I’ve got to hand it to you, I didn’t think you could name that tune!
He’s battled swamp sharks and New Orleans’ demons – oh yeah, and a Maniac Cop or two. He’s even brought the bad (with a vengeance) to your favorite childhood film and your treasured spy capers. But, genre legend Robert Davi (The Goonies, License to Kill, Predator 2, Soulkeeper, Night Trap, the Maniac Cop series) is now bringing his compelling presence and eclectic skills to music halls, everywhere!
With true style and verve, Davi has been recording and performing the songs of one of America’s music legends, Frank Sinatra. While this may seem a turn of pace to some, anyone who has truly appreciated the subtle methods behind Davi’s strangest villains won’t be surprised at all.
And – you don’t even need someone to ‘Fly You to the Moon’ to get a velvet ear-full. Just watch this official promotional video:
Ever since talking to charming, eternally positive actor Benjamin Lutz, Big Gay Horror Fan has been whistling pink flowers and skipping along to a happy tune. A graduate of Southern Methodist University, the theatrically trained Lutz has recently entered the film world with understanding grace. One of his first roles off of the boards, sexually confused trucker Brewster in 2011’s vastly admired Bite Marks, has endeared him to terror fans across all blocks of life, as well. Here, the congenial, openly gay Lutz regales us with behind the scenes stories and thoughts on his place in the world of cinema – all while reveling in the eternal majesty of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, of course!
BGHF: Hey, Benjamin! I hope all is well.
Benjamin: It’s the first day that I’ve had off in awhile – and I’m exhausted. And – it’s actually a beautiful day today, so I’m going to go out and enjoy the weather.
BGHF: I would think awesome weather would be a common occurrence in California.
Benjamin: Actually, it can kind of be a crapshoot, here – just like anywhere else, I suppose.
BGHF: The grass is never greener, I guess. So, you’ve kind of got a bit of a horror buzz going on due to your participation in Bite Marks.
Benjamin: You know genre wise horror was not the first thing I always went to. So, jumping into my first film in horror I really had no idea what was going on. I quickly found out just how all the elements fit together. And once you kind of become part of a horror loving family, you are sort of forced to watch every single horror film with your friends. I spent so long in school studying so many Shakespeare type things but, then once I got out of school, all my studying was done watching this really shitty, awesome 70’s horror.
BGHF: Cool! Was this all in preparation for Bite Marks?
Benjamin: Actually, with Bite Marks I was just kind of jumping in before I really knew much about horror. That’s why I have to always kind of call myself a freshman. Mostly everything I’ve known has been gained from all the directors I’ve worked with. Specifically, I became really good friends with Mark Bessenger, the guy who directed Bite Marks. After filming, he’s the one who has pretty much showed me every classic horror movie that I had, previously, never seen.
BGHF: Is there something that sticks out in your head as a favorite?
Benjamin: Well, my favorite movie forever, which I never really thought was a horror movie, is The Shining. I can never get enough of that movie. So, I think it’s the psychological ones that get me. I can watch The Shining every year and still get frightened. But, I didn’t know how much I would love some of the tongue in cheek-comedic ones. I can’t believe how much fun I had with the original Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead and things like that. In fact, I am kind of happy that I never saw a lot of them before I got Bite Marks. While we were making it, people were referencing things like Night of the Living Dead and I was kind of shaking my head. I really didn’t know what they were talking about. When they did some really crazy ass shit that might have been a throwback to an old movie – like quotes from Fright Night – I just didn’t know it. But I went with it. Consequently, all I could do was be an actor in the moment – (Laughing) which sounds so stupid to say out loud – but if I would have known all of the things that we were making illusions to and the things that we were making fun of, I might have sucked at it. But, believe you me, I learned afterwards!
BGHF: Too much knowledge sometimes spoils the blood in the cinematic soup, I guess.
Benjamin: (Laughs) I was completely unaware of any homage’s going on. Besides, from being told, that is. But it didn’t ruin it for me. I was just completely in the moment. You know, this is happening to you right now! Get the fuck out of there! (Laughs) Run away from the fucking vampires!
BGHF: You mentioned Fright Night earlier. Stephen Geoffreys (known to the terror legions as Evil Ed in the 1985 original) was part of the Bite Marks cast, as well. In fact, you played brothers!
Benjamin: He was a trip! When we first started a couple of our things, he seemed game for anything. I think I was used to really stuffy theater people who have to plan out every single thing about their fight scene. You know – the arm will go here and stuff like that. I remember at one point he just looked at me and said, “You know at one point, I think I might jump on your back. But, let’s just go!” So, it was really, really fun because he seemed absolutely game for anything. He was in and out so I can’t tell you anything about him, personally. But working with him was a blast! We really had some kick-ass, fun scenes!
