Sunday, April 14, 2024

freakboy on film: WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)

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The banner for The 2nd Annual ‘Favorite Stars in B Movies' Blogathon, hosted by  Films From Beyond shows a stern looking blonde woman.
click the pic to read more posts
This post is part of The 2nd Annual ‘Favorite Stars in B Movies' Blogathon, hosted by Brian of Films From Beyond! 
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I am not Baby Jane Hudson!  

Young, blond, curly haired Baby Jane poses with her look-a-like doll.
Not me!
I just want to make that clear, even though my sister has always said I would be like Baby Jane if she ended up in a wheelchair, after an intentional car accident, and I was her primary caregiver.  It’s not like I was a mega-brat vaudeville darling who sang sweet songs about writing to a dead daddy as our father peddled creepy doll versions of me.  Unlike Blanche Hudson, my sister and our mother never watched unimpressed from backstage or as I demanded ice cream right NOW!  
Young brunette Blanche looks unamused.
Not my sister!
I don’t know if our mother ever promised my sister that her time to shine would come, but now that I think about it, people in our small town know my sister more than they know me, despite my book-signing event last year.  Anyways, that’s beside the point, it’s not like I’m trying to feed her unspeakable meals, even though our cat Laszlo has killed a couple of mice and a baby snake recently.  Well, in any case, I definitely do not drunkenly dance around the house with creepy doll me while imagining I’m still a fresh, young thing full of talent.  Never mind that I’ve been re-listening to an audio soap opera parody I created many years ago and may or may not dance to the music I used, but that’s not the same as Baby Jane!   
Old Baby Jane poses with the young look-a-like doll.
Still not me!
Anyhoo, when I think about Bette Davis, I don’t have to think twice.  My mind first goes to the classic 80’s hit, “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes.  Then I think of her all-in performance as Baby Jane Hudson.  Sure, I’ve seen some of Miss Davis’ earlier work, such as THREE ON A MATCH (1932), but she will always be the unhinged Baby Jane to me. 
Blanche screams as she removes the lid from her dinner.
Still not my sister!
Now, when I think of Joan Crawford, my mind immediately goes to Faye Dunaway as Crawford screaming, “No wire hangers ever!” in MOMMIE DEAREST Then I think about how a bartender once told me a Vodka-Pepsi is called a Joan Crawford.  Finally, I think of her sympathetic performance as Blanche Hudson.  Sure, I’ve seen some of Ms. Crawford’s earlier work, such as SUSAN AND GOD (1940), but she’ll always be Blanche in that chair to me.  
Elvira Stitt looks irritated as she carries a dinner tray downstairs.
Elvira is tired of my antics…I mean Baby Jane’s antics!
While Bette and Joan are the combined reason to watch, there are a few notable supporting actors who add to the story.  Maidie Norman gives a no-nonsense performance as Elvira Stitt, Blanche’s housekeeper and only source of kindness.  Victor Buono is the comic relief as Edwin Flagg, the sketchy con-artist pretending to help Baby Jane jump start her career.  I must also mention Anna Lee as Mrs. Bates, the nice neighbor with a slight edge, because she portrayed the sweetly feisty matriarch Lila Quartermaine for years on the American daytime soap opera General Hospital.  Last, and probably least, Bette Davis’ daughter, Barbara Merrill, gives a stiff performance as the daughter of Mrs. Bates.  Was Christina Crawford not interested in the role or was she just too busy writing the first draft of Mommie Dearest? 
Edwin Flagg sits politely with a cup of tea.
Coffee, tea or Edwin?
Watching WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE again for Brian’s blogathon made me wonder if it really is a ‘B’ movie.  I mean, I know the story treads into exploitation territory at times and some performances verge dangerously close to camp, but overall it is a legitimately entertaining film.  If you look beyond the lurid shocks and histrionics, there is a tragically sad tale of how fame can corrupt and destroy a person, especially a child.  There is also the emotional dichotomy of Blanche and Jane as they both deal with aging by either accepting the past is the past or clinging to what was, even though it will never be that way again.  Perhaps I’m trying to find a deeper meaning within the creepy-crazy spectacle through older and allegedly wiser eyes.   
The dvd of What ever happened to baby Jane rests on a dinner plate.
directed by Robert Aldrich/screenplay by Lukas Heller, from the novel by Henry Farrell 
In conclusion…
Maybe the bright stars of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford had faded when they signed up for this film, but they showed  they still had the ‘it’ factor with two gutsy performances that have been forever blazoned in the minds of film fans.  So, whether or not WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE is a ‘B’ movie, this black and white Hollywood gothic is worth experiencing!  Now, if you’ll excuse me, my sister and I simply must head to the beach because it’s the perfect weather for reliving memories, shocking revelations and ice cream. 

