Madonna was Into the Groove. Ariana Grande, meanwhile, was only Into You…while The Psychedelic Furs were, dramatically, Into You Like A Train. Now Dagger Cast, happily, gets Into the Mix with amazing gay dance music artist Jaime Adrian. Jaime’s latest song What Were You Drinking? has reached close to 80,000 streams…but more importantly, on this latest episode, Jaime focuses on the screams! He fills listeners in on his favorite horror film queens (including Buffy) & describes how a childhood with a genre loving father has shaped his world. So, save up all your tears for Charisma and dive into the show at:
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
Dying, tragically, within days of each other, former Another World actresses Anne Heche (May 25, 1969 – August 11, 2022) & Robyn Griggs (April 30, 1973 – August 13, 2022) both had strong connections to the world of horror, as well.
10 years after her popular reign as Maggie Corey on the lauded soap ended, Griggs began appearing in a bevy of zero budget, indie terror epics with titles like Severe Injuries, Slashers Gone Wild!, Demon Divas and the Lanes Of Damnation and Hellweek. Often cast as a villainess, her enthusiasm and love for the genre definitely bled thorough in her performances. Of special note, she gives a delightfully spastic turn as a member of a murderous tribe of ne’er do wells in Hellweek. But Severe Injuries, a feministic take on traditional slasher tropes by Amy Lynn Best and Mike Watt of Happy Cloud Pictures, may just be the best of her many scare-based offerings. She also was the force behind her own homegrown horror convention, further proof that her death at 49 from an aggressive form of cancer was a huge loss to the world of genre cinema.
The projects of Heche, who passed away after a tragic car crash, definitely had a higher mainstream pedigree. But her major terror credit, an almost frame for frame remake of the classic Psycho (1999), was a controversial offering that was, overwhelmingly, ripped apart by critics, who found its existence unnecessary. Still, the film’s queer influence can be highly felt. Gay director Gus Van Sant definitely invests understanding in the film’s outsider themes while giving us the ass shot that John Gavin never would have allowed by recasting his role with the gamely beautiful Viggo Mortensen. His encouraging Julianne Moore (in the Vera Miles role) to dive into her role with a no bullshit Sapphic energy also stands proud while Heche’s wispy beauty here makes one feel the intense attraction that Ellen DeGeneres, who she was involved with at the time, must have felt for her. Counting 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer & 2013’s Nothing Left to Fear among her other genre credits, Heche left behind not only a legacy of great acting work but an advocacy for the LGBTQIA community that has too long been under appreciated. Proclaiming the truth about her three-year love affair with DeGeneres definitely hurt her career and the stony backs that greeted her upon the dissolution of that romance were truly unnecessary- especially for a woman who helped narrow the scope of the public’s prejudices and broaden their overwhelming personal limitations.
Indeed, both Griggs and Heche have left this coil far too soon. May their AW peers, including such profound talents as Constance Ford, David Oliver, Philece Sampler & Charles Keating, rise among them to assist them to their new planes of existence.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
The revelation of hidden truths often has a macabre connotation for those of us who grew up Catholic. But the exposure of our deepest desires can also have dark implications across the board – especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Case in point, the divine Karla DeVito definitely brings out her finest candle dripping Gothicism in the music video for Midnight Confession.
In addition to her passionate take on this classic rock song, DeVito’s credits include Broadway (The Pirates of Penzance) and film (Modern Love). Of course, genre fused rock ‘n roll mavericks probably know her best from her touring duties with Bat Out Of Hell era Meat Loaf. True lovers of ’80s pop, though, surely cherish her the most for her excellent underrated LPS, Is This A Cool World or What? and Wake ‘Em Up in Tokyo.
Nicely, DeVito is still working towards her eternal prime, duetting with both Robby Benson, her husband, and fellow Steinman protegee Ellen Foley. These recent releases are currently available for viewing at https://karladevito.com/.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
After facing down mighty dinos (One Million Years B.C.), a dementedly determined Richard Benjamin (The Last of Sheila) and a Sapphic leaning go-go dancer (Flare Up), the beautiful Raquel Welch had definitely proved her resilience. These encounters also enabled her to be more than ready to figure out which young woman suffered from Tainted Blood, in the 1993 USA Network television film of the same name.
Naturally, as investigative reporter Elizabeth Hayes, Welch strikes all the right inquisitive poses as she races against time to figure out whether it is the awkward Lissa (Natasha Gregson Wagner) or the confident, mildly rebellious Tori (Kerri Green) who is the carrier of homicidal hemoglobin and a danger not only to her family but the world at large.
