As a kid, Big Gay Horror Fan used to try to adopt all the stray pets that wandered on to our yard in ‘farm America’. Partly, I recognized my lonely self in every burred cat’s murmuring and partly I loved seeing the pride in my parents’ eyes over having such a sensitive son. (Yep, even then I was putting on a show!)

Of course, over the years I have adopted and been adopted by many a loving freak – including several women many years my senior, resulting in some of the most meaningful friendships of my life. Thus, while not a horror film in any sense of the word, Nathan Adloff’s Nate and Margaret truly touched my heart and is surely resonant with terror fans, worldwide, whose relationships and interests are definitely tugging against any normal streams.

Telling the story of a vibrant gay college kid and his relationship with an awkward 50-something wanna-be comedian, Nate and Margaret proves how important friendship is and, just like everything in life, how indefinable it ultimately can be. Adloff, also, smartly shows the strains and resentments that can build up in any relationship and the scene wherein a frustrated Nate, whom has begun exploring life outside of the secluded world of his primary attachment, explodes at Margaret in a fury is, both, relatable and devastatingly painful to watch.

Harmonizing with Adloff’s simple and direct style, co-stars Tyler Ross and Natalie West deliver performances filled with heart and layered character work. West, best known from her run as Crystal on Roseanne, in particular, is a soft spoken revelation, here. She imbues Margaret with such angular hope and quiet hurt, that you can’t help but fall in love with her.

Nate and Margaret will be released on August 28th from Breaking Glass Pictures (www.breakingglasspictures.com).

Be a grand buddy and check out www.nateandmargaret.com and Big Gay Horror Fan is always longing to make your acquaintance at http://www.facebook.com/#!/BigGayHorrorFan, as well!

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

When Big Gay Horror Fan was enthralled by the toothy priests of hell, all he had was a hunchbacked, tobacco stained nun coming to his aide. But, when his character’s boyfriend was bedazzled on the ridiculously fun, gay themed horror show The Lair, handsome, solid actor David Moretti came running to the rescue, anguishing for his redemption. (So not fair!) The fun and frisky Moretti imbued The Lair with its reasonable heart, bringing an earnest sincerity to each episode. Parts in Murder.com, Finding Mr. Wright and the upcoming Scrooge and Marley have followed, allowing Moretti to show his true versatility. With humorously innate story telling grace, Moretti talks about his days on The Lair and his time spent in the low budget slasher trenches, in this exclusive Big Gay Horror Fan interview.

BGHF: So, David, who were your first performing inspirations – Bob Hope getting his flirt on with Brooke Shields on his annual Christmas specials – Little Richard preaching his exquisite madness to the masses – An eccentric tuba playing, Shakespeare quoting uncle – What?!?

DM: For drama it was Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. I mean being able to win an Oscar with less than 16 minutes of screen time is almost unfathomable. Truly amazing. As far as lighter fare, I was obsessed with Ed O’Neill in Married with Children. His comedic timing is pitch perfect every time. I think that’s where my super dry sense of humor comes from. Ironically, I wasn’t allowed to watch either Silence of The Lambs or Married With Children growing up. Perhaps that why I was initially drawn to both… hmmm.

BGHF: The forbidden is the most glorious food, my dude! Can you tell us a bit about making 2007’s Manje’ which sounds like an old school slasher film with a twist – or maybe two!??

DM: That film was interesting. I think there were 4 callbacks for my pivotal role as the dumb jock in the film LOL (compared to a single audition for The Lair). It was one of those low budget indie zombie flicks where a bunch of teens go to the woods and start getting picked off one by one. It was so low budget that our rookie makeup artist thought duct tape and human skin were a match made in heaven, and he convinced me to let him tape the rubber machete to my skin for my death scene. (I later learned there should be a cloth barrier.) Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty getting out of “costume” that night! But in the end it was definitely one of my most fun shoots ever. And I even had a sex scene with a girl. My one and only! Oh and I got my face ripped off. That made for some interesting MySpace pictures (at the time MySpace was bigger than Facebook!)

BGHF: We need to hunt those down! You got to work with David DeCoteau; one of the biggest exploitation directors of all time, on 2008’s Playing with Fire. What was that experience like?

DM: It was quick. He shoots his films anywhere between 4 and 8 days and I had such a small role I think I may have been on set for 3 hours… tops. We didn’t even get to talk aside from director-actor talk. But later we had dinner together and I learned he’s a pretty swell guy.

