Marilyn Chambers 1952-2009

Although it may not have been her best-known work, David Cronenberg's 1977 zombie chiller Rabid was undoubtedly the most mainstream piece of work on the infamous resume of Marilyn Ann Briggs, a.k.a. Marilyn Chambers, who was found dead yesterday in her trailer home of as-yet-undetermined causes.

Her most well-known work would have to be Behind the Green Door, the 1972 film that made her the very first bona fide superstar of the exploding adult movie industry--ironically mere months after she had appeared as a model for Ivory Snow detergent.

Interestingly, it wasn't Cronenberg who wanted her for the starring role of Rose in his second motion picture. Cronenberg wanted Sissy Spacek, who had just kicked ass in the starring role of Brian DePalma's Carrie. But it was producer Ivan Reitman who instead suggested Ms. Chambers, to give the flick more sex appeal. And you thought porn was mainstream today!

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**SPOILER PIC** Michael Myers to Be Maskless for Majority of Halloween Sequel

Ryan Rotten of Shock Till You Drop landed a fascinating little interview with Halloween 2's makeup designer Wayne Toth on this Easter Sunday. The FX guru discusses a range of topics, including his surprisingly positive response to the bogus fan art that hit the web a couple of months back, the extensive use of dream sequences in the film, and most provocatively, the fact that The Shape will apparently be without his iconic mask for roughly "70%" of the sequel!

Here's Toth on the subject:

"I thought the reaction was pretty much going to be, What? No mask on Michael Myers?' But it's like anything else, as long as you're doing something cool, people get it. No one has dared to change the character, they just put him in different situations and that gets old pretty fast. Be daring with Michael Myers and change it, I think that was the appeal with this movie. It wasn't limited to a remake, like last time. We're taking it a step further."

This is bound to create some division in the fan community--which was already divided as to whether or not the remake sucked in the first place. For the rest of the interview, head on over to STYD. As for this "new design", the spoiler-wary among you might want to divert your eyes or jump to another site, 'cause I'm about to share an on-set peek of actor Tyler Mane sporting Michael Myers' maskless look. Here's the infamous shot which has been dropping jaws at STYD:


Well, no one can accuse Rob Zombie of being without balls. Although I'm tempted to say that without the Shatner mask, it kind of becomes less "Halloween" and more "Crazy Homeless Guy in a Jumpsuit Randomly Stabbing People". Stay tuned, true believers.

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A Quarter-Century of Krueger: Freddy's Life and Times

For this second installment of my year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of A Nightmare on Elm Street, I bring you a highly masturbatory yet fascinating look at the fictional life story of everyone's favorite supernatural slasher. Told in timeline fashion, it incorporates all "canonical" events in the life of one Fred Krueger. And by canonical, I mean accepted by New Line as officially part of their character's story. And yes, I'll admit to a little license taken on my part to help "smooth things over," if you will, and take care of any inconsistencies.

Here we go:

1937: Amanda Krueger, by then a young nun known as Sister Mary Helena, comes to work at the Westin Hills psychiatric hospital in Springwood, Ohio. She is accidentally locked in the asylum over an extended vacation (some sources indicate Christmas, but Freddy's birth date would point more toward an Easter break). Sister Mary is repeatedly tortured and raped by the 100 inmates locked in with her. She is found days later, barely alive--and pregnant.

January 14, 1938: In a breech birth, Sister Mary delivers her baby, Frederick Charles Krueger. He is immediately given up for adoption.

1938: Baby Freddy is adopted by one Mr. Underwood, an abusive alcoholic.

1940s: The child's sociopathic behavior begins at an early age, and, as with many future serial killers, includes the butchering of small animals. He is a social outcast among other kids, who are aware of his unseemly background.

Early 1950s: In his teen years, Freddy becomes a "cutter", engaging in self-mutilation. Eventually, he works up the nerve to murder his sadistic foster father.

Early 1960s: Freddy meets Loretta, and the couple eventually marry. They move to 1428 Elm Street in Springwood to start a family, which includes the birth of a daughter, Kathryn. Krueger takes a job at the local power plant. Krueger begins acting on his twisted perversions, abducting a total of 20 children from the neighborhood and taking them to the boiler room of the power plant, where he tortures and kills them. His prime instrument of torture/murder is a glove equipped with razor-blade claws. When Loretta discovers his activities, he murders her as well. The cases remain unsolved, and police dub the killer the "Springwood Slasher".

