Hopelessly Devoted to: Marsha Hunt

Published August 24, 2022 by biggayhorrorfan

Standing true to herself even in the face of hysterical Red Scare blacklisting and multiple physical threats due to her latter-day work with the United Nations, the unstoppable Marsha Hunt often played characters who took no guff from the underside of humanity, as well.

Case in point, as Kate Hazelton in the 1957 B-budget horror Back from the Dead, Hunt displays an unwavering attitude when her character’s sister (the glorious Peggie Castle) is suddenly possessed by the deceased wife of her new husband. As Mandy (Castle) begins acting stranger and stranger, seducing her neighbors and even getting violent with her sibling, Hunt imparts a steadfastness to her characterization, reveling in a sophisticated loyalty and honest sense of determination.

Of course, even when playing the sacrificial lamb opposite the noble Greer Garson (Blossoms in the Dust) or losing out romantically to the man-stealing Susan Hayward (Smash-Up), Hunt’s performances always had a sense of purpose about them. This attribute makes her not only one of celluloid’s most vibrant figures but one of its most resilient, as well.

Nicely, her incredible life has been lovingly documented in Roger Memos’ powerful cinematic memoir Marsha Hunt’s Sweet Adversity, easily available on a variety of streaming services.

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

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Va-Va-Villainess: Betty Hutton

Published March 7, 2021 by biggayhorrorfan

While definitely played for comic effect, the effervescent Betty Hutton gamely enacted out some prime soap opera villainy against herself in 1942’s Here Come the Waves.

Here, playing twin sisters, Rosemary and Susan, Hutton is given ample opportunity to perform her rubbery, vaudeville loving heart out. In the interest of celluloid intrigue, the two characters she portrays are, naturally, radically different. The (12 minutes) older Rosemary presents as a stern and uncompromising force of practicality. Meanwhile, the (slightly) younger Susan is the loudly scattered, romantically ambitious one. While Susan’s outlandish crush on pop singer Johnny Cabot (Bing Crosby) drives the majority of the plot here, her manic overtures, ultimately, repel him. The initially uninterested Rosemary, though, quickly steals his heart.

Catching onto the duo’s attraction to each other, the devious Susan decides to take matters into her own hands. Dressing up exactly like her look-a-like sibling, Susan arranges for Bing’s shocked Cabot to catch her in another’s embrace – momentarily derailing his relationship with Rosemary.

But by the closing frames, order has been restored with the chastened Susan realizing that Cabot is actually perfect brother-in-law material and that her own yearnings have found their unsurprising outlet with Sonny Tufts’ Windy, Cabot’s rascally friend and her co-conspirator in crimes of the heart.

Meanwhile, more information about Hutton and her extraordinary life and career s available at https://www.bettyhuttonestate.com/.

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

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Music to Make Horror Movies By: The Del Rubio Triplets

Published April 12, 2020 by biggayhorrorfan

Del Rubio Triplets

Of all the female powered groups that ruled the ‘80s, The Del Rubio Triplets had to be the most unique. Originally performing with bandleader Xavier Cugat in the ‘40s, they achieved cult status in the neon decade via their appearances on Pee Wee’s Playhouse and other television shows like Night Court, Married with Children and Sliders.

While best known for their enthusiastic covers of songs by Devo, Pointer Sisters and The Bangles, they also brought out all the best Halloween razzmatazz for their version of The Wizard of Oz’s Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead.

With their uniquely bright personalities shining like a supernatural spotlight, Milly (1921-2011), Elena (1921–2001) and Eadie (1921-1996), will unsurprisingly live forever in our hearts.

Del Rubio 2

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

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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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