Seeing as there can be no greater emotional horror than feeling like you are trapped in a stranger’s body (just an honest moment’s thought would bring responses like rage, confusion, self hate and depression into your heads), Big Gay Horror Fan celebrates Laura Jane Grace as his Girl Hero on this blazingly hot, totally progressive Monday.

Born Tom Gabel in 1980, Laura has led politically charged punk-pop band Against Me! since 1997. While creating such propulsive masterpieces as “Miami” and “Searching for a Former Clarity” (in which initial revelations of a transgender orientation were revealed), Grace ignored increasing feelings of gender dysphoria by concentrating on touring, marriage and fatherhood.

But, finally beginning a public transition process with the support of her wife and many fans (who rallied her with joyous cries of “Laura, Laura, Laura” at a recent show, seen in miniature above, in Chicago), Laura has begun the heroic path to self acceptance and, torpedoes and closed minds of certain crowd surfers be damned, has proven herself to be the true essence of punk rock and what it’s all inclusive message should be.

Another gender trailblazer and Big Gay Horror Fan favorite was born George Wilson, reportedly around 1950 in New York City, but set the 70’s and 80’s European exploitation world on fire as the glamorous and majestic Ajita Wilson.

Acknowledged by those in the know as one of the premiere stars of Women in Prison flicks (with solid appearances in such flesh bearing epics as Escape From Hell, Hell Penitentiary and Sadomania), Wilson worked with such hedonistic maestros as Jess Franco (including 1983’s Macumbo Sexual)and Lucio Fulci (in 1980’s Contraband) and appeared in dozens of free-wheeling sexploitation epics, such as 1976’s The Nude Princess and 1977’s Black Aphrodite(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWZrHUyNkAY).

Although there seems to be some mystery and confusion about her life and true background, Wilson (who had her sex change in the mid-70’s and may be best known for 1985’s Savage Island which mashed up her Escape from Hell footage with new scenes featuring Linda Blair and Penn Jillette) is the true cinematic vanguard – someone who found cult success in an era when it wouldn’t have seemed possible.

A nice (slightly muddled) overview on Wilson is available at http://www.cultsirens.com/wilson/wilson.htm and you can keep up with Laura and Against Me! at http://againstme.net.

Be sure to check out a new Girl Hero (or Heroes) every Monday with Big Gay Horror Fan –

And until next time, Sweet love and pink Grue!

In the last five years, Big Gay Horror Fan has undergone changes. Let me see. Oh, yeah. My hair has gotten thinner and my waistline has fluctuated – often for the worse.

Meanwhile, multi-talented director/writer John Pata has grown immeasurably as a creative artist since his charmingly fun 2007 debut Better Off Undead. This observation is proven as fact as Pata, along with co-writer/co-director Adam Bartlett, has given the world a hauntingly poetic look at an obliterated world with this year’s devastatingly good Dead Weight.

After the majority of the world is seemingly wiped out by a mysterious virus, a handful of bedraggled travelers wander the barren landscape trying to find other survivors, while actively avoiding the often violent infected. Focusing on Charlie, a charming slacker, determined to find his girlfriend at a specified destination point, Dead Weight does not dwell on outside monsters. Rather, it concentrates on how adverse conditions can make monsters out of humankind as Charlie (and others he meets along the way) begins to consider actions that not only question his sanity but his decency.

Brilliantly edited and photographed, Dead Weight is solidly led by (first time actor) Joe Belknap as Charlie while Mary Lindberg, as his ambitious love Samantha, brings vivacious charm to her role. It is the supporting actors, like Michelle Courvais and Aaron Christensen, who truly bring out all the subtle nuances in their characterizations, though, ultimately making Dead Weight an emotionally revelatory experience. Courvais, who played a sassy double dealing cop in acclaimed low budget horror The Landlord, particularly brings weight and humorous understanding to her emotionally scarred survivor, proving she is a performer of uncommon depth.

There are some minor flaws. Occasional sequences of dialogue flow awkwardly out of the actors’ mouths and, as in most quickly shot independent features, it is obvious when friends and innocent set visitors have been recruited to play roles. But on the whole, Dead Weight is an inspiring, amazingly complex film, deserving of multiple accolades.

On a side note, Dead Weight was given an emotional screening at Evil Squirrel Comics in Rogers Park in Chicago on June 8th, 2012 (above). Evil Squirrel, owned by openly gay horror lover Sparky Bobby King, has gone the unfortunate shakily financial way of many awesomely creative independent businesses, by having to close the doors of its (physical) shop. Fortunately, Bobby and Evil Squirrel will still be around offering online and delivery service and as an extremely cool presence at various conventions.

To keep up with Dead Weight visit www.deadweightmovie.blogspot.com and to follow the nutty antics at Evil Squirrel go to www.evilsquirrelcomics.com.

And until next time-

Sweet love and pink Grue, Big Gay Horror Fan!

