There aren’t many people that Big Gay Horror Fan will risk losing his (almost) beauty sleep over, but the cool folks at 1901 Gallery Theatre in Chicago are so sweetly awesome that I am facing the terrifying prospect of losing quality z’s for their blood chilling Sleepover Cinema “The Wicked Winter Edition, taking place this Saturday, beginning at 8pm and going on until the wee, wee wicked hours.

In fact, I have been honored to be asked to co-host and will be presenting two retro terror flicks with some queer style content.

There can’t be anything stranger than truck driving mush mouthed Joe Dallesandro frolicking across bleak European landscapes in Paul Morrissey’s outrageous Blood for Dracula. There isn’t anything quite as beautiful, either, and Dallesandro definitely gives all the women and inclined gents plenty to look at in this bizarre and slippery feature.

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Frank Hennenlotter’s Brain Damage not only stars handsome (soon to be soap stud) Rick Hearst (Herbst) but also features a scene in a transient hotel with specific gay overtones. As Hearst spirals quickly downward, due to the brain sucking mechanisms of a creature named Elmer, he encounters a naked muscle man showering in the communal area of the desolate hotel he is hiding out in. The bicep ridden stud tells a nervous Hearst that he has nothing fear from him, obviously referencing that the area is a cruising ground for men – and, eventually, for  lovers of terror, as well.

So, here’s hoping that we can share these moments and more together this weekend – and if not then – soon!

And, as always, Sweet love and pink Grue – Big Gay Horror Fan

Big Gay Horror Fan has long thought his life truly began once he threw down his pom-poms and left all those brainless football players behind. That hard won victory is, also, shared by singer-actress-acclaimed choreographer Toni Basil. After the astounding success of the 1983 song and MTV video “Mickey”, in which Basil cavorted about like the world’s most buoyantly skilled cheerleader, our multi-hyphened sonic adventurer brought her flamboyant presence to two fairly obscure terror flicks, 1988’s Slaughterhouse Rock and 1990’s Rockula. Basil, who had previously played roles in such classics as Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, was not offered challenging roles in either of these pieces, but her vivaciousness stands front and center in both.

1988’s Slaughterhouse Rock is a low budget horror effort with a charmingly ridiculous premise ultimately marred by its visual blandness (even Playboy model Hope Marie Carlton who brightened up such projects as A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Warriors, Slumber Party Massacre 3 and Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College comes off as innocuously drab here) .

A handful of friends take off for the abandoned Alcatraz prison (where the flick was actually filmed) because of one of the group’s supernaturally enhanced nightmares. Easily accessing the hard boiled compound (the one guard is later found dead), the friends are soon separated from their beleaguered leader who finds himself face to face with Basil’s undead pop star, Sammy Mitchell. Mitchell, of course, is the person responsible for his ghost flecked nighttime anxiety and ultimately leaves him with a special musical present in the film’s cute denouement. (Although, Basil, herself, doesn’t sing until the film’s closing credits.)

Slaughterhouse Rock does feature music from Devo, one awesome head smashing murder and some handsome jock types (who all went on to some success in such prime time events as The Young Riders), but it is truly Basil’s show, as she fills all her scenes with quirky energy and flippant sass.

Basil brings those same qualities to Rockula, a film that definitely has more cult pleasure to offer than Slaughterhouse. Here Basil plays the eternally young, glamorously flamboyant mother of meek musician vampire Ralph, Summer School’s Dean Cameron. Doomed to watch his true love die every one hundred years, Ralph finally decides to step up to ‘bat’ and save her this go round. To win his songstress love away from her demented mentor, Ralph decides to become an instant pop music sensation, with the help of cult icon Susan Tyrell and legendary musician Bo Diddley, known as – you guessed it – Rockula.

Cameron eventually faces down a zealously demented Thomas Dolby (who apparently survived when the aliens ate his Buick) in a scene revolving around a cryogenic casket. Director Luca Bercovici (Ghoulies, Parasite, Convict 762) gives the film the gloss of the music video and seems to revel in the film’s rampant ridiculousness while Basil gets a vampy production number “The Night” which she performs in front of an uncomfortable Cameron and his baffled lady love, played by the luscious Tawny Fere – whom, like so many of our beloved genre babes, had a number of cult credits (Angel III: The Final Chapter, Under the Boardwalk, Convict 762) before quietly fading away.

Basil, though, is still at it – choreographing, advising and gloriously networking at www.tonibasil.net.

Until the next time – Sweet love and pink Grue, Big Gay Horror Fan

(This interview with the superior Caroline Williams originally ran on the original Big Gay Horror Fan blog in November 2010. Since we are a week into February 2012’s rollickingly spectacular Women in Horror Month, I thought now was the perfect time to re-run this bouncingly informative interview with one of frightdom’s most powerful heroines! Enjoy!)

