Countdown to Carrie: Meg Foster – “Immortal Combat”, “Hidden Fears”!

Published August 6, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

(The Carrie remake will be upon us on October – thus we celebrate the strong women in horror, science fiction and exploitation with Countdown to Carrie!)

Quinn: (Quietly shuddering) God, he was ugly!
Stan: How can you stand it?
Quinn: (Coldly) When I close my eyes…all men are the same. – Immortal Combat

The generously eclectic Meg Foster may be best known to genre fans for her diverse roles in such projects as They Live, Masters of the Universe and Stepfather II – but multiple (often more obscure) projects have benefited from her quiet authority, as well.

In 1993, Foster reunited with (her They Live co-star) Roddy Piper in the karate-action–science fiction-horror-buddy film (are you dizzy yet???!!!) hybrid Immortal Combat (released in 1994). Using soft undercurrents, Foster imbues her evil Quinn will nerve chilling monstrousness. Proving that underplaying is the skilled performer’s greatest asset, she emerges as the prime force, here, despite plenty of gloriously sock-em displays of back flipping, masculine martial arts mayhem.

The same year, Foster proved her amazing versatility by playing a grieving wife and mother in the domestic thriller Hidden Fears. Years after the murder of her husband in a parking lot by two redneck hoods, Foster’s Maureen Dietz learns the identities of his killers. Publically exposing them brings her family and friends into jeopardy’s way, though. As the bodies begin to pile up, Foster-Dietz begins to realize the true source of danger may reside closer to home than she ever could have imagined. Once again, it is the quieter tones that Foster applies here that sparkle with ingenuity (in an often standard script). Her natural connections with skilled co-stars such as Frederic Forrest and Bever-Leigh Banfield are what help make this project rise above the ordinary.

Midwest dwellers can revel in the presence of the delicious Foster on August 9, 10, 11, 2013 at Flashback Weekend, Illinois’ homegrown horror convention!: http://www.flashbackweekend.com.

Big Gay Horror Fan, meanwhile, is always evading the dangerous pursuers of his past at http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan!

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE!!!!

Feeling Dark ‘n’ Sexy? Then – Welcome to Matthew’s Doyle’s Hot Hook-Up!

Published August 2, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

My old friend Matthew Doyle used to embarrass me at movie theaters by claiming he was an executive from Pepsi and then proceed to harass the counter people for selling Coke products. He’d also force me to, begrudgingly, role play scenarios from Star Trek episodes with him as we ran down the streets of Boys Town in Chicago. Obviously, before I became Big Gay Horror Fan I was a total stick-in-the-mud! I would find all of that gloriously awesome, now.

Back then Mr. Doyle always claimed he was going to make films of his own, as well – and that he has! His second feature, Phantom Images, is currently streaming on the here! Network and he has just launched the campaign to finance his third feature, Hook-Up, featuring controversial porn actor Antonio Biaggi.

Hook-Up promises to expose the dark side of online dating and while not out and out horror, it is sure to feature the energetic capabilities of such Doyle influences as Rainier Werner Fassbinder and Peter Weir, auteurs beloved by film buffs and fright fiends, alike.

Check out the Indiegogo Hook-Up campaign at:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hook-up

And if you are presently penny pinched, be sure to like the film’s FB page, at the very least!:
https://www.facebook.com/HookUpMovie

Meanwhile, Big Gay Horror Fan is always looking for new playmates at http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan, as well.

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

Review: An American Ghost Story

Published August 2, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Taking a different tact than recent haunted house epics like The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity and Sinister, the lead character in An American Ghost Story actually knows that there is something going on in the house he moves into. In fact, that is his exact reason for wanting to reside there.

Feeling unfulfilled in his life, wannabe writer Paul Anderson is determined to chronicle his adventures living in a haunted house. So when strange occurrences do start to happen in his new dwelling, he is pleased. His no nonsense girlfriend Stella (a solid, very personable Liesl Kopp) is less than thrilled, though. She becomes even less delighted when Paul quickly grows tired of the mild poltergeist style activities that the two are experiencing and becomes obsessed with meeting the murderous entity that supposedly skitters throughout the rooms of his current abode.

Working with a slow boil from Stephen Twardokus’ very simple yet natural script, director Derek Cole builds some believable tension here. Cole seems to empathize with the character of Anderson, played with effortless understanding by Twardokus, and builds his descent into frustrated ambition with ease. Therefore, those looking for a quieter character study with scare elements, more than an out and out horror film, should find much to enjoy with this work.