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words.  

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S. click a pic to experience tales from blogathons past… 

Banner for The 1st annual  'Favorite Stars in B movies' Blogathon, hosted by films from beyond shows robed figures

Banner for The Fourth So Bad It's Good Blogathon, Hosted by Taking Up Room shows a couple looking concerned

Banner for the third hammer amicus blogathon, hosted by realweemidget reviews and cinematic catharsis shows a woman in a low cut dress wearing sunglasses


Banner for nature’s fury blogathon, hosted by cinematic catharsis shows a dirty lifeless  hand being swallowed by plants

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My books are available from an Amazon near you…
Three books by John L. Harmon includes, Dark Excursions the complete set, vision bent half blind poems and sturgeons the complete serials.

Sunday, April 7, 2024

booking freakboy: VILLA OF QUEENS by Alan Fair

Similar to how my Andy Milligan obsession has shoved me down a rabbit hole to the fringes of the fringes of cinema, my interest in Ed Wood’s literary career has gotten me addicted to Vintage Gay Pulp Fiction.  These often shocking, wildly inappropriate novels with spectacular titles have been an antidote to the general boredom of the mainstream “bestsellers” I experience through a monthly lunchtime book club.  VILLA OF QUEENS was one of those titles that caught my semi-good eye a couple of years ago, but was it worth the wait? 
Front cover of The book Villa of Queens by Alan Fair shows a man in his underwear sitting next to a man in distress at the bottom of a pink staircase who is only wearing an orange shirt but is covering his privates with one hand.  Text reads, violence and dark desire haunted the villa of queens.  More text reads, a companion book, adult reading.
I felt weak and unprotected facing this giant of manliness.
Glen Andrews a young queer man in his 20’s, is staying at a villa in Cannes with his Uncle Martin.  The young man was kicked out of his brother’s house after being caught in the middle of sexy time with a boyfriend.  Now, away from his homophobic brother, Glen is enjoying the sun and sand and the possibility of a new love in the firm form of Jason Wilding.  

Despite having soft, gentle eyes, Jason is surrounded with dark, lurid rumors of sex and murder.  His last lover David, a wild, snobbish and conceited young man whom Glen resembles, drowned even though he was an excellent swimmer or was he murdered?  This tragedy happened while Jason’s brother Phillip was staying with him.  Phillip now lives in Paris, but what do the other inhabitants of Jason’s château know?  Is Jason’s cook Anna as innocent as she seems?  Does Jason’s facially disfigured companion Paul, who looks after him and takes care of things around the château, know what really happened. 

Glen ignores the rumors and falls in love with Jason anyway.  Never mind that Jason fired a few shots at Glen when he trespassed on the château’s private beach.  Never mind Jason nearly ran over Glen when pulling his car around to give him and Martin a ride home.  Never mind a boulder nearly crushed Glen and Martin as they walked along the beach.  Never mind Martin’s villa was set on fire and Jason just happened to be there as they escaped.  Glen is either deeply in love with Jason or the sex is really that phenomenal to put up with multiple near death experiences. 
Back cover of Villa of Queens by Alain Fair is green with text that reads, this is an original companion book.  A synopsis reads, Strange and ghastly things were happening at the villa, and Glen found himself fearing the one person he loved. Could Jason really be trying to murder him?
Our love poured out, both of us drinking the last dregs of romance that flowed through our trembling bodies.
Who is trying to kill Glen?  Does Glen’s resemblance to dead David have something to do with it?  Is his Uncle Martin also a target?  Does Martin know more than he is saying?  Is Jason behind it all or does he know who is?  What the hell is going on anyway?  

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! 