BGHF: Well, he’s just an amazing performer with strong theater roots, like yours. There is something unique and unusual that reads about him in everything he does.
Benjamin: The first thing he did was that very first scene in the film when he gets eaten in the truck bed. And I have to say, he just went for it! He started banging himself against the trailer and making these horrible screeching yells. He went on for like three minutes. I was thinking surely the director is gonna call cut at any moment. But no, it just didn’t happen. He (Stephen) seemed to really like it – and really, really went for it.
BGHF: So, what inspired you to be an actor?
Benjamin: I was always a little wall-flowery, so when you step into something and people love you for it – it feels good. What made me stick it out for the long haul is its ability to feed into the emotions. I think maybe in my personal life, I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve and I get to in this alter world. Whenever you talk to any sort of artist, it is always some outlet to get something out that you need to get out. But, it just doesn’t happen in real life. That’s what has kept me going. I love just every aspect of the theater, too. I went to school for directing and it was just a completely right fit.
BGHF: Have you directed a lot?
Benjamin: Yeah. Not in LA, though. (Laughs) I should get back to something that I went to college for, shouldn’t I? But, I went to SMU. There, one year you will completely do Ibsen. One year is Chekov; one year is devoted to Shakespeare. Never do they talk about film. Never do they talk about anything else but the arts and the classics and being there for your muse. So, it’s kind of nice to get out of that world and do some really kick ass films. You never know where it’s going to go and for me, I never saw myself acting in film. But I couldn’t be happier. It makes more sense. Right now, film is way more exciting.
BGHF: It’s kind of fun that Bite Marks was one of your first ventures then.
Benjamin: My first reaction when reading the script (Bite Marks) was, “Okay, what is this going to be?” It was never something I thought I would be auditioning for. It was just a fluke. The more and more and more I read the script, though, I thought it was just a delightful script. It was well written and I never knew what was going to happen at every single turn. I’ve always said that the first time you read something, you KNOW if it’s a really good script. That’s how I felt with that one. Mark, the writer/director, has an incredible ability to give every single character some heart – whether he is a fucking asshole or whether he is the nicest guy in the world. You are always kind of rooting for his characters. After the read, I talked to my best friend and said this is actually a really good script.
BGHF: Even though it’s been marketed as gay horror, Bite Marks has, also, gotten a lot of praise from the (so called) regular horror community, as well.
Benjamin: Well, it is a real horror movie. Whether it’s the times that we are making fun of other horror movies or the violence or what have you.
BGHF: Is there anything that stands out for you about the making of the film?
Benjamin: I can’t drive a truck! There were a lot of things that we had to do to fake me driving a truck – which was pretty frightening for me. When we were filming, it had to look like me driving a truck and we really didn’t want to use any green screen techniques. That would look like crap for our movie. But, the DP had to be on the other side, so we couldn’t really have anyone but me and the DP in the truck. So, I pretty much had to be dragged by another pick-up truck with (pretty much just) string through some really frightening roads. Then – they were like you have to do this, this, this, say your lines, be afraid from the vampire and go now — and then we’ll just see what happens! There were so many times that I thought I was going to die! When you think about being pulled, it doesn’t seem like much, but it was way harder than you’d ever think it would be.
BGHF: Well, I have to say that just from talking to you, I can tell that you and your character, Brewster, seem like two totally different people. You truly lost yourself in that role.
Benjamin: Thank you! Believe it or not, first of all, I was afraid that I wasn’t going be able to get any kind of accent whatsoever. Then I just met the craziest guy in a truck stop. I actually listened to him just talk for two hours and within those two hours, my character completely changed. And I was just about to film about 10 hours later! There are actually just so many fun stories because we were in Southern Indiana. Nothing was a set. Every piece that we used, we picked out of a junk pile. It rained forever during filming. Sometimes, we would have to wait a whole night for the rain to stop, so we could shoot. But it, also, brought this weird mustiness to the air that really helped as an actor. When we were having big vampire death scenes, it’s not fake metal there. All the metal around was real metal, so you had to be really frightened for your life, at the same time. So, most of the really fun things – which I really didn’t know about because I was so green and had never been in a movie before – was that real stuff. In most movies, you have to fake it because everything is fake around you – when you’re being chased by a vampire, you’re pretty much being chased by nothing. In this one, everything was kind of real and palpable – the smells and tastes. So, every really good story comes from the fact that we were really there. When we smashed the truck at the end, we really smashed the truck at the end. Even though we were on a fun, low budget it really had this weird immediacy. It makes it feel really more throwback to the cool Night of the Living Dead kind of things. And from the get-go, we did talk about it being a fun, kickback to all of it.
BGHF: Bite Marks has been marketed as a gay horror production and all your other films (The Love Patient, The Men Next Door, The Last Straight Man) are gay themed as well. It’s amazing (and well deserved) that you are working so much. Are you worried about being caught in a gay ghetto of romantic comedies and the like, though?