BGHF: Nice. Two of your co-stars from Murder.com, Alexandra Paul and David Chokachi, were former Baywatch regulars. Any wetly wonderful stories from working on that film?

DM: THAT film rocked. I got a free three week vacation to the Turks & Caicos Islands. I worked literally every other day… and David Chokachi had a similar schedule, so we spent a lot of time getting to know each other over many a Heineken at the ONE bar on the entire island of Grand Turk. Alexandra Paul is a total sweet heart and really took me under her wing acting-wise. I remember rehearsing in her hotel room because I really wanted to iron out the final scene. She was more than willing to oblige and gave me lots of great advice. I also learned on that shoot that Bart Johnson, Robyn Lively’s husband (both also stars of the film), and I shared the exact same unit in the exact same house north of Sunset Blvd at different times. He actually built the wall that turned the unit from a studio to a one bedroom – and quadrupled the price as well! Granted I lived there 10 years later… but still! Other than the actor bonding, it was a HOT shoot. We were all sweating through our wardrobe as you can see by copious amounts of boob sweat in the final edit. But we decided that gave a very “real” feel to the Florida living we were portraying. LOL.

BGHF: Breast moisture has made plenty a film! By the way, I always find it incredibly awesome that Fred Olen Ray (whom I love), best known for films with excessive (female) T and A, was one of the primary forces behind the very male obsessed The Lair. What was it like working with him?

DM: He’s such a cool guy! And yes you could tell it was his first time dealing with A&A as opposed to T&A ha-ha. Working with him was like working with your sarcastic uncle from the family Christmas party. Always in a good mood, never had a meltdown, but was the first to tell you something sucked if he didn’t like it. Of course he never said that to meeeeee… but uh… I heard him say it to others… He also kind of Godfathered me into the business as The Lair was my first major credit. So he really took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. Awesome learning experience. My hat’s tipped to him for sure.

BGHF: Vampires, werewolves, evil plants (Yes!!!) – The Lair had some amazing plotlines. Do you have a particular favorite – and what was your most interesting moment on the set for that series? (Don’t you just love those questions that give you a two-for-one?)

DM: I’d say the most vivid memory was definitely the flashback scene to the colonial era with Peter Stickles. We basically looked like George Washington and John Adams in drag. I was also compared to Prince. We had to do this scene where I was painting a portrait of Peter and he kept giving me these “come hither” eyes and I just lost it. I could not stop laughing that entire day. I’m sure production was pissed at the delays I caused, but I’m sorry, it was truly hilarious. (I think that answer covers both parts of the question LOL)

BGHF: Miracles! It truly did, my friend! You worked with the amazing Rebekah Kochan (When A Killer Calls, Freakshow, Halloween Night) on 2011’s Finding Mr. Wright. Did you two bond with stories of low budget, exploitation madness?

DM: Ha! Yes, we did in fact. She’s one of my favorite people ever and she really kept me sane on that set. I mean we were filming and sleeping ON set! I was literally in a bunk bed with a costar. We had shots of Jack Daniels at night and talked shop and joked around. We both have done quite our fair share of indy fare so we had plenty or war stories to compare. She’s also a stand of comic, so that along with the liquor really kept spirits high on that set. So much fun.

BGHF: That sounds awesome! I’ve always loved how Charles Dickens throws those ghosts around – even in a holiday tale. Can you tell us a bit about your involvement in the fun, modern re-telling of A Christmas Story – Scrooge and Marley?

DM: I play Bob Cratchit in this one. He was originally written for an older dad but I heard about the film during pre production and personally wrote the production asking to be a part of it. There was not a role available for my age range but they said if I wanted to put my interpretation of a younger Cratchit on video, they would consider it. I made a little scene with Brian Nolan, Frankie from The Lair, they loved it and the rest is history! We shot Scrooge and Marley in Chicago, which quickly became my favorite city in the states. I had so much fun exploring and shooting around town. I think we created a really special movie with an amazing cast. I mean Marla Hooch from A League of Their Own is in it (Megan Cavanagh!), Bruce Vilanch, Tim Kazurinski from SNL… amaaaaazing talent. Our hope is that this will be watched for many years to come by gays and straights alike. Look for it this Christmas!

BGHF: Will do! Lastly, any words of advice (IE: Never try on Sybil Danning’s bullet proof bra – especially when she’s looking) or future projects that you’d like to tell us about? And thanks – this has been better than trying to save a vamp enthralled boyfriend any day of the week!