Nicely, Welch is not the only mature diva on display here, circumstances that perfectly level out the exuberant, girlish focus of Green and Wagner. Nighttime soap opera heroine Joan Van Ark blissfully launches into her role of Lissa’s flirtatiously drunk adopted mother, soddenly chewing scenery and very obviously having the time of her life. Alley Mills, best known of late as the quirkily vengeful Pam on The Bold and the Beautiful, meanwhile provides the opposite energy as the caring and attentive Mrs. Patterson, Tori’s chosen guardian.
Screenwriter Kathleen Rowell also adds a little depth to this ludicrous yet still somehow predictable programmer. She ultimately does a great job of casting suspicion on both of the suspects and, even after things are happily resolved, allows concern to still reside in the viewer’s mind that the survivors of this femme powered onslaught might still be in danger.
Penny pinchers well also be happy to note that this vehicle is available to watch for free on YouTube and (perhaps) other streaming services, as well.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
True chemistry in creative projects is hard to find. I’m so thankful that I have that zap-pow rhythm with my bestie gal pal Kirsten (AKA Lookitchooz). Kirsten has been fueling the world with her positivity and knack for finding a good deal with her brand-new YouTube channel for a few months now. I was super glad to join her for this energetic $1 McDeals Day reveal video. I think it’s really cute and filled with our love for each other & for finding a cute, mismatched mug or a mysterious, unlabeled buy. Check out the video at
Standing true to herself even in the face of hysterical Red Scare blacklisting and multiple physical threats due to her latter-day work with the United Nations, the unstoppable Marsha Hunt often played characters who took no guff from the underside of humanity, as well.
Case in point, as Kate Hazelton in the 1957 B-budget horror Back from the Dead, Hunt displays an unwavering attitude when her character’s sister (the glorious Peggie Castle) is suddenly possessed by the deceased wife of her new husband. As Mandy (Castle) begins acting stranger and stranger, seducing her neighbors and even getting violent with her sibling, Hunt imparts a steadfastness to her characterization, reveling in a sophisticated loyalty and honest sense of determination.
Of course, even when playing the sacrificial lamb opposite the noble Greer Garson (Blossoms in the Dust) or losing out romantically to the man-stealing Susan Hayward (Smash-Up), Hunt’s performances always had a sense of purpose about them. This attribute makes her not only one of celluloid’s most vibrant figures but one of its most resilient, as well.
Nicely, her incredible life has been lovingly documented in Roger Memos’ powerful cinematic memoir Marsha Hunt’s Sweet Adversity, easily available on a variety of streaming services.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
Known for her animated, cannonball-ready energy, the rubbery Una O’Connor lit up such classic James Whale horror shows as The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein. Unsurprisingly, those comic forays have cemented her a place in cinema history.
O’Connor, who also played a series of hard-working domestic types opposite such blonde bombshells as Jean Harlow and Alice Faye, nicely was able to play against type from time to time. As Lydia Sloan on the Reclusive Sisters episode of early term detective series Martin Kane, she first appears to be a kindly eccentric, bound by loyalty to her two siblings, the youngest of whom appears to be riddled with a dreamy madness. But after a murder is committed at their homestead, the inquisitive Kane (William Gargan) soon deduces that it is the cunning Lydia, not her tormented kin, who is behind the homicidal trickery. As the noose closes in on her, O’Connor takes flight, enacting her character’s comeuppance with a hysterical overabundance, chewing every malleable prop and temporary set piece thrown in her path.
Forever impressive, O’Connor’s last role, before her death of heart disease at age of 78, returned her to the previous auteur-based landscape that she had shared with Whale. Here she provided her original brand of comic relief, one last time, in Billy Wilder’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution. A picture with Wilder, the mastermind behind such classics as The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, definitely seems a fitting end for such a singular force of cinematic nature. Nicely, this project also reunited the very Irish O’Connor with the very British Charles Laughton (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Island of Lost Souls). The two had, effectively, played mother and son in the Jean Renoir helmed This Land is Mine in 1943.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
As the coolly calculating Lily Watkins in 1957’s Footsteps in the Fog, the crisp Jean Simmons uses her refined speaking tone and calm demeanor to create a convincing portrait of a woman blindly motivated by her obsessions.
Watkins, a servant in the home of the esteemed, murderous Stephen Lowry (Stewart Granger), is determined to become the mistress of his manor when she discovers that her employer is not merely a grieving widower but actually a cruel cad who did away with his older, well-to-do wife. Soon, the cunning woman has elevated herself to the head of the household staff and granted herself access to all the jewelry and clothing of the recently expired lady of the manor.
