Halloween in Salem!

Published September 18, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

Days Burial

It is starting to smell like Halloween in Salem! In the past few weeks, the setting place of (the long running soap opera) Days of Our Lives has had long lost characters rise from the dead while a mad scientist runs amuck, his chemical concoctions exploding around him! One of the show’s major heroines has also just been kidnapped by a silent, shrouded figure.

One recent ghoul stained returnee has even taken a deadly shine to some of her old, mischievous tricks. Vivian Alamain (currently being played by daytime icon Robin Strasser) has always had a thing for burying folks alive…but her latest victim Kate Roberts (the incomparable Lauren Koslow) wasn’t giving up her mortal coil easily. After being shot by Vivian and covered in graveyard dirt, this resourceful anti-heroine crawled out of her makeshift resting place and dragged her nearly expired glam gal self to the local hospital. Naturally, as the writers stretch out this macabre yarn, Kate’s life still hangs in the balance…and Vivian is prowling the hospital corridors, hoping to drag her off of that precarious ledge. Days Kate

Of course, this is all being done with a sense of grand, over-the-top fun. But more than anything, it’s been a twisted joy watching glamorous, dedicated pros like Strasser, who gets more assured and enjoyably cunning with every appearance, and Koslow go at it with few (if any) holds barred. The producers also, nicely, gave longtime soap lovers a special treat by recently reuniting Strasser and Kassie DePaiva, who plays town pariah Eve with distinctive panache, for a brief scene. For decades these legacy performers went at it with love (and occasional wraith) as aunt and niece, respectively, on the late lamented One Life to Live.

Days Vivian

Intrigued by all this deadly, pumpkin spiced mayhem? Well, be sure to tune in, daily, at https://www.nbc.com/days-of-our-lives.

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

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Halloween Fashion with Art of Ruff!

Published September 6, 2019 by biggayhorrorfan

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That chill is quickly sneaking into the air again. As we file for temporary separation from the summer breezes and marry ourselves to the fall season, a new wardrobe consisting of Art of Ruff designs, featuring the cutely spooky imaginings of artist Bryan Ruff, seems essential.

My favorite image, of course, is Ruff’s cutely domestic take on the Frankenstein Monster and his Bride- now celebrating their 201^st anniversary, I hear – but there are plenty of other delightfully spooky options to pick from at https://www.redbubble.com/people/TheArtofRuff, as well!

So make those choices count (and no I don’t have that cute model’s number, so stop asking!!!)…and…

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

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Brooke Bundy Fan Page

Published November 4, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

Brooke Charlies

She played Elaine Parker, the mother that you love to hate, in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series, but true celluloid buffs know that the versatile Brooke Bundy played a wide variety of roles throughout her career. Like her doomed Diana on General Hospital, whose murder has long been considered one of the greatest crime mystery plotlines of the golden age of the soap operas, many of these credits took place on a variety of popular television shows.

Perhaps most notably, the first season of Charlie’s Angels found Bundy interacting with Farrah and crew as an ex-street walker turned Las Vegas chorus girl wanna-be. Her character, filled with both a sense of street smarts and sweetness by this layered performer, was even romanced here by David Doyle’s goofily lovable Bosley. Brooke Chips

Of course, Parker was not the only troubled mother in Bundy’s arsenal. Not as famously, perhaps, she played another matriarch on the final season of CHiPS. Here, as the emotionally unstable parent of a young girl played by Halloween’s Kyle Richards, she nicely shows a lot of subtlety and depth even though she is only featured in a couple of scenes. The quiet seriousness she adds also brings a bit of believability to this jump the shark episode that focuses on a space alien that is trying to bring Richards back to its home planet.

Brooke Circle of Fear

Bundy also appeared on a variety of interesting yet more obscure television shows, as well. A 1973 episode of Circle of Fear, an unusual and short lived horror anthology series, found her playing a member of an artists’ colony who is suddenly sucked into an ancient bottle by a vengeful group of pagan gods and goddesses. That same year, her sensible character was unable to save her man from the sensual lure of Lesley Ann Warren’s vampiric succubus on the Death on a Barge entry of Night Gallery, a vignette that was directed by none other than Star Trek’s most legendary Vulcan, Leonard Nimoy.

