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Linnea Quigley: Tinker Hell and the Nonexistent Imp

Published June 9, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

linnea fun

Spider and Samantha are the names of the characters that forever charming horror goddess Linnea Quigley embodied in the cult classics Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama. Spider, a hardened thief who takes on a murderous imp, and Samantha, who searches for her missing sister with determined grace, are also true evidence of the inherent feminist themes in B-Movies that have attracted fans, and even scholars like Carol J. Clover (Men, Women and Chainsaws), to these films for decades. On the eve of rare screenings of these fan favorites at Summer Scares in Chicago, Quigley, happily, shared some memories about the making of these mini-masterpieces of divine mayhem.

BGHF: Hey, Linnea! I’m so excited that they’re showing Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama this weekend at Summer Scares. It’s one of my favorites.  Linnea: Me, too!

I think Spider, the character you portray, embodies so much of what is important about the female characters in those direct to VHS years. She’s strong and resourceful and gives off such a feminist vibe. Oh! Yeah. Because a guy wasn’t saving the day, she was. Thank you!linnea sorority

I think that’s why that Scream Queen Era was so important to so many people. Those films gave the actresses great opportunities. You were able to play doctors and scientists and cat burglars. I don’t think you got that in a lot of the mainstream films of that time. Oh, wow! You’re right.  We got to play murderesses and crazy people. The good ones!

Are there any memories that stand out to you about Sorority Babes? Weren’t the performers all housed together on location? Yeah. We were all at a La Quinta. We weren’t too far from the set. I had my own room because I insisted on it. I didn’t want to be in a room with someone who was wild or was staying up half the morning! (Laughs) I say morning because we shot at night. I like my own space.

It was a short shoot, correct? Actually, for a David DeCoteau film, it was a long shoot. It was seven days.

Seven days? That’s nothing! What was the usual time frame for shooting a movie like that? Oh, gee. Three days. A weekend!

Wow! Do you have any fun memories from working on Sorority Babes?  Yeah. There were a lot of weird things. My room was next to Andras Jones (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Warriors). I thought he was cute. I had a little crush on him. But he was younger than me and he was in the prime of those hormone years. He was destroying his room and just being wild. I guess he was getting the last of that kid out of him and was being really silly and funny. He and the others would go out into town, which was a sea port, and everyone was just kind of all over the place.

Was there any else that was interesting? Of course, we had to act to nothing. The imp wasn’t there when we filmed and we didn’t know what it was going to look like.

David didn’t give you any clues? I don’t know about other people’s interactions with him, but he didn’t with me. He just let us go and do what we felt was right. If we had to be louder for the camera or if we were out of frame, he’d let us know that. He was really good about just letting us do our thing.

I understand that he let you choose the role that you wanted to play, as well. Yes! He gave the script to me and told me to choose the part that I wanted. It took me like two seconds. I want this part, I want this part!

Who wouldn’t want to be Spider? Of course! I didn’t want the other parts, I wanted that one. …and I had fun with it. I had so much fun. linnea hollywood

Did you have the same kind of fun on Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers? Well, that came about because Fred Olen Ray had a camera for four days over a holiday weekend. He and David DeCoteau would have bets over who could make a movie the fastest. It was funny. It was the first and last time that I worked for Fred. He just called me and wanted me to do the part. I was just excited to get roles. …and I liked the role. It was fun. (Laughs) I got to work with chainsaws.

Was there any kind of protection on set when you were doing your famous chainsaw dance? No! (Laughs) Of course not! Oh, the things won’t be on. It’s okay! Then I’m doing my dance and I felt something like hot oil on me. I didn’t want to stop the take. In my mind I was thinking that my legs were going to be scarred up. I don’t know what it was. It could have been oil. It was a little bit freaky. Fred kept saying, Dance sexy! Those chainsaws are so heavy! I was taking it seriously, too. I was really trying to dance sexy. It was so hard!

Your hardship was rewarded. The film’s a cult classic and I think many people discovered you through it and adore you. So, I guess the work is worth it, occasionally. Oh. Yes! Yes!

You also mentored Gunnar Hansen on that, as well, correct? Didn’t you encourage him to get into the convention scene? Yes! We were standing around waiting for the next shot. I told him that he should be doing the convention scene. He didn’t believe me. He thought The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had happened so long before and that no one would want to meet him or get his autograph. He thought no one would remember him. I said, are you kidding me? I was so excited to meet you. I was a little afraid. But you would be so amazing at conventions. He kind of nah, nah’ed it. Then when I saw him on the convention scene, I was like, okay! He got it. linnea gunnar

A little blonde angel you were, guiding him. Yes, take my hand, Gunnar, and I will lead you to the convention circuit! I was a Tinker Bell.

…Or maybe a bad ass version of Tinker Bell. Yeah, a bad ass Tinker Bell, that’s better.  Tinker Hell!