Spending time with actress Caroline Williams is like basking in healing sunshine. Down-to-earth with a salt-tinged humor, Williams has never looked better and her life’s lessons have left her percolating with vocabulary and wit. Primarily known to the horror community as Stretch in the uber-chewy Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and as a well-regarded Terror Sequel Queen (with delicious work in films like Leprechaun 3, The Stepfather 2 and Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2), Williams career arc is, both, long stretching and extremely eclectic. Emphasizing this point, Williams recently took some time to talk with Big Gay Horror Fan about some of her detailed work in varied films such as Louis Malle’s violence accelerated racial examination, Alamo Bay, the fast paced action-adventure Getting Even (which is graced with some nice science fiction-horror ascetics) and the big budget Tom Cruise spectacle Days of Thunder. And while Getting Even’s Joe Don Baker would have obliterated Dallas due to Williams’ explosively chunky demise, after reading this exhilarating interview,you will know why BGHF would take on the whole world for a single harmed hair on Williams’ ever lovely head.

BGHF: So, Caroline, what primary word would you use to describe working on Alamo Bay with Louis Malle (the director best known for Au Revoir Les Enfants, but also the force behind Black Moon, ‘the apocalyptic Alice in Wonderland’ starring Joe Dallesandro)?

CW: Terrified. It was my first theatrical role. I was so young in my career and Louis Malle was a god to me.

BGHF: And that was the film that Ed Harris and Amy Madigan met on, correct?

CW: They had met previously and were already married. Alamo Bay was their honeymoon.

BGHF: A rather intense honeymoon, but so cool!

CW: I was just hopelessly intimidated. I was still a party girl – a singer. I had been following Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings around. I sat in with the bands. Texas belonged to the youth in the 70’s. It was excitable, combustible. I knew there was a direction there for me and I embraced it. I only had 6 months of acting classes behind me, though. I was still an amateur. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself. Louis Malle liked non-actors, though. He hired me for my rawness. He was enormously spiritual and so patient. When he smoked up the set he used frankincense and myrrh. He wanted the scent to permeate the set.

BGHF: And you’re so good in the film!

CW: Louis Malle talked me through it. He catapulted me into a different actor. I didn’t know that measure of growth would happen to me.

BGHF: And this led you to other films such as the truly fun Getting Even starring legendary Joe Don Baker and the sumptuous Audrey Landers (of Dallas and such modern noir epics as Deadly Twins).

CW: Oh, I had to ride a horse in that – and horses despise me! But, that was Dwight Little and I did both that and The Legend of Billie Jean around the same time and they were both smashing experiences! I got to wear this stunning party dress for one scene. It was my first glamour scene and I had a zit! All I could think about was that zit! I was mortified.

BGHF: Well, fashion is murder! Do you have any other memories of that set?

CW: Joe Don Baker’s character spied on me while I was in the bathroom and I had to step out of the shower and let my ass show! I never thought I would go naked so early in my career!

BGHF: Well, you looked gorgeous! (And now Amazon.com is going to be flooded with VHS requests, based on that info alone!) – So, you were still based in Texas, then?

CW: Yes, I was still based in Texas. Getting Even was shot in Dallas. In fact the original name was Operation: Dallas. I’m so glad they changed it, right?! –

BGHF: Definitely!

CW: And Jimmy White, the fabulous make-up artist, was one of the reasons why I moved to LA. We were in the house we shot at and Jimmy was covering me in body make-up. I’m stark naked – and Audrey Landers is helping him make up my body! She was putting foundation on my body and was so admiringly supportive. She was touching my ass and saying, so sweetly, you have such a beautiful ass! It was all so innocent – that noncompetitive female admiration. That togetherness and that cohesiveness is what I love about film and another reason why I moved out West. I haven’t found it on every project I work on, but it’s what I search for. Joe Don Baker was so nice to me. He took me aside and said, “You should be LA. But I hate to tell you that. They’ll ruin you!”

BGHF: Well, you definitely keep your own special essence and raw originality with every performance, though.

CW: Well, thank you! I try. Joe Don is my neighbor now. He lives around the corner from me. I haven’t seen him yet, but we share the same lawn person. He says, “Joe Don knows you.”

BGHF: And moving led you to such opuses as Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Days of Thunder!

CW: Days of Thunder kept me on the payroll for 11 weeks! Don Simpson was the last of the show off’s, those big time mogul filmmakers. He wanted to put the money on the screen. Every car was specifically built for the racetrack. Nothing was mocked up or cheated. I told the costume designer, I have my own underwear. She said, “No, Don insists. You are the wife of a race car driver. You wear only the best.”

BGHF: Method acting at its most intricate!

CW: Yes! – And Don loved to have parties. At one event, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson were the band! But, he was also caring, kind, incredibly generous. He was a hearty partygoer and, unfortunately, with his early death, I think that’s primarily what people recall about him – that reckless nature. But he was so much more!

BGHF: That’s nice to hear.

CW: (Director) Tony Scott was also amazing. He has an inner momentum that you can’t resist! I like being directed and to have my performances predicated by others’ inspiration! I go to a comfort zone and I like to be challenged – even if it’s by a question from the costume designer or make-up artist, I love it! And that’s what I got from Tony!