Cole does deliver on the fright front, though, skillfully managing to turn a simple bed sheet into an object of deadly menace on more than one occasion – a considerable feat. Even the predictable shock ending, reminiscent (in effect if not execution) of everything from the final moments of I Know What You Did Last Summer to John Carpenter’s The Ward, doesn’t leave a cinematic smudge on what has occurred before it.

An American Ghost Story will be released on DVD on August 20th (2013) from Breaking Glass Pictures.

More information on the project can be gained from http://www.breakingglasspictures.com and http://www.facebook.com/breakingglasspictures.

Big Gay Horror Fan, meanwhile, is decidedly avoiding all unworldly entities in his apartment complex at http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan!

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

Countdown to Carrie: Tuesday Weld in Pretty Poison!

Published July 30, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

I’m actually pretty leery about a lot of things – for instance, that day old meat-loaf floating around the hallway of my building – or my “friends”, those budding sister-musicians who alternate between their flat and sharp notes with alarming accuracy and… that Carrie re-imagining that is hitting the theaters this October 18th. I am pretty leery of that.

But – if you go with the thought that a blood-shot cinematic adventure with a strong female lead is always good cause for celebration then, in anticipation of this fall’s opening of Kimberly Pierce’s re-imagining, the new BGHF feature “Countdown to Carrie” will focus on strong woman in horror and exploitation films. Let’s begin with the underrated Tuesday Weld!

She was one of the most photogenic lasses of the late 50’s and 60’s and while her life was full of pout worthy conflict and critical acclaim (including a 1978 Oscar nomination for Looking for Mr. Goodbar), the divine Weld never quite made it to the cinematic majors. This may have been due to her own reported reluctance to success or just the fickle nature of Hollywood but – as Sue Ann in 1968’s Pretty Poison, Weld gives a performance that simply shimmers with evil and delightful malice. It’s a masterwork of psychological horror and all the more impressive considering that her co-star is Norman Bates, himself, Mr. Anthony Perkins.

In fact, director Noel Black wisely plays on the assumption that audiences are going to predict that it is Perkins, playing a socially awkward arsonist who develops a fascination with Weld’s small town girl, whom is the primary antagonist here. But midway through the film, viewers realize without a doubt that it is Weld’s pretty Sue Ann whom is the true demon in disguise. Weld’s work is brilliantly go-for-broke and the fact that her Sue Ann is not recognized as one of cinema’s most significant villainesses is a true mystery.

Be sure to take a look at some of the finest of Weld’s cheesecake ridden starlet poses here, as well:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/19-dreamy-photos-of-forgotten-style-icon-tuesday-weld

Be sure to check me out at www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan, too, and to check back for more female horror awesomeness, here, as we Countdown to Carrie!

Barmy Battles: Psycho Vs. The Exorcist!

Published July 18, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Usually the toughest thing that Big Gay Horror Fan has to decide on is whether to wear the large Freddy t-shirt or the extra-large (depending on how much he’s consumed the previous week)!

The truly exciting site Barmy Battles has upped the difficulty in the choice factor this week, though, by proposing a count-off between two horror classics: Alfred Hitchcock’s momma loving Psycho (1960) and William Peter Blatty’s devil smeared The Exorcist (1973).

You can make your (almost impossible) choice between the two, until the end of August 2013 at:

http://www.barmybattles.com/2013/06/25/the-exorcist-vs-psycho/

And – tell them Big Gay Horror Fan sent you!

Be sure to check out www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan and until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

The Backside of Horror: Damian Ladd, “Demon Resurrection” (2008)

Published July 15, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

The only thing Big Gay Horror Fan ever witnessed in a nude state growing up in the country was – cows!!!

Luckily, for lovers o’ male sweetness, Damian Ladd, whom actually offers up a quietly effective performance as the concerned John in 2008’s Demon Resurrection, shows us a bit more for our money. Worried over the emotional state of his cult rescued honey, Grace, Ladd-John reflects back on better times.

These times, thankfully, include some tree side, outdoors romancing – an advent that gives us a nice look at Ladd’s round n healthy globes o’ love.

Actually, coming on like a mixture of Night of the Living Dead meets Creepozoids by way of the recently reimagined Evil Dead, Demon Resurrection may be worth looking at for a few other reasons, as well.