Nicely, now you can celebrate all of these interesting credits and so many more at Bundy’s recently created fan page: https://www.facebook.com/brookebundyfanpage/. Her activities, such as con appearances, will be noted there, as well.

So, as the shout of “Kristen!” whistles through your brain…until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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Review: The Barn

Published January 26, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

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Murderous ghouls in horror films can get away with almost anything…stabbings…beheadings…castrations. But stealing someone’s bag of candy? Well, then they may just have some serious retaliation on their hands. The dynamic resurrected killers in Justin Seaman’s ambitiously fun The Barn discover this the hard way when the film’s determined hero Sam and Josh, his plucky best friend, come after them to retrieve their purloined goods. Oh, and of course, to avenge their friends’ deaths and bring a halt to the dreaded Feeding which is sure to cause world doom. the-barn-2

But this visceral adventure is also a wake-up call for the youthful Sam (an effective Mitchell Musolino), who is full of holiday pranks and addicted to mindless diversions. Chastened into public service, after a joke-gone-wrong, the resourceful Sam eventually figures out a way to do his good deed while on a road trip to see his favorite metal band. Unfortunately, he and his friends stumble upon a remote barn and unleash a trio of monstrous entities that soon lay siege to their bodies and to a small town’s Halloween celebration. Therefore, it is up to Sam to embrace his imminent adulthood and try to save the day with Josh’s (the engaging Will Stout) assistance.

Adding greatly to the film’s throwback appeal, writer-director Seaman luxuriates in some memorable killers and some epic set pieces here. His terrible trio, The Boogeyman, The Candycorn Scarecrow and Hallowed Jack, drip with a satanic moodiness and are far creepier than many of the killers that populated the incredible number of imitative slashers that hit the video shelves in the mid to late 80s. A bloodbath at a local dancehall is also amazingly well choreographed by the multi-hyphenate and brings to mind projects as diverse as Brian DePalma’s Carrie and Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys.

the-barn-1 Cameo appearances by Friday the 13^th’s Ari Lehman and Linnea Quigley, America’s true goddess of horror, add to the movie’s appeal, as well. In particular, it is fun to watch Quigley, who played saucy victims in such memorable titles as Graduation Day and Night of the Demons, as she does a creative 180. Here, like in her effective turn in Full Moon’s Trophy Heads, she plays an uptight religious matron, the source of Sam’s initial downfall. With a sly sense of humor and a soft authority, she gives the production its star power – something that, given the artistry involved here, wasn’t necessarily needed for the project, but does provide a nice bonus for true fans of the genre.

The Barn (and its related goodies) is available for purchase at www.thebarnmerch.com. More information is available at https://www.facebook.com/TheBarnmovie, as well.

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

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The Art of Ruff

Published August 25, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

Ruff Jason

My friend Christine couldn’t come out to play yesterday, but I didn’t mind. I just spent the night at home, writing under the watchful, protective eyes of little Jason, artist Bryan Ruff’s brilliantly gleeful and imaginatively childlike take on the legendary Friday the 13^th villain!

In fact, all of Ruff’s soulful creations prove that the only guardian angels that any true horror lover will ever need are his personality filled imaginings of the younger versions of Michael, Pinhead, Leatherface and so many other terror icons. Ruff Michael

Besides the cute factor – which there is plenty of – what Ruff details, so personally, with these renderings is the innocence that these characters might have had before their more evil instincts took over. It’s a powerful reminder of the humanity that exists in our scares – something that is often overlooked in the flashier aspects of fright culture. It is also what sets Ruff’s work apart from so many other artists who are dealing with the terror genre. In a word, it’s heart.

To get your total horror movie “heart-on”, please visit www.facebook.com/theartofruff and https://www.instagram.com/sir_ruffikins/.

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

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David Schmidt’s The Underpass

Published September 28, 2015 by biggayhorrorfan

So, now you not only have be aware of crazy cab drivers when biking through the city, but you also have to beware of creepy underpasses, as well?!?

