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

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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.

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

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Review: Skeletons in the Closet

Published December 15, 2018 by biggayhorrorfan

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Lately, I’ve enjoyed comparing my favorite horror and exploitation queens to the grand stars of old. For example…the statuesque Julie Strain is akin to the buxom Jane Russell. Jennifer Rubin, who undulates with a smoky noir texture, is in the same school as Marie Windsor while the charms of Deborah Dutch emerge as a sexier version of cockeyed second banana Una Merkel. Skeletons ellie jean

Meanwhile, I believe that indie goddess Ellie Church has the looks and comedic chops of Jean Harlow in her prime. Church puts these glamorous elements into perfect use as The Widow, the prime wraparound character in the terror anthology Skeletons in the Closet. Here, she delivers her lines with low key sauciness and a sardonic timing and, handily, steals the show.

Riding the understandably undying love for the ‘80s, Skeletons’ other segments resemble the mixed bag of goods akin to other solid anthologies. Thankfully, this means that there is generally something here for everyone. Other standout segments, therefore, involve a sarcastic babysitter and her surprisingly crafty young ward and a scary visit with a mysterious grandmother that signals the arrival of a very savage curse.

Those who prefer a little deep thought and theatricality with their cinema will also appreciate the bloody artistry of the Meisner segment, anchored by writer-actress Rhiann Owen’s truly emotional work.

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Skeletons can be purchased at www.scotchworthy.com. More information is also available at https://www.facebook.com/skeletonsintheclosetmovie/.

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

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