Music to Make Horror Movies By: Pointer Sisters

Published November 11, 2018 by biggayhorrorfan

Pointer sisters group

Sibling rivalry does its thing. My sister’s love of Beauty and the Beat by The Go-Go’s meant that I was unable to truly worship at its punk-pop greatness until nostalgia hit me in my mid-40s. Meanwhile, my brother’s love of Madonna and Olivia Newton-John left their charms eternally foreign to me. Another of his favorite records, the Pointer Sisters’ Contact, also came under my powers of derision. But a recent pick-up from a dollar bin has uncovered its darker, smoky charms to me. The popular Dare Me, for example, seems like the perfect background music to the violent cat and mouse face-offs that exist between such supernatural slasher icons as Freddy and Jason and their (often ingeniously) wily targets, Nancy Thompson and Laurie Strode.

Thankfully, The Pointer Sisters are still spreading their rich magic – one of their songs was even used on Ryan Murphy’s short lived Scream Queens – and showing the world how their blend of pop, rock, soul and (even) country music made them one of the world’s truly under-sung super groups. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/The-Pointer-Sisters-Official-131523497289/ –

pointer sisters contact.jpg

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Ariana Grande

Published September 2, 2018 by biggayhorrorfan

Ariana Grande Scream Queens 1

She’s endured public tragedy and overt sexism on a national scale. Her Chanel #2 even met a very bloody end on the first season of Ryan Murphy’s short lived Scream Queens.

But the magnificent Ariana Grande, whose dream role just happens to be Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, instinctively knows how to keep rising above. …Or majestically sinking below as this delightfully Alice in Wonderland inspired video for No Tears Left to Cry so artistically proves.

Grande, of course, is always keeping it magical at http://www.arianagrande.com.

Ariana-Grande-Scream-Queens2

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

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Linnea Quigley: Tinker Hell and the Nonexistent Imp

Published June 9, 2017 by biggayhorrorfan

linnea fun

Spider and Samantha are the names of the characters that forever charming horror goddess Linnea Quigley embodied in the cult classics Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama. Spider, a hardened thief who takes on a murderous imp, and Samantha, who searches for her missing sister with determined grace, are also true evidence of the inherent feminist themes in B-Movies that have attracted fans, and even scholars like Carol J. Clover (Men, Women and Chainsaws), to these films for decades. On the eve of rare screenings of these fan favorites at Summer Scares in Chicago, Quigley, happily, shared some memories about the making of these mini-masterpieces of divine mayhem.

BGHF: Hey, Linnea! I’m so excited that they’re showing Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama this weekend at Summer Scares. It’s one of my favorites. Linnea: Me, too!

I think Spider, the character you portray, embodies so much of what is important about the female characters in those direct to VHS years. She’s strong and resourceful and gives off such a feminist vibe. Oh! Yeah. Because a guy wasn’t saving the day, she was. Thank you!

I think that’s why that Scream Queen Era was so important to so many people. Those films gave the actresses great opportunities. You were able to play doctors and scientists and cat burglars. I don’t think you got that in a lot of the mainstream films of that time. Oh, wow! You’re right. We got to play murderesses and crazy people. The good ones!

Are there any memories that stand out to you about Sorority Babes? Weren’t the performers all housed together on location? Yeah. We were all at a La Quinta. We weren’t too far from the set. I had my own room because I insisted on it. I didn’t want to be in a room with someone who was wild or was staying up half the morning! (Laughs) I say morning because we shot at night. I like my own space.

It was a short shoot, correct? Actually, for a David DeCoteau film, it was a long shoot. It was seven days.

Seven days? That’s nothing! What was the usual time frame for shooting a movie like that? Oh, gee. Three days. A weekend!

Wow! Do you have any fun memories from working on Sorority Babes? Yeah. There were a lot of weird things. My room was next to Andras Jones (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Warriors). I thought he was cute. I had a little crush on him. But he was younger than me and he was in the prime of those hormone years. He was destroying his room and just being wild. I guess he was getting the last of that kid out of him and was being really silly and funny. He and the others would go out into town, which was a sea port, and everyone was just kind of all over the place.

Was there any else that was interesting? Of course, we had to act to nothing. The imp wasn’t there when we filmed and we didn’t know what it was going to look like.

David didn’t give you any clues? I don’t know about other people’s interactions with him, but he didn’t with me. He just let us go and do what we felt was right. If we had to be louder for the camera or if we were out of frame, he’d let us know that. He was really good about just letting us do our thing.