Being possessed and coming out. Well, Big Gay Horror Fan can relate to one of those experiences, but lucky girl hero Joanna Johnson has had encounters with both and has emerged eternally shining.

Before soap stardom, as The Bold and the Beautiful’s innocent Caroline and her unknowing twin Karen, Johnson essayed bright and wholesome final girl Jennifer in 1986 cult slasher Killer Party. Well, final girl with a twist, as sweet Jennifer ends up possessed and wrecking savage mayhem in Killer Party’s juicy final act.

After her initial run(s) on The Bold and the Beautiful ended, the industriously talented Johnson went behind the cameras to produce films like Very Bad Things and to create the popular television show Hope and Faith.

Now, back before the cameras as Karen in The Bold and The Beautiful’s very first same sex storyline, Johnson has confirmed her own lesbianism (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/14/joanna-johnson-lesbian-bold-and-the-beautiful_n_1515489.html ), publically, making the blood of Killer Party fans around the world flow with glorious excitement!

May you and yours live a life of many happy (un-possessing) soirees, grand Ms. Johnson!

Be sure to check back for a new Girl Hero every Monday –

And until next time, Sweet love and Pink Grue,

Big Gay Horror Fan

Sometimes Big Gay Horror Fan wakes up in the middle of the night imagining the tails of spritely fairies are brushing his face. Nope, just those bed bugs, again!

Meanwhile, talented writer-director Jean-Claude Schlim (whose previous work includes producing credits for 2000’s Shadow of the Vampire and 2008’s Vampire Party) actually creates a tragic fairy tale, taking place in 1984 Amsterdam, with his evocative House of Boys.

Chronicling the adventures of teenaged Frank (an engaging Layke Anderson), who finds himself under the care of the appropriately named Madame (sensitively imbibed by cult legend Udo Kier)at the titular palace of flesh filled fantasy, Boys explores the glorious facets of found freedom and self expression shadowed by the ravaging specter of the HIV epidemic.

With introductions to Frank’s family, friends and co-workers resulting in multiple subplots (and a running time of 117 minutes), House of Boys is a bit unwieldy at times, but never less than enjoyable. Schlim is particularly adept at creating a glow of feisty romanticism while simultaneously portraying the horror of the first years of the AIDS crisis. His attention to detail is often brutal during the final weeks of a beloved character’s life and whether because of budget constraints or the cyclical fates of humanity, House of Boys ultimately feels just as contemporary as it does old fashioned.

Because of its inherent creativity, the world of film has lost many its brilliant participants to AIDS. Here is a partial listing of the eclectic genre actors who have died, but whose memories will live on in their glorious, eccentric filmographies.

Merritt Butrick (above) – Fright Night 2, Death Spa, From the Dead of Night, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Ian Charleson – Opera, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan
Brad Davis – Child of Darkness, Child of Light, The Hitchhiker (television)
Denholm Elliot – To the Devil A Daughter, The Vault of Horror, The House that Dripped Blood, Brimstone and Treacle
Leonard Frey – The Fat Black Pussycat, Boys in the Band
Kevin Peter Hall- Predator, Predator 2, Prophecy, Without Warning, One Dark Night, Hell’s Highway
Antony Hamilton – Howling IV: The Original Nightmare, Nocturna
Anthony Holland – The Sentinel, The Hitchhiker (television), The Lonely Lady
Rock Hudson – Embryo, Pretty Maids All in a Row
Tom McBride – Friday the 13th, Part Two

Timothy Patrick Murphy – The Bloody Bushido Blade (http://tpmurphy.tripod.com/id5.html)
David Oliver – The Horror Show, Night of the Creeps
Anthony Perkins – Psycho, In the Deep Woods, Edge of Sanity, Destroyer, How Awful About Allan, Pretty Poison
Dack Rambo – Nightmare Honeymoon, Good Against Evil
Ray Sharkey – Hellhole, Stunts, The Rain Killer, Caged Fear
Tom Villard – Popcorn, Parasite
Theodore Wilson – The Vagrant, Cleopatra Jones, Tales from the Crypt (television)

House of Boys is available from QC Cinema from Breaking Glass Pictures (www.breakingglasspictures.com). You can, also, gain entrance to the House of Boys at http://www.facebook.com/#!/houseofboys.film and www.houseofboysmovie.com.

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

Oh, the things that Big Gay Horror Fan regrets from his youth: Giving my sister that half naked, personally autographed poster of soap stud Christian LeBlanc; never having owned a bunch of those sexy 80’s hair bands…

Of course, I never could have worked them like eclectic genre goddess Tane McClure does on the cover of her only solo LP (recorded under the last name moniker of her then husband, Journey’s Jonathan Cain). Fashioned after the vocal styling of her idol, Grace Slick, this power pop offering features such thriller cuts as “Vertigo”, “Danger Zone” and “Crazy Eyes”.

