Jason Coffman’s Still

Published October 25, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Granted, I am blind to a lot of stuff – including criticism. (Although, I did get it, recently, when one online commentator called me a “dork” and another called me the “worst interviewer ever” re: my Danielle Harris video interview! Y–OUCH!!!)

But, the heroine of Jason Coffman’s latest thriller Still has got it really bad. After an attack, she discovers she is suffering from a rare condition called akinetopsia, or motion blindness. The complications from that are sure to be riskily adventurous as described in Coffman’s passionate Kickstarter campaign.

Coffman whom has already graced the independent cinematic landscape with such (shorter) offerings as Tape and The Gamma-Ray Man is sure to use every cent generated to create something truly unique and enjoyable.

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Dead, and Must Travel

Published October 24, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Packing just the right amount, hustling your bootie through public transportation options and then arriving at the airport (just to, essentially, begin every step over again) is hard enough when you are breathing at full capacity – let alone when you are oxygen deprived.

That means the title character of director/writer Tony Báez Milán’s (Edgar Allen Poe’s Requiem for the Damned, Ray Bradbury’s Chrysalis) new novel Dead, Must Travel has it doubly hard!

Centering around a reluctant Puerto Rican zombie, Milán’s novel seems to be adding some differences to a (by now) run of the mill scenario by concentrating on discrimination and self-loathing.

You can check it out at: http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-AND-MUST-TRAVEL-ebook/dp/B00CHVWQPM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381585806&sr=8-1&keywords=dead+and+must+travel

Milán’s official site, meanwhile, is http://www.tonybaezmilan.com.

Be sure to visit http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan, as well, and —

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

Music to Make Horror Films By: Les Baxter, “Hell’s Belles”

Published October 20, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

If there were any justice in the world, I would have my own multi-level drive-in theater (playing banging Euro-trash, 24/7) in the middle of my studio apartment, that muscular Idris (IE: Hot guy!! Thanks to Christine and Valerie for the slang), sitting across from my writing group at Dollop Coffee Shop, would be moon-glowing over my every word — and awesome, eclectic musician Les Baxter would be every punk rock prom king’s totally slammin’ mentor!!!

Known to record collectors for his exotica jazz contributions, Baxter also conjured up amazing, swinging soundtracks to genre epics like Roger Corman’s House of Usher (1960), the US version of Black Sabbath (1963), Frogs (1972) and even 1982’s boy-is-cicada monster classic, The Beast Within.

Thankfully, the ever cool Sidewalk Records are trying to give Baxter his hipster due by reissuing his naughty soundtrack to 1969’s Hell’s Belles on a thick slab of (nearly eatable) vinyl!

Be sure to check out the title track, here:

and http://www.lesbaxter.com, as well!

Until the next time, keep your dreams of Les growing ever-leather and…

SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!!!

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Saturday Scream Queen Flashback: Deborah Dutch, “Mind Twister”

Published October 19, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Do you long for those good old days (in the late 80s and early 90s) when flicks by Wynorski, Corman, Schmoeller and DeCoteau were always popping up on cable, featuring appearances by the video box ladies that we all grew to love? As the Bloody Goddess can tell you, I certainly do! So, let’s re-visit a classic, now!

Proving that no one made (or makes) an entrance quite like her, DVD doll Deborah Dutch resonates, mightily in the first moments of Fred Olen Ray’s gritty 1994 effort Mind Twister. Though the film features everyone from Telly Savalas to Richard Roundtree, it is Dutch’s portrayal of the doomed Sheila Harrison in the opening moments that, ultimately, counts the most here.

Struggling against a demented transgressor, Dutch/Harrison eventually loses her life in a glass splattering frenzy. Though quickly dispatched, Dutch makes every second matter, providing the film with its most memorable moments. Her obvious stage training bursts forth – even as Harrison flies through the air to her doom.

What more can one say than that?

Well, except be sure to check out Dutch’s latest (and greatest) project The Hollywood Warrioress at https://www.facebook.com/hollywoodwarrioress.

And look back, here, for future Saturday Scream Queen Flashbacks.

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Facing the Strange Changes at the Music Box of Horrors!

Published October 19, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Kathleen Burke

“Turn and face the strange changes!” Yes, even those who aren’t fans of David Bowie (Does such a creature exist??!!??) are sometimes compelled to do what this master musician suggests. They simply have no choice.

Take Kathleen Burke’s exotic Panther Woman from the 1932 classic Island of Lost Souls and Susan Strasberg’s beautiful Karen Tandy from 1978 oddity The Manitou, for example. Both find their bodies going through increasingly weird scenarios – and both have to deal with the odd circumstances, head on.

Susan Strasberg

Lucky Midwesterners will get to experience the adventures of these highly memorable creations at October 19th’s anticipated Music Box of Horrors, a 24 hour film festival. Taking place at the historic Music Box Theatre, located at 3733 N. Southport in Chicago, this 2nd annual event, also, features screenings of Maniac Cop 2, Crawlspace and Possession along with special guests, including famed exploitation directors William Lustig (Maniac) and David Schmoeller (Tourist Trap).

