Tonjia Atomic’s 333: Illuminaughty

Published March 14, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

333

Versatile director-writer-actress Tonjia Atomic is at it again! After helming the wildly anticipated Manos Returns, this multi-hyphenate has co-created 333: Illuminaughty, a short made for the Women in Horror Month 2019 Massive Blood Drive PSA through Horrors of the PNW & Horrors of the PNW VI.

Besides a catchy title and Atomic’s input, this film is notable for the inclusion of Debra Lamb. Late night cable lovers will remember Lamb (Stripped to Kill 2, Evil Spirits, Invisible Maniac) as one of the prime forces of the Scream Queen era. An exotic beauty with a soulful acting style, Lamb has thankfully racked up a number of new credits in the last few years and it is great to see her in action in a project with a strong feminist origin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CptLjvNVAE

You can keep updated about 333 at https://www.facebook.com/333-Illuminaughty-1139324986250064/, as well.

Debra Lamb

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Ginger Rogers

Published March 10, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

ginger rogers 13th guest

I don’t know about you, but I believe that everything is just a little bit better with a bit of Ginger sprinkled on it. Of course, in this case, I refer to the glorious Ginger Rogers. This Academy Award winning actress is probably best known for the multiple dance epics that she made with the elegant Fred Astaire. But, ever filled with an eclectic energy, this perky powerhouse actually began her career appearing in a couple of Gothic mystery-thrillers.

The Thirteenth Guest and A Shriek in the Night feature the typical, gutsy work that was the Rogers’ trademark, but as she croons below, follow-up appearances in the terror genre were obviously just not for her!

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

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Dagger Cast

Published March 8, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

DC1

Stevie Nicks may have celebrated the Edge of Seventeen, but as I stand on the verge of 51, I have to laud Dagger Cast! Initiated by Jared Olsen, one half of edgy production company nite smoke, this podcast looks at horror from the sense of the other. By the celebrating the LGBTQ, Black, Latinx and female (etc. etc…) viewpoint of horror, this podcast aims to reach into the hidden depths of the horror community, gazing far past the straight white gaze that has dominated it for so many years.

As my co-host, the dynamic Lindsey Charles (lead singer of The Cell Phones), has often asked of our guests, we want to find out what you, that special and unique force in society, needs from this genre – a genre that can so beautiful express the hopes and fears of outsiders everywhere. Of course, we aim to do this with a sense of fun and irreverent punk rock spirit, as well!

To determine if we’ve succeeded, you can check out our first few episodes at https://soundcloud.com/daggercast.

Meanwhile, more information is available at https://www.facebook.com/daggercast/, as well.

DC2

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Absolutely Not’s Glitch

Published March 6, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

There are gods and goddesses of rock that are known, worldwide. Others carry a local beat. Case in point: Donnie Moore, the gay ringleader of punk pop auteurs Absolutely Not, and Lindsey Charles, the dynamic force behind art rock provocateurs The Cell Phones, are Midwest sensations that deserve to conquer the universe as a whole.

Nicely, both of these amazing talents have a love for horror. Moore’s concept for Glitch, AN’s latest single, features a Trump masked serial killer and Charles as an industrious black final girl, something the entertainment world truly needs more of. By that I mean, of course, women of color kicking ass and not obnoxious sociopaths bringing us evermore teetering to the point of disaster!

Be sure to keep up with Absolutely Not, who just released their second full length album, at https://www.facebook.com/AbsolutelyNotMusic. The Cell Phones, meanwhile, are consistently making all things seem possible at https://www.facebook.com/cellphonesband/.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Nina Mae McKinney

Published March 3, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

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Best known to old school horror and jungle movie fans for playing the revenge fueled Isabelle in 1939’s The Devil’s Daughter, the glorious Nina Mae McKinney was originally supposed to be MGM’s first black female superstar. Despite a glorious debut in King Vidor’s Hallelujah, the prejudice of the time cancelled out McKinney’s obvious appeal. The five year contract with Hollywood’s glossiest studio only led to a few loan out roles and an opportunity to provide the singing voice for Jean Harlow in the musical melodrama Reckless. Nina Devils Daughter 1

Thankfully, McKinney’s contribution to that picture is not lost to time.

McKinney, who died of a heart attack at the age of 54 in 1967, has been, thankfully, regaled by cinematic historians like Donald Bogle. But one still wishes that her potential could have truly been met. A role playing Harlow’s rival, instead of one behind the scenes, would have truly been a breathtaking addition to her legacy.

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Unsung Heroines of Horror: Nina Mae McKinney

Published March 1, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

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She was known as The Black Garbo, but Hollywood in the 1930s wasn’t ready to turn Nina Mae McKinney into a sex symbol. Instead, after a triumphant debut in MGM’s Hallelujah, she was relegated to traditional maid roles and leads in race pictures.

