Dancing Zombies on the London Tube

Well, they are not really zombies, but that guy with the shaved head sure is cute.

The Gore Master: Tom Savini

You've seen his work in dozens of horror films. He brought Jason Voorhees to life as a somewhat deteriorated, lake dwelling child with Down Syndrome in the original Friday the 13th, he also supplied all of the grande guignol gore in that same film, climaxing with the gotta-see-it-to-believe-it beheading of Mrs. Voorhees at film's end.

His name is Tom Savini, and he's the Gore Master. And no, he's not gay, but, boy howdy, he is hot! And since this blog is for queers who love horror films, why not feature a little something on one of the more talented makeup men of all time, who just also happens to be, one the sexiest men of all time.

Actor, photographer, dancer, teacher, stunt man, special effects wiz, body builder, and all around swell guy, Tom Savini came to his calling when as a small boy he saw the film, The Man of a Thousand Faces, and instantly become enamored with silent film screen star, Lon Chaney. In fact Savini is such a fan of the film star and his self created makeup effects that he named his son, Lon and his daughter, Chaney.

As a young man serving in Vietnam, Savini was a combat photographer, and it is assumed that whatever real-life-horrors he saw in the war, have translated themselves into his rather realistic effects.

Working in theater as an actor and dancer for a bit after the war, Savini's big break came in 1976 when he did the special effects for George A. Romero's masterpiece, Dawn of the Dead.

Dawn of the Dead's special effects were positively ground breaking (as well as stomach turning) thanks to Savini's genius. From throats torn asunder; to arms ripped from sockets of hapless victims, Tom took the savagery of cinematic blood-letting to new heights in this film. And while many have tried, no one has been able to duplicate his work.

Dawn of the Dead also featured Savini in an acting role as the leather clad, hell raising biker, Blades. Tom got to battle some zombies, and even engage in a pie fight with them in the movie.

A year or so later, Tom's acting muscles were flexed even more when he played the villainous, but oh so sexy, Morgan in Romero's Knightriders (which was essentially a retelling of the King Arthur legend set on motorcycles).

Getting back into the makeup world, Savini's next two projects were Maniac and Friday the 13th, and while neither of these films would be considered much more than exploitation flicks, they featured some of the most astounding special effects ever seen.

Considering that none of these works featured CGI graphics, it boggles the mind that Savini was able to create such realistic visions of carnage using latex, plaster and condoms filled with stage blood. Dare I say it, this guy's a fucking artist!

Never one to rest on his laurels, Savini continued working and acting on films through out the 80's, his next milestone being George A. Romero's and Stephen King's homage to 50's EC comics, Creepshow, where not only did Tom supply the blood and guts, he also created a gorilla-like beastie who chewed up Adrienne Barbeau as well as crafting a life like body cast of actor, E.G. Marshall which exploded in a sea of cockroaches.

In 1990, Savini took on the daunting task of directing a re-make of Romero's Night of the Living Dead. With a script by Romero, Tom managed to add enough heart to this venture to actually make it as good as the original. Of course, there are dozens of little touches that the director added that made the movie more of a treat (like naming the abandoned farmhouse that our heroes take sanctuary in, "M. Celeste"). In my humble opinion, Tom's version of Night was miles ahead of Zack Snyder's bastardization of Dawn of The Dead in 2004.

Savini has also kept up as an actor showing up in Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk till Dawn playing Sex Machine, another leather clad ass kicker with a rather pronounced cod-piece that doubled as a mini machine gun (yeah, really). In this film Tom worked along side such big names as Salma Hayek (as the vampire stripper with greatest name of all time,"Santanico Pandemonium"), George Clooney, and Harvey Keitel.

Savini also reprised his role as Blades (now a zombie) in Romero's Land of the Dead in 2005.

A few years back, Savini decided to get involved in a different kind of special effects, when he decided to whip himself back into shape. Well into his 50's at this juncture, Tom took part in the Muscle Media & EAS Physique transformation contest and well... let's take a look at this picture on the left from last year. That's Tom Savini at 60! Damn, he looks better than guys half his age.

Today at 61, Savini is still keeping on. He was most recently scene in the Planet Terror section of Grindhouse, and has reportedly just been cast in The Lost Boys 2 (and supposedly, Cory and Cory are also involved).

A few years back I almost had a chance to meet Tom at a horror movie convention. I missed him, but was lucky enough to meet and talk to George Romero (who is a genuinely nice guy, by the way), but I was disappointed that I did not get a chance to thank The Gore Master for all of his hard work and have him autograph my copy of Grande Illusions (Tom's book on movie makeup and special effects).

Maybe next time.

FRESH SLABS OF MEAT: Hunky Victims (6)

Victim: Rod Lane

Film: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Hunk Factor: A great head of hair, prone to leather jackets and tight jeans, told his girlfriend that he woke up with a hard-on with her name on it, looked good in white BVD's.

