Sunday, October 27, 2024

channel freakboy: SCREAM QUEENS (2015-2016)

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This post is part of The We Are Family Blogathon, hosted by Rebecca of Taking Up Room! 
Poster for The We are family blogathon, hosted by taking up room.  October 25-27, 2024 shows a the family portrait
Click the pic to read more reviews!
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Nepotism. 

I find it easy to believe that most people who find success nowadays in acting, singing, or even writing have a relative connection to initially open doors closed to ordinary people.  Oh, maybe celebs really are discovered at Schwab’s Pharmacy or on the Internet, but I’m sure they are very rare exceptions.  I don’t know how Emma Roberts was discovered, but you can’t tell me being the daughter of Eric Roberts, and especially being the niece of Julia Roberts didn’t play a huge part! 
Emma Roberts as  Nancy Drew looks out the window of a taxi cab
A young Emma hitching a ride on aunt Julia‘s fame!
I first saw Emma Roberts in the fun 2007 big screen version of NANCY DREW.  Then I enjoyed her various roles in the television series AMERICAN HORROR STORY.  It’s actually in AHS where her range as an actor is on full display.  Her character in the Coven season is radically different from the one in Freak Show, for example.  However, there is one role I love more than any other character Miss Roberts has breathed life into and that is Chanel Oberlin in SCREAM QUEENS
Chanel Oberlin poses in shades, a fuzzy pink jacket and checkered  skirt in Scream Queens.
Chanel Oberlin is too cool for this blog!
Chanel Oberlin is president of Kappa Kappa Tau, a very exclusive sorority at the prestigious Wallace University.  This 5’ 2” terror rules over her minions, Chanels #2, #3 and #5, with a self-absorbed entitled iron fist.  She is dating the stupid rich and just plain stupid Chad Radwell and she can boss around housemaid Miss Bean.  Chanel’s privileged life is perfect until it is turned upside down by an assortment of freak pledges led by Grace Gardner and Zayday Williams, who want to make Kappa Kappa Tau a real sisterhood of women empowerment and inclusivity.  Oh, and there’s a serial killer dressed as a Red Devil, the university mascot, and the psycho has set vengeful eyes on the sorority because of something terrible that happened there 20 years prior.  
The Red devil is ready to kill in scream queens.
This Devil is horny for blood!
That sums up the plot of the first season and it’s a roller coaster of comedy, horror and non-pc dialogue and behavior!  The second season is pretty much the same, with mostly the same cast, but it’s set in a hospital and there’s a serial killer dressed as a Green Meanie.  It’s even more ridiculous than the first season, but entertaining, especially on a second viewing. 
Chanel Oberlin in a pink nurse’s uniform accepts a blood drive winner  award in the second season of scream queens
Sorry, Chanel, but season two doesn’t deserve an award!
For the record, Emma Roberts isn’t the only potential case of nepotism in SCREAM QUEENS.  Jamie Lee Curtis, having a blast as Chanel’s adversary, Dean Cathy Munsch, is the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis.  Oliver Hudson, as goofy and suspicious Wes Gardner, is the son of Goldie Hawn.  Billie Lourd, perfectly cast as earmuff wearing Chanel #3, is the daughter of Carrie Fisher and the granddaughter of Debbie Reynolds.  Keke Palmer, as fun and feisty Zayday Williams, is the daughter of former actors Sharon and Larry Palmer.  Honestly, I’ve never heard of Keke’s parents, but it proves having even the slightest connection to the entertainment industry boosts your chances of being discovered.
Cast of scream queens, season one.
Potential victims and killers in season one!
Other notable talent in SCREAM QUEENS includes Niecy Nash as the cluelessly determined security guard Denise Hemphill, who steals every scene.  Glen Powell is stupid fun as the incredibly dense fraternity leader and Chanel’s boyfriend Chad Radwell.  Lea Michelle is super awkward and funny as neck-brace wearing sorority pledge Hester Ulrich.  Abigail Breslin captures the mixture of superiority and low self esteem as Chanel #5, the most put upon of the Chanels.  In season two, John Stamos turns up as a surgeon with a killer transplant hand and Kirstie Alley gives a brilliant performance as the head nurse with a massive grudge against the Chanels.  They are all great reasons to watch SCREAM QUEENS, but I’m here to focus on one.  Obvi!
Chanel Oberlin is sitting at a dining room table looking amused in scream queens.
Yes, please tell me how fabulous I am!
Emma Roberts as Chanel Oberlin is amazing!  The character is at best a bully, at worst a psycho-sociopath.  Yet, Miss Roberts makes Chanel obsessively watchable and quotable.  (For years I had Chanel shrieking at the housemaid, “Miss Bean, I said let’s hit it!” as a text message alert sound on my phone)  Chanel is one of those television characters who’s fun to watch but you really wouldn’t want to be around them in real life.  Only someone with talent can walk this acting tightrope between loving and loathing a character.  So forget PRETTY WOMAN and whatever Eric Roberts has been in, (I mainly know him as The Master in the 1996 made-for-tv DOCTOR WHO movie) and celebrate an example of the entertainment industry striking gold through nepotism!  Emma Roberts shines brighter in a million different ways than her famous family members and you will never forget her, especially as the maniacal, manipulative, monstrous Chanel Oberlin! 
Chanel Oberlin dressed in a pink Jackie Kennedy outfit  ascends a staircase with a handless mannequin in a wedding dress in the background.
Chanel Oberlin says the awful, ugly things we only think with style and flair!
In conclusion…
SCREAM QUEENS is a scream and the true Ryan Murphy teen follow-up to POPULAR.  (gives GLEE a sideways stink eye)  Hilarious, creepy and absolutely bonkers, SCREAM QUEENS is bound to joyously entertain and offend. So, if you’re an Emma Roberts or Ryan Murphy completist or you enjoy killer comedies, slip on some earmuffs and serve up some cottenball appetizers because SCREAM QUEENS may be the television series for you! 
DVD of the complete first season of scream queens shows Emma Robert’s as Chanel Oberlin in the center of various cast members
See, even the DVD knows who’s at the center of the series!
Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S.  Click the pic for a bit more about POPULAR…
Photo of Leslie Grossman as Mary Cherry looking scared in a scene from the TV series popular
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STURGEONS (the complete serials) is a modern take on 1950’s sci-fi/horror films and what happens after the end credits roll…
Multiple copies of sturgeons the complete serials by John L. Harmon are displayed on a table next to his mad scientist glasses.