Benjamin: I talk to my friends about typecasting. The consensus seems to be that whatever ghetto you may find yourself in – at least you’re doing things. Of course, you’re always thinking about whether it’s going to limit you in other ways. But, I am brand new to making films. I’ve had small parts in a few things here and there, but technically I have only been in three main films. They actually all have been gay, but I haven’t thought about it in that way. I guess you might have to think that you may get caught in a ghetto. But anytime that I’ve been scared about something like that, it kind of just seems like that negative voice in your head, saying “what if?” If you have a really cool script, a really cool director and a really cool thing that you want to do, you’ve got to go where your heart’s telling you. That being said, there have been scripts that I’ve not done. Not because of anything in the script, but because I didn’t feel it. (Laughs) But talk to me few years from now and we’ll see what my take is.
BGHF: You, honestly, seem incredibly positive. I can’t imagine it would be too much different from what you’re saying today.
Benjamin: I stand by this and this might sound Pollyanna like, but I have never ever taken a job that didn’t feel right. Every job that I have taken I actually thought the script was really good. Which sounds like I am giving you the Oprah answer, but truthfully, everything I’ve taken I’ve thought was a great script and I had to do it!
You can keep up with Lutz’s different film projects at the links, below:
Wisconsin based horror movie maverick Derrick Carey (and all around cool guy) talks cures for bad boyfriends (Swamphead, folks!) and the immaculate heat of scream legends Judith O’Dea (Night of the Living Dead) and Brinke Stevens (Sorority Babes in the Slimeball-Bowl-A-Rama among 1000 others) in this exclusive Big Gay Horror Fan interview! Now, that’s a head punter!:
For those who prefer their gay horror with more of a Dennis Cooper glint than a soft core David DeCoteau glaze, author Jake A. Wheat is the man for you.
His recent novel Color or Die – which does, indeed, feature very adult pages for coloring (courtesy of the talented Michael McPhee) – chronicles the confessions of a sexy killing machine named Trace. While detectives try to wrap Trace’s bloodthirsty antics in their standard theories about serial killers, Trace insists that he is the product of alien insemination and was, ultimately, just following the orders of his birthright.
Utilizing graphic descriptions, yet operating with a certain social poeticism, Wheat invests himself fully in Trace’s world. Thus, Color or Die truly belongs on the shelves of true crime buffs and fans of novels such as Joyce Carol Oates’ intense exercise in mayhem, Zombie.
The eclectic Wheat, also, throws himself into the world of gay rock ‘n roll with the awesome sounding Furieux – available on Amazon.
Be sure to melt down your Crayola’s with a vengeance and visit www.colorordie.com to find out more about Trace’s savage adventures and purchase details.
Watch out, Edward! Oh Land brings the real sparkle!
In person, Nanna Øland Fabricius has more sparkle than the most devoted Stephanie Meyer acolyte. As her mystical music making persona Oh Land, Fabricius also finds some true haunting beauty with songs referencing zombies and emotional decay. Her song “Wolf and I” is a mysteriously delightful look at relationships wherein her love is a wolf and Fabricius – well, she is the all encompassing moon, baby — and don’t you forget it!
This song is tailor made for those moments when you can’t find your threading VHS copy of Wolf and you need some hairy Nicholson in your life, pronto!:
Teacher, writer, dancer, actress, cult heroine! – Big Gay Horror Fan’s head is still spinning listing all of amazing, incredibly kind Debra De Liso’s (Kimberly Clark from seminal slasher Slumber Party Massacre) accomplishments. Watch the video interview, below, and your world with be whirling with joy, as well!
Julie Andrews may have her “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” but this year’s C2E2 (Chicago’s homegrown comic con) beat her out with stabbing health care professionals, sexy role players and the mighty Sugar Gamers! Excited? View on!
Wherever he goes, Godzilla rules! Even on the C2E2 floor!
Need to nurse your Silent Hill obsession? Look no further!
Miss the sassy, always dapper folks from Alley Cat Comic? No worries. They’re always meowing in Chicago’s Andersonville!
He’s always got you in his sights!
Could it get cuter than this – ever?!?
Clare conquered the New Pepsi Challenge. Did you?
The fabulous women of Sugar Gamers!
Fabulous theater actress Kate Harris enacts some witchy wonders in a reading of Kill Shakespeare!
Best for last?!? – There is no one cooler than Keisha, founder of Sugar Gamers and star of Sy Fy’s Robot Combat League!
Brass Beds, Brass Monkeys, Brassy Dames! Big Gay Horror Fan will take the latter, thank you, especially if it is the grand, larger-than-life goddess of stage and screen, Marcia Lewis (1938-2010).
