Granted, the number of donation campaigns for independent horror films is enough to drive you batty. (Thankfully, they won’t make you large, Eunice — unless you’ve dived into the Cheeto Bon-Bons, again, while paging through them all!)
One projection worthy of note, though, is the remake of 1975 cult classic Criminally Insane, now going by the name of Crazy Fat Ethel. Featuring a strong female lead (enacted by Cabin Fever 2‘s Amanda Jelks)and the bloody creativeness of John Waters in his prime, this entity seems ripe with reinvention.
I am always in the mood for Femme Cheese. And while I have no idea what that means for you – for me it always means deliciously ridiculous horror entertainment with a strong female lead.
Therefore, I can’t wait for the January 13th (2014) premiere of SyFy’s Bitten about a sexy female werewolf, starring Supergirl, herself, the fetching Laura Vandervoort.
The network has just released the official trailer – and it looks like one hairy, shirt popping good time!
The black lipstick wearing, Amy Lee worshipping, multi-pierced gopher living down the hallway from me needs only one thing to dive, wholly, into the Gothic life style. She needs a little Odetta on her life soundtrack.
One of the pioneers of the 60s Folk Scene, Odetta inspired everyone from (presumably) Bob Dylan to Joan Baez, but while her fame may reside in granola strewn galleries – her voice is full of gallows darkness and haunted beauty.
Her 1964 recording Odetta Sings of Many Things includes several numbers that could accompany any twisted coven meeting or underplay the macabre plotting of your favorite serial killer. Opening number Troubled is full of strands of a silken brand of punk. Odetta’s resolve to keep on moving as life attacks her is as youthful as any cherished Jawbreaker track. The deep, resonant valleys of her voice, also, bring potent power to the twisted meanness of Katy Cruel and the menacing sexual aggression of Anathea, as well. Four Marys, meanwhile, focuses on bloody, violence fraught history – not the bitchy queens who populate your local bar.
While none of these songs, unfortunately, are available video-style, this classic take on House of the Rising Sun illustrates the deep, horror filled sorrow that Odetta could capture within her sound.
Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
I am definitely more Barbara Steele than Judy Garland – but whenever I hear the phrase trunk show, I always think big production numbers and A Star is Born.
Thankfully, amazing horror entrepreneur Pretty Spooky is definitely more on the Italian terror side with an awesome upcoming event featuring her awesome t-skirts (made from genre film and rock t-shirts). Yes, Chicago’s historic punk clothing store, The Alley, and Pretty Spooky have joined forces for an amazing evening of shopping, fun and prizes!
So, if you are near 3228 N. Clark Street on November 30th (2013) be sure to stop in for the most perfect Black Saturday event of all time!
I have so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. The love of the lesbian prostitute nuns who raised me – that pickled toe in a jar — and, most especially, the giddily insane performance of bodybuilder Jake Steinfeld in one of the only Thanksgiving slashers in existence – 1981’s Home Sweet Home!
With muscles bulging and the trilling laughter of a demented schoolgirl (leaking from his throat), Steinfeld plays Jay, an asylum escapee, whom after killing a kind traveler (for his vehicle)and then gleefully bumping off an old lady in a crosswalk, sets his murderous sights on a dysfunctional family and their Turkey Day celebration. Besides the random adults (whom all seem to be plucked from a 1970s NYC porn set), potential victims include a Kiss obsessed teen whose guitar is attached to his hip and a young (seemingly) autistic girl (played by young Vinessa Shaw who, in adulthood, would enhance such projects as Eyes Wide Shut and The Hills Have Eyes remake).
That director Nettie Pena, would go on to acclaim as a documentarian and is one of the few women to direct a ‘classic’ slasher film, does little to enhance the film’s meandering moments. But a bizarre aura soaks through the film’s more exciting bits and anytime that Stenfield is onscreen is an absolute hoot.
Definitely not the best or worst of its genre, the behind-the-scenes stories that could be told about this production, alone, seemingly make it ripe for a nice, extras-strewn DVD revival.
But until then – Happy Jakes-giving!!! —-
and SWEET love and pink GRUE from Big Gay Horror Fan!
…and Hammer begat humor. 1971’s Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde was one of the last great efforts from the original reign of the seminal British horror house, combining classic scientific terror with a twisted sexual undercurrent. One of that film’s grand highlights was the slithery seductive performance of exotic genre goddess Martine Beswicke.
24 years later, powerhouse performer Sean Young gave another strong take on the female side of Jekyll in 1995’s truly silly Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. After experimenting with his late uncle’s formulas involving estrogen therapy, handsome Tim Daly’s kind Jekyll eventually finds his feminine alter-ego, Young’s Hyde, is significantly more ruthless than he is. While fighting against the threat of total immersion into the powerful Hyde, Daly does show off quite a lot, though.
With director David Price and a bevy of co-screenwriters concentrating on the sexual ambiguity of having a beautiful man turning into a gorgeous woman, Daly spends plenty of time in hot teddies (after accidentally emerging during Young’s hi-jinks) and even appearing, during a crazed revenge attempt, briefly, butt naked!
With its strains of homosexual comedy, including a bizarre scenario in which Harvey Fiersten’s very gay perfume maker develops a confused attraction for Young’s Hyde, and female empowerment, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde is one of the few mainstream films that focuses on the beauty of the male as much as the female!
Meanwhile, Robert Louis Stevenson rolls over in his grave, one last time!