Sunday, October 20, 2024

booking freakboy: TO MAKE A HOMO by Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1971)

This is one of the titles I was drawn to when I first discovered Ed Wood wrote novels.  Instead of endlessly waiting for a brave publisher to reprint it, I found a copy on AbeBooks.  All I expected was for Wood to entertain me with his usual craziness and also redeem Vintage Gay Pulp Fiction in my half-blind eyes after a crushingly disappointing  experience with the sub-genre.  (see Abnormals Anonymous)  
The book to make a homo by edward d. Wood jr. shows an illustration  of two shirtless men sitting on their knees on a bed.  The light haired man is reaching for the dark haired man’s crotch and kissing his chest.  The dark haired man guides the other man’s hand.
1971, Little Library Press
Tommy Grimes is an 18-year-old who always has a plan, including coercing younger fellow classmate Paul Coll into performing a sexual act on Tommy at the church picnic.  When Tommy is done, he doesn’t return the favor, leaving Paul rather frustrated.  Not for long though because fellow schoolmate Mary Kalaski and her reputation suddenly appears.  She seduces Paul into full on intercourse.  At the climax of this twist, they are caught by the minister‘s wife, leaving them both in trouble in more ways than one. 

Parental money is exchanged to terminate the unwanted addition, but that’s not the plot.  It’s revealed that Tommy and Mary are in cahoots and had planned Paul’s religious experience at the church picnic.  Not only that, Paul is beginning to desire his sister’s panties and Angora sweater.  When Paul is dressed up, she is Pauline.  Yes, this is when it fully felt like a Wood novel, but not just because there’s also a Paul/Pauline in DEATH OF A TRANSVESTITE I’m not sure if they’re supposed to be the same character or if Wood was just repeating himself. 

Anyhoo, there’s more!  Tommy is not only a sexual bully, but he’s also a drug pusher and a pimp!  After a ménage à trois between Tommy, Mary and Paul, Tommy sends Paul, as Pauline, to a cabin in the woods filled with homosexual clients, some in drag and some not.  Pauline’s job is to pass along some drugs and then to submit to the carnal whims of everyone in the cabin.  The inhabitants of this cabin will also be doing a job for Tommy by getting Paul/Pauline hooked on heroin.  This will allow Tommy to have more control over his newfound prostitute/drug mule!  