Paul is really Jason’s brother Phillip and he is behind the ghastly things that have been happening!  When Jason first brought David home, the young man and Phillip started having an affair.  Jason discovered the affair and kicked his brother out.  Phillip stayed with Martin and they began a relationship, but he couldn’t stop obsessing over David.  Eventually Jason allowed his brother to move back in and was even going to let Phillip and David run off together.  David laughed at this because he didn’t want a mental case as a boyfriend.  Phillip and David had a fight over this and Jason saw his brother carrying the young man’s unconscious body into the ocean to commit murder-suicide, so he hopped in a speedboat to rescue them.  He couldn’t find David (his body would later wash up on the beach) but he found Phillip when he accidentally hit him with the boat, disfiguring his brother’s face.  Phillip survived and was committed to a sanitarium.  Upon release, Jason allowed him to come back, but Phillip used the name Paul so no one but Jason and Martin would know it was him.
Now Paul/Phillip believes Glen is David resurrected and he is furious!  He believes his dead lover would rather be with Jason and Martin than with him.  Completely out of his mind, Paul/Phillip brutally beats and rapes Glen.  Then he fights with Jason and ultimately falls to his death down a marble staircase.  Martin is there, distraught over his injured nephew and the death of his former lover, but in Paul/Phillip’s final breath, he tells Martin that he’s sorry.  So I guess that makes everything a-ok because in the end, Martin has a new young boyfriend he met while remodeling his fire-ravaged villa and Jason and Glen are flying off on their honeymoon.  

Author Alan Fair paints these characters with broad strokes and keeps emotions at surface level, but it makes sense with this novel.  I mean, VILLA OF QUEENS was obviously not meant to be profoundly thought-provoking.  The story is a roller coaster ride awash in convoluted twists and lurid shocks, which is pretty much what I anticipated.  

There is one aspect that rather impressed me.  The characters in VILLA OF QUEENS are unapologetically queer.  There is no struggle with or shame over sexuality.  They are here, they are queer and the reader can rejoice in it!  I think this is remarkable for a book published in 1968, especially since it ends on a happy note.  

In conclusion…
While not quite as emotionally engrossing as DEATH OF A TRANSVESTITE or DESIRE IN THE SHADOWS, this sometimes tawdry tale of love, sex and death was worth the wait.  The crazy plot and openness of its characters kept me engaged, even as I smirked knowingly and lovingly rolled my half-blind eyes as my tablet read the torrid pages to me.  So, if you’re looking for a shockingly entertaining read away from the current literary mainstream, then VILLA OF QUEENS may be the book for you!  

SIDE NOTE: Much like other Vintage Gay Pulp Fiction I’ve reviewed, VILLA OF QUEENS is not readily available.  However, there are some titles available as reasonably priced ebooks, a few of which may or may not be waiting for me on my Kindle app bookshelf. 😁

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words. 

Freak Out, 
JLH

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A sanitarium…
A treacherous marble staircase… 
A convoluted plot with twists and turns…
Am I referring to VILLA OF QUEENS or DARK EXCURSIONS? 🤔 

You decide… 😉 
The book Dark excursions, the complete set, by John L. Harmon is being held on a boat, with the ocean, a cloudy sky and distant land behind it.

Sunday, March 31, 2024

channel freakboy: POPULAR (1999-2001)