The full schedule is available at:

http://www.musicboxtheatre.com/festivals/music-box-of-horrors-2013/schedule

Here’s hoping to see you there, so we can experience all the SWEET love and pink GRUE together!!! — Big Gay Horror Fan

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Countdown to Carrie: Janet Lockwood as Cassandra Dregstone, “Terror at Baxter U”

Published October 17, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

(The Carrie remake will be upon us on October 18th– thus we celebrate the strong women in horror, science fiction and exploitation with Countdown to Carrie!)

It can be rough being a woman in horror and exploitation. Take the Brides of Fu Manchu in The Brides of Fu Manchu, for instance. Prime focus of the film, they are, yet not one actress portraying a bride receives billing in the opening credits. Bum rap!!

Janet Lockwood, who was the director of the Michigan Film Office from 1992 – 2010, makes up for previous femme negations in exploitation with her portrayal of the powerful, often nasty Cassandra Dregstone in 2003’s low budget (multi-pack orphan) Terror at Baxter U, though. In a film that features an idiotically murderous janitor and a monstrous chupacabra, Dregstone is by far the scariest thing on display. Whether cutting down errant students, scheming behind the backs of bumbling professor types or engaging in ancient ceremonies, Lockwood’s Dregstone steals the show, here, proving that even in overacted, micro-budget terror, women can rule the roost!

Until the next time, continue to worship at the altar of volatile women in horror – and

SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Red Clark’s Gray Matter!

Published October 15, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Oh, if I only had a brain! I’ve sung that to myself so many times that I’ve felt like a small town queer stuck caught in a community theater production of The Wizard of Oz, Sisyphus-style!

But who needs brains when they can experience the terror of Gray Matter?!? This stunning short film is an adaptation of a Stephen King story – and inventive filmmaker Red Clark tells me he only used practical effects (based on some amazing concept designs by Tom A. Denney)! Viva, au natural, baby!!

Check out the gooey, first look trailer, here!:

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

The Backside of Horror: When A Stranger Calls; When A Stranger Calls Back

Published October 15, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

Let’s face it, half the fun of horror and exploitation is seeing some hot bodies frolicking around in the buff. And while I worship the female form, I believe exploitation definitely veers into the exploitive when only gorgeous women are on display while their male counterparts remain chastely buttoned up. Therefore, The Backside of Horror salutes the filmmakers and actors whom even up the score a bit by showing us instances of hot and juicy male flesh in their bloody celluloid fantasies.

Awesome genre auteur Fred Walton (April Fools Day) knows a thing or two about naked insanity.

In Walton’s 1979 horror masterpiece, When A Stranger Calls, lead psycho Curt Duncan (as passionately played by Tony Beckley) experiences a traumatic emotional breakdown in a men’s homeless shelter. Beckley’s nakedness, here, mirrors the raw agony that his character is experiencing.

Fourteen years later in his follow-up, When A Stranger Calls Back (1993), Walton executes a genius surprise scare. The murderous master in this one, William Landis (the chameleon-like Gene Lythgow) actually blends into the environment of the apartment of the film’s female lead for the final showdown. Stripped down and covered in paint, Lythgow flashes his muscular buttocks, several times, as his maniacal character meets his justified end.

Be sure to check back, often, for more The Backside of Horror.

Big Gay Horror Fan, meanwhile, is always giving you the naked truth at http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan!

SWEET love and pink GRUE!!!

Believe it or not, this IS Lythgow’s butt!

Charles Durning – Going for the kill!

Music to Make Horror Films By: The Casket Girls, “Sleepwalking”

Published October 13, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

How come I never feel sexy while wandering among the headstones, in the midnight cemetery, dressed in nothing but a bloodied nightgown?!? Probably because I haven’t been hanging with the scintillating The Casket Girls during my fevered traipsing.

The brainchild of Ryan Graveface, The Casket Girls, comprised of the spectacular Elsa and Phaedra Greene, provide the world with darker, Shangri-La’s style pop.

Check my new most favorite song!:

http://www.casketgirls.org

https://www.facebook.com/casketgirls

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

PS: I am, also, available on the scraped knees regular at http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan!

Countdown to Carrie: The Grand Glories of Anita Ekberg!

Published October 12, 2013 by biggayhorrorfan

(The Carrie remake will be upon us on October 18th – thus we celebrate the strong women in horror, science fiction and exploitation with Countdown to Carrie!)

Even when quoting Shakespeare on the stages of life, I am no more than a common, cult film loving gutter dweller.

The glorious Anita Ekberg must know how I feel. Best known for her magnificent appearance in the art house classic La Dolce Vita (1960), this Swedish goddess spent a lot of her career in B-Movie fodder, television films and low budget horror! So, naturally in cult worlds, she is a QUEEN!

In 1969’s Fangs of the Living Dead (AKA Malenka), Ekberg played a virginal swimsuit model who discovers she is actually a countess. Traveling to her ancestors’ small village, Eckberg finds herself involved in vampirism and diabolic Scooby Doo like conspiracies. A bit long in the tooth to be playing an innocent beauty queen, she is none-the-less enchanting, here.

10 years later, Eckberg embraced the depravity of Killer Nun (1979). In a “I need to keep the villa” move, she portrays a sexually obsessed, drug addicted servant of the Catholic church. (Man, she would have fit right in with dozens of priests I’ve met.) Still beautiful, Eckberg met the possible indignities of this role with grace and passion. Thus, she will always be Horror Royalty in the Bloodied Book of Debauched Cinema! LOVE HER!

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

BTW, please come keep me company at http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan!