Review: it’s been ten years…

Published April 3, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Move over, Regina George! It’s now Alexis Queen’s Betsy that may just be the most manipulative ex-schoolgirl to ever breathe, creatively.

Indeed, this former cheerleader, one of the main characters in Cesario Tirado-Ortiz’s it’s been ten years since everyone died. a play about final girls is not only seductive, often destroying the hearts of her fellow survivors, but she just might be hiding one of the juiciest secrets to ever hit the stages, as well.

To be specific, the stage in question here is the Open Space Arts in Chicago, where Ortiz’s deeply psychological, yet truly fun horror piece is running until April 6th. As directed by Teri Talo, Queen imbues this love letter to our magnificent heroines of terror with an edgy sweetness that always makes you wonder just exactly what Betsy is truly hiding.

With the show’s major plot points taking place at a deserted psychological retreat in the woods, – nothing bad is going to happen there, right?!? – Queen is, unsurprisingly, joined by a strong group of castmates – Julia Toney. Noah Hinton and Alex Marusich. Nicely, the majority of Ortiz’s remaining characters are nonbinary and transgender, giving the show a very DIY, LGBTQ+ energy.

Naturally, our favored genre can only benefit from this type of exciting inclusivity and one hopes that there is more to come from Ortiz and their ilk.

For those living in or visiting the Midwest, be sure to check out https://openspacearts.org/ to find out more about this love letter to slashers and the powerful, sometimes deeply damaged women who make them so relatable.

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

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Troll Terror 101: Godsend

Published March 22, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Somewhere in my media strewn apartment, there is a DVD of Raging Bull. I’ve had it for years, with every intention to watch it, but…

Of course, you can bet I if stumble upon my copy of 2004’s Godsend, featuring Robert De Niro’s other greatly acclaimed modern performance (lol!), all bets are off. That sucker is going in the player!

Before you judge me, though, let’s consider something. At the beginning of the 21st Century, after years of often stellar projects, De Niro seemingly made a purposeful creative decision to begin branching out into his (highly enjoyable) Troll Terror years. He did this via taking roles in projects like (the above mentioned) Godsend, Hide and Seek (2005) and Red Lights (2012).

Naturally, he was no stranger to the genre, having made appearances in the noir-ishly violent Cape Fear (1991), Kenneth Branagh’s pompous, sweat-tastic take on Frankenstein (1994) and the psycho thriller The Fan (1996). But it was with the poorly received Godsend that I think many critics and fans began to question his choices a bit.

A Mary Shelley-style Bad Seed knock-off, this film found De Niro in (spoiler alert) mad scientist zone. Playing genetics expert Richard Wells, he initially reads as kindly and benevolent. But things take a turn after he helpfully clones the dead child of Paul (Greg Kinnear) and Jessie Duncan (Rebecca Romijn). Upon entering his grade school years, Adam (Cameron Bright) starts to exhibit severe personality disorders while also beginning to act out with deadly intent. After some investigating, the Duncan’s discover that Wells has also imbued their child with DNA from his own psychotic, deceased offspring.

Bleakly impossible, the project wound up with a 3% Rotten Tomatoes score. But Bright, who visited similar territory in the bizarre arthouse adventure Birth, is actually truly effective as the psychologically twisted, less than originally named Adam. De Niro also subtly portrays the deep shift in Wells, bringing a chilling honesty to the scenes where his evil plan is revealed.

The fact that Kinnear, who was nominated for an Oscar, and De Niro, an honoree with multiple acting statuettes, both found this project worthy also speaks to its effectiveness. Wouldn’t any parent do anything they could to resurrect their suddenly departed offspring? A parent himself, De Niro surely responded to that aspect of the script, making this good kid-gone bad enterprise a repeat watch for me…and, hopefully, plenty of others.

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

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Queer Horror: Rondo Contender

Published March 16, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Blow those jagged, limb-shaped trumpets! Queer Horror: A Film Guide has been nominated for a Rondo Award for Book of the Year!