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Poster for The Mismatched Couples Blogathon, hosted by Barry of Cinematic Catharsis & Gill of Realweegiemidget Reviews, March 29th - 31st, 2024, Shows a scene from the odd couple.
This post is part of The Mismatched Couples. Blogathon, hosted by Barry of Cinematic Catharsis & Gill of Realweegiemidget Reviews! 
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Popular beginning credits shows Sam and Brooke looking at the camera.
created by Gina Matthew’s & Ryan Murphy 
With my apologies to Buffy and Dawson, out of all the WB series I watched back in the day, POPULAR was and still is my favorite!  This two season wonder was co-created by Ryan Murphy, the mind behind AMERICAN HORROR STORY and SCREAM QUEENS, and his twisted touch is present, especially in the first season.  The setting is Kennedy High School, where teen-angst is on display with a wildly satirical bite to its bullseye truth. 
The brunettes, Lily, Sam and Carmen
Team Brunette
It’s sophomore year for Sam McPherson, a brunette reporter for the school newspaper, and she is ready to make a fresh start.  She even encourages her widowed mom Jane to go on a singles cruise.  Meanwhile, Brooke McQueen, a blonde cheerleader captain, says farewell to her divorced dad Mike as he heads off on a business trip.  This lack of parental guidance provides the perfect opportunity to throw the first party of the year, thus securing and reinforcing the social hierarchy at Kennedy High.  
The blondes, Nicole, Brooke and Mary cherry
Team Blonde
Brooke is on top of this pecking order with her two main cohorts, cheerleader co-captain/manipulative witch Nicole Julian and ridiculously rich southern transfer/possible psycho Mary Cherry.  Also at Brooke’s disposal is her  jock boyfriend/aspiring musical thespian Josh Ford and his jock friend/aspiring white rapper Michael ‘Sugar Daddy’ Bernardino.  Sam rules the area between popular and unpopular with her hardcore activist friend Lily Esposito and her singing-dancing-wants to be a cheerleader friend Carmen Ferrara.  Also at Sam’s disposal is Harrison John, her supportive guy friend/golfer.  Meanwhile, butt bolo and forged doctor’s excuse seller Emory Dick unofficially heads the bottom of this Teen Beat cover model heap with chess aficionado Freddy Gong and the Tuna twins, inappropriately oversexed April and dirt eater May.  This unpopular quartet may be more entertaining than most of the main characters. 

Chaos erupts at Brooke’s party when Sam and her posse crash, but they aren’t the only uninvited guests.  Mike and Jane show up together with a bombshell.  These two available adults bumped into each other at an airport lounge, started talking and Mike decided to go on the cruise with Jane.  Now they are engaged!  If the parental units officially merge, Sam and Brooke will become sisters, a repugnant thought to both. 
Sam and Brooke, covered in food, glare at each other.
Teen war is hell
Brooke sees Sam as an intrusive wannabe who stirs up trouble with condemning editorials on the jock and cheerleader culture.  Sam sees Brooke as a stereotypical superficial teen who only cares about being popular.  How do these two smart young women handle impending sisterhood?  Well, not very well.  There’s an argument over the bathroom sink, a full-on school cafeteria food fight, a scheme to make it appear Mike is cheating on Jane and even a synchronized menstruation cycle smackdown in the girls luxurious lavatory named after actress Kim Novak.  After all of this, Brooke begins accepting the situation, but not Sam, who feels she is losing her mom to Brooke.  In a last ditch effort to stop the wedding, Sam runs away to find Brooke’s mother who left Mike when Brooke was just a kid.  This seems to help Sam understand Brooke a bit better. 