BGHF: Now, you may have lost a round with Terry O’Quinn in Stepfather 2, but you did gain photographic composure with a stint on the glossy television soap, Models Inc.

CW: Oh, my God – is that on my IMDB?

BGHF: Yep.

CW: Well, first of all, it was a soap coming out of the 80’s, so it was all about designer clothes and shoulder pads. Secondly, we filmed in this wonderful old house. Emma Samms (General Hospital, Dynasty, Humaniods of the Deep remake) was just gorgeous and was already segueing into her next career, so we talked a lot about decorating. She was finding these ancient doors in England and shaping them into these beautiful headboards. They were just amazing.

BGHF: Cool. In her Tales of the Crypt episode she plays an antique dealer, as well.

CW: Then they completely re-wrote the scene and I was freaked out! I do a lot of prep and always learn those lines! So, I didn’t know what to do. But, I let it go – and the magic descended. It just flowed. It was then that I realized I was a quick study.

BGHF: That’s an awesome story. And from art house films to horror shenanigans to prime time episodics, you have had such an eclectic career, as well.

CW: Well, thank you so much. I like to think so.

BGHF: Considering that then, out of all you’ve done, has there been a specific project or career moment that has truly stood out for you?

CW: Well, I don’t know if it is a moment or specific project, but, you know, it’s almost like the 70’s again. There is this creative impulse going throughout film today and only technology could release it. Now truly creative filmmakers can afford to make their projects. It’s just an extraordinary period of filmmaking.

BGHF: Is there anyone particularly inspiring you?

CW: Alan Rowe Kelly, Anthony Sumner, Bart Mastronardi.

BGHF: They’re all amazing – and Bart’s Vindication (with Clive Barker’s gracious endorsement) and Alan’s A Far Cry From Home truly speak to the queer community, as well.

CW: Yes. But beyond that, Vindication spoke to me. It spoke to me as a mother. It spoke to me about family. Family chosen. Family given. It truly exceeded everything that it could have been!

BGHF: True. And Alan and Bart have really created a community for themselves on the East Coast.

CW: Yes, I feel a sense of envy of them. They work together all the time. They have such a rich company of players. They have a need to work.

BGHF: You’ll be working with them on the upcoming re-imagining of Don’t Look in the Basement, as well, correct?

CW: Yes. I knew I wanted to work with them. They just amaze me. What Alan Rowe Kelly did, as an actor and director, with A Far Cry From Home in 40 minutes is just amazing! He took off his shoes, literally and figuratively!! I was like – You took off your shoes!! – Like I said, it’s just an extraordinary time for filmmaking.

BGHF: And your enthusiasm for it is contagious, as well!

CW: Well, it’s like that Chuck Workman film Precious Images. Have you seen it?

BGHF: No.

CW: Well, you should find it out online, because this era of film is definitely a Chuck Workman moment!

BGHF: I will! Thanks so much, Caroline.

Check out the filmmakers and films, our favorite maverick Caroline mentioned at:
www.alanrowekelly.net
www.rsquaredfilms.com (Bart Mastronardi – Vindication)
www.slicesoflifemovie.com (Anthony Sumner)

All hail, amazing Tara Cardinal. Empress of the gritty jailhouse!

Whenever Big Gay Horror Fan sits down in front of a video camera and begins a monologue, it is pure vanity (or justification for still owing $6000 in loans for a degree in theater. Take your pick.). But the same actions by the prime character in Skip Shea’s smart horror short Microcinema, prove to be pure evil. Sporting a white mask and poetically reveling in a plan to cause harm to a young woman, this psycho is calmly rational, quivering with menace – and may, unknowingly, be in for quite a surprise.

Rightly hailed by many in the horror press as one of 2011’s most unique pieces, Microcinema is tightly directed, well acted and gleefully turns the predominance of misogynistic torture porn on its nipple hacked head.

'Ps-s-s-t! Watch this thing. You'll see a lot more of me than you think!" (Wink.)

You can watch this exciting bit of terror for a mere 99 cents at:

www.watchmicrocinema.com

Meanwhile, Blood Sisters continue to do it for themselves! Or, at the very least, they gruesomely band together to help produce some metaphysically grim horror with Wraith of Crows. This haunted prison flick features three of low budget terror’s brightest lights, Tara Cardinal, Debbie Rochon and Tiffany Shepis, and is sure to give Roger Corman’s 1970’s Philippines’ epics a torn t-shirt run for their money.

So, this is where horror queens retire to. Nice!

To see if I am exaggerating or not, check out the trailer at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufNhpxFg-nU

Lastly, proving that the real horrors are the ones that occur in everyday life, the kind folks at Scares That Care are producing terror based products to help raise money for a variety of worthy causes. Check them out at:

www.scaresthatcare.org

And until the next time – Sweet love and pink Grue, Big Gay Horror Fan

Possessed Marlena (Days of Our Lives' proudest moment!)

