Book Review: Out in the Dark

Published December 14, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

The lesbian prostitute nuns who raised me were far more concerned about my love of all things gory as opposed to my sexuality. Well, they were lesbian prostitute nuns. Thankfully, writer-director-sassy bon vivant Sean Abley handles the whole queer horror loving vibe much better with his essential new book Out in the Dark: Interviews with Gay Horror Filmmakers, Actors and Authors.

As the force behind Fangoria’s late, lamented Gay of the Dead, Abley got to pepper us with stories from the most important bent figures in the terror scene. Here, he compiles (and updates) those pieces while adding some new ones into the mix, as well.

Importantly, while Abley interviews the actors involved with gay familiar fare like The Lair, he also spends plenty of time diving, deeply, into the works of such important independent filmmaking voices as Alan Rowe Kelly (The Blood Shed), Bart Mastronardi (Vindication), Jason Paul Collum (October Moon, Screaming in High Heels), JT Seaton (George: A Zombie Intervention) and Armando Nunez (They Have No Shame). Big timers like Dan Mancini (Child’s Play) and Jeffrey Reddick (Final Destination) stop by, as well.

Ryan Metzger in Eulogy for a Vampire.

Interesting factoids abound everywhere. Former TV heartthrob Wesley Eure (Land of the Lost, The Toolbox Murders) talks about how Hollywood homophobia and the AIDS crisis made significant impacts on his career. VHS enthusiasts may be surprised to discover that Tim Kincaid, the director of Mutant Hunt and other low budget goodies, is actually famed porn maker Joe Gage. Actors like Ryan Metzger and David Moretti, also, reveal that it is not only writers and directors who love terror (on a personal level) – Moretti talks of sneaking looks at Fangoria as a kid while Metzger maintains that a good death scene can seal the deal on a proposed project for him.

Above all, the passion and strength of all these creative individuals shines through, a testament to their own inner drive and Abley’s fun, incisive questions.

Out in the Dark is published by Lethe Press. It can be purchased from their site at http://www.lethepressbooks.com or from Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/mch3dsl.

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

Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan, as well!

Bloody Wonderful Burlesque with The Fischer Bodies!

Published December 13, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

As hard as I’ve begged those (elitist) winos in my alleyway to come up to my studio and watch me as bop around in a blood leather thong to my vinyl collection of terror film soundtracks – they ALWAYS refuse.

Probably because, unlike the astounding Flint, Michigan based, horror courting burlesque troupe, The Fischer Bodies – I have NO talent. But this amazing group of individuals, included ultra-fantastic gyrate legends like Dish DeLish and Twiggy Boylust, are full of gothic-tinged wonder. Past shows have included zombie mash-ups and this weekend marks their Rocky Horror Picture Show holiday show. For more information be sure to follow them at http://www.facebook.com/thefischerbodies !

Gorgeous (and charismatic) company member Dish DeLish, also, has her own FB page. Be sure to follow this Pinup Creations winner (Ms. November 2013) at https://www.facebook.com/DishDelishPinUp, as well!

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

Be sure to follow me at http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan, as well!

The Glorious Wonders of Dance Macabre Online!

Published December 13, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

DM’s issue 75 cover.

If holiday spending has left your pockets corpse cold, then you’ve got to hand it to editor Adam Henry Carrière. His dark and delicious online publication Danse Macabre is totally free!

The current issue (#76) has a quirkily festive theme with an amazing re-examination of (a convertible driving) Red Riding Hood (created with puck and sass by the distinguished Peter Wortsman) and the brilliantly comical LiteralVille (imagined with sharply humorous overtones by Ed Coonce), thrown in for good measure.

You can check out all the limb flowing goodness at:

http://www.dansemacabreonline.com

Issue #77 of Danse Macabre will be available in January 2014. In the meantime, you can purchase tons of colorful back issues (many with queer friendly themes) for the low rate of $2.99 each!

Meanwhile, acclaimed New Zealand based poet Mercedes WebbPullman, a frequent contributor to the awesomeness that is Danse Macabre, has a truly entertaining entry in another online publication with a sweetly grisly moniker, Bone Orchard Poetry.

Be sure to enjoy that at the link, below, as well:

http://boneorchardpoetry.blogspot.com/2012/02/mercedes-webb-pullman.html

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Help Out Ethel!

Published December 5, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

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.

Check it out at:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/crazy-fat-ethel

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Supergirl Gets Bitten!

Published December 3, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Watch out!! Supergirl sees RED!

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!

Be sure to keep up with further updates at http://www.syfy.com/bitten and http://www.lauravandervoort.net.

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Music to Make Horror Films By: Odetta, “Odetta Sings of Many Things”

Published December 1, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

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!

Pretty Spooky Trunk Show

Published November 29, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

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!

Find further details, at the link, below:

https://www.facebook.com/events/446004385503962/

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Happy Jakes-Giving!!!

Published November 28, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

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!

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The Backside of Horror: Tim Daly, “Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde”

Published November 27, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

…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!

Astro Radio Z: Death of the Video Store

Published November 27, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

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).

Check it here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fearcast/2013/11/26/astro-radio-z-episode-7-death-of-a-video-store

You know you need a soundtrack while you decimate that latest pop star corpse, right?

Until the next time — think lovely thoughts of TRACI LORDS…and SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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