That latter title surely applies to the wild visual posturing of McClure’s co-star in 1986’s bizarre, frequently misogynistic offering Crawlspace, Klaus Kinski. This is one of those sleazy 80’s offerings you love because it gives you that dirty, unsettled feeling afterwards and McClure excels, here, as the frightened mute cage captive of Kinski.

McClure switched gears as the industriously plucky girlfriend of Dennis Cole in the addictively silly Zombie Death House, directed by none other than John Saxon, in 1987 and found herself in another strange horror offering in 1990, Death Spa. A vaguely hard-to-find cult classic, Death Spa involves a male antagonist being possessed by his revenge filled dead sister in a goofy transgendered horror take on the mega-flop Perfect.

Spending the majority of the 1990’s portraying hot libeled ladies and duplicitous strippers in T and A thrillers, McClure skirted into the new century with a bang by playing an exasperated dancer in 1999’s Go and Reese Witherspoon’s Playboy hot momma in 2001’s Legally Blonde and it’s 2003 sequel.

Currently hitting the internet in hostess mode, McClure (the daughter of actor, Doug McClure – The House Where Evil Dwells ) continues to reinvent herself, proving that as in her 1982 song, she keeps ‘holdin’ on, holdin’ on’ while others have long since faded.

Check out a new Girl Hero every Monday on Big Gay Horror Fan –

And Until the next time – Sweet love and pink Grue!

Big Gay Horror Fan has always had a hard time making up his mind. For years it was because a caravan of bald nuns in blue leather thigh highs controlled his every thought, but recently it has been because there is just so much cool stuff to see and do that he doesn’t know where to start.

Witness:

On May 31st, writer and director John Borowski is raising funds for his latest true life horror documentary by showing his acclaimed double feature, H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer and Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation. The event begins at 7:30 at the historic Portage Theater in Chicago. More information can be excavated by visiting http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/135559819911254/ or www.johnborowski.com.

For all those strolling through the maimed bodies that litter the streets of Forest Park IL – make sure to stop in at the bloody elegant Centuries and Sleuths Bookstore on 7419 W. Madison Street. Yes, the store features detective fiction and murder mysteries galore, but there is also a great gothic young adult section, a zombie coloring book available and some steam punk offerings, as well. Staff member Lynda Fitzgerald is knowledgably friendly, too! And for those with a great fear of the Midwest, but a strong desire for that graphic novelization of the Clue board game (is there such a thing?) – Centuries and Sleuths can always be found online at www.centuriesandsleuths.com, as well.

Then, once you’ve purchased your books on cannibalistic jailbait murderers you may just be ready for Random Films’ outrageous Kill Cecile Volume One. Featuring the fabulous Rodney Horn echoing Lynda Day George’s Pieces‘ freak-out, the adorable Bo Adkins as Corey, a psychotic killer and a disgustingly hilarious sequence that brings new meaning to caring for your pets, writer-director Brian Dorton definitely delivers the wig stained goods here.

Check it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhnfwYeIZLI

Two lesbians discover that there is more to the nighttime than some late loving in Luther Blogal-Jones creepy Creak (www.vimeo.com/fasterproductions). Who hasn’t thought someone was standing in the tiny hallway of their studio apartment at one time or another? (Besides BGHF, that is, who actually PAID for his stalker!) You can keep up with Blogal-Jones at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sincerely-Psychopath/343362982343983 and www.fasterproductions.blogspot.com.

Meanwhile, eternal BGHF fave Lori Cardille is appearing in Scott Goldberg’s powerful short The Three. The Three is available, online, for free until September 1st at http://www.TheThreeFilm.com/. Featuring powerful images and passionate performances from the always gorgeous Cardille and John Amplas, The Three is definitely worth a look.

After all that, I am totally worn out – so, until next time –

Sweet love and pink Grue, Big Gay Horror Fan!

In his never ending quest to accomplish what others, perhaps too fondly, call making a living, Big Gay Horror Fan has waited tables, conducted extensively annoying movie surveys in zoo atriums and walked leash straining Dobermans through streets full of dining homosexuals. I’ve assisted presidents (but unlike Lady Bird Johnson have never slept with one) and have helped the belligerent five star traveler with exclusive arrangements – so, naturally, I prefer a horror film goddess with a varied pedigree.

Thus, I am pickled as a pink cucumber to discover the venerable, always exciting Georgia Brown (1933-1992). Born Lillian Klot, she escaped the blitzes of London as a child and, discovering a love for jazz and blues at a young age, choose the protagonist of the popular romp “Sweet Georgia Brown” as her professional name.

In all probability best known for her stage roles, which included a stint succeeding Lotte Lenya in the New York production of Three Penny Opera and the originating the role of Nancy (performing with a pre-Monkee’s Davy Jones on the Ed Sullivan show) in the popular musical Oliver!, she was also the force behind the powerful, feministic BBC series Shoulder to Shoulder.