This is especially cool since we’ve been named alongside such excellent publications as I SPIT ON YOUR CELLULOID: The History of Women Directing Horror Films, by Heidi Honeycutt. This also feels like a congratulatory vindication for Sean Abley and Tyler Doupé , our brilliant editors, who, for almost 10 years, guided this book from various scattered entries into a polished volume celebrating all that is LGBTQIA in fright movies.

Naturally, I’ve attached the link to the ballot here:

http://www.rondoaward.com/rondoaward.com/blog/

You can copy and paste it and send it along in an email to taraco@aol.com, if you’d like to vote. You have the option of marking your picks in all of the categories — or simply limiting it the one or two that you are most aware of and/or most passionate about.

& if brevity is indeed your bag – I have to say that CATEGORY 11 is an incredibly interesting option.

Hint, hint, hint…

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

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Hopelessly Devoted To: Gwen Verdon

Published March 9, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

One-of-a-kind Broadway diva Gwen Verdon’s work was, primarily, centered around her graceful onstage antics. Thankfully for devoted fans everywhere, she occasionally engaged in performances of the celluloid variety as well.

Most importantly, genre-wise, she gave a sexy yet sorrowful performance in 1973’s Deadly Visitor, part of ABC’s very popular The Wide World of Mystery film series. Based on a story by Fitz James O’Brien, a 19th Century fantasy author from Ireland, this particular episode focused on a young writer named Jamie (Perry King) who discovers that his room at a boarding house is haunted by a mysterious presence.

As Mrs. Moffat, the landlady of the specter ridden establishment, Verdon smartly uses her considerable training to sensitively illustrate the monologues she delivers to King’s Jamie. Widowed and lonely, she seduces the lad with a heartfelt need. Of course, when the driven & curious Jamie manages to capture and begins to experiment on the invisible entity, her character’s hysteria slowly builds. Like many a frightened heroine before her, Verdon excels in these moments of increasingly nervous activity, as well.

Interestingly, this teleplay was produced by Jacqueline Babbin, an entertainment juggernaut who gained fame for her work on All My Children. She is joined, behind the scenes, by another powerful woman, Lela Swift, who directs. Swift, who made a name for herself as one of the top directors of the original version of Dark Shadows, surely knows the atmosphere needed to make this story successful and several of the scenes here are truly chilling. In particular, Swift should be commended for the visceral moments where the audience can actually see the ropes, which are wrapped around the titular invisible creature, move up and down as it breathes.

Of course, fans of musicals probably aren’t too surprised by Verdon’s success here. As Lola in 1958’s Damn Yankees, she is the slippery incarnation of lustful evil. There, as the devil’s favored assistant, she tries to lead a troubled baseball player to the dark side forever.

Continuing this trend in the ’80s, but at a slight angle, she played a number of attention-stealing, nearly evil mothers in episodes of such shows as Fame and Hotel.

Of course, even though the theatrical lights dimmed, deeply, with her death at the age of 75 in 2000, she lives on in her excellent work, happily viewable with the simplest (yet incredibly effective) google search.

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

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Genre Perspectives: The Sandpiper

Published March 1, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

Its no surprise that acclaimed horror directors like John Landis have contributed enthusiast commentaries to profiles on such visually stunning old school creators like sparkling dance king Busby Berkeley. Horror films are often defined by their morbid style and atmospheric palette, and it is no wonder that its prime practitioners recognize the impressive work of those who came before them.

Director Vincent Minnelli is another of those lush golden greats that contemporary maestros often rhapsodize about. His pictures always radiate with deep color and intense style. There is also probably nothing more spookily evocative than the Halloween scene in his classic Meet Me In Saint Louis. There, he carefully conjured up dread and youthful excitement all at once. In fact, the cheering mob like quality of that sequence almost dominates & supersedes the frenzied crowd work supplied by David Gordon Green in some of his recent seasonal epics.

Nicely, Minnelli’s vivid hues and auteur style elegance are still present in his latter, less critically recognized works. Even in The Sandpiper, a chest heaving soap opera from 1965 featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, his visual flair dominates the proceedings. Taylor, whom he had worked with twice before in the original Father of the Bride comedies, is also crowned with the loving, saturated camera work that he provided such luminaries as Judy Garland, Katherine Hepburn and Lucille Bremer in their heyday.

