous Gentry is probably best known for composing and performing the influential gothic story-song Ode to Billie Joe. Her cool, whiskey-soaked tones embellished a number of other significant compositions, though. These include Fancy, another dark yet deliciously fun tale, Okolona River Bottom and Mornin’ Glory, along with her wistfully essential covers of other artists’ recordings. 

Significantly, she is also one of the most mysterious singers of all time. After her great success in the late ’60s and throughout the ’70s, Gentry disappeared completely from view after an appearance at an awards show in 1982. There has been no public footage or magazine interviews since then and even her current place of residence seems to be up for debate.

What is not in question, though, is her overall influence on the music scene. A respected artist’s artist, Gentry has had a number of previously unreleased LPs resurface in special editions on Record Store Day over recent years and she has been paid loving tribute to by artists as diverse as country queen Reba McEntire and jazz diva Nancy Wilson.

Hopefully someday an inventive writer-director will use her story as the focus of a femme powered mystery or genre film of some sort. Until then, thankfully, we have this….

…and this…

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

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Hopelessly Devoted To: Ruth Roman

Published August 10, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Brash yet sophisticated, Ruth Roman was a dynamic celluloid broad. She lit up such nourish pictures from Warner Brothers as Strangers on a Train, Three Secrets, Lightning Strikes Twice and Tomorrow is Another Day. Whether sporting a sassy blonde wig (Tomorrow) or emanating patrician airs (Strangers), she always registered with a definitive presence.

Unsurprisingly, this aura continued to resonate throughout her latter-day credits, including a number of significant terror film projects. Her bombastic take on an overprotective mother in 1973’s truly weird The Baby is an important piece of exploitation history. Her roles in The Killing Kind (also 1973) and 1977’s Day of the Animals were less significant but were still filled with her patent gregariousness.

Meanwhile, one of her more interesting ’70s credits had her intersecting with two other queens of horror. As Adele Arnold, a retired big band singer, in The Disco Killer episode of Police Woman, Roman shared potent scenes with both Angie Dickinson (Dressed to Kill, The Maddening, Circle of Fear, Pretty Maids All in a Row) and Taaffe O’Connell (Galaxy of Terror, New Year’s Evil).

Convinced by Dickinson’s Pepper, the titular police woman, to take part in an undercover operation, Roman supplies Adele with a tough outer core underscored by a nostalgic, bruised heart. Portraying a character reeled into the mayhem in order to protect her estranged daughter (O’Connell) from a trio of trigger happy mobsters, Roman happily revels in being this story’s primary focus.

For those, like myself, who enjoy analyzing the background connections of various performers, the fact that Roman and O’Connell both expired at the hands of various monsters (both natural and unnatural) in their various celluloid outings makes them seem like natural co-conspirators as mother and daughter. That Dickinson was also a contract player for Warner Brothers makes her various scenes with Roman sing with a potent naturalness, as well.

Probably logged in as nothing more than a normal workday for all involved, I would still, time travel permitting, love to visit that set – if only for a brief moment or two.

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

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Catching Private Ryan

Published July 5, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Ryan Phillippe knows his audience. 

In 2014’s Catch Hell, his sole writing-directing credit, Phillippe plays Reagan Pierce, a liberally exaggerated version of himself. Down on his luck, the emotionally beleaguered Pierce accepts a lesser acting job in a Louisianian bayou town. Unfortunately, on the first day of filming, he is intercepted by two local men. Kidnapping him, they hustle him into a swamp ridden shack where they begin torturous games. Trying to break him mentally while simultaneously destroying his reputation via online shenanigans, the duo soon escalate matters into Straw Dogs territory.

As the shackled Pierce is continually bloodied, degraded and beaten, the audience (rightly) assumes that retribution will eventually be in order. Thus, we have the male equivalent of the rape-revenge film here. This becomes especially obvious once it is revealed that Junior (Stephen Louis Grush), one of his dimwitted captors, has sexual feelings for Pierce. Of course, this budding attraction first arose when Junior watched Pierce in action in a sexually charged teen drama, referencing Phillippe’s own work in Cruel Intentions. As my opening statement attests, this plot point proves that the actor is very aware of how much his portrayal of Sebastian Valmont effected his gay fans in their youth. 

Interestingly, these circumstances put Phillippe’s character in the same position as Camille Keaton in I Spit on Your Grave and Matilda Lutz in Revenge (among countless others). As the increasingly frenzied Junior tries to rape Pierce, Phillipe and Grush are exposed, both emotionally and physically, entering into vulnerable positions usually reserved just for female starlets. 