A paper route and McDonalds. Those were Big Gay Horror Fan’s first real jobs. Lucky others such as David Mason Daniels (Capital, One Dark Night), Karrie Emerson (Edge of Night, Young and the Restless, Evils of the Night, Chopping Mall), Kelli Maroney (Ryan’s Hope, Night of the Comet, Chopping Mall), Tracy Bregman (Days of Our Lives, Young and the Restless, Happy Birthday to Me), Brian Matthews (Young and the Restless, Santa Barbara, The Burning) Eileen Davidson (Young and the Restless, The House on Sorority Row) and Deanna Robbins (Young and the Restless, Final Exam) to name just a few, began their careers with first jobs on soap operas and horror films. (Hate them!) This is one of the reasons that daytime dramas and terror flicks are always so closely linked in my mind. Although, the frequent afternoon tales of ghostly apparitions, underworld cities, freezing death rays, clones, evil twins and peeping tom like psychos might have something to do with it, as well. In fact, in the late 90’s, (long gone sudser) Sunset Beach even featured a slasher film plot line where all their young leads wound up on a deserted island stalked by a wild killer. One of the valued victims in that bloody scenario was perennial nice guy Mark, played by major yummy Nick Stabile, who went on to star in Bride of Chucky.

Yes, my friend! We all want to see your 'Chucky'!

Of course, now that the mid-afternoon suds have been reduced to four (with beloved, long running shows such as Guiding Light, As the World Turns, All My Children and One Life to Live all being cancelled in the last few years), executives are trimming down on the more outlandish plotlines and concentrating, more and more, on legacy characters and family conflicts. But, I still find it odd that (NBC’s lone soap) Days of Our Lives (which gained tons of publicity in the mid-90’s due to a major demon possession plotline) doesn’t at least have a friendly practicing witch or a premonition plagued heroine or even a local psychic to help their lovely teens through a romantic crisis or two. This is a show that takes place in a town called Salem, after all, folks.

Granted, prior to the fall 2011 changes (when the show went through a major overhaul) Days had sunken a bit into the muck with tales of forced prostitution (which was pretty much a nasty rape scenario), evil doppelgangers created by megalomaniac madmen (another instance of perverted rape as the anti-heroine paired with this character had no idea she was sleeping with someone else), sexually threatened female teenagers, drug addiction and unconvincingly all powerful villainesses. Bringing back fan favorites has helped the structure of the show (with the exception being a recent episode featuring two of the main female characters distraught over having had drunken, coerced sex and the reintroduction of a manipulative pimp as a new age health guru– aren’t these shows written for women’s entertainment, folks?!), although I must admit I kind of miss the days when a blonde fan favorite’s (Melissa Reeves, Summer Camp Nightmare) heart can be ripped out of her chest (by prime soap villainess Robin Mattson, also known for such drive-in classics as Bonnie’s Kids, Candy Stripe Nurses and Wolf Lake, nonetheless) and then be immediately and successfully replaced by an often shirtless doctor (Shawn Christian, Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, Birds of Prey) and his young daughter (Molly Burnett, who made a guest appearance on the second season of True Blood).

Freddie Smith's Sonny. Patiently waiting for Will to figure it out!

But, while I may long for the time when two major characters were, spookily, held captive in a crypt, the show is getting its gay angle right with a young college stud named Sonny (Freddie Smith) and the eventual coming out of his cohort and show mainstay, Will (Chandler Massey). Sonny is a confident world traveled athlete who fearlessly dove into the fray when his friends were kidnapped by two gun toting maniacs in a (truly quick and absolutely ridiculous) campus gambling story arc. Meanwhile, the show’s writers and producers have been playing Will’s slow coming out story for almost a year now. This is the way stories used to be strung out in the 70’s and 80’s and makes for emotionally gripping, exciting drama as Will is dumped by a girlfriend for sexual inattentiveness and is now, painfully and mischievously finding his path.

And if all else fails, I can sit back and recall the numerous genre credits of it’s perfectly pretty cast during the moments the serial tries to redeem its most significant feminine offender by having him mention that he is now in therapy. (Aw-w-w!) So, in no particular order:

Christie Clark (Carrie Brady) – Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Children of the Corn 2

"And - here's another stigmata I want to show you!"

Patrick Muldoon (Austin) – Starship Troopers, Ice Spiders, Stigmata and more low budget science fiction-horror-thriller hybrids than I’ve had sexual partners – and that’s a good thing!

"Renee, is that you?!!?" - Terror Within 2

Renee Jones (Lexie) – Friday the 13th, Part 6: Jason Lives, Deadly Lessons, The Terror Within 2
Arianne Zuker (Nicole) – The Last Resort
Joseph Mascolo (Stefano) – Jaws 2
Allison Sweeney (Sami Brady) – 2 episodes of Tales From the Darkside
Peggy McCay (Caroline) – The Irish Vampire Goes West, Amityville: The Evil Escapes

In other geek highlights, the show’s mainstay (pictured, top, with the glowing devil eyes) Diedre Hall (Marlena Evans) played Electra Woman on the epic 70’s Saturday morning delight, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, and smooth and handsome crooner Eric Martsolf (Brady) recently enacted egomaniacal hero Booster Gold on the final season of Smallville. Save me (from myself), Martsolf!