Dispatched by: Bed sheet turned into a noose that hung him from his jail cell.

Played by: Nick Corri

R.I.P. Annie Hayworth

Suzanne Pleshette who played the icy, possible lesbian, schoolteacher, Annie Hayworth, in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds has died.

Known to most as the wife of Doctor Hartley on The Bob Newhart show, Pleshette was a sultry voiced actress who most recently did a stint on televison's Will and Grace where she played Karen Walker's earthy mother.

Pleshette was 70 years old.

MORE INFORMATION HERE

R.I.P. Vampira

Maila Nurmi, known to the world as Vampria, passed away on January 10th at her home in Los Angeles.

Though just a local horror movie television hostess out of L.A. back in the 50's, Nurmi's Vampira became legendary for her role as the reanimated dead wife of Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood Jr's epic, Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Younger generations may be aware of her as she was played by Lisa Marie in Tim Burton's, film, Ed Wood.

Nurmi was 86 years old at the time of her death.

MORE INFORMATION HERE

Repressed Sexuality on Elm Street

Maybe it was all purely coincidental, maybe it was not, but no matter how you slice it A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge has got to be one of the gayest films ever made.

Any horror film that features Hope Lange and Clu Gulager as the parents of a Nellie-boy in distress is gay aces in my book! Add this to the mix; that said nellie-boy's girlfriend is a dead ringer for Meryl Streep, and, well, how can you go wrong?

Made as a quick follow up to the authentically chilling original, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 2 starts with Jesse, his little sister and Ma and Pa moving into the original home from Nightmare. Once the family is settled all kinds of goofy and gay things start happening.

To wit:

*Jesse does a masturbatory dance in his bedroom with a tennis racket. Soon after that his room becomes so hot that his stacks of Culture Club records begin melting!

*Meanwhile, at school, Jesse's best bud, Ron (Robert Russler) can't seem to stop pulling Jess's pants down exposing his pale butt.

*The constant horseplay between the two chums seems to raise the ire of Coach Schneider (Marshall Bell) (as well as his arousal, one presumes, as he is constantly eying the two boys), so he keeps them after gym so he can watch them run the track, work up a sweat, and undress in the locker room.

*Later on in the film, when Jesse becomes possessed by the spirit of Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) he strolls the streets of Springwood Ohio and shows up at a leather bar, where, SURPRISE! He bumps into the Coach! At this point the leather clad gym teacher takes his charge back to the school gym where he makes him run the track. As poor crazy Jesse is running, the coach is seen in his office checking out his impressive collection of whips (jeez, what kind of background check does this school system employee?). However, before the coach can work out his S and M fantasies on the little twink, supernatural events occur and soon the coach is dragged screaming into the shower by unseen hands and is strapped up to the shower heads, ) At that point the unseen specter begins lashing the coach with a cat-o-nine-tails until Jesse shows up wearing Freddy's glove to finish off the horny teacher.

* When it looks like Jesse will finally get to have sex with is girlfriend, Freddy takes over again causing our poor hero to display a huge phallic like tongue that juts in and out of his mouth (gee, what could that mean?), which freaks him out and sends him running for (guess where?) If you said, "Ron's bedroom" - give yourself a gold star and a copy of Freud's ,The Interpretation of Dreams -- yes, in a state of total melt down and hysteria, Jess confronts his bare chested buddy for comfort and climbs on top of him in bed crying out for help. Ron's a good guy and he agrees to let Jess spend the night (no, not in his bed), and that proves to be a bad call as Freddy once more takes over and slashes the hunky best friend to ribbons.

***

On a purely superficial level, A Nightmare 2 is a mishmash of nonsense - canaries blow up, parents turn a blind eye to their son's mental breakdown, Freddy making the proclamation, "You are all my children now"- yeah, there are a lot of inanities here.

However, if one can overlook the silliness, there seems to be a much deeper meaning to the goings on. Could this film actually be about a young man trying to come to grips with his repressed sexuality? It would seem that his first two victims represent that which both attracts and repulses him at the same time. The gym teacher and Ron both are sexual beings in Jesse's eyes. The gym coach wants Jesse, while Jesse craves Ron. And yet both of the men are killed by the evil that has possessed him (you always hurt the one you love?).

In the end, Freddy is vanquished by the virginal girlfriend after she professes her love to him and kisses him passionately (while he is in the repulsive guise of the monster no less), thus giving Jesse back his normal life. Unfortunately, the ultimate message here might be that homosexual stirrings equals death - then again, if one were to watch any other slasher film from this era, heterosexual stirrings are just as risky.

Be that as it may, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge is an entertaining little film, check it out when you can, and see what you think. I'd love to hear others thoughts on it.