This attribute supplies Catch Hell with a sort of significance, making it a cultural oddity with some spark behind it. Occasionally feeling draggy and drawn out, there are enough scenes of essential weirdness here, particularly a bizarre film within a film during the closing credits, to make this of interest to cinema buffs. At the very least, the copious views of the backsides of Phillippe & Grush in the project’s most notorious scene will give those who like that sort of thing plenty of penetrative thought.

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

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Backside of Horror: Henry Golding

Published June 8, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Another Simple Favor has been described as a black comedy-mystery film and a comedy crime mystery thriller by various online sources. Personally, I would describe it as a gorgeously filmed, diva-licious, Agatha Christie style horror romp. 

Continuing the adventures of friends/rivals Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) and Emily (Blake Lively), this recent release finds the latter getting out of jail and rushing headfirst into a lavish wedding ceremony in Capri. Of course, a deadly secretive narrative hides beneath the overwhelming joy of the occasion.

Manipulated into attending, along with a bevy of other guests including Emily’s ex-husband (Henry Golding), Stephanie soon finds herself the primary suspect as people begin to be brutally murdered.

Obviously knowing their target audience, the prelude to one of the film’s most gruesome killings features a long (and very revealing) shower scene with Golding’s Sean.

Nicely, this fleshy act of cleanliness is the welcomed contrast to the other reason to watch this sequel – Lively’s incredibly glamourous costumes.

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

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The Missed Queering of Speak No Evil

Published May 27, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

I’ve got more years behind me than before me. I don’t have enough time left on this planet to watch yet another film or limited television series where a powerful white man terrorizes a woman (either solo or with family in tow) for an hour and a half. This realization came to me when I was about halfway through 2024’s Speak No Evil, the Americanized version of a popular Danish horror film. The fact that it took me two or three months to finally finish it speaks to my weariness. 

Don’t we live in a world where that kind of POS has been granted far too much power, anyhow? I don’t need him as the primary figure of my entertainment orientated escapes. 

Granted, the more salacious side of my gayness wickedly sparked at this project’s midpoint visual of a beefed up James McAvoy stripping down to his black briefs for a swim. Sitting through the demented machinations of his character was another story altogether, though. 

Of course, I might have taken more interest if the hinted at attraction between McAvoy’s Paddy and Scoot McNairy’s Ben had been more fully realized. While calculatedly setting a trap for Louise (Makenzie Scott) and her daughter, Alex (Alix West Lefler), Paddy makes off with the patriarchal side of that family unit, driving him into the woods for some manly bonding. 

The song that Paddy chooses to accentuate their macho excursion, though, is The Bangles’ ultra-romantic Eternal Flame. That tune becomes a central sonic focus of the project, making viewers – or at least this one – wonder if director/co-writer James Watkins was subtly hinting at something a bit more lavender in Paddy’s nature. 

But, ultimately, this twisted celluloid excursion soon does a forward freefall into Paddy’s deliriously violent attack upon Louise, Ben and Alex. All subtle nuances in character are swept aside for red faced, eye bulging mania.

The corporate, common line quality of this filmmaking is frustrating in it’s predictability. We definitely don’t need a mainstream, studio supported look at a dangerous homosexual – particularly in this politic climate. But turning Paddy into a sexually fluid manipulator of all who come into his path would have definitely given this film a fresh boost of life, turning a tried and true maniacal monster into something a little more joyfully perverse. This would have also taken some of the heat off of the basic, misogynistic notion of a woman and her child facing danger from yet another deluded, over privileged man. 

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

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The Backside of Horror: The Killing Kind

Published May 18, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Outside of Joe Dallesandro’s work with Paul Morrissey in Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein and The Blood of Dracula, the exploitation films of the ’70s were not usually an advertisement for the male physique. 

Gay director Curtis Harrington, though, definitely cast a loving camera eye onto the young, very fit John Savage in 1973’s The Killing Kind. Often shirtless and/or running around in tiny swimming trunks, Savage’s unstable Terry Lambert is lingeringly obsessed over by his mother (Ann Sothern), a female roommate (Cindy Williams), an uptight neighbor (Luana Anders) and his former lawyer (Ruth Roman).

Often shrinking from their fevered gaze, Lambert’s hesitancy to their affections is truly understood in one mid-act scene. There, Sothern’s Thelma incestuously sneaks into the bathroom while he is showering and, giggling with coy abandon, takes many a steamy photo of him.