The only Booster shot I'll ever need!

Meanwhile, one of mini-genre legend Catherine Mary Stewart’s (Night of the Comet, Nightflyers, and Psychic) first major roles was playing compassionate nurse Kayla Brady on Days. She, graciously, allowed me to interview her at a Horror Hound convention in March of 2010. In an unusual turn of events (yeah, right!), the paper I interviewed her for folded and I re-worked the piece for the Indianapolis Examiner website. Since, I am pretty certain no one saw it (except for those I was holding captive at the time); I am including it here as a pink and chewy postscript. Don’t you just love a beautiful, gun wielding babe?!

Nothing more need be said!

Reaching Maximum Cool in Indianapolis with Last Starfighter’s Catherine Mary Stewart

“A lot of young women have come up and told me that I instilled a sense of power in them. I love that! I can’t tell you how much I love that,” enthused the ever beautiful Catherine Mary Stewart, the actress behind some very strong and powerful characters in motion pictures such as The Last Starfighter, Night of the Comet, Dudes and Weekend at Bernie’s, during a recent convention appearance at the Marriott Indianapolis East. “One young fan told me I saw you in The Last Starfighter and I thought you were cool. Then I saw you in Night of the Comet and I knew you were cool!” And just how did that maximum cool become an established ingredient? “Night of the Comet established me as a strong woman. And let’s face it, this business is very surface and one dimensional – so it’s easy to get typecast.”

“The Last Starfighter was my first movie in State,” the Canadian bred Stewart continues, “and the whole experience was pleasant and joyous. It established me in L.A. I was doing “Days of Our Lives” at the same time, but I have great memories of the whole process. It was a trickle down thing with (director) Nick (Castle) being so calm at the helm. Lance Guest was just a consummate professional. He was a trained theater actor and was very interested in developing the characters together. It was a valuable lesson and we became really good friends.”

“I love Westerns, though, so that would kind of be my ultimate role and I got to portray that in Dudes. I loved director Penelope Spheeris. She was one cool chick. She was very pale and walked around using a parasol. She wasn’t abrasive, but she knew what she wanted. I got to ride a horse, but during one scene it was supposed to turn right, but it didn’t. I wound up flying into this car and I broke my arm. I remember going back to the trailer to change and putting some weight on my arm and it just blew up!”

Luckily, Stewart was almost completed filming on the project, and with follow-up roles in Weekend at Bernie’s, Nightflyers and other fan favorite projects, the only thing that truly exploded was her fan embracing career. Now, after a break to concentrate on motherhood, Stewart is back, full swing in the entertainment circle, and she, as well as her devoted fans, couldn’t be happier.

“I love acting and ultimately all my characters are very different and each character I love in a different way,” this proud mother and consummate professional states in closing, a true testament to why she has endured in moviegoers’ particular hearts for all these years.

( To keep abreast with the talented Catherine Mary Stewart, visit her energetic website, www.catherinemarystewart.net.)

And a link to the continuation of the interview at the astounding Horror Society website: http://www.horrorsociety.com/2010/07/16/catherine-mary-stewart/

Until next time, Sweet love and pink Grue, Big Gay Horror Fan

Big Gay Horror Fan’s lone summer camp experience involved stolen candy money, a rampaging pony and a cabin mate who wanted to push our beds together at night. (Why I didn’t take him up on that I’ll never know!) As the volatile Ricky in the cult classic Sleepaway Camp, Jonathan Tiersten’s experience was a lot – well, bloodier. Tiersten, though, has survived that deadly familial onslaught to forge a successfully vibrant career as an independent musician and has recently returned to the acting scene with a vengeance. Thoughtful, passionate and committed to his art, Tiersten recently took a few moments to answer some questions about music, life, film (including bone chilling projects like The Perfect House and The Drive-in Massacre), life – and well, life!

BGHF: So, Jonathan, who were your first artistic inspirations as a child – Bill Bixby morphing into Lou Ferrigno and getting his green on – A favorite ukulele strumming uncle who used to regal you with folk tales – David Bowie waxing alien philosophies on the Late Night Show – other (real ones)?

JT: There were two inspirations that immediately come to mind with regard to music. The first was my Aunt Irene Corman (The late mother of my cousin (actress) Maddie Corman). We would go to their summer house in a town called Shady in upstate New York. It is just outside of Woodstock. They would have these huge family gatherings and afterwards we would stay at the house. We would sit around the campfire and Irene would play songs on her guitar. Those were magical times. I saw the effect that music could have. Even if my parents weren’t getting along (which was often) the music made everyone happy and loving. That was true power, the power to make people get outside of their own petty differences.

