Television

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Scream Queens

Published October 16, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

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It may have been tough for Regina, a perky ‘80s pop wonder, when her vocal style was called out for being too reminiscent of Madonna’s. The talented songstress had already fronted a popular New Wave band and had her lyrics covered by other established artists.

But this last week, Baby Love, her most notable song, proved to be far more irksome to Scream Queens’ most pompous rascal, Chad Radwell (the irreplaceable Glen Powell). As Chanel Oberline, the character’s glorious intended, marched down the aisle to the song’s sweetly unforgettable bubble gum aura , the audience soon was surprised by the plummeting lifelessness of Radwell’s body as it hit the altar, dead on impact!

The song’s innocent joyfulness was the perfect contrast to the macabre circumstances and proved, once and for all, that pop music is, indeed, killer!

Be sure to keep up with the show’s sharp awesomeness at https://www.facebook.com/ScreamQueensFOX and https://twitter.com/ScreamQueens.

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

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Deanna Dunagan Debuts on The Exorcist!

Published October 14, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

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There’s been a bloody train attack, drunken backstage antics, much creepy evidence of possession… and tonight on the fourth episode of Fox’s The Exorcist, Nana is coming out from underneath the bed!

Yes, tonight is the debut of Tony award winning actress Deanna Dunagan (The Visit’s powerful Nana) as Mother Bernadette, someone who seems poised to assist Ben Daniels’ Father Keane in his efforts to understand the devilish activities that are currently occurring in the show’s universe.

Nicely, the appearance of Dunagan marks the addition of another multi-talented female performer to a show that already has been graced by the presence of Oscar winner Geena Davis, committed Midwest theater artist Kirsten Fitzgerald and the stunning Brianne Howey, whose brings a tart anguish to Kat, the young woman whose first tentative stabs at lesbianism were brought to a crashing halt.

I can’t wait for more!

https://www.facebook.com/TheExorcistFOX

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

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Deanna Dunagan Joins The Exorcist

Published September 23, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

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The divine Deanna Dunagan may go down in history as having created one of the creepiest and most emotionally present villainesses with her take on Nana in M. Night Shyamalan’s 2015 return to form, The Visit. But, she has also given the horror universe another powerful female player with her recent appearance on the third season of FX’s The Strain.   Here, playing Ancharia, a powerful medieval tutor and savior to (series regular) Quinlan, Dunagan provided the episode with its heartfelt core and made us long to see more of her in this masterfully created universe.deanna-strain

Now, Dunagan promises to provide even more strength of will in her recurring role as Mother Bernadette on Fox’s The Exorcist. This reimagining of the classic film and William Peter Blatty novel stars Academy Award winning actress Geena Davis and makes its debut on Friday, September 23rd, 2016. Dunagan’s first appearance will be on the 4th episode with more “visits” to follow in forthcoming installments.

You can keep up with all the levitating monstrousness and soul sucking antics to come at http://www.fox.com/the-exorcist and https://www.facebook.com/TheExorcistFOX.

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

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Hopelessly Devoted to: Tiffany Helm

Published August 5, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

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Being a badass might be occasionally hard on the soul, but in a series of roles in the late ‘80s, presence filled genre regular Tiffany Helm made it all look very easy.

Helm is, naturally, best known for her sullenly accurate portrayal of pixie-punk Violet in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. But a year after that sequel hit the theater chains, Helm was back in early riot mode as the dangerous Andrea Eldridge in the WIP homage Reform School Girls.Tiffany 1

As one of head bad girl Charlie’s closest allies, Helm took all the subtle qualities that she brought to Violet and gave them a maniacal twist. She even gives razor voiced co-star Wendy O. Williams, a truly authoritative figure, a run for her money in the damaged honeys sweepstakes. With a sweet opponent smashed up against the bathroom floor, Helm provides sinisterly quiet intent as Andrea readies a flame to brand her as Charlie’s latest conquest. It’s one of the truly chilling moments in a film that sometimes operates more from a sense of humor than true menace. (Slasher historians, meanwhile, should note that another one of Helm’s codependents in mayhem here is played by Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives’ saucy Darcy DeMoss.)

Tiffany 2Helm’s character Vickie in a 1988 episode of 21 Jump Street was the one to get rudimentary ink, though. As a drug addled teen, she, once again, applies a subtle gravitas in a rather heavily handled episode about suicide. Nicely, Helm does get some private screen time here with Johnny Depp. His slightly iconic Tom Hanson saves her ink stained, addicted character from mass destruction. This episode entitled Best Years of Your Life may be best remembered, though, for its inclusion of Brad Pitt as one of the guest stars portraying a member of Helm’s truly troubled academic clan.

