Wednesday, September 30, 2020

50 Great Scream Queens Part 1 of 4: The Euro Queens

  




50 Great Scream Queens Part 1 of 4: The Euro Queens

          Scream Queen. What an interesting nomenclature. No other genre has such a popularly recognized name for its performers. But what does the term mean? How does one become a Scream Queen? Well like, one of my old professors told me, it’s like the difference between punk and rock n’ roll. He knew it when he heard it.

            Broadly speaking, a Scream Queen is a woman who stars in a horror movie, but that’s not really enough. Mia Farrow starred in Rosemary’s Baby, one of the scariest and best known horror films around, but no one considers her to be a Scream Queen. No, for an actor to be a Scream Queen, horror needs to be one of the first things, if not the very first thing, that comes to mind when you hear her name.

            It’s interesting that the concept of a “Scream King” has never caught on given that (arguably) the best known names in the genre belong to men. Lugosi, Karloff, Cushing, Lee and Price are some of the pillars of the genre, but somehow they occupy a different place in our collective pop culture consciousness. 

            There are different kinds of Scream Queens. Some are women who have devoted most of their careers to horror. Others have had wide ranging careers but made significant contributions to horror along with their other works. Some are house hold names known by movie fans who don’t even like horror. Others are known almost exclusively to horror fans, their names becoming a kind of litmus test that allow fellow fans to spot the faithful.

 


            What follows in this entry, and over the next few weeks, is my celebration (some might say devoted adoration) of these women. I’ve made a list of 50 great Scream Queens that I will talk about over the next  few weeks. Notice that I said “Great” not “Greatest”. The horror field is too large and goes back too far for anyone to have a truly comprehensive knowledge.  There are ,no doubt, many women, unknown to me, whose contributions have been greater than some of those that made my list.  Also, why a list of 50? Well, 10 was definitely not enough. 20 barely got me out of the usual suspects. 100 was far too many (at some point your list ends up being an encyclopedia). So 50 was a good cut off. Even at 50 there were about 10 actors that I kept going back and forth with that ended up being cut in favor of others.

            Rather than just a long list I have divided them up into groups; European Scream Queens, character creators (those actors known mainly for one important part), the workhorses of the genre (those actors whose work has kept the genre going but maybe don’t get credit for being Scream Queens), and finally the sort of crème de la crème, those actors that I considered most important to the genre. 

Also, FYI, many of these actors could fit into multiple categories, so if you don’t see your favorite performer, just wait, she may show up in a later post.





The Euro Queens

            Hollywood (mainly Universal Studios) owned the horror genre through the 1930s and 40s. It’s hard to compete with the likes of Lugosi and Karloff. Universal’s special kind of gothic horror, sometimes deadly serious, sometimes tongue in cheek was hugely successful, making their properties recognizable around the world. All of that would change by the end of the 40s.

            Maybe it was all the real world horror that everyone had experienced during the Depression and World War 2. Maybe it was that the ominous threat of nuclear annihilation suddenly made vampires and werewolves seem quaint. Maybe gothic horror had just run its course. But whatever the reason, interest in horror had waned. Oh there were still good horror movies being made. But for the most part, the 1950’s belonged to science fiction. Universal’s most successful horror film of that decade, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, was as much sci-fi as horror.

            Meanwhile, across the pond, another studio was gearing up to bring horror back in a big way, and that’s just what Hammer Studios did. With their one-two punch of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, they revitalized the gothic horror genre with Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and quickly followed that up with Horror of Dracula and The Mummy. Through the 1960s, the best horror being made was being made by Hammer, but by the 1970s, interest in those films had begun to decline as well. Hammer held on, and in a flurry of creativity, turned out some of their best movies in the first few years of the 70s, but by the middle of the decade they were done.

            Through the 50s and 60s, horror had continued in America (the Vincent Price /RogerCorman collaborations being the best example), but it was still second banana behind science fiction. American horror would come back in a big way (thanks to the video store) with a kind of horror Renaissance in the 1980s.

But with the end of Hammer there was a vacuum left in horror and it was filled by films from continental Europe, especially Italy and Spain. Their own brand of horror had come into its own in the 60s with the films of Barbara Steele, but the permissiveness of the 70s allowed for sexier and more gruesome movies than anyone had previously attempted, and the European horror scene was at the forefront.



            These new Scream Queens were a whole new breed, emblematic of the times. They were mysterious and risqué. They pushed sex to new limits (sometimes pornographically). Sexiness has always been a part of the Scream Queen phenomenon, but now it was a defining characteristic. But it wasn’t the coquettishness of the Universal Horror stars or even the voluptuous glamor of the Hammer starlets. Some of these new Scream Queens seemed downright dangerous! And that danger added to their appeal.

            It might be tempting to see these actors (and these movies) as a kind of place holder, keeping the fires burning between the Hammer era and the rebirth of American horror in the 1980s. That would be inaccurate though. Their sexuality was an extension of what had been happening in Hammer toward the end of its life and would heavily influence the American horror genre of the 1980s. They were, in every way, part of the natural evolution of the genre and the Scream Queen phenomenon.

Daria Nicolodi- Daria’s name may not be on the tip of the tongue of American horror fans, but fans of Italian horror probably know her well. She starred in six different Dario Argento films: Deep Red, Inferno, Tenebra, Phenomenon and Opera. She also has a writing credit for Argento’s most famous film, Suspira. She also appeared in Mario Bava’s final film, Shock. Even those who are unfamiliar with Italian horror probably know another one of her masterpieces. She is the mother of Asia Argento.



