Music to Make Horror Movies By: Michael Parks

Published May 14, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Michael Parks Tusk

He was marketed as the ‘60s heir to such rebels as James Dean and Marlon Brando. Despite multiple credits, the truly eclectic Michael Parks didn’t really find true fame until a role in From Dusk to Dawn revitalized him for a new generation, though.

Parks, who passed away at the age of 77 on May 9^th (2017), also recently did amazing, soulful work in such genre projects as We Are What We Are and Tusk. As many potential heartthrobs before him, Parks released a number of albums in the early ‘70s, as well. Although, his quiet country and folk anthems will probably have a more enduring resonance than the pop styles of so many cute one hit wonders that came before and after him.

Nicely, Long Lonesome Highway, perhaps his best known number, seems to have a particular meaning now as he, quietly and peacefully, goes on his final, most enduring journey.

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

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Orville in Orbit

Published May 13, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Orville in Orbit

You don’t always need a time machine to revisit the past. Sometimes you just need a determined director…and an even stronger fan base! Coming in on the latter stretch, exploitation auteur Jim Wynorski has recently announced plans for a sequel to the early ‘90s cult classic Hard to Die.

Hard to Die, connected to The Slumber Party Massacre series via its reuse of footage and plotlines from the original film, is perhaps one of the most notable projects of the VHS and direct to cable era. Luxuriating in that period’s excesses by taking place in a shopping mall as a bevy of gorgeous women do inventory in a lingerie store, the film reintroduced the audience to the hapless Orville, a misunderstood lug, compassionately played by character actor Peter Spellos. Orville, as many enthusiastic viewers can attest, had already been put through the ringer in the very similarly themed Sorority House Massacre II(AKA Nightie Nightmare).

Honing in on Spellos’ popularity, the new film will be titled Orville in Orbit. Naturally, Spellos will be returning along with HTD’s original actresses, Deborah Dutch, Melissa Moore and Gail Thackery (Harris), who were all important figures in the initial, genuine reign of the Scream Queens.

More information on the project is available at https://www.facebook.com/Orville-In-Orbit-1867935273446647.

Hard-lingerie

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Madeline Bell

Published May 7, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Madeline-Bell

She’s a Queen! Perhaps overshadowed by friends such as Dusty Springfield and Elton John, the super cool Madeline Bell still provided tons of silky and soulful tunes to Brits hungry for such smooth stylings in the ’60s… and beyond!

Her horror roots are tangled up in rock history, as well. Bell worked with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones on the soundtrack of Michael Winner’s horror thriller Scream for Help. But, as evidenced by her cool take on I’m Gonna Leave You, this divine creature needs no assistance when telling a cool jerk to take a hike!

Today, Bell is still bringing audiences to their knees at http://madelinebell.com.

Scream_for_Help

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

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Debra De Liso in Iced

Published May 4, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Iced 4

The divine Debra De Liso, one of L.A.’s longstanding and most respected theater artists, will be forever remembered for her refrigerated death reveal in 1982’s beloved The Slumber Party Massacre. But six years later, De Liso turned the tables on that victimhood status in another horror feature that also offered up plenty of frozen delights. In 1988’s Iced, scripted by her TSPM co-star Joseph Alan Johnson, De Liso portrays Trina, the film’s determined final girl.

Here, at a ski lodge setting, De Liso’s Trina battles off a serial killer who uses everything from knives and ski poles to bear traps and gigantic icicles to do away with his targets. Showing off her dancing training to marvelous effect, De Liso skids through snow drifts, up wooden cabin steps and onto balconies as she fights for her life. It turns out someone isn’t too happy with this heroine’s romantic choices and is determined to make her pay.

But, providing Trina with a natural goodness and humanity, De Liso does survive to the end this time…and she also gets to work some awesome winter fashions into the mix, as well.

Iced, meanwhile, offers up solid performances from Lisa Loring, best known for her work in the original The Addams Family, and handsome soap opera stalwart Douglas Stevenson (1955-2011), who also appeared in the opening segment of Joseph Zito’s The Prowler. That it focuses on conflicted adults as opposed to party happy teens gives Iced an extra edge, as well. Its one that De Liso makes full use of and it would have definitely been delightful to have seen her in more projects like this.

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Until that happy, frozen tundra presents itself… SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Music To Make Horror Movies By: Linda Purl

Published April 30, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

linda purl vh

The dreamy Linda Purl survived a vicious attack from Michael Ironside’s misogynistic killer in the semi-classic slasher Visiting Hours.

Known for the more refined atmosphere of the stage and weepy television flicks, the eclectic Purl also is a cabaret singer of note. Here, her subtle yet commanding take on Kurt Weill’s My Ship proves to be a real winner.

Until next we meet at that dock of sweet aspirations….

SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan

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When Wez Met Jason

Published April 28, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Wells and Crew attack.

What happens when two titans of injustice and mayhem clash? Well, unfortunately, one is eventually going to have to take a premature visit to that great and grisly powder room in the sky.

Such was the case when Vernon Wells, the massively frightening Wez from The Road Warrior, tangled with Ted White, the ferocious, almost unstoppable Jason from Friday the 13^th: The Final Chapter, on War Zone, a second season episode of the beloved 80s detective show Hunter.

White retaliates.

When Wells’ Sonny Zajak and crew invade a warehouse guarded by White’s Manfred T. Royce, explosives detonate, shots ring out and soon Royce goes flying, downward, in a hail of fire. Royce hangs on by a thread, in the aftermath, causing Zajak a moment or two or distress. But, Royce’s balance on the beam of life is too shaky and soon he breathes his last.