I understand that he let you choose the role that you wanted to play, as well. Yes! He gave the script to me and told me to choose the part that I wanted. It took me like two seconds. I want this part, I want this part!

Who wouldn’t want to be Spider? Of course! I didn’t want the other parts, I wanted that one. …and I had fun with it. I had so much fun.

Did you have the same kind of fun on Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers? Well, that came about because Fred Olen Ray had a camera for four days over a holiday weekend. He and David DeCoteau would have bets over who could make a movie the fastest. It was funny. It was the first and last time that I worked for Fred. He just called me and wanted me to do the part. I was just excited to get roles. …and I liked the role. It was fun. (Laughs) I got to work with chainsaws.

Was there any kind of protection on set when you were doing your famous chainsaw dance? No! (Laughs) Of course not! Oh, the things won’t be on. It’s okay! Then I’m doing my dance and I felt something like hot oil on me. I didn’t want to stop the take. In my mind I was thinking that my legs were going to be scarred up. I don’t know what it was. It could have been oil. It was a little bit freaky. Fred kept saying, Dance sexy! Those chainsaws are so heavy! I was taking it seriously, too. I was really trying to dance sexy. It was so hard!

Your hardship was rewarded. The film’s a cult classic and I think many people discovered you through it and adore you. So, I guess the work is worth it, occasionally. Oh. Yes! Yes!

You also mentored Gunnar Hansen on that, as well, correct? Didn’t you encourage him to get into the convention scene? Yes! We were standing around waiting for the next shot. I told him that he should be doing the convention scene. He didn’t believe me. He thought The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had happened so long before and that no one would want to meet him or get his autograph. He thought no one would remember him. I said, are you kidding me? I was so excited to meet you. I was a little afraid. But you would be so amazing at conventions. He kind of nah, nah’ed it. Then when I saw him on the convention scene, I was like, okay! He got it.

A little blonde angel you were, guiding him. Yes, take my hand, Gunnar, and I will lead you to the convention circuit! I was a Tinker Bell.

…Or maybe a bad ass version of Tinker Bell. Yeah, a bad ass Tinker Bell, that’s better. Tinker Hell!

Yes! I’m Tinker Hell!

I think that needs to be the subtitle for this interview! Oh, great! I’d love that!

Forget Scream Queen or Goddess of Horror or Femme Fatale. You want to be a Tinker Hell! Yes! We’ll coin a new thing!

We will! Definitely!

Be sure to join the Tinker Hell Squad by meeting Linnea at Summer Scares on Saturday, June 10^th at The Patio Theater in Chicago. Linnea will be joined by fellow guests, Ari Lehman (“Jason”, Friday the 13^th) and Mark Patton, (“Jesse”, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2). More information is available at https://www.facebook.com/events/813470602136871/.

Quigley, meanwhile, is always yielding dangerous accessories on the internet at www.linnea-quigley.com.

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

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Hopelessly Devoted to: Athena Massey

Published December 10, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

Maria Ford, Jillian McWhirter, Sherrie Rose, Charlie Spradling, Melissa Moore, Joan Severance…These are names that fans of legendary producer Roger Corman’s ‘90s output should be familiar with. The glorious Athena Massey though, was, perhaps, the most exotically mysterious of these women – and, without a doubt, the most Stanislavski-an in her approach to her roles. Whether playing a blood starved alien, an undercover police officer or a bad-ass covert agent, this beauty gave it her all.

Star Portal, perhaps the most ridiculously fun entry here, finds Massey imbuing her role of Quad Rena/Sarah with both a solemnity and a childish curiosity. Yet another reworking of Corman’s Not of This Earth, this production also benefits from subtle traces of The Terminator and, nicely, places Massey in the alien role usually embodied by a male. Massey’s otherworldly goddess is bloodthirsty – a slaughtered victim or two is hung upside down to be drained of their fluids – but she supplies enough childlike confusion and regret to make this deadly femme qualify as the piece’s heroine. Choppily processed and obvious filmed on the cheap…the love interest, played by Steven Bauer, is almost invisible to the plot…this still provides enough zaniness to qualify as a solid example of the product that was churned out to meet the demands of the burgeoning cable market in a, regrettably, bygone era.