By the first season finale, Sam and Brooke have made peace with their merging families and maybe finally see that they are more similar than different.  Unfortunately, this détente may be short lived as they deal with an earthquake, a cheesy boy band, a terminally ill May Tuna, a double wedding, which includes Delta Burke and Erik Estrada as CHIPS star Erik Estrada, and the class possibly murdering their tough-as-nails biology teacher Bobbie Glass!  It’s a wildly hysterical episode that needs to be seen to be believed and ends with a life-altering wedding crasher! 
Brooke and Sam give each other a questioning look
Confused yet?
Season Two deals with most of the aftermath of that wild, wacky and wonderful fiasco, but overall isn’t quite as good as the first one.  The WB wanted more “real” teen drama and issues, which meant the satirical elements weren’t as fully blended in with the drama.  Brooke and Sam accept they are now family, of sorts, but continue having ups and downs with each other.  They even compete for the affection of Harrison John.  In my opinion, he plays them both, so they could do better.  The series ends with a cliffhanger over who Harrison chose and if Brooke survived being hit by a car driven by a drunk and vengeful Nicole Julian.  To keep with the blogathon theme, I should note the second season introduced Josh Ford and Lily Esposito as an extremely mismatched romantic couple, with overly serious results.  
Bobbie Glass looks serious
Satire is a serious business 
Since POPULAR mostly exists in a hyper-reality bubble and is a Ryan Murphy production, the acting ranges from sincere to over the top and women have the best roles.  Carly Pope (Sam) and Leslie Bibb (Brooke) give solid lead performances.  Sara Rue (Carmen) gives the series a relatable heart.  Tamara Mellow (Lily) is believable as a feisty activist.  Tammy Lynn Michaels (Nicole) and Diane Delano (Bobbie Glass) are incredible as they portray often brutally ruthless characters with vulnerability beneath the hard surface.  Props to Adria Dawn (April Tuna) for plunging full-throttle into awkward outcast geekdom!  Oh, and I must not forget the familiar faces who pop up as parents.  Peggy Lipton is aloof perfection as Brooke’s mother.  Alley Mills is sweet and understanding as Harrison’s mom.  Delta Burke is phenomenal as Cherry Cherry, the sharped-tongue beauty queen mother to Mary Cherry! 
Mary Cherry looks shocked and scared
Were  you scared I forgot Mary Cherry?
Speaking of Mary Cherry, i was obsessed with this southern fried psycho diva back in the day and I still am!  She carries around cyanide and vials of E. coli in her purse.  She longs to be a mismatched couple with Joe, her nickname for Harrison John.  She will do ANYTHING in her pursuit of fame, including lip-sync to “Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco.  She will even dye her golden tresses the color of dung, and get possessed by Barbra Streisand, just to prove popularity isn’t about hair color and to feast on a lobster.  Ok, fine!  I’ll just say it!  Forget about Sam and Brooke!  Watch POPULAR for Leslie Grossman as Mary Cherry and the tragically too few appearances by Delta Burke as Cherry Cherry!  You will NOT be disappointed! 
Mary Cherry and Cherry Cherry visit a plastic surgeon
Webbed fingers won’t fix themselves 
In conclusion…
I think POPULAR still holds up 20-some years later.  It’s funny, it’s daring and ultimately there is a heart beating underneath, even during its crazier moments.  So if you’re looking for a different kind of teen comedy-drama with mismatched couples, POPULAR may be the series for you! 

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words. 

(SIDE NOTE: click the pic ⤵️ to read about a very POPULAR book…)

A book based on Popular

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S. click the pic ⤵️ for a different WB series from another blogathon… 🛸
Liz and Max from Roswell

P.P.S.  Obsessively maladjusted fans, like me, will notice how I mixed and matched POPULAR character and actor names to create Leslie Johns and Joe Grossman in STURGEONS! 🤓📗
The book Sturgeons, the complete serials, by John L. Harmon

Sunday, March 24, 2024

RIVERSIDE

Poster for Riverside by john L. Harmon shows waves in a body of dark blue water.

    It was all fun and games until it wasn’t.  They had gathered around a campfire on the man-made beach to relive their college days, not that those were so long ago.  Two years had passed since they became productive members of society. 

    Lev sat nursing a bottle of beer as the general catching up conversation landed on him.  The six others were shocked he and Adam were still together.  “Adam was always such a loner.  Never came to parties or anything,” Stacie commented as she moved closer to the drenched Derek.  

    Derek had jumped in the river first thing, now he sat half-naked, glistening in the evening light.  “Why didn’t he come with you this time, Lev?” he inquired between handfuls of pork rinds. 

    “Adam doesn’t like the water,” Lev answered with a shrug, hoping his display of nonchalance would change the subject.  

    Maybe it was the atmosphere of the fire in the fading sunlight or maybe the group was realizing they didn’t have much in common without college, but Beth pushed up her glasses and suggested telling ghost stories.  Brad groaned as Beth mentioned the Peach Lady.  They all had heard the legend.  A ghostly woman wearing a peach dress would visit the graves of those she murdered in life and if you saw her, you’d be her next victim.  “Sorry, but that’s a buncha bullshit!  An apparition can’t manifest in such a physical sense,” Brad demonstratively voiced, nearly spilling his beer on Beth.  They had been a couple back in the day, nerds in love as Derek used to call them, but the look on Beth’s face said those days were over. 

    “Ricky Jones wasn’t bullshit,” Derek muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear. 

    “What?  Did the Peach Lady get him?” Brad asked in a fit of laughter which made Beth move closer to Marnie and Alice. 