1966: Krueger is finally connected to the missing children, and arrested. His daughter is put into foster care.

1968: Due to the warrant to search Freddy's premises being incorrectly signed, all evidence becomes inadmissible. Krueger is released from prison. His birth mother, who had been following the case, hangs herself in the Westin Hills tower. On the night after his release, Springwood parents take matter into their own hands, track Krueger down to his boiler room, and burn him alive inside. Just prior to his death, Freddy is approached by a trio of "dream demons", who offer him immortality in the dream world, and the ability to continue his killing spree there. Krueger's remains are taken to the local auto salvage yard and locked in the trunk of one of the wrecked cars.

1970s: Police lieutenant Don Thompson and his wife Marge, two of the parents involved in killing Freddy, move into his old house on Elm Street. The Thompsons and other Springwood parents work to erase the memory of Krueger and his crimes, as well as their own vigilante act. The subject becomes taboo in the town.

Fall 1981: After a dozen years, Krueger's malevolent spirit finally gains enough strength to begin exacting his revenge. Returning to life as a kind of "dream demon" himself, Freddy begins haunting the children of the parents who burned him to death, murdering them in their sleep--resulting in a supernatural massacre that would terrorize Springwood teens for a decade. Among his first targets: Nancy Thompson, the daughter of the people who had moved into his former home.

• Freddy's Famous Friends

Freddy cartoon by Montygog

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What If Your Urban Legend... Were True?

Cropsey.

If you grew up in the Northeastern U.S., particularly New York, at any time during the past 25-30 years or so, it's very possible that name holds a sinister meaning for you. That's because it was one of the area's most commonly repeated summer camp urban legends.

I can remember sitting around the campfire on Staten Island during my cub scout days, listening panic-stricken as the pack leaders told us all about the one-armed axe-wielding maniac who lived in a cabin in the woods, half his body covered with burns. Eager to chop up as many campers as he could in retribution for the fire caused by careless kids, which led to the death of wife and kids, as well as his own disfigurement. I guess you could say that Cropsey was our Jason.

Little did I know that although the popular tale was greatly embellished as any urban legend will be, it was actually based on a very real case. In other words, Cropsey was a real guy.

A documentary film will be screening later this month at the Tribeca Film Festival by two Staten Island natives, Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio, who investigated the legend and came up with the grisly truth behind the real-life madman who inspired the Cropsey tale.

Having grown up with this story, and still remembering those restless nights in the scout cabin, listening intently to every sound in the woods, fearing that the killer would barge through the door at any moment, I've got great interest in checking this one out. If you do as well, go to the official movie website for more information. Screening times are as follows:

• Sat, April 25th 11:30pm . . . . . . . . AMC Village VII
• Sun, April 26th 3:00pm . . . . . . . . AMC Village VII
• Tues, April 28th 11:00pm . . . . . . School of Visual Arts
• Sat, May 2nd 8:30 pm . . . . . . . . . AMC Village VII

**UPDATE** Cropsey co-director Joshua Zeman checked in this afternoon with this important bit of clarification:

Andre Rand, the man profiled in the film, isn’t the actual inspiration of the collective CROPSEY. The collective CROPSEY has been around for decades. Somehow as kids we assigned the name from the urban legend CROPSEY to the man living in the woods in Staten Island who was going around and allegedly snatching kids. The film looks at how we attached the myth to the man... And is our attempts as now as adults to discover whether the urban legend of our childhood was actually true.

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New Where the Wild Things Are Poster! Beguiling, I Tell You, Beguiling!

Whether you loved the Maurice Sendak classic as a kid or not, how could you not want to see this? Looks to be a definite solid follow-up to Coraline for those parents, like myself, looking to expose their progeny to maximum coolness.

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The Vault of Horror & Day of the Woman Present: The 20 Hottest Women of Horror

Tonight we're talking about the women of horror, so who better to bring on board than the mastermind behind Day of the Woman herself, the irrepressible and irresistible BJ-C? She and myself worked long and hard to compile the following list of the most beautiful female characters in horror history, and I now leave it to BJ-C to bring it to you in her own inimitable style...