Shadow of a Scream (AKA The Unspeakable), meanwhile, truly contains some of Massey’s finest work. The plot, again, is a reworking of everything from Stripped to Kill to (the notoriously protested, Al Pacino fronted) Cruising. But as Alice Redmond, a cop who goes undercover to trap a suspected serial killer, Massey shows a wide range of emotions. Even as her character, predictably, begins to be drawn into the sadomasochistic lifestyle of the man she is tracking, as an actress she colors in all the dots of her character’s personality, showing vulnerability and strength. Despite co-stars from two major television shows, 30 Something’s Timothy Busfield and Baywatch’s David Chokachi, this is definitely her show. It’s too bad, therefore, that the ending comes off so abruptly, almost leaving the audience confused as to who the killer is. The answer may be far too predictable for some, but Massey’s skill here is never in doubt and, as previously mentioned, this serves as an amazing showcase for all of her many talents.

Nice believability is also supplied with Terminaton Man, another low budget epic about a commando squad trying to stop a Serbian terrorist from unleashing a deadly nerve gas. As Delilah Shane – great name, no? – Massey provides kick-ass bravado here and truly makes you trust in her character’s flintiness and skill. Impressively, Massey also makes you believe that the gratuitous nudity that her character is subjected to is all part of her take no shit attitude and not just an exploitive script requirement – true evidence of her compelling acting skills, if there ever was one.

Be sure to become hopelessly devoted to Athena Massey, yourselves, by following her at https://www.facebook.com/Athena-Massey-128121317206690.

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

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Halloween Double Page Spread Ass-omeness!

Published October 20, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

wendi

Ready to #ButtHorror?!?!

The divine Wendi Freeman (pictured, left) had me on her awesome podcast Double Page Spread for the Halloween season. We talk about our love of scream queens (like Linnea Quigley, pictured), butts versus breasts, the new American heroes and so much more! Oh, yeah, and Tawny Kitaen for President!

I, actually, had a hard time nailing down my favorite (male) asses in horror. See if you can do better by listening at the link, below:

http://tinyurl.com/hxp56x6

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: Scream Queens

Published October 16, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

It may have been tough for Regina, a perky ‘80s pop wonder, when her vocal style was called out for being too reminiscent of Madonna’s. The talented songstress had already fronted a popular New Wave band and had her lyrics covered by other established artists.

But this last week, Baby Love, her most notable song, proved to be far more irksome to Scream Queens’ most pompous rascal, Chad Radwell (the irreplaceable Glen Powell). As Chanel Oberline, the character’s glorious intended, marched down the aisle to the song’s sweetly unforgettable bubble gum aura , the audience soon was surprised by the plummeting lifelessness of Radwell’s body as it hit the altar, dead on impact!

The song’s innocent joyfulness was the perfect contrast to the macabre circumstances and proved, once and for all, that pop music is, indeed, killer!

Be sure to keep up with the show’s sharp awesomeness at https://www.facebook.com/ScreamQueensFOX and https://twitter.com/ScreamQueens.

chad

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

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Night of the Slasher

Published March 11, 2016 by biggayhorrorfan

night of the slasher

I try to punch in for work right on the dot and sometimes…I even smile throughout my shift.

But Jenelle, the lead character in Shant Hammassian’s Night of the Slasher, really puts me to shame with her commitment to her job. Deciding she has to take part in all the typical horror movie sins, such as drinking and having sex, to capture a killer, the troubled teen attacks her goals with gusto…and is soon facing down a ferocious psychopath.

Receiving raves since its release, including a consideration as a Best Oscar Short nominee, Night of the Slasher is currently playing such celebrated festivals as SXSW and has proven to be one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year.

Personally, I can’t wait to see it!

https://www.facebook.com/nightoftheslasher/

http://www.nightoftheslasher.com/

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

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Overview: Days of Our Lives – The Necktie Killerk

Published September 25, 2015 by biggayhorrorfan

Josh Griffith, the newly established co-head writer of Days of Our Lives, revealed in a recent issue of Soap Opera Digest that he wants Days to be the “Hitchcock” of daytime television. If that’s the case, then Griffith (and collaborator Dena Higley) must be thinking Frenzy, Hitchcock’s latter day horror effort, which featured a lovely lady victim (or two) being tightly squeezed about their throats. Their first big plotline, effectively erasing some of the previous regime’s newer characters, is a serial killer adventure featuring a creepy strangler known as The Necktie Killer.