Be sure to check back, often, as Big Gay Horror Fan frequently levels the flesh-for-pay exploitation balance by concentrating on male nudity in terror!

Be sure to check out www.facebook.com/bigggayhorrorfan, as well, and until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

Mark of Cain: Maneater (2009)

Published July 13, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Every morning, Big Gay Horror Fan must look into his cracked mirror and face the many demons that haunt him. Of course, the sounds that emerge from that confrontation are ear shatteringly monstrous, but face them he must!

Similarly, Dean Cain must look into the treacherous past of his character, Sheriff Harry Bailey, in 2009’s forest monster on the loose epic Maneater.

With a mysteriously disappearing wife and a tendency to over-protect his normally inquisitive teenage daughter, Cain/Bailey is even seemingly a suspect in the horrific deaths that are occurring on his watch. The delusion that his obviously dead wife is due to return any moment also makes everyone doubt his grasp on reality, as well.

Featuring several effective stalk n slash sequences, Maneater is best served by the appearances of such veteran character actors as Conrad Janis (Mork and Mindy, The Cable Guy) and Christopher Darga (Scary or Die, Crazy Stupid Love), who is particularly fine as an emotionally tortured local soul.

Granted, with its grainy, shadow ridden texture, the film does belie its budget – IE: it looks very cheaply made – and while plenty of the nubile wenches whom grace this woodsy (yet bloodied) landscape often doff their tops, there is not a male buttock in sight.

More than anything, much like 2004’s Lost, wherein he received fine notices as a beleaguered businessman, Maneater seems to primarily fit in with Cain’s (who, also, served as a producer here) bid to stretch himself as a performer.

Next up on Mark of Cain: 2006’s Dead and Deader!

Big Gay Horror Fan Interviews Erin Gray!

Published July 4, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Big Gay Horror Fan is still shedding pounds of excitement over this truly scintillating interview with the divine Erin Gray (Buck Rogers, Jason Goes to Hell and so much more)!!

Be sure to check out the links to Gray’s amazing philanthropic work, as well:

www.havenhouse.org

www.heroesforhire.info

And as always – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan (www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan)!

The Conjuring

Published June 28, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Sure, Big Gay Horror Fan’s apartment is haunted! Well, if noisy neighbors and a variety of roaches (the size of last summer’s non-blockbuster Battleship, mind you) count. Still, the random creak and half awake realization that someone could be lurking in the hallway are a part of everyone’s existence – lending credence to such recent haunted house epics as the Paranormal Activity series, Insidious and Sinister.

Thus, with baited breath we await the July 19th unveiling of the latest spooky dwelling flick, The Conjuring , featuring the luminous Vera Farmiga (Bates Hotel, Orphan), Broadway stalwart Patrick Wilson (Insidious, Hard Candy) and the always interesting Lili Taylor (The Haunting, Hemlock Grove, The Addiction).

Meanwhile, for queer horror piglets everywhere, the news that One Life to Live‘s hunky John Brotherton (the first victim in Season 6 of Dexter, as well) is a member of The Conjuring cast offers just another reason to get to the theaters in mid-July!

Be sure to keep up all the trembling plywood inherent in The Conjuring at www.facebook.com/theconjuringmovie!

Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan (www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan)!

Mad Zombie?!? All You Need is a Bike!

Published June 28, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Well, okay! So, he does eventually wipe out!

I bike everywhere in the city. Although, I must admit as I tool down the wacky paths of Western Avenue at 2 in the morning in Chicago, lately, I have begun to feel my mortality quite a bit. Like – Hello, swinging car door -I could die!

But after catching an afternoon showing of Brad Pitt in World War Z today, my faith in my 10 speed is renewed!

In one key scene, Pitt and associates escape a rainy, late night undead attack — courtesy of some fancy Schwinn like action! Right on! (and…I don’t think we’ve ever seen that one before, right? Hey ho, originality – and one cool reason why I’ve got to give this much revised movie some greasy handed props!)

So, all you wayward tin heaps and flesh eating monsters – just you try it! I’ve got the (Pitt) pedal on you, any day!!!

Be sure to keep up with all the globe hopping zombie terror at https://www.facebook.com/WorldWarZMovie.

Meanwhile, Big Gay Horror Fan is always celebrating the slobbering masses of undead at www.facebook.com/bigggayhorrorfan!

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

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