The second inspiration was (believe it or not) a Sleepaway Camp counselor I had when I was 7 or 8 years old. Looking back on it, I am not sure he was a very nice guy or even cared about kids that much, but every night before we went to sleep he would play Cat Steven’s Moonshadow. It was so beautiful. I knew I had to learn how to do that. I don’t remember his name or if he became famous or anything, but that memory is burned into my consciousness. I could not imagine life without having what he possessed.

BGHF: Morning has broken, my man! Sleepaway Camp has had a deserved following for years. What is the most indelible memory that you have taken from the whole Sleepaway Camp experience?

JT: The most indelible memory I have from Sleepaway Camp? I honestly can say that is one that keeps changing. It is a constant living thing. Sleepaway Camp will outlive me. I must say that I always thought I was something special. I know that sounds pompous, but I always felt like something big was right around the corner. I still do. I have gone through some tough times. I have worked at jobs I hated. I have owned a bar. I look back and say, “How did I ever think things would get better?” I guess I am an eternal optimist. Maybe that is what I have learned from Sleepaway Camp. You never know what life has in store for you. You just have to be open to it.

BGHF: So, do you find that the spunkiness of Ricky informs your everyday life?

JT: Ricky definitely has informed my daily life. I am far more patient than he is, but sometimes I acquiesce too easily and that is where Ricky enables me to stand up for myself. Some people don’t react well to reason. Ricky is pure emotion. I like that.

BGHF: Sleepaway Camp has a large gay following, but I have often wondered how the transgendered community views Angela. She is a sympathetic character, but also a vicious killer. In light of the uproar over films like Ticked off Trannies with Knives I imagine that would be bothersome to some in an underrepresented faction in cinema, but also feel you have to take the film at face value, as well. Do you have any thoughts on that?

JT: I have several transgender fans. They love Angela. As for the reason, you would have to ask them. I think anytime things are brought out of the closet they are less likely to be demonized.

BGHF: Well, I’m always up for kicking things out of the closet! Onto more recent projects! Ricky was tough, but John Doesy seems maniacal. Since you seem to have a very humanistic, spiritual side, especially evidenced by your CD Heaven, is it tough for you to dig down and create the psychosis beneath a character like Doesy in The Perfect House?

JT: I was reading a short story in The New Yorker today. The character was talking about how he went ‘off the rails’ when his wife died. He hired prostitutes and the like. I find horror fans to be much more in touch with the animalistic nature that is at our core. We spend a lifetime learning how to repress every natural instinct that we have. Letting those out is therapeutic. There is a very fine line between affection and violence. You can’t have one without the other. Psychosis is just another label for someone who doesn’t live by our societal norms. John Doesy has his own code of ethics.

BGHF: Just not the ones you learn in kindergarten, I suppose. (On second thought…) – You have done everything from soap operas to after school specials to horror films. Do you have a particular favorite on set moment or memory from your various experiences?

JT: I am very intense when I am working. I don’t enjoy it much. That isn’t to say that I don’t like it. I just don’t look at it the same way as playing music where there is instant gratification. My favorite moments on set are when I know I am locked in to my character. Recently I shot a film called Redemption. We were doing a night shoot. We shot my entire scene (including close-ups) and the sound man said, “Oops.” He had messed up the audio and we had to do the whole thing over again. Then someone yelled, “Dinner break!” I was furious. I walked around the whole park we were shooting in to get myself settled and refocused, (at 3AM). I came back to do the scene and it was better than the first time. I overheard the 1st AD whisper, “That dude is a serious pro.” That was a pretty nice moment.

BGHF: Totally! (I think we just had a PJ Soles moment together!) Your life has been juicily eclectic, as well, with actor, musician, father and businessman on your resume. What has been your favorite accomplishment thus far and is there anything you want to tackle in the future?

JT: My favorite accomplishment personally has been getting better as a person and being known as someone people can count on, especially my family. My favorite professional accomplishment would have to be the library of music I have written and recorded. That is my legacy. What I want in the future is to continue all of my pursuits with the same energy that I do now. Whether it is writing a score or performing or acting or running a marathon (I have done three) it doesn’t matter. I just want to do projects that I care about. I don’t want to half ass anything ever.

BGHF: Speaking of your legacy then. If you had to pick one of your CD’s to recommend to someone, what would it be and why?

JT: I can’t really recommend one CD in particular. That is a personal decision for the listener. On different days I am in the mood for different music. I always think that what I am writing now is better than what I have written in the past, but then I go back and listen to it and enjoy some of its naiveté and honesty and realize I can never be the person I was. Each and every day we reinvent who we are. That is so cool if you embrace it.

BGHF: Got my arms wide open on that one, my friend! Lastly, any words of advice (IE: Never let your flamboyant aunt dress you in girl’s clothing) or projects that you’d like to push! And thanks this has been almost as fun as hanging with the brilliant Michele Tatosian (Sleepaway Camp‘s beyond awesome producer) any day of the week!