Yes!  I’m Tinker Hell!

I think that needs to be the subtitle for this interview! Oh, great! I’d love that!

Forget Scream Queen or Goddess of Horror or Femme Fatale. You want to be a Tinker Hell! Yes! We’ll coin a new thing!

We will! Definitely! summer scares

Be sure to join the Tinker Hell Squad by meeting Linnea at Summer Scares on Saturday, June 10th at The Patio Theater in Chicago. Linnea will be joined by fellow guests, Ari Lehman (“Jason”, Friday the 13th) and Mark Patton, (“Jesse”, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2). More information is available at https://www.facebook.com/events/813470602136871/.

Quigley, meanwhile, is always yielding dangerous accessories on the internet at www.linnea-quigley.com.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Eva Everything

Published June 4, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

eva everything

Independent and adventurous, Canadian singer Eva Everything produced an album, an E.P. and a handful of eclectic music videos in the ’80s, all decorated with a groovy, DIY vibe.

This energy led to the inclusion of No Pleasure, perhaps her most popular song, in Tibor Takacs’ mini-monster, home invasion fest The Gate.

Meanwhile, her video for that song’s companion piece, Painless, rings with comedy, truth and entrepreneurship. Everyone here worked on a volunteer basis.

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

the gate

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The Queer Power of Alien: Covenant

Published May 29, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

alien-covenant

The slithering, orifice bursting monster babies of Alien: Covenant definitely rate high on my gore pleasure meter. But I will be viewing Ridley Scott’s second prequel to (his original masterpiece) Alien in the theater again for another reason: its strong queer pedigree.

Scripted by the openly gay John Logan, Covenant also features Empire’s sexually fluid Jussie Smollett as a decidedly straight crew member and two married male characters among its many hardy and adventurous potential victims.

Granted, it would be nice if the relationship between Demián Bichir’s Sergeant Lope and Nathaniel Dean’s Sergeant Hallett was more fully explored. Their true feelings for each other only surface during an intense crisis and, stylistically, their relationship feels dictated more by contemporary ease than as being a true part of the Alien universe. No LGBTQ relationships were presented in the original films and as this is a precursor to those stories, it makes it odd that the other films don’t have queer partnerships, the strong Sapphic following of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, this classic series’ toned and powerful heroine, aside.  

jussie alien

Still, the success of this relationship with viewers might make strides in compelling Hollywood executives to feature more homosexual bad asses in their action and terror outings and assure that they will continue to cast actors like Smolett, who have admitted their physical attraction to other men, a chance to play more than fey best friends and harried wedding planners.

Naturally, I am willing to concede that this is nothing more than wispy, celluloid pipe dream. But I am going to apply my hard earned dollars, another time or two, in the generous hope that it is not.

I hope you will join me!

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Lee Remick

Published May 21, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

lee remick the omen

Richard Burton threatened her with The Medusa Touch and little Damian broke her body (and her heart) in The Omen. But the scrumptious Lee Remick did have some heroes in her life, as well.

Surprisingly, famed composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim was one of them. Remick appeared in the original Broadway production of Sondheim’s well regarded (yet short lived) Anyone Can Whistle and she also glammed it up in an all star production of his Follies in the ‘80s.

Here, with direct forcefulness, she takes on the bad guys in her own way with There Won’t Be Trumpets, one of her best remembered numbers from Whistle.

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

lee remick glamour

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Linnea Quigley at Summer Scares

Published May 20, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

linnea hollywood

This may not qualify as a horse of a different color, but it certainly is unique! Well known for attending celebrations of such ‘80s classics as Return of the Living Dead and Night of the Demons, horror’s goddess of the divine, Linnea Quigley, will be in Chicago on June 10th for rare screenings of two of her other cult classics. Both Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-a-Rama, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, will be shown at Summer Scares, an exciting appreciation of the celluloid culture that excelled in offing nubile teens in warmer climes. linnea sorority

With that thought, 1980’s Friday the 13th, the film that is the wicked granddaddy of the genre, will also be shown, with that project’s Ari Lehman (“Jason”) on hand to offer an introduction, as well. In an interesting side note, both Quigley and Lehman recently appeared together in The Barn, an acclaimed slasher throwback that has been making the rounds of conventions and fests, as of late.

To sweeten the pot, Quigley and Lehman will be joined by Nightmare on Elm Street 2’s Mark Patton, who will be interviewing Quigley about her illustrious career. Talk about a trio of camp counselors that you could trust your life with! H-m-m-m – or maybe not.

Anyhow, the fun begins on Saturday, June 10th, at 7pm at the historic Patio Theater in Chicago. More information is available at https://www.facebook.com/events/813470602136871/.