Now both Mary, who is still pregnant, and Paul are heroin addicted prostitutes working for Tommy.  After a double duty assignment with a rich old lady client, where Mary nearly suffocated and Pauline had to pull up her skirt and drop panties, they are done with Tommy.  SPOILER ALERT!  Tommy imbibes his one vice, alcohol, and passes out.  Mary and Paul jump at the chance to get their abuser addicted to heroin so they can all be on the same playing field.  That’s how the book ends.  It’s easy to assume nothing good happens to these characters, but who knows?  Maybe they all get clean, forgive each other and live happily ever after as a very modern throuple, assuming Paul/Pauline doesn’t grow up to be a drag assassin. 

Anyhoo, all I kept asking was, “Who the hell was this book’s target audience?”  Before you conjure up an answer, there are a couple more things left to reveal!  I was very surprised to find several photos scattered throughout the pages of very real adults doing very naked activities.  Most of these photos are of a hetero-centric nature, which is odd considering the queer plot.  This makes me assume they were added by the publisher because surely Wood would’ve picked more diverse pics.  Oh, of course, there are the prerequisite straight-porn lesbian shots, but there is only one photo of two men together and it’s the most demure of the lot.  
Two shirtless men sit on the edge of a bed.  One man reaches around the other to undo his leather pants.
There’s a lot of little things you could do for me that might make us real good friends.” Tommy to Paul
Then, as a popped cherry on top of this Wood sundae, there are pages of advertisements at the back of the book.  Loads of plugs for mostly straight adult novels with such classy titles as Oversexed Broads and Hard Doctor Though there are a few queer novels, such as I, Homosexual by Adrian James.  As a perfect compliment to the book plugs, there are also some truly inspiring ads for marital aids to make your next key party the social event of the season! 
Advertisement for French ticklers  reads, french ticklers "'It’s the real thing!" Pure latex - not feathers. Our French tickler is not only a novelty and unusual conversation piece - it is also washable and reusable! Your co-swingers will flip when they see it! Makes a marvelous gift! Prices, 6 for $5, 1 dozen for $8
Reusable means they are environmentally friendly, right?
So, was the target audience for TO MAKE A HOMO the male hetero crowd?  I mean, the photos mostly appear to support this theory.  On the other hand, the story is definitely bent at the sexuality.  Then its title and provocative cover art would’ve surely turned off homophobic jerks in 1971 and today, so I don’t know!  All I can say for certain is this book is now for the extremely open-minded readers who enjoy going with the flow and/or for maladjusted Ed Wood fans like me. 

In conclusion… 
Putting aside the skeevy young ages of the three main characters, TO MAKE A HOMO met my expectations and exceeded them.  I was wildly entertained!  Even the sexual descriptions ranged from clinical to vulgar to hysterical.  (so it just lay there against his leg looking like a limp, kosher hot dog. Paul struggling with and then accepting Pauline as part of his/her self was somehow backwards, yet also way ahead of its time.  So, if you want to take a literary walk on a very wild side, then TO MAKE A HOMO may be the piece of Vintage Gay Pulp Fiction for you!  I am once again eager to explore other titles, including more from the incomparable Edward D. Wood, Jr. 

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S. Click a pic to get more Wood… 
Danny and Shirley look confused in a scene from Necromania, a tale of weird love.

Alicia looks irritated in a scene from take it out in trade

Edward D. Wood, jr. wearing an angora sweater.

Glenda relaxes in a scene from Glen or Glenda
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My queer little books are available from an Amazon near you! 
3 books by John L Harmon include, dark excursions the complete set, vision bent half blind poems, and sturgeons the complete serials

Sunday, September 29, 2024

freakboy on film: The Films of Doris Wishman: THE DAYLIGHT YEARS (1960-1964)

Here we end this Doris Wishman retrospective at the beginning.  We leave behind her Grindhouse Twilight Years and her Roughie Moonlight Years to bask in the lush sunlight of her Daylight Years.  These six sun-kissed celluloid creations are nudist camp films.  

Yeah, you read that right!  So, slap on the sunscreen, grab a well-placed towel or beach ball, because full-frontal is forbidden, and prepare to go back to nature by going nudist! 
Green box set shows an astronaut meeting a topless moon doll, with text that reads, the films of Doris Wishman, the daylight years

NUDE ON THE MOON (1961) 
written by Jack Caplan & Doris Wishman/directed by Doris Wishman 
A scene from nude on the moon shows two astronauts, one in a green suit and one in a red suit.
Dr. Jeff Huntley doesn’t want to get married because he’s already married to science.  After a rich relative dies, Jeff and his mentor Professor Nichols can finally build a rocketship to fly to the moon.  Once on the surprisingly lush lunar surface, the two men scientifically explore minerals, plants and the topless inhabitants.  Will these Moon Dolls cause Jeff to change his mind about marriage or will he run out of oxygen during his thorough extraterrestrial exploration?  With the debatable scientific jargon, offkilter dialogue, and weirdly effective low budget special effects, this feels like a nudist camp film directed by Ed Wood.  Throw in a swingin’ theme song and the Moon Queen’s haunting voice and it’s not surprising that even I couldn’t resist its early 60’s innocent kitschy charms.  Added bonus is that a chunk of the film was shot at the famous Coral Castle in Florida. 

