Unsung Heroines of Horror: Pamela Searle

Published April 11, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

Pamela Searle

A beauty queen, most notable for her placement as the third runner up in the 1959 Miss Universe contest, the beguiling Pamela Searle made a dozen film and television appearances throughout her short lived career.

Her movie credits, which included Bells Are Ringing (with Judy Holiday and Dean Martin) and If A Man Answers (with Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin), often capitalized on her looks and gave her little to do besides provide an attractive background ascetic.

TV was a bit kinder, giving her characters with names like Roxy Dozy to play on shows like Route 66 and Bachelor Father. Her most significant part for lovers of spook, though, is definitely that of Meg Payton on the A Wig for Miss Devore episode of Thriller. As an enchantress being hung for her crimes against humanity in the story’s enjoyable opening sequence, Searle beguiles with both touching modesty and a wickedly sharp edge. As Meg flatters her executioners with precision, Searle brings out of all the nuances of the role, proving that as a performer she is truly an unsung (anti) heroine of horror.

In fact, one definitely feels shades of Barbara Steele’s Princess Asa Vadja from Black Sunday and Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sarah Sanderson from Hocus Pocus in Searle’s inflections, two very distinctive personalities that give credence to the excellence of this underappreciated actress’s work.

Pamela Searle Model

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A Wig for Miss Devore

Published April 10, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

A Wig Main

Coming off like Sunset Boulevard sewn into a glittering blonde tapestry with Mario Bava’s Black Sunday, A Wig for Miss Devore is definitely one of the gayest hours of horror ever.

The queer fan’s gateway into this second season episode of the classic Boris Karloff hosted Thriller is most definitely John Fiedler’s meek yet fervently devoted Herbert Bleake. Passionately protective of the faded diva that is Miss Devore, he is very similar to those of us who defend our own muted celebrity icons to the death. Of course, to the relief of terror lovers everywhere, death does rear its head here. A Wig Gay

Long forgotten by the studio that she helped put on the map, Patricia Barry’s saccharine voiced Sheila Devore sweetly believes that she will be welcomed back by them with open arms. After spending years away while recuperating from a nervous breakdown, her pet project is a script based on the execution of a centuries old witch. Interestingly, one of her primary requests is to use the wig that this true life enchantress wore as an accessory in the film. After Bleake blackmails the studio head, the faded Devore gets all her wishes. Unsurprisingly, once she puts the wig on her head, she becomes the picture of seductive youth and all her former naysayers fall at her feet, proposing marriage and setting her up as the studio’s queen. This fountain of fantasy has a price, though, and soon the innocent starlet is swept into vindictive rages that culminate in a series of murders to retain her vitality and ever ascending position in this imaginary filmdom’s ranks.

A Wig Hug Much like Boulevard, this story details the price that women pay for growing older in Hollywood. Separating itself a bit from that project, as opposed to a mysteriously regal beauty like Gloria Swanson’s Norma Desmond, Devore is illustrated as the ‘40s version of a Jayne Mansfield type, a silly blonde who did inconsequential yet truly successful projects. Nicely, Barry skillfully takes this central temptress from innocent denial to furious retribution. She perfectly echoes the ache of despair that often characterizes the accesses of show business and its even more rampant denials, giving this project its special heart and a place of importance in the history of anthology horror…and an even more significant place in the memories of all the wounded outsiders who instinctively see themselves in her plight.

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Sam Harris

Published April 5, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

It wasn’t just rockers like Alice Cooper and Pat Benatar who embraced the asylum esthetic with their recordings. ‘80s pop sensation Sam Harris utilized the strait jacket as a colorful fashion accessory on the back portrait of his debut album, as well.
Such a bad boy move might seem the antithesis of Harris’ colorful reality star beginnings.

But Harris’ biggest hit Sugar Don’t Bite definitely wasn’t playing around. In fact, this track makes being a “bleeder” sound like a sexual position well worth trying out on some hot Saturday night.

Of course, Harris, an openly gay man whose career has encompassed everything from turns on Broadway to penning a memoir called Ham: Slices of a Life, is always serving up the sweet stuff at http://www.samharris.com/.

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Va-Va-Villainess: Hope Emerson

Published April 4, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

Hope Emerson Caged

Her work as cruel prison matron Evelyn Harper in the historic WIP effort Caged earned the distinctive Hope Emerson an Academy Award nomination and a place in history for creating one of the most odiferous presences ever committed to celluloid. Immortalized on the track Miss Pamela and Miss Sparky Discuss Stuffed Bras and some of their early gym experiences on the 1969 (Frank Zappa produced) GTOS’ album Permanent Damage, Emerson actually manipulated her unusual height and malleable face to great effect in a variety of roles.