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

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Orville in Orbit

Published May 13, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Orville in Orbit

You don’t always need a time machine to revisit the past. Sometimes you just need a determined director…and an even stronger fan base! Coming in on the latter stretch, exploitation auteur Jim Wynorski has recently announced plans for a sequel to the early ‘90s cult classic Hard to Die.

Hard to Die, connected to The Slumber Party Massacre series via its reuse of footage and plotlines from the original film, is perhaps one of the most notable projects of the VHS and direct to cable era. Luxuriating in that period’s excesses by taking place in a shopping mall as a bevy of gorgeous women do inventory in a lingerie store, the film reintroduced the audience to the hapless Orville, a misunderstood lug, compassionately played by character actor Peter Spellos. Orville, as many enthusiastic viewers can attest, had already been put through the ringer in the very similarly themed Sorority House Massacre II(AKA Nightie Nightmare). HardToDie

Honing in on Spellos’ popularity, the new film will be titled Orville in Orbit. Naturally, Spellos will be returning along with HTD’s original actresses, Deborah Dutch, Melissa Moore and Gail Thackery (Harris), who were all important figures in the initial, genuine reign of the Scream Queens.

More information on the project is available at https://www.facebook.com/Orville-In-Orbit-1867935273446647.

Hard-lingerie

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Madeline Bell

Published May 7, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Madeline-Bell

She’s a Queen! Perhaps overshadowed by friends such as Dusty Springfield and Elton John, the super cool Madeline Bell still provided tons of silky and soulful tunes to Brits hungry for such smooth stylings in the ’60s… and beyond!

Her horror roots are tangled up in rock history, as well. Bell worked with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones on the soundtrack of Michael Winner’s horror thriller Scream for Help. But, as evidenced by her cool take on I’m Gonna Leave You, this divine creature needs no assistance when telling a cool jerk to take a hike!

Today, Bell is still bringing audiences to their knees at http://madelinebell.com.

Scream_for_Help

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

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Debra De Liso in Iced

Published May 4, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Iced 4

The divine Debra De Liso, one of L.A.’s longstanding and most respected theater artists, will be forever remembered for her refrigerated death reveal in 1982’s beloved The Slumber Party Massacre. But six years later, De Liso turned the tables on that victimhood status in another horror feature that also offered up plenty of frozen delights. In 1988’s Iced, scripted by her TSPM co-star Joseph Alan Johnson, De Liso  portrays Trina, the film’s determined final girl. Iced 9

Here, at a ski lodge setting, De Liso’s Trina battles off a serial killer who uses everything from knives and ski poles to bear traps and gigantic icicles to do away with his targets. Showing off her dancing training to marvelous effect, De Liso skids through snow drifts, up wooden cabin steps and onto balconies as she fights for her life. It turns out someone isn’t too happy with this heroine’s romantic choices and is determined to make her pay.

But, providing Trina with a natural goodness and humanity, De Liso does survive to the end this time…and she also gets to work some awesome winter fashions into the mix, as well.

Iced, meanwhile, offers up solid performances from Lisa Loring, best known for her work in the original The Addams Family, and handsome soap opera stalwart Douglas Stevenson (1955-2011), who also appeared in the opening segment of Joseph Zito’s The Prowler. That it focuses on conflicted adults as opposed to party happy teens gives Iced an extra edge, as well. Its one that De Liso makes full use of and it would have definitely been delightful to have seen her in more projects like this.

Iced 7

Until that happy, frozen tundra presents itself… SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music To Make Horror Movies By: Linda Purl

Published April 30, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

linda purl vh

The dreamy Linda Purl survived a vicious attack from Michael Ironside’s misogynistic killer in the semi-classic slasher Visiting Hours.

Known for the more refined atmosphere of the stage and weepy television flicks, the eclectic Purl also is a cabaret singer of note. Here, her subtle yet commanding take on Kurt Weill’s My Ship proves to be a real winner.

Until next we meet at that dock of sweet aspirations….

SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan

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When Wez Met Jason

Published April 28, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

 

Hunter 4

Wells and Crew attack.

What happens when two titans of injustice and mayhem clash? Well, unfortunately, one is eventually going to have to take a premature visit to that great and grisly powder room in the sky.

Such was the case when Vernon Wells, the massively frightening Wez from The Road Warrior, tangled with Ted White, the ferocious, almost unstoppable Jason from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, on War Zone, a second season episode of the beloved 80s detective show Hunter.

Hunter 3

White retaliates.

When Wells’ Sonny Zajak and crew invade a warehouse guarded by White’s Manfred T. Royce, explosives detonate, shots ring out and soon Royce goes flying, downward, in a hail of fire. Royce hangs on by a thread, in the aftermath, causing Zajak a moment or two or distress. But, Royce’s balance on the beam of life is too shaky and soon he breathes his last.

Thus, it appears when apocalyptic action meets classic slasher, the former reigns victorious – for the time being, at least.

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

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