Harrington’s lens, meanwhile, is almost as lovingly obsessed with Savage’s rare masculine beauty as the plotline participants. This makes this offering the rare proto-slasher with plenty of sensuously photographed scenes of skin of the red blooded and increasingly bare variety – all reaching a head (or buttock as the case may be) with that daring wet, bathing shot.

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

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Ann Sothern: The Triumphant Kind

Published May 5, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Gay director Curtis Harrington was the George Cukor of the horror set. With filmic grace, he guided such pedigree blessed superstars as Gloria Swanson, Simone Signoret, Gale Sondergaard, Piper Laurie and Joan Blondell to blood curdling glory in such projects as Games, The Killer Bees, Ruby and The Dead Don’t Die.

Of course, his greatest achievement among the diva set just might be 1971’s What’s The Matter with Helen? That cult favorite, featuring the dueling frames of pert Hollywood sweetheart Debbie Reynolds and robustly complicated Academy Award winning Shelley Winters, did not, initially, set the box office on fire. But critically praised as one of the best post-Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? imitations, it has become a favorite among discerning terror lovers in the decades since.

But running a close second, in my opinion, to that lauded project is 1973’s gloriously sleazy The Killing Kind. This celluloid smudge features not only Ann Sothern, at her matriarchally pouty best, but the whiskey soaked Ruth Roman and catlike character actress Marjorie Eaton (The Time of Their Lives, The Snake Pit, Zombies of Mora Tau).

Revolving around Sothern’s blowsy Thelma and her often shirtless, sexual deviant son Terry (John Savage), the movie definitely fixes an unwavering gaze on Savage. Just released from prison due to participation in a gang rape, Terry is oddly juvenilized by Thelma, who forces chocolate milk and lipstick stained kisses upon him in abundant measure. Thelma is not alone in this kind of overindulgence. A spinster librarian (Luana Anders), a wanna-be starlet (Cindy Williams) and even Terry’s former lawyer (Roman) & an aging tenant (Eaton) of Thelma’s, all drip around him with moist concern and occasionally aggressive interest. 

In particular, Louise, Anders’ character, fantasizes about him sadistically violating her. Meanwhile, Rhea, played by Roman, seems more distressed over losing Terry’s case due to sexual affection for him than any career-style woes.

The plus side of these and other incidents is this is the rare exploitation outing that concentrates on male beauty, happily embroidered by a juicily femme cast. The psychology here, though, may leave something to be desired. The screenplay seems to suggest that the reason the deeply violent Terry erupts on a journey of uncontrollable revenge is all due to the fawning, overly needy women in his life and not extreme mental imbalance or some other layered factor. 

Still, as the lead-in paragraph indicates, Harrington works wonders with the female cast. Roman crams a variety of emotional flavors into her one scene while Anders brings a successfully bitter, almost acidic, texture to her characterization. 

Magnifying them, Sothern sinks her teeth into every neurotic tic of her character, creating a childishly odd but truly believable human. Supporting roles would follow for this veteran actress, but in this, her last leading role, she and Harrington absolutely eek every morsel of strange goodness that there is to be found in the circumstances at hand. 

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

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Riskless Revenge: Barbara in Asylum

Published April 27, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Any gay person who grew up with a overbearingly possessive mother knows the torture of having your every move dictated and the lack of freedom such attentions often bring with them. Such individuals may find much to relate to in the character of Barbara from the Lucy Comes to Stay segment of Asylum, the classic Amicus horror anthology film.

Recently released from a mental institution, Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) is immediately facing a different prison upon returning to her family home. Her brother George (James Villiers) has hired a softspoken yet dominating nurse (Megs Jenkins) to take care of her. Thus, she is forced into bed and given a sedative before she even has a chance to reacquaint herself with her ancestral surroundings. In a few moments, it is apparent to the audience that this is how she is going to spend most of her future days – with no sense of self-control or true freedom.

Rampling so expertly conveys the panic-feeling of her character’s entrapment that it is no real surprise when Lucy (Britt Ekland), Barbara’s seductively blonde alter-ego, appears to assist her. Playing her role with an almost gleefully sly sense of humor, Ekland’s Lucy has soon disposed of both of Barbara’s antagonists, momentarily freeing her to live fully and without apparent restraints. 

Of course, things don’t end exactly as anticipated in the quick segment, with Barbara eventually ending up in the titular establishment again. 

This short scenario ultimately encapsulates, though, why genre film is so important. It allows us, as viewers, to, voyeuristically, watch someone act out against the fictional representations of things that have harmed and/or subdued us.