-Asia Argento- Asia is a member if the First Family of Italian horror. Her father, Dario Argento directed some of those most important Italian horror films of all time (maybe second only to Mario Bava). As stated above, her mother, Daria Nicolodi, starred in movies by both Dario and Mario.

Asia’s first horror role was at the age of 10 in Lamberto Bava’s  Demons 2. She had a much bigger role a few years later in its sequel, The Church.  In 1993 she joined her father for Trauma, the first of several movies that she would star in for her dad including the bizarre The Stendhal Syndrome, The Phantom of the Opera, Mother of Tears and the regrettable Dracula 3D (2012). Her horror career followed the trajectory of her father and she hasn’t done any horror in years.  But even if she doesn’t make another horror film, she’ll always be an important part of 80s and 90s Italian horror.



-Helga Liné- German born and raised in Portugal and Spain (her family fled Nazi Germany) Helga’s heritage symbolized the continental flavor of Euro horror from the mid-1960s through late 1970s. As a child and teenager she was a circus performer before becoming a model and later an actor. She starred in several sword and sandal movies before appearing with Barbara Steel in Nightmare Castle (1964). She starred in some westerns, spy dramas and comedies before starring in the murder mystery, Kriminal and its sequel. In 1972, she starred in Horror Express with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

Her greatest horror role came the next year in Horror Rises from the Tomb where she shared the screen with (and stole the scenes from) Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy. She played a witch returned from the grave to wreak havoc and get revenge.

She joined Naschy again for The Mummy’s Revenge. She had another big role as the sexy supernatural villain in The Lorely’s Grasp. She made a few more horror films over the next few years including Dracula Saga, The Vampire’s Night Orgy (great name!) and even starred opposite of Mexican wrestling icon Santo in Santo vs. Death. One of her last horror roles was as the leader of a Satanic cult in Black Candles.



-Erika Blanc- Erika has worked in Italian, German, Spanish, and Belgian movies, across multiple genres. Though her acting career has been incredibly long (over 50 years) her horror career was only a small part of that. However, she has contributed to some memorable and important movies. Her first horror role was in 1965’s La vendetta di Lady Morgan, an Italian gothic horror about a vengeful ghost. She followed that up with The Third Eye and Kill Baby…Kill!

For the next several years Erika stayed very busy with movies in several genres; spy thrillers, action, and westerns. She returned to horror in 1971 with a very memorable role in The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (great name!). That same year she starred as a succubus in The Devil’s Nightmare. In 1973 she starred in Mark of the Devil 2. In 1975 she finished the horror arc of her career, starring with Paul Naschy in the serial killer drama, A Dragonfly for Each Corpse.



-Julie Saly- Julie is one of the workhorses of Euro horror; a name you may not recognize but a face you definitely know. She had a small part in Amando de Ossorio’s Demon Witch Child in 1975 and then a more prominent role in the finale to Ossario’s famous Blind Dead Saga, Night of the Seagulls. A few years later she starred with Paul Naschy in the very creepy and sexy Inquisition.

Her crowning horror achievement (again with Naschy) was starring as the lead villain, a kind of undead /witch/ vampire version of Elizabeth Bathory, in Night of the Werewolf (1981). She teamed up with Naschy ,yet again, for the weird horror-thrillers Carnival of the Beasts and Panic Beats before finally finishing her horror career with (you guessed it) Paul for the Spanish-Japanese werewolf film, The Beast and the Magic Sword. Looking at her career in total, it’s kind of hard to imagine what Paul Naschy would have done without her.



-Britt Nichols- Jess Franco had a few women that were obviously his muses, appearing again and again in his films and Britt was one of them. Portuguese by birth, Britt fit in well with the multicultural flavor of Jess’ films which often featured French, German and Spanish stars. Britt’s first appearance in horror was being sacrificed by evil Templars in Tomb of the Blind Dead. After that, she teamed up with Franco to make seven movies in the next 2 years.

Her best roles were as the vampiric main character in Dracula’s Daughter (not to be confused with the Universal horror film of the same name) and in the witchcraft themed lesbian nunsplitation, The Demons. Her work was during that period when the line between porn and art was very blurred and this was especially true in The Demons. The scenes in that movie were pretty graphic and could never be made today in a theatrically released film. Then, as quick as she appeared, she disappeared. Britt (who today goes by the name Carmen Yazalde) had a few more projects over the years but the bulk of her work (and all of her horror work) seems to be behind her.



-Soledad Miranda- Soledad had a lot of talent and the potential for her career seemed high. She started in show business as a child singer then became a dancer and then finally got into acting. She was very busy making movies (including 2 horror movies)  until she took an early retirement to have a child.

After a 2 year hiatus she came out of retirement to make 100 Rifles and then began a string of films with Jess Franco. She played Lucy in Franco’s Count Dracula with Christopher Lee. She must have sparked Franco’s interest because he planned a whole pack of films to shoot with her.  They made The Devil Came from Akasava, a spy thriller, before making her most memorable (and maybe Franco’s most memorable) film, Vampyros Lesbos. It was stylish and sexy with a brilliant psychedelic soundtrack. Soledad was captivating as the aloof, aristocratic vampire. The film walked the line between art and erotica perfectly.  They made another excellent film together, She Killed in Ecstasy and finally the softcore Eugénie de Sade.

Sadly her career was cut short by a tragic car crash. Soledad didn’t even get to enjoy the success of these three films. Franco was incredibly prolific (he and Soledad made 5 films together in about a year or two). As a result, these films were all in post-production at the time of her death. Vampyros Lesbos didn’t come out until a year after her death. However, Soledad left us with a few but very memorable and important performances to remember her by.

          That’s all for this installment. Next time I’ll be looking at Scream Queens who have created memorable characters.

  


 
 
 





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