Besides her grand efforts tormenting Caged‘s Eleanor Parker, Emerson effectively backed up everyone from Edward G. Robinson to Greer Garson to Bob Hope. One of her final roles, though, brought out an acidic maternal quality and gave her great recognition among jazz buffs and beat swingers. Hope Peter Gunn

As the gruff, but loving Mother on Blake Edwards music drenched series Peter Gunn, Emerson did some of her most sensitive work. Beaming with matriarchal pride, Emerson affectionately interacted with Craig Stevens and Lola Albright, the performers who played the titular, danger ridden private eye and his teasing chanteuse girlfriend. Utilizing her impressive 6’2” frame, this veteran performer rounded out her affectionate antics here with a take no guff attitude. Thus, only the series’ roughest thugs dared to mess with her…and usually from a distance and with the help of explosives when they did!

Dying at the far too young age of 62 from liver disease, those who appreciate fine performances know that Emerson has definitely left behind a memorable legacy of characters. Her striking signature style refuses to fade quietly into the mists of time.

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hope-emerson stare

Book Review: Testament

Published April 2, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

At the midway point of Testament, queer horror writer Jose Nateras’ debut novel, the protagonist is speaking with an experienced LGBTQIA historian about the gothic happenings that are occurring in his life. As I read, I began remembering all the amazing journalistic mentors I’ve had in my career – Ralph P. Gernhardt, co-founder of Gay Chicago Magazine…Louis Weisberg and Larry Bommer of Chicago Free Press, all leaders in queer publishing and community reporting. The ability to have this personal connection to a piece of literature is ultimately why Nateras’ book is so important. It is so rare to have a complicated, sympathetic gay narrator as our guide throughout a genuine work of terror fiction.

The narrator in question here is Gabe Espinosa, an emotionally devastated Latinx man. Still recovering from a hasty suicide attempt due to romantic misadventure, he soon finds himself the target of an entity that seemingly wants to destroy him not only for his sexuality, but for his racial background, as well. This plot point is another of the significant pleasures of this quick moving 195 page tome. Nateras imbues Gabe with many of the concerns and conflicts facing minorities residing in an already marginalized culture. Fetishism, invisibility and lack of status and opportunity are all explored here with taut emotion and sensitive reasoning.

Nicely, there are magnified scenes of shock and intrigue here, as well. A frenzied mob attack on the CTA in Chicago is almost heart stopping in intensity while the film’s penultimate encounter is also viciously rendered. In fact, one almost wishes Nateras had utilized more descriptiveness in closing out these supernatural details. A longer climax may have actually benefited this already exciting and relatable story, allowing readers to truly grasp the combative nature that Gabe must employ to fight back against what is haunting him.

The fact that Nateras writes such compelling characters also comes in to play here, as well. It is easy to fall in love with Gabe and his friends, especially his ne’er do well, bisexual roommate Bryan, and to have had the pleasure of their company for a moment or two longer would have truly been a gift. Thus, Nateras should be proud of this spooky, culturally valuable work and I can’t wait to read his next efforts in genre writing.

https://ninestarpress.com/product/testament/

https://www.amazon.com/Testament-Jose-Nateras/dp/1951880153/

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Kimberly Caldwell

Published March 29, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

Kimberly Wrong Turn 2

“It’s dead out here and I’m hating you right now. What kind of agent are you?” – Kimberly, Wrong Turn 2

Parlaying her American Idol fame into acting work, the dynamic Kimberly Caldwell made a skin shedding impression in the fun horror sequel Wrong Turn 2. Despite going through multiple song changes and delayed releases, her first album Without Regret also highlighted her dramatic abilities. These skills are particularly evident in Mess Of You, one of the recording’s acclaimed singles.

Traveling down the right path at last…and utilizing her personality to its fullest, Caldwell has spent much of the last decade appearing on talk show panels and parenting her three children with style and panache.

https://www.kimberly-caldwell.com/

KImberly 2

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Lady Possessed (1952).

Published March 28, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

1952’s Lady Possessed featured the distinguished pairing of the elegant James Mason and the always dramatic June Havoc. As veteran performers with such credits as A Star Is Born and Gentleman’s Agreement between them, they naturally imbued the supernatural melodramatics of the story here with an air of earnest believability.