BLAZE STARR GOES NUDIST(1962) 
written & directed by Doris Wishman 
A scene from blaze star goes nudist shows blaze staring off into the distance while wearing a lime green outfit and a huge lime green hat
Where in the world is superstar actress Blaze Starr?  Tony, her fiancé/agent, wants Blaze to attend press events and cocktail parties.  A film studio bigwig named D.W. wants Blaze to renew her contract.  All Blaze Starr wants is some peace and quiet.  After seeing a nudist camp film while escaping into a theater, Blaze decides to go nudist!  Will this brazen display of breasts while playing chess, picking strawberries and doing laundry end her career and engagement?  A swingin’ theme song, some fun dialogue and relentlessly innocent silliness made me enjoy this film.  Unlike Blaze, I do not feel inspired to spend a weekend at a nudist camp, especially if I am forced to attend a nude accordion concert. 

HIDEOUT IN THE SUN (1960) 
written by Eugene Fernett & Doris Wishman/directed by Larry Wolk & Doris Wishman 
A scene  from hideout in the sun shows two bank robbers holding a woman hostage
Duke Martin has successfully robbed a bank with his brother Steve, getaway car driver extraordinaire.  Well, almost successfully.  They ditch their vehicle and carjack Dorothy’s sweet convertible ride, but the cops have closed all roads out of town.  Dorothy may hold the key to their escape because she is a member of the Hibiscus Country Club.  They can lay low there while waiting for their getaway boat guy to dock.  Of course the club is actually a nudist camp!  Will the brothers go nudist?  Will Dorothy fall in love with one of them?  Will the boat guy dock in time for nude archery?  This is the most low key crime drama ever.  The suspense is barely palpable but the kitsch has a pulse, especially with yet another swingin’ theme song!  However, HIDEOUT IN THE SUN lacks the overall charm of the first two films in this set. 

GENTLEMEN PREFER NATURE GIRLS (1963) 
written & directed by Doris Wishman 
A scene from gentlemen, prefer nature girls shows a husband and wife having a discussion in the kitchen
Anne and Tom are secretly married at the office because their boss doesn’t want married couples working for him.  Mr. Bennett is also against nudists and fires Tom when he finds his nudist membership card on the floor.  What are Anne and Tom going to do?  Will Tom find a job at the nudist camp?  Will Anne attempt to convince Mr. Bennett to hire Tom back?  Will Mr. Bennett learn the joy of healthy living through a nude life?  The kitsch cred is knocked down a notch by a lack of a swingin’ theme song, but the amusing swimming pool music almost makes up for it.  Overall, it’s a harmlessly goofy story with yet another nude accordion concert and the new addition of nude teeter-tottering.  All I kept thinking was how those splinters are gonna hurt! 

DIARY OF A NUDIST (1961) 
written & directed by Doris Wishman 
A scene from diary of a nudist shows a blonde haired woman with white glasses taking notes
Arthur, the head of a newspaper, gets lost in the woods and stumbles across a nudist camp.  He decides to have Stacy, his blondest reporter, go undercover and expose the shocking facts about nudism.  When Stacy loses objectivity by becoming a sun lover, Arthur must go undercover and write the articles himself.  Will he write the truth about nudism or go for a more sensationalistic angle?  A swingin’ theme song almost makes up for the thinnest of thin plots.  However, there’s still kitsch to go around, especially with the grandmotherly head of the nudist camp, who was playing herself.  I just don’t understand why she didn’t inform Arthur that walking around in swim trunks is not being a nudist. 

THE PRINCE AND THE NATURE GIRL (1964) 
written by Andrew J. Kuehn/directed by Doris Wishman 
A scene from the prince and the nature girl shows a man with two blonde identical, twin women
According to the Blu-ray liner notes, the plot of this “comedy of mistaken identity” is as follows, “a wealthy handsome ‘Prince’ catches the eye of identical twins who compete for his heart at the office and a nature camp.”  The reason I have to quote the synopsis is because I wasn’t sure what was going on since the film was not in English and my half-blind eyes couldn’t read the subtitles.  According to IMDb, THE PRINCE AND THE NATURE GIRL was a lost film until a German language print was discovered.  There is supposedly a recreated English dub out there, but not in this box set.  Personally, this is the least effective of these films because more than half of it is comprised of scenes from Wishman’s previous nudist camp flicks.  Though I do appreciate the soap opera plot.