First to go was Serena Mason, a diamond smuggling hottie who had demolished the heart of Eric, the local ex-priest. Played by the popular Melissa Archer, known to many as One Life to Live’s Natalie, this character spent many months chasing after a ceramic elephant, which contained the hot jewels. Of course, the viewing audience didn’t know why Serena was chasing after the object, thus one of the more ridiculous (and longwinded) plots in daytime television was born. “I swear I saw two elephants!!”

Archer, of course, committed to the work with skilled passion and truly seemed to be catching her stride as the albatross of her story was slowly being worn away. When Eric was in danger, in a recent plot twist, her horrified concern was palpable, giving audiences a true taste of her talent and making her misuse, by the previous writers, all the more apparent. But her early exit was probably inevitable, from the get go. Instead of a slow build, which all soap fans know is necessary for a new character, within weeks Serena was going head to head with the show’s main vixen, Nicole, a sure death knoll for any foundling mistress of destruction. Archer deserved much better, although she did look glorious in all her final red necked glory!

Sadly, the next victim was sweet Paige Larson, enacted by the gorgeous True O’Brien, who was growing stronger as a performer, every day. Part of the show’s (sort of) innocent teen romance, Paige had witnessed (the prime suspect) Chad DiMera’s last wrangle with Serena and, as this (slightly less than) proper young gent is being framed for the crimes, she was the next to go.

This gave the divine Kassie DePaiva (Evil Dead II’s sassy Bobby Joe), who plays Paige’s deceitfully stunning mother, Eve; room to truly indulge in her multiple talents. Her anguish over her estranged daughter’s death was full of heart wrenching emotion, but done to subtle effect by the well toned DePaiva, who also spent years as one of One Life to Live’s most popular anti-heroine’s Blair. As Paige’s long lost father, played by another daytime dynamo, A Martinez (Curse of Chucky, Mega Python Vs. Gatoroid, Not of this World), has arrived on the scene, DePaiva has compelled even further. The stunning weariness she is bringing to Eve is a master class in economy and it is a shame, especially now that Martinez’s character is being tied into one of the show’s core families, that the powers-that-be have let her go. This is truly an unfortunate mistake on their part.

Of course, they know better than to play such games with Deidre Hall, who plays the show’s iconic leading lady, Dr. Marlena Evans. Hall was nearly killed off, in a similar storyline decades ago, and the fans took to the streets in protest. So, the attack on her this week by the killer, found this record breaking psychiatrist, breathlessly, surviving her rose hued asphyxiation…after a week of hypnotization attempts on the increasing frantic Chad, who now has reason to believe that he is being set up, but doesn’t have the proof.

Hunky Ben does, though. …and Chad will probably live to regret his eternal love for Ben’s fiancée, Abigail. Thursday’s episode revealed the troubled Ben to be the man behind the recent slayings, an almost unsurprising denouement. Although, red herrings do still abound…the respectable Dr. Dan as a Scream style co-conspirator, anyone?…and the weeks to come are sure to be filled with more suffocating mysteries and muffled mayhem…so, stay tuned!

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: KeKe Palmer

Published April 5, 2015 by biggayhorrorfan

Palmer facing down the Animal!

Even Betty Crocker must have had to let the beast out every once in awhile.

As evidenced by her single Animal, eclectic singer-actress KeKe Palmer, whose credits range from Akeelah and the Bee to the upcoming (eagerly anticipated) television series Scream Queens, must surely know how she felt.

The theme song to the fun 2014 beast in the woods horror epic of the same name, which featured Palmer in strong survivalist mode, Animal definitely proves that while romance can be untamed, it’s the creatures lurking in the shadows that are truly deadly.

Be sure to keep up with Palmer and Scream Queens at https://www.facebook.com/kekepalmer and https://www.facebook.com/ScreamQueensFOX.

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

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

Frank Fox’s 0 Feet Away

Published February 3, 2015 by biggayhorrorfan

Assignment: Use the word nifty in a sentence.

Response: No problem.

Frank Fox’s O Feet Away is a nifty little thriller in the tradition of When a Stranger Calls and the opening moments of Scream. Using the queer community’s obsession with hook-up apps as a focus point, Fox’s short film features moments of shadowy tension and fine performances from Max Cutler, as Chase, the piece’s (annoyed then fretful) final guy, and Matt Harrison as a mysterious stranger.

Fox, also, uses sound as a powerful method of communication here. As Chase’s phone rapidly beeps from a stranger’s increasingly invasive missives, viewers’ nerves are slowly frayed.

You can check out this 9 minute excursion in suspense at:

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

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