With bright fire in her eyes, Simmons unwaveringly enacts her character’s determined escalation into the land of no return. Even when it becomes obvious that Lowry would rather murder her than be bound to her via blackmail & manipulations, she remains resolute in her intentions to make him her own. Nicely, though, as the plot twists and turns towards a conclusion, Simmons also lets us see the beating heart of her creation. Her tender wounds and sorrow bleed out toward the surface, allowing for a fully rounded portrait not just a picture-perfect glance at pure evil.
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
Suyuan (to June Woo): You have a style no one else can teach…I see you. – The Joy Luck Club
Its 21 years later and I still haven’t forgiven Jeff Stryker. Just to be clear, he didn’t break my heart or leave me hanging with the check after a 5-Star dinner. He didn’t take photos and expose my toothpaste scarred, stubble strewn bathroom sink to a mixed bag of friends and family. But as a lifelong horror fan, what he did may have even been worse. He never let me know that in 1989, under his birth name of Chuck Peyton, he starred in Zombie 4: After Death, a Euro terror epic directed by none other than Troll 2‘s insanely energetic Claudio Fragasso.
But, perhaps, all should finally be washed under that wispy bridge of time and firmly forgotten. He did give me my The Joy Luck Club moment, after all.
To backtrack, in the spring of 2001 some mutual acquaintances contacted me about helping him place his play Jeff Stryker Does Hard Time in Chicago. After some minor false starts, a venue was secured, and I was hired to production manage-direct the project. It seemed like kismet. What could be cooler for an exploitation flick junkie than doing a male version of a Women in Prison flick featuring the very person whose picture will be placed next to the sticky pronouncement of Gay Porn God once the sands of oblivion have finally blown their last streak against the fading skies?!? Granted, there were some missteps along the way. Attuned to simpler camera techniques, he vetoed 90% of the blocking I came up with — and when he left the final dress rehearsal, mid-run, to attend to some minor business, I saw my 10 hard won years of theatrical career climbing blown to smithereens, and I had a loudly frantic meltdown in front of him and the entire cast and crew. (My own apology is firmly placed here, fellas. Read it and please don’t weep!)
But, overall, it was a fun adventure and, as most creative projects, seemingly over and done within the blink of an eye. Still reeling a bit from my miserably unreturned crush on the cute, wavy-haired actor who played the production’s bad boy protagonist, I met up with Stryker a few days after we struck set to say our goodbyes. There, next to the dryer in the laundry room area of the B and B that he was staying in, he turned to me, mid-conversation, looked me straight in the eyes and earnestly proclaimed, “You are just so sweet!” After taking a step back, I casually thanked him. Or, at least, I hoped that was how I appeared. For beneath that calm response, lurked a valley of stunned surprise. For just like that mother and daughter scene in the above-mentioned chick flick, I had always longed for someone to see me for who I really was – to recognize the lovely soul that beat beneath all the swirling insecurity and falsely projected bravado that propelled me, haphazardly yet hopefully, through my days. And here, mystically rising from the sheets of budget fabric softener, it was. This man who starred, with torso thrusting glory, in projects such as Powertool, Strykin’ It Deep and Bigger Than Life actually got me. He saw that beneath the yearning struggle and the occasional flare-ups of spite and frustration, lurked a good soul. He somehow saw what made me special…and while, decades later, I still haven’t quite distilled just what that might be, I know it is there thanks to him.
So, maybe I can actually let go of the disappointment of not having had a conversation about his undead adventures filming with a gonzo Italian maverick in the steamy Philippines. After all, the gift he gave me was actually so much greater.
Note: Severin Films has released a deluxe version of Zombie 4 with a CD soundtrack and fun interview with Jeff.
Whether she was fully intriguing the demented Richard Burton in the silly Euro horror Bluebeard or hunting down a homicidal twin as a prize-winning writer in the USA Network’s scientifically gonzo Tainted Blood, the glorious Raquel Welch has always proven herself to be something of a primetime thriller.
Known for warbling a tune or two on Broadway (Woman of the Year) and television specials (including her own self-titled one), Welch also made a grab for pop stardom in 1987 with the gloriously fun single This Girl is Back in Town.
Seemingly only appreciated in the sticky back rooms of gay bars, this track ultimately didn’t do well enough to produce a full album. Thankfully, though, it’s glorious Paul Jabara assisted rhythms live on online and in dusty used record bins everywhere!
Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
Big Gay Horror Fan 