The "Scream Queens" of the Late 1980s to the Mid-1990s:

There were three principal actresses known colloquially as "Scream Queens" or "The Terrifying Trio" - they starred in many low-budget, straight-to-video B-films (of horror) in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

• Brinke Stevens
• Michelle Bauer (an ex-Penthouse Pet, sometimes billed as Michelle McClellan, Michelle Medvitz, or Pia Snow in adult films)
• Linnea Quigley

Each of the members of the trio was originally modeling and living in Los Angeles, CA in the 1980s, who then became cult figures after appearing in a number of B-movies (often at first in direct-to-video horror films). Their most notable early films were Linnea Quigley (The Return of the Living Dead (1985)), Brinke Stevens (The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)) and Michelle Bauer (The Tomb (1986)).

The two directors most often associated with the phenomenon of "scream queens" were Fred Olen Ray and David DeCoteau.

Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988)

Director Fred Olen Ray's drive-in masterpiece was this sleaze-horror film from AIP (American Independent Productions). The director's prologue stated:

"The CHAINSAWS used in this Motion Picture are REAL and DANGEROUS! They are handled here by seasoned PROFESSIONALS. The makers of this Motion Picture advise strongly against anyone attempting to perform these stunts at home. Especially if you are naked and about to engage in strenuous SEX. My Conscience is Clear Fred Olen Ray."

The 75 minute exploitation film was advertised with the tagline: "They Charge an Arm and a Leg" - it even featured the character Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) as the Strangler, the leader of an ancient Egyptian hooker chainsaw death-cult composed of prostitutes.

The simple plot was about gumshoe private detective ("dick") Jack Chandler (Jay Richardson) tracking down teenage runaway Samantha Kelso (Linnea Quigley), who had become a stripper and joined the chainsaw-hooker cult to avenge a friend's death.

The film opened with a remarkable sequence. Elvis-loving hooker Mercedes (Michelle Bauer) stripped to Elvis music ("The music does something to me") in a motel room and danced provocatively. She donned a shower cap and covered her favorite Elvis painting with plastic sheeting ("Sometimes I get carried away"), and then engaged in some bloody chainsaw action with an unsuspecting male client whom she had instructed to keep his eyes closed:

"Relax, baby, relax. You don't want this to be over before we even get started, do we?...I've got just the thing to loosen you up. Close your eyes and Mercedes will bring you big surprise...Just keep those eyes closed, and leave the driving to us, big boy."

When he asked: "Take me to heaven," she revved up her chainsaw (which she had removed from a dresser drawer) and replied: "Your request is my demand!" Blood splattered onto her - and even one of his severed body parts ended up being thrown at her.

Another of the tantalizing hookers was perky Lisa (Esther Elise) who let a lascivious photographer Hermie (Fox Harris) snap photos of her, as she stripped down from lingerie and caressed a baseball bat. At the end of their session, she whacked him unconscious with the bat, dragged his body into the bathtub, and gleefully chainsawed his corpse.

Chainsaw Hooker Lisa (Esther Elise)

The film's climactic highlight was the scene of striped, snake body-painted and drugged teenaged Samantha - performing the "Virgin Dance of the Double Chainsaws!" She engaged in a ferocious catfight/chain-saw battle with red-robed Mercedes - who was slashed to death.

Samantha (Linnea Quigley) "The Virgin Dance of the Double Chainsaws!"

Nightmare Sisters (1988, or 1987)

Director David DeCoteau's horror flick's script was composed in seven days and it was shot in four days. The tagline was:

SEX ISN'T THEIR ONLY WEAPON...

It starred three of the best of the reigning Scream Queens:

• Melody (Linnea Quigley), with buck-teeth
• Mickey (Michelle Bauer, credited as Michelle McClellan), in a 'fat suit'
• Marci (Brinke Stevens), nerdy, and a pack-rat

The unlikely trio of nerdy and geeky females at first, always sitting around the sorority house (Tri Eata Pi), found it impossible to get dates with the fratboys. So to make themselves noticed, they at first invited over three other dorky guys, including Kevin (Richard Gabai), Freddy (Marcus Vaughter) and Dwayne (William Dristas). After some awkwardness and a failed game of Twister in the backyard, they conducted a seance (with a crystal ball recently acquired from a yard sale).

Once instructed to grab the magical orb to “break the circle”, they were transformed into sex-starved demons, vamps or succubus females - all topless. One of the nerds reacted: "Advanced Trigonometry did not prepare me for this!"