JT: I will give the same advice that I gave an actor when he asked me at a convention. Forget the backup plan. It is a waste of time. Acting, performing, writing etc. has to be a need. It can’t be a want. Understand that you will have to sacrifice a lot to pursue it and you may still fail in the eyes of your family and peers. You can never fail if you realize it is about the journey and not the destination. – I am working on so many things right now. The next thing coming out is Redemption at The Tribeca Film Festival next year. The Perfect House should be out on DVD and Netflix this winter. I just signed on to do The Drive In Massacre this winter. I am co-producing a film for Brittany House Pictures called Good Ol Boy. It features a score by Andy Summers (The Police) and several A-List actors. I am hoping to tour the east coast in April highlighted by a house concert at Drew Eckmann’s. You can read about him in The New Yorker. Lastly I am doing soundtrack work for my friend Sean Crouch’s (writer/producer for Numb3rs and Veronica Mars) TV projects. http://jonathantiersten.com/

BGHF: Thanks again, Jonathan!

You can, also, keep up with all the bloody activity at The Perfect House @ http://www.facebook.com/ThePerfectHouseMovie.

And until next time – Sweet love and pink Grue, Big Gay Horror Fan

Whenever Big Gay Horror Fan gets lonely for the western backwoods that he grew up in (which is, frankly, kind of never), all I have to do is throw on an inbred, dusty hatchet fest and voila – I am transferred back to those long lost days of spitball torture via the black tooth farm boys.

Part hick horror, part Hostel homage and part social commentary, Into the Lion’s Den’s primary strength just may be that it’s an actual gay horror film that doesn’t feature a cast of ex-porn stars playing smooth and love stressed vampires.

Well, this one does feature ex-reality star and Playgirl model Ronnie Kroell as the central focus of a trio of friends enjoying a sex fueled, emotionally exploratory road trip. But, Kroell displays a truly open presence here and, despite an awkward drunk sequence, he excels – especially in a vicious Camille Keaton “I Spit On Your Grave” revenge moment.

As Kroell’s sexually obsessive, ne’er do well best friend, actor Jesse Archer, also, supplies some skill. He, ultimately, reminds you of all the messed up, slightly charming bar boys with a destructive streak that you’ve crossed paths with in your life. It is Archer’s Johnny, who has been arranging internet tricks throughout their cross country journey, whom ultimately brings the three friends into captive danger. Rape, needle sharp penile injection and homophobic slander led the way when they cross paths with a twisted couple at a roadside tavern.

Of course, the film often belies its budget and has its share of clunky moments, but most of all it is sleazy fun with a vibrantly poetic edge (including a touching denouement) and like the great grind house flicks, such as Pets and Malibu High, has its share of kinky nudity. Here, though, of course, it is dick flopping action from the handsome cast that leads the charge as opposed to the breast popping antics of such drive in legends as the late great Candice Rialson.

Into the Lion’s Den is available from QC Cinema and Breaking Glass Pictures – www.breakingglasspictures.com.

Until next time – Sweet love and pink Grue (and avoid those bumpy, map-less country roads!), Big Gay Horror Fan

As Big Gay Horror Fan navigates the miles of insecurity that carpet his existence, a musical soundtrack has always proven to be essential. Thankfully, esteemed horror honey Jill Schoelen (The Stepfather, Popcorn, Cutting Class, Curse 2) has given the world the delicately lovely Kelly’s Smile, which highlights the delightful awkwardness of life and is a must-have for emotionally sensitive geeks (and non-geeks)everywhere!

Inspired by her friendship with the late costume designer Kelly Troup (Cutting Class), the daughter of esteemed musician Bobby Troup and smoky voiced singing icon Julie London (who, also, appeared in the terror fraught The Red Barn with Edward G. Robinson and the 1944 beast in the jungle flick Nabonga), Schoelen’s debut is full of skilled, vibrant musicianship and her trippingly light and joy filled vocals.

Featuring both the famed and more obscure tunes of the well regarded Mr. Troop; Schoelen brings a fuller sound to the gray velvet moan of “Cry Me A River”, London’s best known musical performance, and practically makes “Girl Talk” her own with a wave of dancing humor and straightforward city smarts in her voice. Like the best Tony nominated starlet, she brings a sense of character and comic intent to “Daddy” and obviously pours her heart into Troop’s fun n’ jazzy tribute to his daughter, “Kelly’s Smile”, recorded here for the first time.

Most importantly, any one feeling out of sorts with the world can find immediate identification in Schoelen’s understanding, salt and pepper vocals on such songs as “Just the Way I Am”, “You’re Looking at Me”, and “February Brings the Rain”, three of this intimate project’s very best cuts.

Kelly’s Smile is available for download on Amazon and ITunes and is that perfect last minute present for your favorite, sensitive fright loving fiend or as self gift to enjoy after the holidays are through with their wicked yet merry barraging.

Until the next time – Sweet love and pink Grue, Big Gay Horror Fan!!