Happy beefcake and…SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
That mean fifth grade gym teacher…The lady who never tipped you at the IHOP…Their deaths — who cares!!!???!!! The death of the video store? Now that may be a little bittersweet – or not.
Host Derrick Carey (Swamphead, Hole in the Wall) recently invited myself and other (far superior) horror scholars on his podcast Astro Radio Z to discuss the end of the video giants (and not so giants).
Coming full circle is usually a good thing. Well, unless you are talking my stomach after the holidays. Not so good, that!
As ‘Miri’ on Battlestar
Fans of gorgeously talented blondes, though, have been giddy about the deserved resurgence of Audrey Landers, whose easy going glow always made her seem like one of the sweetest divas that television had to offer. Landers, of course, is best known for her 8 year run as songstress Afton Cooper on the original Dallas and for her committed hoofing in the glitzy film version of A Chorus Line. But, this eclectic wonder has earned her genre stripes with performances in such giddy exploitation epics as Deadly Twins (85), Getting Even (86) and Ghost Writer (89). Memorable guest shots on shows like Battlestar Galactica and The Hitchhiker and a role in the little seen horror comedy Highcliff Manor earn her howls of terror fiend delight, as well.
The popularity of TNT’s Dallas remount has benefited, greatly, by including Landers in the mix and this revival has, seemingly, inspired a beautiful new recording from Landers entitled, appropriately, Dallas Feels Like Home.
Full of lush 80’s style balladry and pop music magic, this disc contains 11 songs all either written or arranged by Landers and her talented musician son, Daniel. Here, lush story songs (the touching, fun Still Dreams to Dream) stand beside powerfully pretty declarations of survival (Through the Eyes of Winter). Monte Carlo is a sprinkling of exotic Beach Boys magic while Let Me Down Gently is one of the simplest odes of surrender ever committed to tape. Soap opera fanatics, of course, will thrill to the subtly implied passions of Steal Me Away, the popular song that Landers wrote for her initial Dallas stint. The full version is heard, for the first time, on this recording.
Of course, the professionalism of this venture should come as no surprise to Landers’ devoted followers. She maintained a successful singing career, with great overseas’ popularity, for decades.
While I am definitely not a party animal, I know better than to invite the ghosts of Depression era psychos over for some late night fun.
Unfortunately, As Night Falls’ zesty Elizabeth and her sassy younger sister, Lily, have no choice in the matter. A trio of spectral maniacs invades their house as their friends gather for an unexpected get-together. Blood, mayhem and comedy ensue.
Writer/Director Joe Davison works with inspired joy, here, combining elements of quirky indie drama, straight ahead slasher and slapstick horror. The tone of each of these elements doesn’t always gel, of course, and the middle section suffers from some spatial oddity and uneven performances. But, almost all imperfections can be forgiven as Davison gifts the world with some kick-ass female characters. Heroine Elizabeth, brilliantly enacted by indie terror powerhouse Deneen Melody, is an amusing, take-no-guff protagonist while Debbie Rochon fully throws off all her horror related celebrity, completely dissolving into the wild, spirit ridden madness of Nelly Trine. The sight of Rochon/Trine dementedly cackling while attacking a quartet of scrambling victims, haphazardly fleeing in a van, is chilling fun and one of the film’s major triumphs.
The divine Melody and the highly amusing Cenac.
Davison, also, finds magic in the interactions between his main cast. The moments involving Melody’s Elizabeth, a very fine Dwight Cenac (as her rocker boyfriend Otto), the bright eyed Lily Cardone as Holly and Davison, as the girls’ older brother, are pure cinematic gold.
More than anything, As Night Falls establishes Davison’s true love for the genre, leaving you eager to see what else he has to offer. He could definitely find himself growing into a major voice in horror with each ensuing project.
The only time I am ever recognized is when the old crone across the hallway spots me and begins shouting “Thief! Thief of Hearts!” Ah, misrepresentation at its finest!
Similarly (or not), even though she popularized the prison flick (Caged) and the animals-gone-wild-adventure (The Naked Jungle), the elegant Eleanor Parker was never as heralded as such screen gem divas as Bette Davis or Joan Crawford. Perhaps, this is due to the fact that Parker seems to simply disappear into her roles.
This was especially true, when like Davis and Crawford, Parker let her incandescent talent light up a couple tales of television terror.
In 1972’s fun seasonal slasher, Home for the Holidays, Parker lets the fur fly but with a regal calm and controlled measure. But, this pitchfork flying mini-epic, co-starring such glorious femmes as Jessica Walter, Sally Field and Julie Harris, really hits its sticky nadir when Parker reveals the true psychosis lurking behind her concerned Alex Morgan.
Walter and Parker reunited in the ridiculously fun She’s Dressed to Kill in 1979. As drunken designer Regine Danton, Parker is shaky with former glory. Flighty, manipulative and glowering with shaded magnificence, Parker’s Danton maintains a head thrusting dignity even as her favorite models are creatively murdered at her mountaintop retreat.
These two magnificent portrayals prove, beyond a doubt, that Parker always gave better than she got.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan
One projection worthy of note, though, is the remake of 1975 cult classic Criminally Insane, now going by the name of Crazy Fat Ethel. Featuring a strong female lead (enacted by Cabin Fever 2‘s Amanda Jelks)and the bloody creativeness of John Waters in his prime, this entity seems ripe with reinvention.
Big Gay Horror Fan 