    “No,” Marnie answered, firmly silencing the laughter.  “Ricky Jones disappeared during a paranormal investigation on campus.  We heard him scream, but we couldn’t find him.  Even the police turned up nothing.  He was just gone.”

    “I don’t remember him,” Alice spoke up, feeling ashamed.  Marnie took her hand and gave it a sympathetic squeeze. 

    “Most people forgot about him.”  Derek shook his head and glanced at Lev before finishing the bag of pork rinds.   

    Lev remembered Ricky Jones and the night he disappeared.  They had known each other threw off-campus meetings, but the main reason he remembered was Derek.  It had been late when he returned to their dorm room and shook Lev awake.  The typically handsome young man was a mess of fear and tears as he tried to explain the unexplainable disappearance of Ricky Jones.  Lev didn’t know what to think or say, so he pulled Derek into his bed, allowing his distraught friend to safely sob away the trauma until they both fell asleep entwined in a comforting embrace.  They never talked about that night, but Lev felt like this wasn’t the time to bring it up. 

    Stacie was about to say something, but she moved away in annoyance and disgust when Derek started coughing.  Alice moved closer, worried he was choking.  Her nurse training kicked in as Derek collapsed and began violently convulsing in the sand, but her aid seemed pointless as his body suddenly went limp.  The others stood up as Alice incredulously pronounced Derek dead, except he wasn’t quite. 

    Derek sat up and lunged at Alice.  She screamed and Marnie, usually so jumpy, raced to help, but stopped.  None of them could process the sight of Derek tearing off a chunk of flesh from Alice’s face with his teeth and then swallowing the pulpy mess.  Stacie ran screaming.  Brad vomited and passed out.  Beth tried to stop Derek as he continued feasting on Alice but his attack on her was just as bloody and brutal. 

    Within the horrifying seconds of eternity, Lev locked eyes with Marnie across the campfire.  He had once drunkenly told her Adam’s story, told her what Adam said to do if anything strange happened.  Stay calm.  Stay focused, and run.  Run to me Marnie’s curly hair blew back and Lev’s hazel eyes focused ahead as they ran through the night, as they ran for their lives. 

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2024, John L. Harmon 

Click the pics ⤵️ to read stories which may share threads with RIVERSIDE…

Poster for night calling by John L. Harmon shows four yellow bars in a window

Poster for into the fold by John L. Harmon shows an eerie illumination coming from a condensed television monitor.

Poster for last moments by John L. Harmon shows a face in profile staring ahead.

Poster for scar tissue by John L. Harmon shows a hand reaching out

Poster for a grave situation by John L. Harmon shows a dead tree stretching over the night sky.

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words.

Freak Out, 
JLH  

P.S.  Take a holiday in the small town tranquility of Sturgeonsjust don’t expect to survive… 
Poster for Sturgeons the complete serials by John L. Harmon shows the green and black book cover with text that reads population 4,017 and dropping.  Available from an Amazon near you.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

freakboy on film: EVIL DOLL BLUE (a WALT DAVIS triple feature!)

DVD of Evil come evil go, oh you beautiful doll and widow blue shows a woman holding a crucifix as a weapon.  Text reads, hell hath no fury.
I was perusing Mélusine’s Valentine’s Day sale when this 2-disc Vinegar Syndrome DVD peaked my interest.  I had never heard of writer/director/actor Walt Davis, but the description of his films  made me want to get to know him.  Plus, the collection was marked down to $5. 

EVIL COME EVIL GO (1972) 
story by Bob Chinn/written & directed by Walt Davis
Sister Sarah Jane, dressed in virginal white, gives a look of disdain in Evil come evil go.
Sister Sarah Jane will not be amused if you derive pleasure from my review!
Sister Sarah Jane is an intense traveling evangelist on a Holy crusade against pleasurable sex.  Along with Penny, her lesbian disciple, they lure oversexed men to their bed of death.  Cleo O'Hara as Sister Sarah Jane gives a maniacally unhinged performance and is the main reason to seek out this low-budget sex thrill-kill fiasco.  The folksy theme song, which appears to be performed by a hippie following Sister Sarah around, is another reason to experience EVIL COME EVIL GO