20) Gloria Holden (Countess Marya Zaleska)
~When your daddy is the Prince of the Night, one can only assume that you’re going to be a bona fide sex kitten. With those mesmerizing eyes, rocking figure, perfect pout, baby-smooth skin, and lesbian overtones, she’s like rolling all of the women on this list into one. She truly defines what it means to be a Horror Babe.

19) Jenny Agutter (Nurse Alex)
~ If you happen to be an American feeling a sick in London and think you may have possibly been bitten by a werewolf, there's no better cure than Nurse Alex Price entering your hospital room with a short skirt and a tray of pills. Enough said.

18) Sherri Moon Zombie (Baby Firefly)
~Love his work or hate it, Rob Zombie nabbed himself a real fox. Baby Firefly brings the perfect combination of insanity, sex and innocence, all rolled into one character. I’ll give her a B, an A, a B and a Y anytime she wants…

17) Evelyn Ankers (Gwen)
~Every furry man has to have a sexy co-star, and Evelyn Ankers is that woman for the Wolf Man. With those luscious blonde tresses and 40’s pinup body, it's no wonder Lon Chaney [as well as us here at VoH & DotW] noticed her, too.

16) Fairuza Balk (The Craft)
~A woman with turquoise eyes hidden behind black makeup and black lipstick. The lead witch of the coven in The Craft, she made famous the image little Goth girls across America try to emulate. She’s probably the scariest sexy women on this list.

15) Milla Jovovich (Alice)
~She’s got super-human strength, piercing blue eyes and a figure that makes even women swoon. There’s nothing hotter than a girl in little to no clothing, who can completely annihilate zombies. Not to mention, her legs could kill… and sometimes do.

14) Kate Beckinsale (Selene)
~She’s scantily clad in vinyl and leather, and has the ability to destroy anything in her path. Not to mention… she’s hotter than hell. This breathtaking (and powerful) former vampire makes us thank heaven she’s immortal.

13) Janet Leigh (Marian Crane)
~By far the most famous woman to ever take a shower, Janet Leigh as Marian Crane is the hottest embezzler to ever step foot in the Bates Motel. She may have been killed off within the first 45 minutes of Psycho, but her naked figure being stabbed is one of the most sensual & terrifying scenes in horror history.

12) Sadie Frost (Lucy from Bram Stoker’s Dracula)
~Move over Mina, it’s your best friend Lucy we’re looking for! A vivacious starlet who is much praised for her beauty and sweet nature, the poor victim of Dracula has such a vamp look to her already, it’s impossible to overlook her sexiness… even moreso after becoming a vampire.

11) Hazel Court (Elizabeth in The Curse of Frankenstein)
~One of the premier '50s scream queens. Hazel captivated us with that thick hair and plump pout. Not to mention, her hotness got our eyes on someone other than Vincent Price when she stepped on screen. Another one of those curvaceous women, she looked fabulous in every role she played.

10) Caroline Munro (Laura Bellows, Dracula AD 1972)
~One of the sassy and sexy women of Hammer Horror, Caroline Munro grazed the screen in numerous forms. A former Vogue model, her big break was performing as one of Hammer’s girls. She however turned down many roles because they required nudity, such a shame ;)

9) Rose McGowan (Cherry Darling)
~She has those luscious red lips and smokin’ hot body. She's a go-go dancer, a full-fledged bad-ass zombie slayer, and of course, there's the stockless-M4 carbine leg. What else could someone ask for?

8) Jessica Biel (Erin)
~So the remake of TCM wasn’t as well done as it could have been… but Holy Upgrade Batman on the main girl. Jessica Biel was white hot as the uber-conservative daugher of the Priest on 7th Heaven, but seeing her half naked in a horror film... sign me up!

7) Allison Hayes (Mona)
~In Zombies of Mora Tau, we find the 50-Foot Woman herself, Allison Hayes, displaying one of the sexiest brassieres ever created. With an absolute perfect hourglass shape, she completely embodies what it meant to be a 50’s Scream Queen.

6) Nastassia Kinski (Irena)
~The lips that drove men crazy long before Angelina. The character Irena in the remake of Cat People (which is a film already swarming with sex) makes panthers look sexy, and there is something about that iconic movie poster that makes it harder to walk…

5) Isabelle Adjani (Lucy Harker)
~Looking like she was glazed with porcelain, Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker in Nosferatu the Vampyre has one of the most breathtaking sets of eyes to ever grace the silver screen. The contrast of her dark makeup on that ivory complexion of hers draws everyone in, with or without a vampire on her neck.