Thus, it appears when apocalyptic action meets classic slasher, the former reigns victorious – for the time being, at least.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: James Coco

Published April 9, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

james coco the-chair-1-300x173

Best known for character roles with a decidedly comic intent, the sorely missed James Coco (1930 – 1987) also added some much needed presence to horror films like The Chair and The Stepford Children.

Impressively, he provided his own vocals for the 1972 film version of The Man of La Mancha, as well. His vigor and exquisite comic timing add much to the humor of this take on the show’s well regarded Golden Helmet of Mambrino.

Gone too soon, Coco’s presence here (and elsewhere) proves he definitely will never be forgotten.

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

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In Memoriam: Gloria Charles

Published April 8, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

gloria charles fox

Horror fans are the most loyal in the universe. Take a knife in a terror flick and never work again, you will still be a legend in our eyes. Thus, the news this week of the death of actress Gloria Charles hit the scare community with a profound sadness. Charles not only created a singular badass with her take on Fox in the beloved Friday the 13^th, Part 3, but she is also one of the only minority actresses to cause a significant impact in that iconic series. She was definitely the fiercest of that lot, threatening the campers played by Larry Zerner and Catharine Parks with snarling zeal before she found herself on the wrong side of Jason’s wrath, forever earning her a place in our hearts…and horror history. All the others, including (but not limited to) Renee Jones (Jason Lives), Diane Almeida (The New Blood) and Kelly Hu (Jason Takes Manhattan) were stereotypical victim types. gloria brewster

It is also significant to note that, while Fox may have been the role that she was best known for, Charles had a number of other credits to her name. She shared valuable screen time with Richard Pryor in the comedy Brewster’s Millions and added eclectic flair to a variety of television shows. The roles may not have been large ones, but her kindly police officer on a first season episode of the violent cop procedural Hunter is such a far remove from her work in Friday 3 that it seems a shame that the wide variety of her skills wasn’t given a larger play in the often difficult world of entertainment.

Gloria Hunter

Still, one hopes that in the decades to come, the cultural and social impact of her role in the world of horror will keep her beacon forever shining, brightly.

She deserves it.

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

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Horror, She Wrote: Jennifer Runyon

Published April 5, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

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Horror, She Wrote explores the episodes of the ever-popular detective series Murder, She Wrote, featuring Angela Lansbury’s unstoppable Jessica Fletcher, that were highlighted by performances from genre film actors.

Blessed with a radiant presence, Jennifer Runyon brought a delightful grace to the screen in such terror themed projects as the girls’ school slasher To All A Good Night, renowned comedy Ghostbusters and the Roger Corman produced Carnosaur. This purity made her a natural to play innocents accused of wrongdoing in two episodes of Murder, She Wrote.

In 1989’s Seal of the Confessional, Runyon is Kelly Barrett, a frightened native of Cabot Cove, the fictional town where many of Jessica Fletcher’s adventures took place. Sure that she has murdered her abusive stepfather, Barrett takes refuge in a church with a handsome priest (soap opera stalwart Hunt Block). Determined to cover up her crime, she ultimately resists the clergyman’s offer of help and runs away. Of course, Fletcher eventually discovers that the culprit is not the frightened young woman, but not before Runyon gets to play, thoughtfully, in the fields of wide emotion, enacting everything from elusive terror to steely determination.

Scripted by Lynne Kelsey, this storyline actually is one of the long running show’s most poignant. Graced with the series’ usual down home charms and lighthearted mystery, it also reflects, subtly, the emotional damage inflicted by parental misadventure. Runyon’s bruised portrayal aids greatly here, allowing the audience to feel, fully, for her character and proving that she would have been perfect to play tortured heroines in those gloomy noir epics of the 40s.

Nicely, 1991’s Murder, Plain and Simple has more of a soap opera edge. Focusing on an Amish community ruled over by an extremely evil patriarch (Michael Sarrazin), this episode also reunites Runyon and Block. The two play former sweethearts torn asunder by Sarrazin’s devious Jacob Beiler. Naturally, Beiler winds up dead, found by Runyon’s Rebecca, a pitchfork shoved deep in his chest. Jennifer 4

Runyon glows with resigned dignity here, relieved to be out of Beiler’s controlling grasp, but glad, once she is no longer considered a suspect, to be free of him, as well. Sarrazin, who imbued such projects as The Reincarnation of Peter Proud and Frankenstein: His Story with the gravity of his deep set eyes, nearly steals the show, though. He is obviously having a ball being so heartless and the scenes where he twists logic and decorum to get his needs met would make any arch daytime drama baddie proud.

Meanwhile, fans of the series should be sure to check out Murder She Wrote Fans: https://www.facebook.com/Murder-She-Wrote-Fans-120892357995729.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Samantha Eggar

Published April 2, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

samantha eggar the brood.png

She unleashed some deadly id children on the world in The Brood, David Cronenberg’s gooey ode to marital woe. But the exquisite Samantha Eggar, thankfully, gave the world something much prettier to deal with via her rendition of At the Crossroads in the original Doctor Doolittle.

Nicely, Eggar, who has, rightfully, earned mistress of the macabre stripes for her participation in such projects as The Collector, The Uncanny, Demonoid, Curtains and The Dead Are Alive, is active, online, at www.samanthaeggar.net.

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

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