Well, all speedsters should thank Chicago director-writer David Schmidt for the warning…and the seasonal chills! Filled with some nice atmosphere and a strong black female lead, the passionate Krystin Williams, The Underpass may just be the way to start your Halloween festivities off with a spooky, investigative bang!

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

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Scout Taylor-Compton’s Rock N Roll Life

Published August 13, 2015 by biggayhorrorfan

Holy Glam Rock Bandanas!

I recently sat down to chat with the super cool Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween, Wicked Little Things, April Fools Day)!

We chatted about her time on The Runaways set and her rock and roll heart!

You gotta agree – she’s a total (guitar playing) doll!

Debra Hill Documentary!

Published January 14, 2015 by biggayhorrorfan

Clap those (tiny) Michael Myers’ hands together. Dynamic filmmaking duo Marcy Boyle and Rachel Holzman (aka DPYX) are putting together a documentary about beloved, influential producer Debra Hill (Halloween, The Fog, Escape from LA, Clue, Big Top Peewee)!

A passionate voice for equality in film during her lifetime, Hill (1950 – 2005) has long deserved such an impressive showcase.

You can keep track of this sure to be scintillating project at https://www.facebook.com/DebraHillDoc.

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

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Kaye Ballard’s Fine Sense of Pandemonium!

Published November 6, 2014 by biggayhorrorfan

Move over, Nana! Best known for her comic cabaret acts, appearances on Broadway (The Golden Apple, Pirates of Penzance) and television comedies (The Mothers-In-Law, The Doris Day Show), the stellar Kaye Ballard, also, added some silly flair to the 1982 horror parody Pandemonium.

Featuring ridiculous references to everything from Carrie (enacted by Carol Kane and Eileen Brennan) to the traditional slasher epics like Friday the 13th and Halloween, Pandemonium was built around that era’s sudden horror craze. Preceded by 1981’s Student Bodies (featuring a bevy of unknowns), this production upped the ante by adding such name performers as Ballard, (her The Mothers-In-Law co-star) Eve Arden, Donald O’Conner, Pat Ast, Tommy Smothers, Tab Hunter , Sydney Lassick, Laverne & Shirley’s David L. Landers, Mary Hartman’s Debralee Scott and Superman’s Marc McClure. (It, also, had the good fortune to have the talents of soon-to-be-big names like Paul Reubens, Judge Reinhold, Edie McClurg and Phil Hartman involved, as well.)

As expected, this tale of a killer stalking a cheerleading camp is full of (small moments of) smart satire and (plenty of) bone stupid stunts. Ballard, playing the mother of one of the potential victims (a very blonde Reinhold), gamely manages to survive both, here.

Her warning to Reinhold not to touch himself, while away for the summer, prompts the arrival of O’Connor as the family’s very blind patriarch. (Get it?!?) This fairly juvenile, yet strangely fun incident is followed by a much more obvious bit of humor (which the film contains a lot of). The family’s black sheep…turns out to be a black sheep.

Pretty obviously just a job done for a paycheck, Ballard’s energy and professionalism is still in full force here and her focus reminds one of every over-passionate Italian mama. Besides, it is truly a joy for fans of theater offerings and horror to see her here.

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

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Derek Joseph Quint’s Danse Macabre

Published October 29, 2014 by biggayhorrorfan

The Catholic Church is always screwing something up! Why, do you remember that time that the Vatican tried to steal Dracula away from his three precious brides – on Halloween, nonetheless? Well, if you don’t, talented, out filmmaker Derek Joesph Quint does and he recounts this incident with humor and screwball energy with his divine short, Danse Macabre.

As, always, Quint proves he is a visual master, here, with inventive costuming and a brilliant use of late night Chicago streets as a backdrop for this cinematic adventure. Its, also, incredibly amusing to watch the reactions of unsuspecting passersby as the action unfolds.

Featuring a bevy of industrious females, you may need to watch this beauteous wonder a few times – just to determine your favorite bride. Mine is the Blue Bride. Because, just like her, I can’t fly, but I keep on ticking, baby!

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

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