All I kept hearing during this box set was Neely O’Hara in VALLEY OF THE DOLLS saying, “Boobies, boobies, boobies.”  Even though nudist camp films come across as innocent propaganda for the healthy, sun-loving nudist lifestyle, they’re really about boobies.  Oh, there are some shirtless men and bare bums, but cinematic nudist camps are mostly populated by perky young women. 

According to the audio commentaries, Doris Wishman has the distinction of being the most prolific nudist camp filmmaker.  Having not seen other nudist films, I can’t contrast and compare.  I can only imagine Wishman’s take on the genre is something special.  I mean, a sci-fi nudist film and a nudist crime drama seem to be proof that Doris truly did her own thing even at the beginning of her career. 

In conclusion… 
The only reason I purchased this box set was because my filmic OCD forced me to complete my Doris Wishman Something Weird/AGFA collection.  I was expecting to just roll my eyes, but I found THE DAYLIGHT YEARS was more entertaining than THE MOONLIGHT YEARS, which I’m sure just caused longtime Wishman fans to collectively gasp.  Who knows though?  Maybe when I rewatch the three box sets, my opinion will change.  However, no matter what I think, the films of Doris Wishman need to be experienced! 

In case you missed it, go back to the future for Doris Wishman’s Twilight Years! 
Pink background with text that reads, The films of Doris Wishman, the twilight years
Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S. Is Doris Wishman done with me?  I can only answer the question with a question.  Do you really think I can resist experiencing films with such titles as SATAN WAS A LADY (1975) and DILDO HEAVEN (2002)? 
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Click the pic ⤵️ to read a glowing new review of STURGEONS! 📗
Blog Text reads,  Realweegiemidget Reviews.  Movies, TV, books and more.   MORE FICTION BOOKS... Sturgeons (the Complete Serials) (2023) by John L Harmon • SEP 25, 2024.  With a pic of a darkening street

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

freakboy on film: The Films of Doris Wishman: THE MOONLIGHT YEARS (1965-1969)

Here we are again in the wondrously weird world of Doris Wishman!  This time we are taking a step back from the colorful hyper-reality of her Twilight Years to take a walk through the black & white Roughies of her Moonlight Years.  Never heard of a Roughie?  Between the early innocence of the ”Nudie Cuties” and the later hardcore adult films, there was the Roughie.  A Roughie contains some skin, simulated sex and violence, typically aimed at women.  

Doris Wishman obviously had her creative finger on the pulse of the eager theater goers, but what do I think of these 9 forays into her take on the Roughie?  
Blue tinted cover of the AGFA/Something Weird blu-ray of the films of Doris Wishman, the Moonlight years shows a blond haired woman in a low cut jump suit

BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL (1965) 
written & directed by Doris Wishman 
Scene from Bad Girls Go to Hell shows a close-up of a woman screaming
Meg Kelton is disappointed when nagging and shower sex fails to prevent her husband Ted from going to work on a Saturday.  Instead of brooding in bed, she tidies up her apartment and takes out the trash.  This is when Meg’s day goes to hell.  The building’s janitor attacks her on the stairs and then rapes her in his apartment.  Meg bashes his head in with a large bowl, but fears no one will believe her.  So, she flees Boston for New York City, calls herself “Ellen Green” and finds herself in a slew of “hellish” situations.  Just when Meg/Ellen can stop and think by taking a job as an invalid’s companion, her employer’s detective son is coming for a visit from Boston, where he is working on a murder case!  This film may be in black & white and doesn’t contain direct nudity, but it is all Doris Wishman.  Dubbed dialogue, constant music and a story that pulls you in because you don’t know what’ the hell is gonna happen next! 

INDECENT DESIRES (1968) 
written & directed by Doris Wishman 
Scene from Indecent Desires shows a woman in a zebra coat standing at a corner next to a life-size doll
Zeb is a loner who appears to spend his days walking around and finding treasures in the trash.  When he finds a discarded ring and a doll, and spots someone who resembles the doll, Zeb’s life is about to change.  Ann is a nice office worker whose life is also about to change when she begins experiencing a strange phenomenon.  An invisible force is touching her and controlling her movements.  Unbeknownst to Ann, Zeb is somehow using the ring and doll like a puppeteer.  How far will Zeb go and what will happen if Ann makes him angry?  Well, I’ll just say this stalker Twilight Zone fantasy ends with a real twist, but it takes its time getting there. 