4) Linnea Quigley (Trash)
~ Not sure when Trash is hotter--before she turns into a zombie or after. Her legendary full-frontal graveyard dance is officially the most necessary gratuitous nude scene in movie history. Plus, she’s one of three people on the planet to make pink hair sexy.

3) Anna Falchi (She)
~Italians have given the horror world synth-rock music, realistic zombie makeup, and Anna Falchi. In the film adaptation of Dylan Dog, or Dellamorte Dellamore/Cemetery Man, we get the luxury of staring at “She” as she represents numerous women in the film. For lack of a better description, HOTTEST ZOMBIE EVER.

2) Salma Hayek (Santatica Pandemonium)
~Vampire Freaking Stripper…Never in my life have I ever wanted more to be bitten by a woman than I have after watching From Dusk Till Dawn. Who doesn’t like seeing Vampire Strippers with snakes in their hands? That’s what I thought…

1) Maila Nurmi (Vampira)
~Absolutely exemplifying what it means to have an hourglass figure, Maila Nurmi encompasses everything a sexy gothic pinup should be. From her smashing frame, to her stunning cheekbones, Maila Nurmi jumpstarted puberty for the boys of the classic horror era the world over. Dita Von Teese….eat your heart out.

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Reliving Childhood Terror: Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

It was just some obscure TV movie that I had seen as a small child on afternoon syndicated TV. Yet it remained burned into my psyche well into adulthood. In fact, I would sometimes wonder if it had ever been a real movie at all, or just a half-remembered figment of my overactive childhood imagination.

In the pre-internet days, before IMDB, I would mention it now and then to others my age, to see if they had seen it, too. A creepy, quirky little flick about a woman haunted by demonic creatures in her furnace, desperate to drag her down to become one of them. To my astonishment, some folks also had half-recalled, vague memories of such a TV movie. Once the internet came into the picture, I still couldn't quite track it down, because I had no idea what the title was, or any of the actors in it. For some bizarre reason I thought Bonnie Franklin was in it. I have no idea why, but alas, I was wrong...

It took years before I was finally able to identify the movie as Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, a TV production originally aired on ABC in October 1973. I had seen it some years later, most likely on a lazy Sunday afternoon at my grandparents' house, where we would go every week, like a good Italian-American family. It scared the living daylights out of me, and I never forgot it.

One of the benefits of writing The Vault of Horror has been that I've been able to get in touch with and share ideas/memories with horror fans both near and far. In this case, one of the near ones, whom I happen to work with, not only was just as obsessed with the movie as myself, but actually had a Japanese DVD in her possession! And so, at long last, I was able to finally return to the movie that had haunted my dreams for some 30 years (Thanks, Tracy!).

Amazingly, so much of it was exactly as I had remembered it from that afternoon long ago. Kim Darby (of The Searchers and Star Trek's Miri episode) plays Sally, a poor young housewife neglected by her over-ambitious husband Alex (played by Jim Hutton, Timothy's dad). To her dismay, upon moving into the home bequeathed to her by her grandparents, Sally finds herself the target of menacing little monsters that she has unwittingly freed from their bricked-in prision within the old furnace in the basement. Over the course of the next hour, they taunt and torture her mercilessly, as she desperately tries to convince those around her that she's not imagining things. Until finally, they drag her kicking and screaming into the furnace. The end.

A large part of what scarred me as a kid was the uncompromising grimness--my Disney-trained brain couldn't conceive of such a tragic ending. And I'm glad to report that the movie remained just as foreboding to me now--although I have no way of really knowing if much of that had to with my memories of it, since my wife was certainly less than impressed.

I'll admit, we're not talking about fine cinema here. But Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is about as good as one can expect an early 1970s network TV movie made in three weeks to be. The acting leaves something to be desired, and unfortunately, the silly little costumes of the furnace creatures are decidedly less frightening now than they were to me then.