And one last thing, interestingly enough, Mark Patton (who played Jesse) is a gay man.

***
for your viewing pleasure: here is the coach's death scene:

Six Reasons Fright Night is a Gay Horror Film

1: Chris Sarandon as Jerry Dandridge is the hottest damn vampire ever! Suave, sexy, a natty dresser - Chris was one smokin' sucker!

2: Amanda Bearse played Amy Peterson. Amanda would go on to star as the uptight next door neighbor, Marcy on Married With Children -- oh, did I mention that Amanda is a lesbian?

3: Stephen Geoffreys played Evil Ed. Stephen left legit acting and appeared in gay porn films such as Leather Virgin, Buff and Gay, and Cock Pit.

4: Jon Stark who plays Jerry's semi-human companion Billy Cole, is very fond of his master.

5: Roddy McDowall played Peter Vincent (The Fearless Vampire Hunter). Roddy was a gay man.

6: William Ragsdale who played Charley Brewster, the teen in peril, has a noticeable bulge in his pants for much of the film.

sorry could not find a photo of noticeable bulge.

A Bulge, A Blue Speedo, A Bloody Death: Kevin Bacon at Camp Crystal Lake

Before he was Footloose, prior to his name becoming synonymous with Six Degrees of..., years before the adulation began in earnest; Kevin Bacon was just another young struggling actor trying to get noticed.

It was while he was appearing on the soap, The Guiding Light, that Bacon took a part in a low budget horror film being filmed in north/western New Jersey - that film, of course, was Friday the 13th, and Bacon would go on to play Jack Burell a doomed camp counselor.

While the young thespian did not have much to do in this movie prior to his gruesome death scene, viewers were treated to his lean frame poured in to a pair of impossibly tight speedos that left little to the imagination. As a matter of fact, I believe that Bacon's basket was the second most eye-popping moment in Friday the 13th (the first of course being Mrs. Voorhees' decapitation at film's end).

Bacon's bulge (that is so much fun to type! try saying it out loud !) is on display a few more times in the film especially when Kevin is wearing a form-fitting pair of jeans earlier in the festivities. But of course, it is most noted during the swimming scene.

But a nice basket does not a Final Boy make, no sir, and it seems that our chubby sporting pal comes to a nasty end when after making love to his girlfriend, Jack Burell is dispatched in one of the more ingenious offings a slasher film has ever portrayed: While lying back in post coital bliss, our hero is smoking a joint and smiling smugly when suddenly a drop of something hits his forehead. It is a small speck of blood and faster than you can say, "Kill him , mommy kill him!" a hand comes out from under the cot our boy is laying in and clamps down on his forehead while an arrow comes up under the mattress and through his neck leaving poor Jack gagging on his own fluids. ... say what you will, but special effects wiz, Tom Savini outdid himself with that stunt!

I've often wondered why the filmmakers never cashed in on Bacon's protruding manhood -- maybe one of the sequels could have featured the vengeful ghost of Jack Burell - Friday the 13th Part 11 - Jason vs Jack's Bulge.

Slim Pickings For Gay Male Horror Fans in 2007

2007 has come and gone, and while there were a few decent horror/sci-fi/thriller releases this past year; we gay fans have been thrown crumbs at best (and some pretty damn skimpy ones at that) I don't know about you, but I did not see one fright film this year that even hinted at some sort of homosexual undertone, let alone offer us any eye candy.

Hell they even killed off Jay Hernandez's Paxton in the first reel of Hostel II!

The only time any flesh was shown was in I Am Legend, where we get to watch Will Smith exercise and get all sweaty in case he meets the blood-sucking-CGI-girl of his dreams in post apocalyptic Manhattan.

You'd have thought that movies that took place in motels and hotels would have featured some shirtless showertime. But alas, Luke Wilson stayed dressed in Vacancy and the strapping, John Cusak stayed buttoned up in 1408. - though I have to say, both of those films were pretty damn good.

Freddy Rodríguez, wore tight jeans and sauntered around like a mini John Wayne in the first half of Grindhouse - Planet Terror. It's been awhile since I have seen that film, so Freddy might have shown some flesh during the sex scene with Rose McGowan, but since Quentin Tarantino was probably on set, whispering in Robert Rodriguez's ear , it was probably just his naked foot. Still, a major thumbs up for casting that sexy little bastard in a leading role

Even though I have yet to see it, gay horror film impresario, David DeCoteau released his version of The Raven, where it went directly to HERE! (a gay and lesbian, on demand television service). While I doubt that there will be much substance to this venture, and I equally doubt that there will be much attention paid to the source material (which is of course a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe); I am sure that it will feature a bevy of pretty boys in their underwear, so there's that.

Ah well, it's all water under the bridge now. So here's to a Scary, Shirtless, Sexy, Homo-Horror-Filled 2008!