Helm rounded out the decade by playing a slightly exasperated southern waitress named Mary on the Heartbreak Hotel episode of Freddy’s Nightmares. Yes, like Friday the 13th Part 7’s Lar Park Lincoln, Helm switched to team Nightmare here, allowing herself a lighter touch and a sense of comedic sweetness that the other mentioned roles didn’t always grant her. Abandoned and pregnant, poor Mary gives birth to an alien in one dream sequence and to an (unseen) devil baby in another segment. Obscure, perhaps, but just like Helm, the part was certainly a memorable one!

Be sure to keep up with all of Helm’s various activities at https://www.facebook.com/tiffanyhelmfanpage.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: David Soul and Lynne Marta

Published June 19, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

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Holy spooky friend outside your window! David Soul helped deliver the scares to generations with his leading role in the 1979 television version of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. Thankfully, Soul also knew that exactly what it took to calm a fright, as well – a big steaming pot of black bean soup!

This silly ditty, co-written by Soul, was featured as the B-Side of his hit single Don’t Give Up On Us Baby and was featured, prominently, on his successful self-titled solo album. Meanwhile, eagle eyed terror fiends will be pleased to note that beautiful television regular Lynne Marta is Soul’s duet partner here. Marta, Soul’s real life paramour at the time, starred in the rarely seen shocker Help Me…I’m Possessed. But, she is probably best known as pretty songbird Jo, whose would-be rapist is castrated by the strange creature haunting the sands in the 1981 drive-in classic Blood Beach.

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So, until it’s safe to go into the sound studio again…SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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In Appreciation of Theresa Saldana

Published June 10, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

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A film critic once, heartlessly, questioned why the resilient Theresa Saldana appeared in 1984’s violent The Evil That Men Do with Charles Bronson. Saldana, who was stabbed 10 times in a vicious 1982 stalking attack, went onto to thrive despite such pettiness and, besides acclaimed acting chores in such vehicles as The Commish, she was well respected for her activism, which included the founding of the Victims for Victims organization. Thus, her death on June 6th, 2016, at the age of 61, from (as yet) undisclosed causes, has hit the communities who loved and respected her especially hard. theresa and margaret

One of those groups has to be fans of television terror projects, as Saldana made memorable appearances on both the beloved anthology Tales from the Darkside and the short-lived Werewolf series, which chronicled the adventures of a young man who drifted from state to state, trying to find the evil man whose bite had turned him into a monster.

Nicely, as the sweet and sunny Audrey Webster on the Black Widows segment of TFTD, Saldana radiates with an easy joy. Her character’s brightness is soon deflated, though, when Webster discovers, on her wedding night, that she has a dangerous craving. Reducing her husband to a husk, Saldana, concisely, explores both her character’s despair and her unrelenting needs. Soon, a priest – no true loss there, huh? – finds himself caught in Audrey’s ever nefarious web – with evidence, at the fade out, that others are eventually going to follow in his shrieking, tangled footsteps.

theresa spiderFormidably contrasted by the brittle antics of former Hollywood superstar Margaret O’Brien, who lit up viewers’ hearts as the adorable Tootie in the classic Meet Me in Saint Louis, as her mother, Saldana, who was perhaps best known for her work opposite Joe Pesci in Raging Bull, ultimately uses this episode as a true showcase of her multiple talents.

Saldana doesn’t get to show as many colors as Rosa in the two part A World of Difference on Werewolf, but she does show plenty of compassion for Eric (John J. York), the show’s young lead, and even for his antagonist, the determined Alamo Joe Rogan (Lance LeGault). As Eric, fights his animalistic nature in a prison cell, Saldana’s Rosa tries to assure Rogan of the lad’s essential goodness. She even reiterates this to Rogan in his hospital bed, after Eric escapes. As the crusty hunter wonders if he has been bitten by Eric, and thus become a victim of the werewolf curse, Saldana quietly conveys Rosa’s belief in the good of all men. It is a fairly small, almost one dimensional part. But Saldana exhibits a ingratiating peacefulness here that makes her passing all the sadder.theresa werewolf

So, let us offer up a final thought to this kindhearted warrior and eternal goddess. Sleep well, Theresa.

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

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Shark Bait Retro Village: The Screaming Woman

Published April 29, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

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The leather lesbian nuns who raised me buried many a thing in that veiny backyard, behind our dungeon, as I grew up. But, I tell you every single one of those priests (and unrepentant Republican house speakers) truly deserved it!