Nevertheless, I maintain that the movie still held much of its original power to get under my skin. The score, by prolific TV composer Billy Goldenberg, is genuinely eery and atmospheric. The persistent, whispering calls of the demons ("Saaalllyyyy.....We want you, Sally....") are just as spine-tingling as I remember, and have definitely held up much more than the costumes! What I also love is that you never learn what the creatures are, or how they got there. Creepy as hell.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who was traumatized by Don't Be Afraid of the Dark as a kid. No sooner had I jumped on Facebook after watching the movie than I discovered a group entitled "U Saw Don't Be Afraid of the Dark in the 70s and Are STILL SCARED". Ha. Plus, there's the astonishing news that none other than Guillermo del Toro is prepping a theatrical remake to be released next year! Not bad for a supposedly obscure little TV movie. And you can bet your life that there is much room for improvement here--this is one remake I'm looking forward to with mucho excitement.

I'm not sure about the proprietary rights, but someone needs to put out a box set of TV horror movies from the '70s and early '80s--there's a fortune to be made. Throw in this one, Dark Night of the Scarecrow, Gargoyles, When Michael Calls, etc. There are a lot of us out there who have fond memories of these chillers!

"Ssaaaalllyyyy......"

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Andy Hallett 1975-2009

Some of you may have heard this by now, but for those who haven't, I have some truly sad news to report today. Andy Hallett, beloved for his role as the crooning demon Lorne on the Buffy spin-off series Angel, has died of heart failure at the age of 33.

Hallett had been struggling with heart disease (presumably congenital) for a few years now, and had been admitted to the hospital for treatment in the past. He passed last Sunday night, and E! Online first reported the tragic news on Monday.

The actor spent four years on the show, from 2000 to 2004, and actually didn't do much other acting, instead focusing on his music--a taste of which Angel fans got to enjoy from time to time on the show. In fact, he hadn't appeared on screen since Angel's cancellation.

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First MonstersHD, Now FEARnet??

Folks, we as horror fans need to stand up and get angry. It's time to do something. The loss of Monsters HD was a crippling blow to anyone who enjoys watching uncut horror flicks on TV--and now comes the enraging news that Time Warner Cable has dropped the FEARnet on-demand service from its lineup.

FEARnet.com reported the news last night, and it was brought to my attention by colleague and FEARnet.com writer Scott Weinberg. Apparently, Time Warner must feel that there is not enough support for a 24/7 on-demand horror film provider, but clearly we know this isn't so. And they need to know this.

If you've had FEARnet dropped from your service and you're pissed off, or even if you have a different provider and you're still pissed off, call this number: 1-877-FEAR-247. FEARnet will connect you with your cable operator, so you can voice your complaint.

Let me remind you that this is how it started with Monsters HD last year, first getting dropped by one provider at a time, until it ultimately closed its doors, depriving horror fans of a superb source of entertainment. I would not be surprised if FEARnet is headed in the exact same direction, if nothing is done to alter this course. And then all we'll have is ChillerTV, so for God's sake people, we need to do something.

I'm baffled as to where this lack of confidence in the concept of a horror channel is coming from. In my experience, horror has a much stronger mainstream following than science fiction, and yet the Sci-Fi Channel has been going strong for many years. Hell, there's even an Encore Westerns channel. Horror fans, unite and speak up!

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Maurice Jarre 1924-2009

The Vault marks the passing last Sunday of one of the world's most prolific and acclaimed film composers, Maurice Jarre, whose horror credits included Eyes Without a Face (1960), Dreamscape (1984), The Bride (1985) and Jacob's Ladder (1990).

Eventually composing for movies in six different decades, Jarre began his career in his native France, where one of his early scores was for the aforementioned Eyes Without a Face, directed by Georges Franju.

He made a major splash in Hollywood in 1962 with his epic score for Lawrence of Arabia, which netted him his first of three Academy Awards. Perhaps his most famous score, for Dr. Zhivago, landed him the second one three years later. He also won in 1985 for A Passage to India, and was nominated six other times, most recently in 1991 for his score for Ghost.

Jarre was also honored with two BAFTAs, for Witness (1986) and Dead Poets Society (1989); four Golden Globes, for scores that included Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and A Walk in the Clouds (1996); and a Grammy for his Zhivago score.

Among his many other scores were The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Firefox (1982), Top Secret! (1984), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Enemy Mine (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986) and Fatal Attraction (1987). He was also responsible for the music to the TV miniseries Shogun (1980), and my personal favorite of his, the immensely stirring theme to Franco Zefferelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977).

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