Lewis made her Broadway debut opposite such powerhouses as Phyllis Diller and Ethel Merman in a production of Hello, Dolly! Their combined magnificence obviously gave her a clue on which coat rack hook to hang her professional personality. Lewis became best known for belting out the goods as the comically evil Miss Hannigan in Annie (appearing with Jason Goes to Hell’s Allison Smith) in the 80’s and as a superior Big Mama Morton in the award winning 90’s revival of Chicago.
Ice Pirates
But, this saucy wonder also appeared in such science fiction efforts as the original Bionic Woman (as an aggressive wrestler on the second season episode ‘In This Corner, Jaime Sommers’) and 1984 goof-fest The Ice Pirates (whose jaw dropping supporting cast included Anjelica Huston, Ron Perlman, John Carradine and Bruce Vilanch).
Terror and thriller enthusiasts were also glazed over with happiness when Lewis appeared in a couple of horror influenced offerings in the late 70’s, as well.
In 1977 television film The Night They Took Miss Beautiful, a handful of glamorous pageant contestants are kidnapped by a group of ruthless, politically charged outlaws. Suffering from roulette style degradation and aggression, these pretty ladies (including genre regular Rosanne Katon, Dallas’ Victoria Principal and Karen Lamm from Ants, AKA It Happened at Lakewood Manor, and The Unseen) soon find their worst enemy just happens to be Lewis’ drippingly sweet, completely savage Mrs. Barrett. As mother to Lamm’s sweet Cindy Lou, Lewis is a wicked wonder. Lewis’ Barrett is so determined that her daughter escape with youth intact, that she offers her up, willingly, as a sexual conquest, to one of the amorous vigilantes. When Lamm/Cindy Lou finally rejects her mother in the telefilm’s final moments, Lewis shows shocked vulnerability yet a steely determination to go on – it is a bravura performance (worthy of a Tennessee Williams’ subplot or two) in an enjoyable yet unsubstantial suspense offering.
In 1982’s Night Warning (AKA Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker among others), which was filmed in the late 70’s, Lewis brings an appropriate yet over-the-top charm to her nosey Margie. As best friend to Susan Tyrell’s increasingly unhinged lead, Cheryl, Lewis radiates with personality. She hits the nail on the head as the much seen housewife who truly wears the pants in the family. It’s a theatrical performance, but one grounded in reality. Concerned yet sneaky, Margie soon faces down the psychotic Tyrell with an emotional resourcefulness brined in great fear. Incidentally, Night Warning has become a deserved cult classic due to it modern take on the Gothic esthetics of hag horror, it’s even keeled treatment of gay characters and subtle looks at the venomous effects of racism.
Here is a fun clip of Lewis trying to manipulate the legendary Phil Silvers in The Night They Took Miss Beautiful:
Of his multiple, life altering heroes few rate higher in Big Gay Horror Fan’s book than exquisitely eclectic musician-composer-man of the hour Les Baxter.
Well known to the swinging bachelor pad compilation listener, Baxter actually scored tons of amazing genre flicks throughout the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Titles such as Pharaoh’s Curse, Voodoo Island, Black Sunday (US Version), Corman’s The Pit and the Pendulum and Cry of the Banshee grace his vastly appreciated repertoire.
Here Baxter imagines what love with “Robby” set might be like with this spritely track:
Then, with seemingly ease, he produces an atmosphere of mystic foreboding with “The Gates of Annam” from his superior work Ports of Pleasure. Ports features many compositions that entice and terrify, alternatively, making it the perfect background muse for your homegrown horror efforts.
After spending several years being raised by those feral Amazonian mountain women there is nothing Big Gay Horror Fan appreciates more than a flame haired goddess with a gun! Thus the image of the ever eclectic Felicia Day as Red in 2010’s Red: Werewolf Hunter is the perfect way to start off every Friday for me! Well, especially, Friday, April 26th – which marks the beginning of Day’s three day appearance at Chicago’s hope grown geek delight C2E2 (www.c2e2.com).
Of course, the powerful, all too human Red was just another color notch in Day’s already rainbow hued talent. Whether she is sweetly singing as a hopeful human rights activist in Jess Whedon’s fan favorite Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog or providing mischievous escape in her own delightful project The Guild, Day provides vulnerability and excessive quirk – just the right combination for many a discerning viewer.
One of her most recent roles, the recurring character of Charlie Bradbury on the popular spook show Supernatural should ensure Day’s place as a queer icon (if she isn’t already), as well. As the gay Bradbury, Day is an amazing combination of goofy brightness, timid determination and crafty wonder. Sam and Dean need this lady at their side, at all times!! (Or if they don’t – I do!)
Be sure to keep up with all of Day’s zany musings and insanely awesome projects at www.feliciaday.com!