The poor lady that Olivia de Havilland’s regal yet extremely frazzled Laura Wynant discovers submerged in the dirt in 1972’s The Screaming Woman definitely isn’t worthy of her fate, though. Left for dead by her cheating husband, this beleaguered lass has just hours to live and only the discredited Wynant can save her.SW1

As luck would (or wouldn’t) have it, the fragile Wynant has just recovered from a nervous breakdown and no one, including her loving son and a couple of kindly, longtime friends, believe her when she claims that she’s heard a woman moaning in the soil. A frantic race through the neighborhood uncovers only more derision and, in one of the telefilm’s tensest scenes, the arthritic Wynant even finds herself in the home of the very agitated wanna-be killer. Of course, Wynant’s venomous daughter-in-law Caroline, played with smooth iciness by Laraine Stephens, is pleased as punch about her mother-in-law’s apparent delusions as asylum doors slam and dollar signs dance, merrily, in her head.

SW2But Wynant, played with moxie and bravado by de Havilland, is nobody’s fool as Caroline and the killer, played with patriarchal sleaziness by genre stalwart Ed Nelson (Night of the Blood Beast, The Brain Eaters, A Bucket of Blood), soon discover. De Havilland’s anguished shriek (spoiler alert!) upon eventually rescuing the woman helped provide ‘70s television viewers with a potent shock and emphasizes the fact that this Oscar winning pro was an actress, through and through, no matter the circumstances or the part. In fact, The Screaming Woman’s prime pleasure is in watching de Havilland, passionately, submitting herself to the various indignities and insults that Wynant endures throughout this brisk exercise.

Interestingly, this effective Ray Bradbury tale was remade in 1986 with a 10 year old Drew Barrymore replacing de Havilland as the doubted party.

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

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Kassie DePaiva: Evil Dead II Favorite Scores Emmy Nomination!

Published April 8, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan
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DaPaiva delivered on a recent Castle episode, as well!

 

What could be better than a hurtling eyeball in the mouth? Well, probably not much. But Kassie DePaiva, whose spunky Bobby Joe in the seminal Evil Dead II suffered such a fate, has just been nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her work as the tragedy strewn Eve on Days of Our Lives. I imagine that honor has to rank pretty high up there, as well!

Indeed, DePaiva, whose other terror credits include 2013’s We Are What We Are, imbued all her storylines from her year and a half run on the show with an honest emotionality and sharp sense of the dramatic. Thus, this industry recognized honor is much deserved.

Nicely, the gorgeous True O’Brien, whom played Eve’s sensitive daughter Paige, was also nominated for her work, as well, in the Younger Actress category. Indeed, the fallout from the reveal of Eve’s affair with Paige’s boyfriend during the spring of 2015 was some of the best entertainment that the 50 year old soap had offered in awhile and kept ardent viewers glued to their television screens.

 

This year’s Daytime Emmy’s will occur on Sunday, May 1st. Here’s hoping that DePaiva and O’Brien take home the gold!

Be sure to check out http://www.kassiedepaiva.com and https://www.facebook.com/kassie.depaiva, as well.

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

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Sharkbait Retro Village: Satan’s Triangle

Published April 1, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

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1975 television terror film Satan’s Triangle proves that not only is the devil a lady…but s/he is just about anything else s/he wants to be, as well.

Receiving a distress signal, the Coast Guard sets out to rescue an adrift boat, which just happens to be floating in The Bermuda Triangle. Due to the awful weather, rescuer Haig (Doug McClure) is forced to spend the night on the boat with the vessel’s sole survivor, Eva (Kim Novak), who, as luck would have it, is a stunningly beautiful prostitute.

As Eva describes the mysterious deaths of her fellow passengers, Haig comes up with logical explanations for their demises. A grateful Eva beds him, but when Haig’s associate arrives the next morning to retrieve them, it soon seems that Eva is not quite what she appears to be. ST2

While the film’s double twist endings surely would have warped the minds of any young viewers watching back in the day, director Sutton Roley also supplies some nice, dreamlike visuals here. Nicely,  Novak uses her feline eyes and the huskier growls in her vocal register to create moments of truly odd creepiness, as well.

A solid squad of grizzled character actors, including Jim Davis, Michael Conrad and Ed Lauter, add to the atmosphere nicely and the bizarre concept of Lucifer being responsible for the many disappearances in this fabled area, ultimately, allows Satan’s Triangle to fit right in with the best of those odd 70s television excursions into terror.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: George Maharis

Published March 20, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan
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Maharis ‘sees the light’ in Rosemary’s Baby sequel.

 

Using his handsome swarthiness with toxic intent, Greek maverick George Maharis brought slick evilness to such 70s television terrors as The Victim, Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby, where he took over the role of Guy Woodhouse from John Cassavetes, and (Mystery Science Theater 3000 favorite) SST: Death Flight.

One of the first male celebrities to pose entirely nude for Playgirl, Maharis proved his resilience when a 1974 arrest for lewd conduct with another man didn’t totally stall his career. But, this should come as no surprise when you view this smooth, theatre trained performer, who released multiple albums during his prime, in this clip from an episode of Hullabaloo. Maharis was, obviously, way too groovy to let any scandal ever slow him down!

 

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

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George Maharis

George in repose.