This riskless revenge, in turn, ties us emotionally to the performers and films that allow us this psychological escape – proving, as always, that art of all forms is truly worth its weight in metaphoric gold.

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

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Va-Va-Villainess: Ann Savage

Published April 13, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Its hard to believe that in the 6 years that I’ve been writing this particular column that I have never profiled the divinely acerbic Ann Savage. For in Edgar Ullmer’s classic, very low budget Detour (1945), Savage (very convincingly) plays Vera, truly one of the evilest femme fatales ever brought to celluloid life.

Significantly, unlike many of the other deadly dames of film noir, Savage gives Vera no seductive grace. Instead, she imbues the character with a poisonous snarl and a devastatingly calculated manner. These qualities do not de-escalate for even a moment throughout the picture’s incredibly taut running time. 

Indeed, as she traps the seemingly hapless Al (Tom Neal), a down on his luck piano player, in her never ending schemes, Savage uses an almost relentless sharpness. Nicely, the acidic energy provided by this less than typical choice assured Savage and the character a place in cinema history.

The fact that Detour, long ago, became a readily viewable public domain title surely helped a bit with this notoriety. Currently, it is available on a variety of free streaming services. There is even a colorized version to peruse, if so desired. Criterion, meanwhile, has also produced a restored, extras heavy version in recent years, as well.

Unfortunately, despite her brilliance, Savage remained a staple of the B-Movie set-up throughout her career, notching appearances in a number of sequel outings to such publicly entrenched, cheaply shot series as Blondie and Jungle Jim. Registering on a much more glamourous scale, she also was cast in such horror adjacent comedy-thrillers as Scared Stiff and Midnight Manhunt.

Thankfully, her work in Detour eventually made her a favorite of cinematic scholars and movie buffs, worldwide. She, gratefully, spent the last decades of her life attending festivals and screenings, embracing a much deserved, late-in-life success that had previously alluded her.

Further Viewing: Savage plays with a more traditionally catlike vibe as the honorary dame-up-to-no-good in 1951’s Pier 23. This noir quickie, which is stream-able on YouTube, may provide passing interest to Golden Age television lovers, as well. Hugh Beaumont, best known as the understandingly normal patriarch on Leave it to Beaver, stars as the typical money motivated PI here.

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

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Troll Terror 101: Godsend

Published March 22, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Somewhere in my media strewn apartment, there is a DVD of Raging Bull. I’ve had it for years, with every intention to watch it, but… 

Of course, you can bet I if stumble upon my copy of 2004’s Godsend, featuring Robert De Niro’s other greatly acclaimed modern performance (lol!), all bets are off. That sucker is going in the player!

Before you judge me, though, let’s consider something. At the beginning of the 21st Century, after years of often stellar projects, De Niro seemingly made a purposeful creative decision to begin branching out into his (highly enjoyable) Troll Terror years. He did this via taking roles in projects like (the above mentioned) Godsend, Hide and Seek (2005) and Red Lights (2012). 

Naturally, he was no stranger to the genre, having made appearances in the noir-ishly violent Cape Fear (1991), Kenneth Branagh’s pompous, sweat-tastic take on Frankenstein (1994) and the psycho thriller The Fan (1996). But it was with the poorly received Godsend that I think many critics and fans began to question his choices a bit.

A Mary Shelley-style Bad Seed knock-off, this film found De Niro in (spoiler alert) mad scientist zone. Playing genetics expert Richard Wells, he initially reads as kindly and benevolent. But things take a turn after he helpfully clones the dead child of Paul (Greg Kinnear) and Jessie Duncan (Rebecca Romijn). Upon entering his grade school years, Adam (Cameron Bright) starts to exhibit severe personality disorders while also beginning to act out with deadly intent. After some investigating, the Duncan’s discover that Wells has also imbued their child with DNA from his own psychotic, deceased offspring.

Bleakly impossible, the project wound up with a 3% Rotten Tomatoes score. But Bright, who visited similar territory in the bizarre arthouse adventure Birth, is actually truly effective as the psychologically twisted, less than originally named Adam. De Niro also subtly portrays the deep shift in Wells, bringing a chilling honesty to the scenes where his evil plan is revealed. 

The fact that Kinnear, who was nominated for an Oscar, and De Niro, an honoree with multiple acting statuettes, both found this project worthy also speaks to its effectiveness. Wouldn’t any parent do anything they could to resurrect their suddenly departed offspring? A parent himself, De Niro surely responded to that aspect of the script, making this good kid-gone bad enterprise a repeat watch for me…and, hopefully, plenty of others.

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

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