Music to Make Horror Movies By: Gisele MacKenzie

Published May 13, 2018 by biggayhorrorfan

gisele-mackenzie

A classical violinist and acclaimed singer, Gisele MacKenzie, as other distinguished talents before her, lent her vocal cords to the horror universe for a low budget take on Edgar Allen Poe’s The Premature Burial, 1972’s One Minute Before Death.

Well known as a continent hopping entertainer with a true sense of class, MacKenzie also showed a humorous side by recording such novelty numbers as Oh Pain! Oh Agony! Know What I Mean, Jelly Bean?

MacKenzie, who made latter day appearances on such television programs as The Young and the Restless – where she temporarily took over as Katherine Chancellor for Jeanne Cooper – and Murder, She Wrote, earned her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before her passing of colon cancer at the age of 76 in 2003. It was truly a deserving tribute for such a well rounded talent.

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

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Ghosts R N.E.A.R. Salutes Poe!

Published April 3, 2015 by biggayhorrorfan

If you like your fear with a more literary bent, the wonderful folks at Get Scared TV, who offer year round free programming, have your back!

In the most recent, downloaded episode (S8, Ep111) of paranormal talk show Ghosts R N.E.A.R., hosts Keith and Sandra explore the haunted legacy of the iconic Edgar Allan Poe.

It’s truly a fascinating journey that you can watch (with other intriguing N.E.A.R. programs) at the link, below:

http://getscared.tv/site/programming/episodic-programming/ghosts-r-n-e-a-r/

Ghosts R N.E.A.R. can, also, be followed at:

https://www.facebook.com/GhostsRNEAR

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Review: Tales of Poe

Published March 4, 2015 by biggayhorrorfan

Maverick in its accomplishments, the anthology Tales of Poe is the perfect example of independent terror filmmaking at its most inventive.

Collaborators Alan Rowe Kelly and Bart Mastronardi have mixed old school 50s Gothicism with a distinctively modern spin on two of Poe’s best known tales and one poem here, with intense visuals and some truly superb performances highlighting the affair, as a whole.

In particular, Kelly’s imperial Gogo in The Cask, the second installment, is a marvel of femme majesty. Channeling such vixens as Faith Domergue, Angela Lansbury (who played a couple of wicked noir style villainesses in the 40s) and Joan Bennett, Kelly also adds his own ticks and quirks to this stunning creation, one of the most enjoyable antagonists in recent history.

Kelly is well supported by the surprisingly good Randy Jones (of Village People fame). Playing Gogo’s wealthy, newlywed husband Fortunato, Jones is entirely convincing and completely sympathetic as he discovers that his new spouse has some very poisonous remodeling plans, on their wedding night, no less.

Just like The Tell Tale Heart, the film’s fine, bloody first segment (https://biggayhorrorfan.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/review-the-tell-tale-heart/), The Cask doesn’t skimp on the gruesomeness. If there is one minor flaw it’s that, unlike Tell Tale’s uniformly excellent minor and supporting performances, including David Marancik’s believably unstable Fritz, not all of the performances of Fortunato’s rich acquaintances are quite believable here, with a couple of the performers either delivering too little or too much.

The final piece truly reveals the ingenuity of Mastronardi and Kelly, though. Full of stunning images and fun performances by such genre goddesses as Adrienne King and Caroline Williams, Dreams, a take on a Poe verse, seemingly follows a young woman on her adventures as she hovers between life and death.

Taking up almost a full third of the film’s running time, this (mostly) dialogue-less, stream of conscious segment, may be a bit too much for folks longing for the linear delights of the first two pieces. But illuminated by Amy Steel’s truly wondrous voiceover work and performance as a grieving mother, this portion of the film truly illustrates the risk taking delights of this project, as a whole.

Keep up with Tales of Poe as it engrains itself further into the terror consciousness at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tales-of-Poe and http://www.talesofpoefilm.com.

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Review: The Tell Tale Heart

Published August 25, 2014 by biggayhorrorfan

I have a feeling a platoon of estrogen fueled ghosts are going to be paying writer-director Bart Mastronardi a visit soon. Whether it’ll be Bette Davis, Joan Bennett and Agnes Moorehead or some other golden age dream team is anyone’s guess. But goddess knows, many of those classic screen sirens have to be pissed that Mastronardi didn’t create Miss Lamarr, the faded Hollywood actress who, even in a supporting capacity, is one of the highlights of his version of The Tell Tale Heart, in their lifetimes.