They went to the kitchen ("for something good and sweet to eat...something to satisfy our appetites") - delicious home-made peach pie and they rubbed whipped cream over their chests. Then, they went upstairs to take a lengthy bathtub romp. During some of the breast-rubbing, the soundtrack resembled the squeaky rubbing of balloons.

The Trio of Super-Vixenish Seductresses in the Bathtub

In various fantasy sequences, Marci had been transformed into an oversized lollipop-licking, pig-tailed Lolita, Mickey into a leather bikini-clad jungle girl, and Melody into a slutty punk rocker who sang “Santa Monica Boulevard Boys” in ripped-clothes.

Sorority Babes in The Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)

Director David DeCoteau's nudity-filled B-grade comedy-horror sex film was a cheaply-made parody about college sorority coeds.

Two of its main characters were Lisa (Michelle Bauer as Michelle McClellan) and Taffy (Brinke Stevens) portraying two sexy Tri-Delta sorority pledges during an hazing initiation, who were peeped upon by three geeks. It included scenes of the girls being paddled, sprayed with whipped cream, and showering or bathing.

When discovered ("busted"), the three geeks and Lisa and Taffy were ordered, as part of their punishing initiation, to steal a trophy from the bowling alley at the Plaza Camino mall. They were unaware that the mall was owned by the father of the sorority leader, Babs. During the theft, they came across another thief named Spider (Linnea Quigley), who had broken into the bowling alley. They realized that the bowling trophy had a vengeful genie inside when it was knocked over. They had to suffer the consequences, described partially by the film's tagline: "In a bowling alley from Hell, there's only one way to score."

Lisa (Michelle Bauer)

Assault of the Party Nerds (1989)

Director/writer Richard Gabai's R-rated comedy was another on-campus story of nerds vs. jocks, often in lesser comparison to (National Lampoon's) Animal House (1978) and Revenge of the Nerds (1984). It was shot in only five days on 16 mm film stock (and released only on video), for only $40,000. It was followed by the sequel, Assault of the Party Nerds 2: The Heavy Petting Detective (1995). The tagline was:

Ready, Willing and ANIMAL

It starred two of the better Scream Queens, both of whom portrayed very popular coeds who were dating members of the Zeta jock frat - macho-males who were vain, egotistical, and sexist:

• Bambi (Linnea Quigley), a blonde, dating Cliff (Kevin Glover)
• Muffin (Michelle Bauer, pregnant during the film-shoot), a brunette, dating Bud (C. Paul Dempsey)

There were two major sex scenes with the two shapely students, one between Bambi and Cliff, and another between football-playing Bud and Muffin. In the later sequence, the camera zoomed back and forth - to approximate the thrusting point of the view of Bud on top of Muffin. She kissed him and licked his neck, and offered:

"I wanna swallow all of your little wiggly things."

Bambi (Linnea Quigley) With Cliff
Muffin (Michelle Bauer) with Bud

The two rival fraternities, one nerdy and one full of jocks, were:

• Lambda Alpha Eta fraternity, composed of four nerdy members who would soon graduate: chapter president Ritchie (Richard Gabai, the director), computer geek T.K. (Joe Whyte), Economics major Scott (Marc Silverberg), and W.O.L.A. (Richard Rifkin, the "World's Oldest Living Active")
• the Zeta fraternity, composed of jocks (although with homosexual tendencies); led by Bud, with other members including Cliff and Chip (Robert Mann)

The struggling Lambda Alpha Eta frat was in danger of becoming extinct since all four of its nerdy members were soon graduating. They decided to throw a rush party in order to recruit more members or pledges. The nerds acquired financing for the party from the national chapter head Sid Witherspoon ('50s teen idol Troy Donahue), by claiming they needed a loan of $4,700 to bring the frat house up to fire-code standards.

To help change their image, the nerds were aided by the two sexy coeds, Muffin and Bambi, who had both dumped their jock boyfriends (after learning that they were gay), but had kept it a secret. During the party, the Zetas crashed the nerdy rush event, but sheepishly departed when they were publically revealed to be gay. This left open the possibility that the vengeful nerds would be having sex with the hot girls - and they prepared for coordinating the sexy encounters by synchonizing their watches. During the party, Vanna (Tantala Ray), an older woman from the "loan office," performed a topless dance and squished a cream pie onto her naked chest.