A TASTE OF FLESH (1967) 
written by C. Davis Smith  and Doris Wishman/directed by Doris Wishman 
Scene from A Taste of Flesh shows a trans man romantically taking the hand of a smiling cis woman
Bobi and Carol are roommates in for a different kind of evening.  It starts with Bobi bringing home Hannah, a woman she met in Europe, who shows much interest in a visiting foreign dignitary.  Then two phone company representatives stop by and hold the women hostage because the two men are there to assassinate the dignitary staying at the hotel next door.  The plot takes a bit to reach its conclusion, but it all makes sense, I think.  In my opinion, the highlight is a dream sequence where Bobi, dressed in traditionally male attire, dines and dances with Hannah.  It’s a beautifully shot 1960’s lesbian/trans romantic scene that is unfortunately ruined by a hetero-centric cis man, of course.
  
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MAN (1966) 
written & directed by Doris Wishman 
Scene from Another Day, Another Man shows a man in a masquerade mask, staring at a woman
Ann is a woman with secrets.  Her boss doesn’t know she’s married to Steve.  Steve doesn’t know Ann’s roommate Tess is a prostitute for a pimp named Bert.  After Steve gets a promotion, Ann leaves her job and fulfills her dream of being a housewife because it’s 1966.  Tragedy strikes when Steve is laid up in bed with a mysterious illness, but Ann has a plan to bring home the bacon by becoming one of Bert’s working girls.  Weird enough to hold my attention, with an ending that surprised me! 

MY BROTHER’S WIFE (1966)
 written & directed by Doris Wishman 
Scene from My Brother's Wife shows a woman standing with her legs apart, revealing a man lying in bed in front of her
Bob and Mary have a marriage that is easily torn asunder when Bob’s drifter brother Frankie turns up at their door.  Frankie immediately seduces Mary but he is also reigniting his past flame with Zena.  Which woman is Frankie serious about and which one is he playing, or is he playing both?  This feels like a sexier version of a daytime soap opera, so I obviously appreciate the sudsy scheming and dreaming. 

PASSION FEVER (1969) 
written & directed by Stelios Jackson and Doris Wishman 
Scene from Passion Fever shows a man and a woman chatting under an umbrella
Yarkos is a gigolo, picking up women here, there and everywhere, until he falls in love.  Will love triumph or will one of his past conquests throw a wrench in his happily ever after?  I knew nothing about PASSION FEVER when I sat down to watch, so I was confused how sometimes it seemed like a Doris Wishman film and sometimes it really didn’t.  According to IMDb, Wishman purchased a Greek film called PYRETOS but lost the English dub.  Being who she was, Doris edited the original film down, wrote her own English dub and filmed a few nude insert shots.  The result is a disjointed, entertaining mess. 

THE SEX PERILS OF PAULETTE (1965) 
written & directed by Doris Wishman 
Scene from The Sex Perils of Paulette shows a woman approaching a man standing by a park bench
Paulette feels she must confess everything to her boyfriend Allen.  She came to New York to become a famous actress but has just been taken advantage of by big city users.  Her first mistake was renting a room from Tracy, a loose and easy woman who drinks too much.  Then Paulette shouldn’t have listened to Tracey about Sam.  Sam won’t hell Paulette’s acting career, unless the role is that of a prostitute.  For having such an incendiary title, THE SEX PERILS OF PAULETTE is the tamest of this Wishman batch, but the plot as a flashback kept things interesting. 

THE HOT MONTH OF AUGUST (1966) 
written by Sokrates Kapsaskis/directed by Sokrates Kapsaskis and Doris Wishman 
Scene from The Hot Month ot August show a shirtless man and a bikini clad woman sitting on the beach
Jason meets a gigolo on a ship but is repulsed when the man suggests they team up to coerce older women into having sex with them for a price.  However, Jason has an affair with Alexis, a married woman, while simultaneously falling in love with a younger woman named Hope.  To complicate matters even further, Alexis and the gigolo are in cahoots to murder her husband.  This is yet another film from Greece (O zestos minas Avgoustos) dubbed and edited by Doris Wishman.  It’s interesting, with a couple of surprises, but it can’t compare to her own films.  