DM: Hmmm this is a toughie. I guess I’d have to say never mess with Brian Nolan’s hair. He’s very particular about it and even though he plays a ghost in The Lair, his punches are anything but invisible. He beat me daily. I cried. He laughed. Truly sinister that man. I kid, but he’s one of my best friends. But his hair is very… dear to him. Let’s just leave it at that. Also, for the record, shirtless scenes require working out twice a day and not eating anything except animals and green plants for a month before the scene. I remember literally diving into a box of cookies the last day of filming. It was heavenly!

BGHF: Just like this interview! Thanks, again, my man!

Be sure to keep up to date with David at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/David-Moretti/74323814048 and www.davidmorettionline.com.

BGHF is, also, always in need of more company (whore!!) at http://www.facebook.com/#!/BigGayHorrorFan, as well!

And — until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE!!!

As Big Gay Horror Fan lounges on his Scooby Doo bean bag with a pink tutu wrapped around his neck in his basement rec room in his third floor studio apartment in the heart of Chicago and contemplates his treasures – the friendship of Kreepylady Kristin is one of the things that he ultimately holds most dear. The amazing Kreepylady has been one of the primary forces behind the Midwest horror community in recent years and our fey, terror loving cad was thrilled that that this brisk dish took a moment from her freakishly awesome schedule for a chat. So, fasten your skull stained belts, because here we go!

BGHF: What first got you immersed in the bloody brilliant world of horror – an Uncle with an axe fetish – a female gym teacher who sounded exactly like Freddy Krueger – What!!??!!

KK: I really don’t have a short answer for that. It’s hard to pinpoint any moment that changed my way of life. For me, it was a natural progression over time, starting with trick-or-treating as a kid. I loved haunted houses, but they scared the hell out of me. It all seemed perfectly real. People really were grabbing me, pulling my hair, and I even got caught on a nail while in a dark crawlspace once. My dad volunteered at one for the Jaycees. His makeup petrified me. He also forbid me from watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre with him, and the sound of the saw revving drove me nuts. WHAT WAS I MISSING?!? As a teenager, an age when it wasn’t cool to go trick-or-treating anymore, I started having slumber parties. The girls were irritated that I always rented six horror movies and forced them to stay up watching them. ROTLD was mandatory. When I got into ceramics, it was only enjoyable to make weird or creepy things. Screw pots. I got into sculpting, and a major influence on the results was Skinny Puppy’s “Too Dark Park” album. It’s fitting, as they used to sample the hell out of horror movies. It’s so fun to watch something and catch the sample. Everything I cared about came together to form my love for horror.

BGHF: That’s awesome! Do you have a favorite style or genre of horror and what are some of your favorite flicks?

KK: I’m not particularly biased towards any subgenre, but the ones that give me the most glee are body horror films. From Henenlotter to Gordon to Cronenberg. I enjoy art house horror a lot, too. I’m all about great visuals and eccentric plots. The weirder, the better. My favorite zombie film is Fulci’s ZOMBIE. I have a soft spot for ’80s horror. Oh, and I could watch Peter Jackson’s DEAD ALIVE every single day and not get sick of it. ALICE, SWEET ALICE, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, NIGHTBREED, ROTLD, MANIAC, THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, various forms of exploitation-horror, all the Universal Monsters classics… The list goes on forever.

BGHF: Terrific mentions! What led you to begin Chicago Creepster and what is the status of that event site as of today?

KK: When I first moved to Chicago 15 years ago, there weren’t any horror groups organizing event outings like there are now. I wanted more of a community feeling, but didn’t know what to do about it. Years later, someone gave me great advice. He said that if you’re unhappy with the way things are in your community, change it. It doesn’t hurt to try. So, I created the Yahoo! group – there wasn’t one for horror in Chicago – and it seems pretty handy to have local event news going directly to your email. It helps anyone that’s too busy to scour numerous websites/papers for information. It’s work. Posts focus on festivals, dark art shows, free movie screenings, macabre plays, etc. We used to have movie meet ups, but I think the invention of Facebook (Events Pages) pretty much killed that. It’s also become the official group for http://darkchicago.com/. I started Creepster back in 2006, so we’re edging in on the sixth year now! : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagocreepster/

BGHF: You’ve, also, recently begun a column called Chicago Creepout. Can you tell us a little about that?

