Screaming Queenz

Sleazy Queenz Spinoff Ep 5 - Score

In our latest Sleazy Queenz spinoff we look at hardcore classic SCORE (1973). Starring gay porn idol Casey Donovan and Cronenberg-collaborator Lynn Lowry, Score follows the adventures of a swinging bisexual couple Elvira and Jack who make a bet to seduce twee newlyweds Eddie and Betsy. Adapted from a stage play that originally starred Sylvester Stallone, Score might sound like a sleazetastic shagfest on paper. However it turns out to be a progressive, uplifting, sex-positive portrayal of bisexuality that leaves 2020 attitudes in the shade. But don’t let that put you off, it’s still filthy! We have a laugh discussing poppers, strap-ons… and Strictly Come Dancing? Never a dull moment. Spoilers ahead, and dirty humour that’s not for the eagerly offended. You have been warned!

Episode 113 - Society

Recorded on Halloween with some ghosts in our machine (dodgy software and wifi), Screaming Queenz Queer Horror Podcast still manage to pull it all together and take on Society (1989). It feels apt that a film about the depraved secrets that fester beneath the surface of the American dream should go out on the eve of the presidential election. But is anything in the movie as disgusting as Trump? Billy Warlock stars as a rich teen from Beverly Hills who finds out first hand (or fist) about the seedy nasty goings on in the upper echelons of American society. Imagine a Trump rally chock full of dead-eyed republicans only with more gloop and fisting and you’re half way there. Society is a shocker that resonates more today than ever – but will it ever get the recognition it deserves? Grease up your arms and dive in. You’re in for a slippery ride!

Sleazy Queenz Spinoff Ep 4 - Play Motel

"It's like a used condom stuck to the foot of a giallo!"

Yep, Sleazy Queenz are back, scraping the bottom of the barrel with Play Motel (1979). Starring the iconic Ray Lovelock with the notorious Marina Hedman and Patrizia Webley, this uber-sleazy affair is wall-to-wall sex and blackmail set in what can only be described as a sexy Travelodge. I'm joined by Chris Brown from Video Nasties Podcast, and Andy Roberts from Nasty Pasty Podcast. So join us as poor Chris has to put up with two filthy gays ogling Ray Lovelock's porno tash. Not to mention our concerns over the state of some of their gussets, and of course, that rather lovely theme song that gets stuck in your head!

Spoilers ahoy - not to mention utter filth. You've been warned.

Sleazy Queenz Spinoff Ep 3 - Passion Plantation

Sometimes a film comes along that, on the surface, appears to be a lowest-of-the-low exercise in exploitation with no redeeming features. Then when you scratch beneath that surface… it’s worse! PASSION PLANTATION, aka BLACK EMANUELLE WHITE EMANUELLE, takes the sexploitation template and drops it unceremoniously on a slave plantation! No, really. A truly awful moment in cinema history, it is nevertheless worthy of a Sleazy Queenz roasting. And I’m joined by Nasty Pasty Podcast’s Andy Roberts to do just that! Will we find any saving graces in such a terrible movie? No. But we’ll have a bloody good laugh at its expense!

110 - The Vampire Lovers

Here’s one to get your teeth into! On the 50^th Anniversary of its release, your favourite scouse homos (and their straight mate) are getting into bed with queer horror classic The Vampire Lovers! Released in 1970 with a X certificate and cranked up boobs and blood, this Hammer outing gave the world a bona fide horror icon in Ingrid Pitt. Hear about how truth was even more fantastic than fiction with Ingrid’s incredible life story. Equally as shocking – both Ingrid and the director didn’t think Vampire Lovers had even an inkling of lesbianism! We respectfully disagree as we celebrate Hammer’s most queer outing, which surprisingly subverts the male gaze whilst still giving us all the tits and teeth we need! So what if you can see that chain mail fence and sky blue hair bobble in 17^th century Styria…

Ep 109 - The Fan

In this episode, Jon Larkin is joined by fellow queer horror fanatic soap writer Steve Hughes! The man responsible for bringing Silas the serial killer to UK soap Hollyoaks talks influences from 70s TV thrillers to Joan Collins, before helping write a love letter to an under-rated camp classic.

The Fan (1981) starred Lauren Bacall as an ageing actress being stalked by a psychotic admirer, but it took flak from all sides. LGBTQ audiences didn’t like how gays were portrayed, Bacall fans didn’t take kindly to their icon being embroiled in a slasher movie, and NOBODY liked how it was released so soon after John Lennon was murdered by his own crazed stalker.

So does The Fan deserve to be re-appraised? It’s got showtunes by Tim Rice, a cute male psycho and more fawning Broadway gays than Marie’s Crisis on Tony night. But is it any good?

 

Listen and find out!

Ep 108 - Someone's Watching Me (feat. Amanda Reyes)

Screaming Queenz Queer Horror Podcast goes international this month with a very special guest! Joining me from Austin Texas is Amanda Reyes, my good friend and an amazing writer who brought us ‘Are You In The House Alone’, an incredible book looking at TV movies and, in particular, TV movie horror. We’re looking at Someone’s Watching Me (1978), written and directed by John Carpenter just before Halloween made him a household horror name. A Hitchcockian thriller that’s as tense and chilling as any big screen outing, Someone’s Watching Me stars Lauren Hutton as a TV director stalked in her new high rise apartment by a psycho with a telescope. It also features a hugely progressive lesbian character played by horror icon Adrienne Barbeau. So what are you waiting for? Pop on your oatmeal slacks and kick back and enjoy. You might want to take the phone off the hook though. Who knows what kind of creep is on the line…?

107 - A Blade In The Dark

The queens are going all giallo again! Director Lamberto Bava brought us a camp riot with ‘A Blade in the Dark’ in 1983. Starring the gorgeous (and gay) Andrea Occhipinti, the stalk’n’slash giallo is heavy on synths and even heavier on the head-scratching ‘WTF’ moments. Especially if you happen to watch the notoriously bad English dub. So why was Mr Butler disappointed, and will Stephen actually kill him in their ‘is it a spanner, is it a wrench’ debate? Personally I’m too busy imagining Occhipinti doing the hot gardener. This one is a great laugh and we loved every minute even though we had to record under lockdown! Kick back, switch your brain off and enjoy!

106 - Dressed to Kill

Dressed to Kill has been called everything – a masterpiece, transphobic trash, a true American giallo and a misogynist Hitchcock rip-off. So where do Screaming Queenz sit? Certainly not on the fence. We get opinionated as we take on Brian De Palma’s notorious 1980 thriller. From Angie Dickinson’s body double to Nancy Allen’s purple fur to the most problematic elements of the film – ie, its treatment of trans people, its treatment of women and most importantly – that nurse’s shoes! We go all in and figure out whether Dressed to Kill is deserving of its notoriety. Also find out how William Friedkin’s Cruising inspired the making of this film!

Sleazy Queenz Spinoff ep 2 - EMANUELLE IN AMERICA

Spend 90 minutes in the sleaziest fleapit cinema in town in some very dubious company. Ever heard a queer take on sexploitation opus Emanuelle in America? Well now’s the chance. Joined by our token straight buddy Chris Brown from Video Nasties Podcast, we’re deep-diving into Black Emanuelle. Her most notorious outing features hardcore sex, a rabbit hole plunge into snuff films and, yes, a woman wanking off a horse. It’s strong stuff and not for the eagerly offended. But what is its message? It might be deeper than you think (wink wink).

Also hear Laura Gemser’s pop song, hear which star of the film ended up in jail for drug-trafficking, and find out about my obsession with Rocco Sifredi.

 

Filthy language and spoilers ahoy!