TOO MUCH TOO OFTEN! (1968) 
written & directed by Doris Wishman 
Scene from Too Much Too Often shows a hairy chested man preparing to undo his jeans
Whether he is getting paid to whip a middle-aged man and then blackmailing him for a job at an advertising company or he is seducing any willing woman, Mike Torson is all about playing fast and loose, causing destruction before moving on.  His past might catch up with him when he seduces his blackmailed boss’ secretary Midge and daughter Sara!  TOO MUCH TOO OFTEN is the perfect way to end this box set.  It’s all Doris Wishman with a crazy plot, unbridled characters and will ultimately leave you wondering what the hell you just watched! 

So, I blew through Doris Wishman’s Twilight Years, but I struggled with her Moonlight Years despite, according to the liner notes and audio commentaries, this era being hailed as Wishman’s best.  Even when I thoroughly enjoyed the films, they often dragged a bit for me.  I think one of the reasons is the plots are slim and very similar to each other in theme.  Another reason might be lengthy scenes of naked women without equally naked men.  At least Doris was an equal opportunity exploitation director in her Twilight Years, but that might have more to do with the still somewhat repressed time of these Roughies. 
 
In conclusion… 
While this AGFA/Something Weird box set didn’t WOW me like my initial experience, these films still provided an entertaining second helping in my anachronistically reverse Doris Wishman feast.  So, pull a chair up to the table for 9 crisply shot, black & white time capsules which must be seen to be believed!  

Now I must step out of the shadowy moonlight and into the colorful, sun-drenched atmosphere of Doris Wishman’s THE DAYLIGHT YEARS
Green background  with white text that reads, the films of Doris Wishman, the daylight years
Freak Out, 
JLH 

The hot month of August is the best time to grab DARK EXCURSIONS!  
Photo shows the book dark excursions, by John L Harmon on fire

Thursday, August 22, 2024

booking freakboy: ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS by Stella Gray

I haven’t been this disappointed in a book since DOROTHY MUST DIE by Danielle Paige.  The terrific “Real Princess of Oz” trailers promised readers a campy-bitchy fun trip down the Yellow Brick Road… 
…but we ended up with a painfully long and tedious prologue disguised as a novel.  I wasn’t even aware DOROTHY MUST DIE was going to be a series when I wasted my time with it, so the non-ending sent me through the emerald roof!  Hey, I know what you’re thinking, but at least I called my debut ebook “DARK EXCURSIONS: first set” so readers would expect and/or dread more installments!  
As for my latest dive into Vintage Gay Pulp Fiction… 
The cover of abnormals anonymous by Stella Gray shows a man wearing a skirt while knitting.  A brunette woman dressed in pants and a man’s shirt.  A blond woman leans against a television set while wearing pants and a sweater while smoking a cigar.  Text reads, Never had so desperate a group of human beings banded together ... abnormals anonymous.
1964, National Library Books 
From the potentially offensive alliterative title and the gender nonconformity of its cover, I thought ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS by Stella Gray was going to be a fun, wildly crazy, non-pc look at LGBTQ+ life in the mid-1960’s.  It sure as hell started out as I imagined and I was loving it!  Two siblings, Kurt and Bill Rockne are causing Clint, their conservative, strait-laced father, grief by their “abnormal” desires.  Kurt is allegedly hetero-centric, but allows his family to believe he’s queer after he was seen in one gay bar.  He perpetuates this supposed ruse by hanging out with drag queens.  The author never really explores the character, but it seems like there is more going on with Kurt.  I mean, would a straight man in 1964 pretend to be attracted to men for no real reason?  I think not!  Bill, a more fully realized character, is all masculine swagger with new wife Prissy, a voluptuous firecracker of a woman.  The thing is, Bill and Prissy had one of those “Gay Village Weddings” because Prissy is bisexual and Bill is biologically a woman.  

I did not see that gender-bending twist coming and then things got wilder and crazier!  Kurt and Prissy have the hots for each other and Bill agrees to let them sleep together if it means Prissy will “cure” Kurt of his homosexual tendencies.  While Kurt and Prissy are getting busy, a drag queen named Leslie arrives and demands to see Kurt.  Bill won’t allow Leslie to interrupt Kurt’s chance at straightness, so the solid sibling physically struggles with the determined drag queen.  With Bill dressed in traditionally male clothing and Leslie all dolled-up  as a feminine woman, the struggle turns to passion. 