KK: The Chicago Creepout is another endeavor that I decided to try and see how it pans out. If people read your stuff – great. If they don’t, well at least you’re getting practice and entertaining yourself. It’s kind of an offshoot of the Creepster group, but in more detail and it hits a much wider audience as it’s a blog on ChicagoNow.com. I plan to add interviews with members of the local horror community, especially those I’ve personally seen bust their ass to make things as great as they are. Having a very active horror community makes it harder to get people to commit to events because they just figure they’ll catch the next one. Understandable. However, when there are hardly any takers for the smaller, free events, it becomes a head-scratcher. I realized there are all kinds of people who enjoy horror movies; they just aren’t necessarily diehard like us. More than likely, they aren’t hitting the horror-specific websites out there. I’d just like to entice more people around the city to come to the events, and realize what they’ve been missing. 😉 http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-creepout

BGHF: Perfect! Finally, what upcoming events, films, what-have-you are you most excited about in the horror world at the moment?

KK: I’m pretty excited for Flashback Weekend Horror Con this weekend, Terror in the Aisles in September, as well as HorrorHound Weekend. It would be nice to finally meet Elvira. As for movies, I’m curious about LORDS OF SALEM. It’s the last film Richard Lynch did before he passed away. I’m also very excited for FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY, whenever the heck that shall be unleashed upon our retinas!

BGHF: Awesome! Thanks so much, KreepyLady! Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE! And be sure to check Big Gay Horror Fan out at http://www.facebook.com/#!/BigGayHorrorFan, too!

As Big Gay Horror pedals aggressively throughout the streets of the Naked City on his death machine (IE: refurbished white 10 speed, circa 1980 Kmart), he often finds himself outwitting sure destruction in the bike lane –most often in the form of the seemingly blind, maniacally swinging car door. He does this with the constant knowledge that others, in similar circumstances, have not always been so lucky.

For example: With her intense eyes and stiletto cheekbones, late 70’s Euro-Goddess Sherry Buchanan is an easily recognizable presence in foreign cult cinema. But, despite her characters’ inherent scrappiness, Buchanan almost always found herself at the receiving end of very nasty deaths in multiple genre films. Yes, just like the noir vixen, Buchanan’s presence was firmly felt, but she rarely ever survived.

As Delia Boccardo’s flirty sister in 1977’s star studded (Henry Fonda, John Huston, Shelley Winters, Bo Hopkins, Claude Akins) Italian Jaws variation Tentacles, Buchanan quickly finds herself becoming shrieking, hungry, giant octopus bait.

Later that same year, as the actress girlfriend of a dealing addict in Enzo G. Castellari’s speedy cop drama The Heroin Busters, she ends up on the wrong end of a drug overdose.

Her most atrocious demises were yet to come, though. In 1978’s Last House on the Beach (a nunsploitation meets Last House on the Left variation); her virginal college maiden takes decisive action, in several scenarios, against the murderous invasion of a trio of bank robbing thugs. Since this makes her the most memorable of the five captured schoolmates, her final bow is also the most grotesque. After fending off numerous attacks, she ultimately meets her end via rape by wooden pole. (Don’t try that at home, kids! Ouch!)

Meanwhile, in 1980’s Zombie Holocaust (AKA Dr. Butcher, MD), her industrious and determined reporter meets her maker at the hands of a mad scientist. Strapped to a gurney, Buchanan’s Susan Kelly is scalped and with vocal cords, snipped, quickly becomes a straining victim of blood infused, skull whacking brain surgery. Now, those are career goals, momma!

Perhaps tiring of vehement disposal, Buchanan’s cinematic reign was brief (1974- 1987 — with often great gaps between projects), but her flinty talent and unique beauty (along with those stomach clutching ends) make her run unusually memorable.

Here’s a groovy clip n soundtrack mash-up video for the juicily ridiculous Tentacles with some nice Buchanan footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9G3aL_oLCs&feature=fvwrel
—————————————————————————————————————Be sure to check back every Monday when Big Gay Horror Fan exposes another succulent tart of terror!

Follow BGHF on Facebook, as well, at http://www.facebook.com/#!/BigGayHorrorFan

And until next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE!!!

“The once flat and toned stomach was now a swollen patchwork of oozing burns and ragged gouges…A woman this fine, you had to romance a little.” – Mike Lombardo, Appetites.