OH! YOU BEAUTIFUL DOLL(1974) 
written & directed by Walt Davis
Gaye Ramon lounges in bed wearing a big poofy black wig while reading the newspaper in oh you beautiful doll.
Gaye Ramon hopes my review will put her name back in the papers!
Gaye Ramon is an aging Hollywood star who spends her days writing her boudoir memoirs while overly enjoying cherries and bananas.  When that’s not enough to fulfill her, she offers personal acting lessons to young men after they measure up to her standards.  Cleo O'Hara as Gaye Ramon channels Divine as she deals with her shutterbug assistant, eager students, intrusive women, and a sex burglar.  Bizarre and inappropriately hysterical, this feels like a John Waters film from another dimension.  The twisted use of the song “I Wanna Be Loved By You” is also a reason to experience OH! YOU BEAUTIFUL DOLL

WIDOW BLUE (1970) 
written & directed by Walt Davis 
Eva blue doesn’t care her husband’s blood is smeared on her face in Widow blue
Eva Blue just wants my review to be killer!
Eva Blue just wants to be happy, but what’s a 1970’s housewife to do?  Pay her brother to have a torrid tryst with her queer husband Jerry, of course.  Things go from torrid to tortuous as Eva and her lover Nick sneak into the bedroom so Nick can plunge a meat cleaver into Jerry’s neck.  After extended scenes of an incestuous nature on Jerry’s coffin and a swingin’ party with unexpected visitors, Eva and Nick must also cleaver his wife to be truly happy together.  Sadly, Cleo O'Hara isn’t in this one, but we get a full-on appearance from writer/director Walt Davis as Jerry Blue and a not-so-small cameo from legendary porn superstar John Holmes as one of the unexpected swingers.  This makes for eyebrow raising viewing amidst the copious crazy sex and visceral violence.  The climactic gory ending before the baffling dreamy second ending is another reason to experience WIDOW BLUE

After watching this triple feature, I feel I’ve gotten to know Walt Davis pretty well.  He was wickedly funny, deliriously perverse and unabashedly demented.  I also learned, thanks to his appearance in WIDOW BLUE, that Walt must have sunbathed with a speedo on.  Either I wasn’t looking in the right place or there’s not a lot of info available, but I couldn’t find much about him online.  According to IMDb, his film career was strictly a 1970’s affair with softcore and hardcore sexploitation flicks under his belt, so to speak.  In a DVD interview with producer Bob Chinn, he said Walt got along with the actresses in his films because Walt was just one of the girls.  That turn of phrase makes me believe Walt Davis is in good company with my other favorite renegade queer filmmakers: John Waters and Andy Milligan
Writer/Director Walt Davis looks either scared or in ecstasy in a scene from widow blue.
Is Walt Davis watching a Walt Davis film?
Producer Bob Chinn also dropped a fascinating behind the scenes nugget about EVIL COME EVIL GO.  John Holmes created the gore effects for Sister Sarah’s victims.  Sure, the blood is 1970’s neon red, but he did an effective low-budget job.  I assume Holmes also created the effects for WIDOW BLUE since the gore shares a similar style and he actually appeared in the film.  Guess his talents were more immeasurable than originally thought.

As an unexpected bonus in my Mélusine order, a love glove popped out when I opened my package.  I don’t know if this is something the company does for their Valentine’s Day sale or if they are trying to say I watch too many films with coffin sex.  Either way, I literally laughed out loud because a surprise condom seemed wildly appropriate with my purchase! 
A condom with the mermaid Mélusine logo printed on the go,den wrapper
Unlike Sister Sarah, Mélusine believes in pleasurable sex!
In conclusion…
I’m maladjusted enough to brazenly confess I enjoyed this triple feature and would totally purchase a more complete Walt Davis box set if Mélusine, Vinegar Syndrome or Severin are ever brave enough to release one.  However, it’s fair to say his films are not for everyone, just for freaks like me.  So, if you’re in the mood to explore the fringes of the fringes of ‘70’s cinema and you’re not offended by very fake gore or very real, though very unappealing s-e-x, then this may be the Walt Davis triple feature for you!  

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words!

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S. click the pic ⤵️ for more about coffin sex…
The coffin from Necromania, a tale of weird love.
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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