Interestingly, Taylor’s against the grain artist character also finds parallels with many of the imperfectly singular horror heroines we have seen of late. As Laura Reynolds, a freewheeling bohemian who refuses to bow down to traditional expectations, Taylor seemingly finds all the strands of her own singular power and displays them, passionately, onscreen. Thus, astute viewers can find echoes of everyone from XXX‘s Maxine to Heart Eyes‘ Ally McCabe in Reynolds’ fiery resistance to conformity.

Now, one can only hope that younger (and even older, blindsided) horror fans will eventually discover all the wonderful genre coincidences that lurk within popular cinema from decades ago.

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

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The Poisonous Whitley King

Published February 25, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

With an ultramarine noir setting as her backdrop, the deranged Whitley King (Kim Coles) made a sadistically triumphant return to Days of our Lives this February.

Of course, the cast and crew of Body and Soul, Days‘ soap within a soap, had already been feeling King’s presence for a while. For months, poisoned cupcakes and other dangers have pockmarked their paths due to her handiwork. Poor Bonnie (Judi Evans) even landed at the bottom of an empty elevator shaft due to the former Florence Nightingale’s crazed manipulations.

But that bumpy freefall was just the starter course. Angered at what she considered the desecration of her favorite program, Whitley ultimately laced a potpourri of fake scripts with a deadly chemical, intending to off everyone involved with the show, once and for all. Talk about a special delivery!

This plot devise found everyone from charming, frequently shirtless playboy Alex (Robert Scott Wilson) to wacky diva-in-waiting Hattie (Diedre Hall) near death’s door. Thankfully, the quick-thinking Dr. Sarah Horton (Lindsey Godfrey) realized what was happening and that the hospital had an antidote to reverse the effects of King’s morbid libation.

Meanwhile, Abe (James Reynolds,) the enterprise’s executive producer, finally cottoned to the fact that it just might be his former kidnapper (see As The Stab Burns: Kim Coles) that could be behind the nefarious happenings at his workplace. Of course, once she realized that not only had her crimes been exposed, but completely thwarted, King, like many a prime villainess before her, fell into a catatonic stupor – with only another sweeps month bonanza seemingly a tonic strong enough to revive her.

Whitley can sleep peacefully for now, though, knowing that her prime objective was reached. Much to many a real-life fan’s relief, Tuesday’s (2/11/25) episode detailed the aftermath of Abe and his co-executive producer Kate (Lauren Koslow) deciding to pull the plug on their rendition of Body and Soul. Fully aware they failed to keep everyone safe, the fictional drama’s fictional drama’s headquarters will now be moving to Los Angeles, leaving many viewers, who felt this tale had long overstayed it’s welcome, very happy that their favorite program is about to move onto other, more traditionally dramatic pastures.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Marital Streep

Published February 22, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

“Fear is knowing the right answer while hoping it’s the wrong one…take the safety off the gun.” – Marital Streep

She, smartly, mixes the ’80s No-Wave Disco vocals of NYC’s Cristina with soundscapes that feel like driving, late at night, on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive. Thus, musician Marital Streep is making music that deserves to decorate the soundtrack of your newest favorite movie.

Nicely, due to the wide range of her inspirations, the celluloid masterpiece she might potentially be underscoring could be a slick William Friedkin style action-fest or a visually kaleidoscopic modern horror piece.

Unconvinced? One listen to Violent by Consent, her recently released EP, will definitely change your mind.

Streaming on all major platforms, you can also support indie art by purchasing the tracks directly from her at: Violent by Consent | Marital Streep.

More merchandise and info on Marital Streep is available at https://linktr.ee/maritalstreep, as well.

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

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Va-Va-Villainess: Mary Anne Bowman

Published February 16, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

For those celluloid buffs who have never set foot into a black box theater and witnessed a play come to life, be plentifully assured, the theater world has seen many a scarlet diva scamper across its stages, as well. From Hamlet‘s Gertrude to The Little Foxes‘ Regina Giddens, wicked dames have been making the velvet curtains flow a bit more dramatically and the footlights glitter just a tad brighter for eons.