Clint couldn’t be happier that his offspring have finally tasted the “normalcy” of hetero love, even if Bill’s experience was still kinda bent.  Their step onto the straight and narrow path inspires the siblings to take their father’s advice and start an “Abnormals Anonymous” meeting.  Bill agrees to head the meeting and the agenda is ostensibly to help the queer community act straight in front of biological family and at their workplaces.  As I said, it’s 1964, so really the ultimate goal is to make heterosexuals out of all of them.  The first meeting is spectacular with various LGBTQ+ representation.  A highlight is when several members brazenly call out the meeting’s bullshit and proudly leave in all of their queer glory! 🏳️‍🌈 
Teaser page of abnormals anonymous by Stella gray reads,  The first meeting.... "... Girls-of both sexesand fellows of both sexes. Gather round and listen to me a minute. I've got a cool idea I think you're going to dig. You see, we're starting this club— and we want to welcome all of you as members. "Sounds marvellous," Sidney gushed. "I'm all for it." "There are fifteen of us," Bill told the assembled group, "three butches, four fems, two swishes, two misters, a pair of chums, and a pair of pals. This club is not going to force anybody to change. The idea is to help members only as much as they want to be helped. If you're only interested in learning to act straight in public, nobody's going to twist your arm to go further. But if you want to switch to the opposite sex, we'll help you there, too. It'll be a kind of group therapy." "But I don't want to change!" shouted the beautiful Roberta, a notorious Lesbian. "I’m  happy the way I am!" All at once there were fierce arguments all over the room. The gray-haired Clint Rockne looked on in deep despair. He was footing the bill for Abnormals Anonymous for just one reason-his own children, the worst abnormals in the lot!...
Teaser page at the beginning of the book.
That is pretty much the last enjoyable moment in the book.  It suddenly becomes all about random hetero strangers showing up to the meetings with kinks and fetishes as their “abnormal” issues.  Bill and the gang help a sexually frustrated Peeping Tom, a masochist and a borderline necrophiliac who needs the woman to remain perfectly still during sex.  All of this was sort of interesting but seemed more like a distraction from the real plot and was not what the cover promised! However, if I had read the back of the book, I would’ve realized what I was getting into. 
The back cover of abnormals anonymous by Stella Gray shows the front cover tinted in red, with an excerpt from the book that reads, "Don't turn on the light. If she looked this way and saw us sitting in the window, she'd draw her blinds," Prissy said.   “There she is, Tom. She’s getting up.  She’ll be getting ready for bed soon.”  "Wonderful," he said. "It's much closer than I thought it'd be. I've never had such a splendid view. This is a peeper's paradise.”  "I know. Isn't this exciting? Just wait, you will see how beautiful she is without all those clothes."  “Gosh, prissy, I believe you're enjoying this as much as I am.”  "Naturally. Remember, I'm a Lesbian. The club hasn't yet changed me enough to keep me from getting a kick out of watching a good-looking woman taking off her clothes..."
Anyhoo, after all the kink freaks are dealt with, Bill decides to continue to dress an act in a traditionally male way, but Leslie has forsaken his drag persona and is now a “real man.”  Then, in the most horrifically disturbing part of this book, Bill and Leslie fight it out over who will be dominant.  To add to this already triggering scene, Clint, Kurt and Prissy are cheering on Leslie to beat Bill into womanly submission and he does.  Bill agrees to wear dresses again and be called by the previously discarded birth name “Billie.”  To add insult to injury, there is a triple straight wedding ceremony between Kurt & Prissy, Billie & Leslie, and Clint & Mattie, the gorgeous family cook.  I was hoping the cook would be revealed as a biological male, but nope, she’s a woman.  Then the very last page made me wonder if the author was ultimately trying to show how straight people are just as “abnormal” and sex-hungry as queer people.  If that is what it’s supposed to mean, I say, too little too late! 
The final page of abnormals anonymous by Stella gray reads, "I love you, Mattie." "And I love you, you great big red-blooded hunk of normal manhood. You're right, Clint, it's great to be straight." Clint was too busy tearing the last shreds of the cotton dress from her body to answer. THE END
In conclusion… I won ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS through an overpriced eBay auction, and no, I won’t tell you the amount of my accidental winning bid.  Let’s just say it had been a long time since I actually had to compete at an auction and I thought the price was far lower as I clicked the button which adds a dollar to the current highest bid.  So the double moral for today is…

Be careful what you bid on, because you just might win it…and…don’t judge a book by its awesome cover! 

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S. click a pic ⤵️ to read about far superior Vintage Gay Pulp Fiction…
Cover of Villa of queens by Alan fair

Cover of desire in the shadows by Joe Leon Huston

Cover of death of a transvestite by edward d. Wood, jr.
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My queer words are available from an Amazon near you…
Screenshot of John L Harmon’s amazon author page shows a photo of the author in sunglasses with groovy red and black rings surrounding him.  Text reads, About the author.  My queer words...before and after a loss of vision.