How many times has Big Gay Horror Fan hoped to stumble upon a forbidden warehouse on New Year’s Eve and find some cutely smooth stud, waiting within, to seduce me? Well, honestly, never. But the thought did cross my mind after watching Derek Quint’s beguiling short, Second Star.

In Second Star, two transient youths, fighting their way to warmer climes, run into a mysterious benefactress of sorts on a subway tunnel. Accepting an invitation to spend the evening with her, they soon find themselves locked into a willowy game of seduction and intrigue.

Writer-director Quint creates a moody dreamscape, here, with seemingly no budget. Images of fairy tales, elusive realities and those creepy party scenes from Rosemary’s Baby and Midnight Cowboy enter one’s mind upon viewing. Most importantly, Quint makes you wonder what really goes on in the dream world of those forced onto the streets for survival, making Second Star a sociological statement as well as an artistic one.

Featuring a solid cast, with BGHF favorite Heather Dorff (What They Say, Afraid of Sunrise, Mother’s Blood) and the truly delicious Andrew Bochniak making indelible appearances as a pair of glittery masked wraiths, Second Star also features some story driven boy on boy action – a true holiday gift to the guys like me and the girls who love them, everywhere!

Check out Second Star at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asyn43kBvuM&noredirect=1

And for more information on Quint and Addovolt Productions be sure to visit http://addovolt.blogspot.com/2010/11/second-star-short-film.html, as well!

Until next time, Sweet love and pink Grue, Big Gay Horror Fan!

There is nothing Big Gay Horror Fan loves more than when the Golden Ladies of stage and screen sharpen up their claws and start digging around in the fertile soil of terror. Watching regal Patricia Morison (best known for Broadway’s Kiss Me Kate) weave a confused Lon Chaney Jr. into her twisted web in Calling Dr. Death (1943) – pure heaven. Dorothy Lamour (famed from the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby Road comedies) warning a frightened Kate Jackson away from a pink yet purloined palace in Death at Love House (1976)– oh, just sigh! Watching the beloved star of theatrical classics such as The Unsinkable Molly Brown and High Spirits shill monstrous treats or encourage a young woman to sacrifice herself to the frozen gods of anger – oh, my, oh – hand me that napkin now, please!

Like an eccentric, pulse raising Catwoman fused with a dramatic West End socialite, actress Tammy Grimes (who was actually born in Massachusetts) is one of the more unique artists to appear in the last century. Best known for her stage roles (resulting in two Tony awards), Grimes also appeared in a couple horror productions that are as unique as her curiously clipped British coated accent.

The Horror at 37,000 Feet. In this bizarre 1973 horror-disaster relic, Grimes plays Mrs. Pinder, a dog loving preservation advocate. Coming at Roy Thinnes (Satan’s School for Girls among others) with a furious petulance for removing a centuries old relic from his wife’s inherited estate, Grimes is both beautiful and creepy. Soon, we see why Grimes is so upset when the Druids trapped in the artifact soon weave a wicked wave of paranoia and frosty death throughout the plane.

This flighty feast is armed with an amazing cast including square jawed Western king Chuck Conners (Tourist Trap, Summer Camp Nightmare), a hysterical William Shatner (reliving his Twilight Zone days), distinguished Paul Winfield (Serpent and the Rainbow, White Dog), Russell Johnson (Gilligan’s Island, Attack of the Crab Monsters) and beautiful yet doomed soap actress Brenda Benet (who, tragically, killed herself after the death of her young son with the Incredible Hulk’s Bill Bixby).

Even with a truly bizarre scene where the terrified passengers adorn a crying child’s doll with make-up, human hair and fingernails to try to appease the body hungry spirits, Grimes stands out here with her strange mannerisms and heartfelt passion, ultimately making The Horror at 37,000 Feet a truly interesting television horror.

The Stuff. In Larry Cohen’s 1985 gooey anti-consumerism monster piece, Grimes plays herself in a hilariously odd commercial for the latest (deadly) dessert treat, The Stuff. Here, Grimes purrs with enough Eartha Kitt sensuality to make it seem like the product will not only appease your appetite but your every carnal desire, as well. Yum!

Grimes real life has been as noteworthy as her films, as well. Attacked by white radicals when her friendship with Sammy Davis Jr. was highly publicized in 1965, she also has been noted as the original choice to play Samantha on the popular Bewitched series. Her multiple marriage partners include respected actor Christopher Plummer (Starcrash, The Clown at Midnight) and Jeremy Slate (multiple Elvis Presley and biker flicks) and she was reportedly fired from a Neil Simon comedy in 1983 for an inability to remember her lines.

Lastly, if any one doubts that a ‘Broadway Baby’ knows the more gothic side of life, intimately, one need only to listen to her spookily string plucked version of “Tom Dooley” on The Unmistakable Tammy Grimes CD. Her vocal take on the doomed thoughts of the song’s title character are soft, smoky and knowledgably chilling.

So, until next time – Sweet love and pink Grue, Big Gay Horror Fan