After a traumatic miscarriage, Jean Wilson (Havoc) begins renting a country cottage, due to the insistent recommendation of her husband (Stephen Dunne), in order to recuperate. But rest is the last thing that occurs for our beleaguered heroine when the house’s former mistress begins to take over her personality. Jean is soon tracking down the dead woman’s husband (James Mason), a famous novelty pianist, and integrating herself into his life. A disastrous séance, moodily filmed by directors Roy Kellino and William Spier, a change in her hair color and bouts of sleepless, incredibly erratic behavior ultimately lead to a moodily gothic yet emotionally abrupt climax here.

Produced by Mason and based on a story-script by his wife Pamela, who also sharply enacts Havoc’s sassy best friend Sybil, this project is also notable for providing Havoc with the rare opportunity to play a lead in a film. Always memorable, she was often cast in the Sybil role in her projects, perfecting the art of playing the bright, smart talking companion to a variety of leading ladies including Alice Faye, Dorothy McGuire and Gene Tierney.

Interestingly, years later Mason and Havoc would also be connected through their appearances in two different projects based on Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. Mason, of course, played the mysterious Straker in Tobe Hooper’s popular 1979 television adaptation of the book. Havoc, meanwhile, played the devoted yet bloodsucking Aunt Clara in Larry Cohen’s less successful A Return to Salem’s Lot in 1987.

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Review: The Knock

Published March 26, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

There’s nothing quite like getting woken up from a deep sleep by an unexpectedly loud voice in your building’s hallway, right? Although, I imagine a soft scratch at your door followed by a bedraggled whisper of your name would be even worse. Embarking on a more intense version of that last scenario, writer-director Zach Lorkiewicz’s latest horror short The Knock almost seems to be presciently made for these late night, isolationist times.

As with many Count the Clock Productions, the visual and sonic elements of this piece are top notch. Here Lorciewicz’s glossily acute style finds its match in Terence Yoon’s coloring and cinematography, Nathan Baldonado’s moody lighting and Catharine Yang’s jump start the march score. Meanwhile, Lauren Elyse Buckley’s committed acting performance is sure to put all viewers in the head space of their own corner of the eye midnight frights.

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Joyce Sims

Published March 22, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

Joyce Sims Main

With its Phantom of the Opera style opening, Joyce Sims’ Come Into My Life burned up the dance floors in the late ‘80s and seemed the perfect song to be featured in a horror film. A few years later the producers of Species did include the popular track in a significant scene with Natasha Henstridge’s deadly Sil.

Sims caressed the keyboards with such dance legends as Mantronix, who produced a number of her most popular tunes, and is still creating new music and performing at nostalgia fests. More information on her activity is available at https://www.joycesimsonline.com/.

NATASHA-MAIN-e1525755276992

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Va-Va-Villainess: Geraldine Fitzgerald

Published March 20, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

Geraldine Fitzgerald Harry

Best known as Bette Davis’ sympathetic companion in the classic tearjerker Dark Victory, the supremely talented Geraldine Fitzgerald was also renowned to certain cinema goers for her humor filled appearances in such ‘80s comedies as Arthur and Easy Money. Nicely, for our purposes, she also brought a tart acidity to a duo of nasty ladies in successive films in 1940s’ gothic-noir cinema.

Not surprisingly, her Crystal Shackleford in Three Strangers (1946) was a deceptively strong counterpoint to the desperately manipulative Jerome Arbutny (the always masterful Sydney Greenstreet) and the drunkenly con minded Johnny West (the singular Peter Lorre). Able to turn her character’s sweet demeanor into a scalding sense of vengeance in a quick turn, Fitzgerald’s work here sears itself into the viewer’s brain. She proves herself to be as memorable a figure as both Greenstreet and Lorre, two of cinema’s most recognizable characters, with her flirtatiously venomous ways, taking focus as the ringleader of a financial caper that proves to be the downfall of all involved. Geraldine Three Strangers

A year before her committed performance in Three Strangers, she probed even more controversial depths as George Sander’s controlling sister in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry. As Lettie Quincey, a desperate spinster with a pathological devotion to her brother, Fitzgerald fearlessly dives into the incestuous overtures of her role, never backing down from the intensity of her character’s emotions. Calmly and convincingly destroying the late blooming romance of Sanders’ Harry, Fitzgerald’s deadly sense of the saccharine works an evil magic, pulling cinema lovers into her toxic web with joyous abandon.

Geraldine Strange Affair poster

Horror Hall of Fame:

While both these works, directed by such supreme stylists as Robert Siodmak and Jean Negulesco, feature haunting visuals and elements that contain both the supernatural and the fantastical, Fitzgerald fully submerged herself into the horror genre with appearances in 1982’s Blood Link and 1986’s Poltergeist II: The Other Side.

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