Nina Devil's Daughter 3 Nicely for genre fans, those films include the fun, Jamaica produced The Devil’s Daughter and the friskily paced Gun Moll (AKA Gang Busters), in which McKinney displayed her multiple talents as a cabaret singing undercover policewoman.

Meanwhile, as the ruthless Isabelle in TDD, McKinney truly controls the screen with a sense of barely contained fury. Determined to make her half-sister pay for inheriting the property that she has called her own for years, this unjustly neglected performer truly dominates the proceedings. Nina Devil's Daughter 2

Even as the ending of this black and white horror film veers into the safer streams of Mark of the Vampire style red herring mystery, McKinney’s villainess still resonates with real power. A further supporting role in the (Merle Oberon starring) heiress horror Dark Waters may have not given her as much to do, but it does supply an extra layer of shine to her terror strewn crown – proving, without a doubt, that Nina Mae McKinney is one of the major Unsung Heroines of Horror!

Nina Mae McKinney Gun Moll

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Carole Davis

Published February 24, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

Carole Davis Piranha Montage

Supernaturally gorgeous and full of talent, Carole Davis has collaborated with such esteemed musicians as Prince and Nile Rogers. In fact, her work with Rogers culminated in a fun album, Heart of Gold, and a single that was a staple at gay clubs and hip bars across the continents.

Of course, horror fans know this actress-author-musician best as the doomed Jai in James Cameron’s toothy Piranha II: The Spawning. But she also counts the moody apocalyptic drama The Rapture and the Kane Hodder monster fest Project: Metalbeast among her many credits. For those who love the world of terror, that indeed makes us count the divine Ms. Davis as one of those who possess serious money!

Carole Davis album

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Unsung Heroines of Horror: Myrna Dell

Published February 23, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

Myrna Dell in The Spiral Staircase (1945).jpg

She was one of the beautiful background players in MGM’s Ziegfeld Girl. She also, famously, wound up on the shaky side of George Brent’s murderous rage in the classy Gothic horror The Spiral Staircase.

But the stunning Myrna Dell was perhaps best known for playing a series of sassy ladies in television westerns and adventure shows. A prime example of her sharp talent occurred on an episode of Jungle Jim opposite Johnny Weissmuller. As Mickey Worth, a hardened carnival owner, she proved her mettle by taking the character from ruthless business woman to sentimental society dame. Myrna Dell Jungle Jim

Nicely, Skip Lowe conducted an amazing and informative interview with Dell in 1990. Those who appreciate the favors of old Hollywood and the dynamic women that populated it, will find much to adore here.

This charming conversation also proves that Dell, who passed away in 2011, is truly deserving of rediscovery…a unsung heroine of not just horror films but cinema, in general.

Myrna Dell Glamour.jpg

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Holiday Horror History (Valentines Day) : Dead Men Walk

Published February 15, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

Dead Men Walk was released on Valentine’s Day in 1943. It features a skilled dual performance from refined terror legend George Zucco. Other significant participants include Frankenstein’s Dwight Frye and under appreciated character actress Fern Emmett, who turned up in many minor roles in the classic Universal horrors. For a poverty row production, there is plenty of misty moodiness and fun vampiric action here. Thus, this easily accessible public domain title is well worth checking out.

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Sharkbait Retro Village: Death at Love House

Published February 14, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

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Mysterious houses have not been kind to the fragile male ego in horror films. James Brolin and Ryan Reynolds both succumbed to the madness of the Amityville house in different versions of The Amityville Horror while Jack Nicholson and Steven Webber spiraled into insanity, decades apart, while attending to The Shining’s Overlook Hotel. Similarly, novelist Joel Gregory in 1976’s Death at Love House finds himself transported to the brink of erotic hysteria by the lingering essence of a former movie queen in her long shuttered abode. Dorothy Death

Efficiently helmed by veteran television director EW Swackhamer, this telefilm is perhaps most notable for its use of such Golden Era greats as Joan Blondell, John Carradine, Dorothy Lamour and Sylvia Sidney. That they all play former rivals of or associates to the glamorous Lorna Love, a kind of Jean Harlow-Marilyn Monroe-Jayne Mansfield hybrid, makes this quick primetime horror a truly fun experience for those lovers of ‘30s and ‘40s cinema. Sidney, as Ciara Joseph, the mansion in question’s caretaker, definitely has the most interesting role, but one has to wonder how this frequently cantankerous presence felt about playing the film’s silly twist in the project’s final reels.

Joan Death Of course an argument could be made that DALH, piloted around the disintegration of Gregory’s marriage to his wife/collaborator Donna (Kate Jackson) as they work on a project about Love, truly comes alive when LaMour, as coffee commercial queen Denise Christian, reminisces about Love’s evil deeds. Blondell devotees are also sure to admire her hysterical break from reality during the heat of the film’s fiery climax. Whatever your preference, DALH is ultimately high on mysterious mood and thoroughbred nostalgia.

Dorothy Trio Death

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