Currently, Open Space Arts, one of the Chicago’s most intimate performance spaces, is providing a home to one of those delicious divas of emotional mayhem. The vehicle providing this bratty bossa nova is Mr. Parker, a critically acclaimed look at middle-aged love and grief from a queer perspective. But it is Midwest entertainment veteran Mary Anne Bowman who is bringing this occasionally manipulative, always dramatically spot on creature into glorious existence.

In fact, as Cassandra, the sister-in-law of the titular character, Bowman is giving a once in a lifetime performance. Whether deliciously eviscerating anyone who poses a threat to her carefully mapped out plans or, honestly and deep heartedly, confessing her deepest fears in the show’s penultimate moments, this skilled thespian fully gives playwright Michael McKeever’s words a brightly animated glow.

That audiences get to experience her doing this in a OSA’s almost churchlike 25 seat space only adds to the magical power of her glorious execution here.

Mr. Parker runs through March 2nd at Open Space Arts, 1411 W. Wilson in Chicago. More information is available at https://openspacearts.org/.

GH’s Angel of Mercy

Published February 11, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

I am always down for mysterious killers and rampant cycles of death winding their way throughout the landscapes of my daytime dramas. Obviously, the parallels to the horror films that I love are heavily rooted in those storylines and those types of tales were what drew me to soaps in the first place.

Currently the deviously magnetic Cyrus on General Hospital, as enacted by ever versatile Emmy winner Jeff Kober, is playing angel of mercy in Port Charles by killing off prominent citizens with doses of heart attack causing digitalis.

First off, feisty private eye Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco), one of the show’s longest running heroines, met her end in the late fall of 2024. Dex Heller (Evan Hofer), the star crossed Romeo to teen queen Josslyn Jacks’ (Eden McCoy) Juliet, was the next to suffer an unexpected coronary.

The almost demise of Michael Corinthos (Chad Duell), another of the serial’s legacy characters, brought the fact that a killer was on the loose to light, though. Now, those suspicious of Cyrus are a veritable Rainbow Book Club.

This includes the program’s splintered (yet hopeful) gay couple, (often duplicitous) lab technician Brad (Parry Shen) and the upstanding Dr. Lucas Jones (Van Hansis.) Hospital administrator Portia (Brooke Kerr) is also on the case – even semi-teaming up with Brad, despite her misgivings, hoping to pave the way for more vacancies on the morgue slabs, not less!

Now, even Josslyn, in classic final girl mode, is dancing ever closer to the fire, sniffing around Cyrus’ lodgings, looking for clues. Her escapades last week even brought her into contact with character actor David Ury.

Ury, best known for his roles in latter day Rob Zombie projects like 31, added a bit of exploitation sleaze to the proceedings. As a suspicious slumlord manager, he added a danger factor to the young girl’s escapades, signaling that, despite everyone’s concentrated efforts, more death and destruction might be on the way for the beloved residents of this fictional Midwest burg.

I, for one, couldn’t be more excited.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Lillias White

Published January 28, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

She’s won acclaim for her legendary stage work, sung background for Madonna in that icon’s heyday and now, with her scintillating appearance on Grotesquerie, she’s finally entered Ryan Murphy’s stable of talented femmes. Naturally, I can only be writing of the divine Lillias White.

Since the beginning, with her portrayal of Dorothy on the original tour of The Wiz, White has been a force. Proof of this power came with a Tony Award for her performance in The Life and a resume filled with consistent hits has followed that prime acknowledgement in the many years since.

Her versatility is also impeachable. While Glorious McKall, her character in Murphy’s latest horror piece, is definitely of the gun blazingly criminally minded, her first solo recording Get Yourself Some Happy is all about joy, and the tunes featured include one of the songs that (our high priestess) Judy Garland brought to celluloid heights at her home studio, MGM.

More information on Lillias and her spectacularly upbeat recording can be found at http://www.lilliaswhite.com.

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

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