Of course, the milkily doomed Lamarr is enacted with regal precision by Alan Rowe Kelly, a true student of those sassy broads. Therefore, he and Mastronardi establish a sense of gothic glamour throughout the entirety of the piece, one portion of the highly anticipated anthology film Tales of Poe.

As expected, as the story’s narrator and primary participant, legendary genre actress Debbie Rochon does an exemplary job. As a former nurse relating the violent origins of her arrival at a mental health asylum, Rochon glows with a crackled subtlety. It is one of her most nuanced performances in a career layered with passionate portrayals.

The true surprise here, though, is Lesleh Donaldson as Evelyn Dyck, one of asylum’s boldest patients. Donaldson, of course, is well loved for her pretty final girl/victim roles in slasher stalwarts like Happy Birthday to Me, Curtains and Funeral Home. Here, obviously relieved to be given something tangible to do, she attacks her role with comedic gusto. Never straining into parody, she nearly steals the show, revealing largely unseen skills in her (obviously) eclectic repertoire.

Mastronardi, himself, gives this whole outing the organdy visual flair of Corman’s earlier Poe efforts mixed with a dash of Hammer’s (more violent) latter years. The sheen of grizzly humor he supplies is also grand, making one truly curious about the final two efforts in this sure to be dazzling spectacle.

Be sure to keep the arteries flowing with Tales of Poe at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tales-of-Poe.

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Tales of Poe (Official Trailer)

Published July 31, 2014 by biggayhorrorfan

TOP’s Donaldson (Curtains, Funeral Home)

Dine at the Scream Queen Buffet?!? With appearances by (femme horror film regulars) Debbie Rochon, Adrienne King, Amy Steel, Caroline Williams, Lesleh Donaldson, Susan Adrienson, Amy Lynn Best and Zoe Daelman Chlanda that is exactly what Bart Mastronardi and Alan Rowe Kelly’s upcoming Tales of Poe invites you to do!

…and the official trailer makes the whole shrieking affair look like bloody awesome fun, as well!

Now that you’re heeding the raven’s call, be sure to entomb yourself with all this awesome (literary based) project has to offer at the following sites:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tales-of-Poe and

http://www.talesofpoe.com

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Gisele MacKenzie and Poe’s One Minute Before Death!

Published January 28, 2014 by biggayhorrorfan

I admit it. I can be dense. But the full blown glory of singer-actress Gisele MacKenzie (1927-2003) is, as her 1955 hit described, not Hard to Get. An acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and queen of various musical theatre productions, this crystalline beauty was best known for her stint on the middle-of-the-road songfest Your Hit Parade. But, like so many other graceful lady entertainers, MacKenzie’s filmic closet contains a moldy tale of terror. Based on Poe’s The Premature Burial, 1972’s One Minute Before Death, features MacKenzie as the vengeful sister of a sweetly deceived heiress.

After a tumble down her mansion stairs, Genevieve Howard (Wanda Hendrix) finds herself trapped in physical limbo. Showing all the signs of being deceased, she is actually fully conscious and completely aware of all the treachery that is occurring around her. Case in point, Howard discovers that her younger husband, Paul, had plotted her death with his young mistress. Furthermore, it is revealed that her haughty sister, Adelaide (MacKenzie) hated her with a passion. Frustrated over her unrequited love for Paul and jealous of Genevieve’s riches, Adelaide now makes haste with a plot to steal her supposedly dead sister’s precious possessions.

Gisele/Adelaide taking charge!

With diva-like gusto, MacKenzie invests Adelaide with a superior air and is obviously relishing the chance to be treacherous. Unfortunately, her efforts are undone a bit by Rogelio Gonzalez’s competent yet fairly pedestrian direction. This is further complicated by the film’s audio problems. The actors’ voices are placed so high in the mix that the film, as a whole, comes off sounding like a midrate high school production.

Wanda taking Gisele to task!

Despite these faults, One Minute Before Death does retain a pleasant vibe, reminding one of a B- version of the Roger Corman produced Poe films. There are a few enjoyable twists, a bit of bludgeoning bloodshed and for those who love their battling dames – some nicely played vengeful cattery between MacKenzie and Hendrix.

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

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