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The "Scream Queens" of the Late 1980s: 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. 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). The two directors most often associated with the phenomenon of "scream queens" were Fred Olen Ray and David DeCoteau. All three actresses appeared in only two of the "Scream Queens" most outrageous low-budget horror films (see below):
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Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988) Director Fred Olen Ray's drive-in masterpiece was this sleaze-horror film from AIP (American Independent Productions) - actually functioning as a spoof of film-noirish detective films. It was shot in five and a half days with a budget of $50,000. The director's prologue on a intertitle-card stated a disclaimer:
The 75 minute exploitation film was advertised with the tagline:
It even featured the character Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) as the Stranger - the leader of an ancient Egyptian hooker chainsaw death-cult. He presided over a group of deadly prostitutes who provided him with human sacrifices. The simple plot was about gumshoe private detective ("dick") Jack Chandler (Jay Richardson) (with appropriate voice-overs) who specialized in missing-persons cases. He had been hired by a mother to track down her teenage runaway daughter Samantha Kelso (Linnea Quigley) from Oxnard, CA to the big city of Los Angeles. The daughter had fled home - reportedly because of the unwanted sexual advances of her stepfather. In between cases, Chandler bedded his girlfriend Sally (Susie Wilson) at the downtown Mark Twain Hotel.
The lurid film opened with a Westside Bar sequence where hooker ("social worker") Mercedes (Michelle Bauer) propositioned a male client Bo Hansen (Jimmy Williams) to hire her for sex and TFC ("Tender F--king Care"). The unsuspecting construction worker was led to her decorated motel room, where the Elvis-loving Mercedes stripped to Elvis music ("The music does something to me") 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 Bo - whom she had instructed to keep his eyes closed:
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. When his severed right hand reached up to touch her left breast, she tossed it away. From the shadows of a window, the Stranger watched the bloody massacre. Another of the trio of tantalizing chainsaw hookers was perky Lisa (Esther Elise) who let a lascivious photographer Hermie (Fox Harris) snap semi-nude and naked photos of her in his home, 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 limp body into the bathtub, and gleefully chain-sawed his corpse. As Jack drove to the Westside Bar, a radio announcer described how there were now a total of five dismemberments over a two-week period (although one of the deaths was possibly purely an accident). He had called Mercedes' phone number (found in a matchbook - a stolen piece of evidence) to meet with her at the bar. While at one of the tables awaiting her return with their drinks, Jack suddenly realized that the barroom's topless dancer was none-other than the missing teen Samantha. He exclaimed:
Mercedes seductively drank a "Screaming Orgasm" mixed cocktail and enticingly complimented Jack: "I just love intelligent men....I'm a real scream once you get to know me!" After passing out from his drugged drink, Jack woke up in the company of a third hooker named Ilsa (Tricia Burns) who had allegedly rescued him. Suddenly, he realized he was bound to a motel bed and surrounded by two other hookers (Samantha and Mercedes) who were following orders from the Stranger. The topless Ilsa gagged him with her black bra, straddled him and painfully carved a bloody symbol into his bare chest. The Stranger (who claimed the hookers were his "minions") described the significance and importance of the chainsaw on the nightstand: "It is the cosmic link by which all things are united." Jack quipped: "What do you do, pray to Black and Decker?!" The three hookers threatened to chainsaw Jack - but the implement ran out of gas. The film's plot twist was then revealed when Mercedes and Ilsa went to purchase gasoline. Samantha confessed that she had become a stripper to infiltrate into the secret chainsaw-hooker cult to avenge the murder of her Oxnard girlfriend, Jenny Lin (her decapitated head was found in a garbage-can). As he drove away with a knocked-out Samantha, he mused:
The film's climactic highlight was set in a downtown warehouse substituting for a cultish Egyptian 'Temple,' where human sacrifices were to be offered to the gods via chainsaw killings. Samantha was given one more chance to 'redeem' herself by becoming one of the sacrifices to Horus ("a fresh, untouched flower to adorn the crown of the gods"). She was drugged (via a giant hypodermic needle) before participating in the cultish ritual. A Nubian (Gary Levinson) prepared a bowl of motor oil, before four observing hookers mutally drank from the bowl, and watched a demonstration of fire-breathing. Samantha was forced to perform the "Virgin Dance of the Double Chainsaws!" She emerged from inside a sarcophagus, body-painted with a snake pattern curling around her nude body (except for a skimpy, sparkling dark green bikini thong), with two roaring chainsaws - one in each hand - spewing exhaust.
Then, Samantha changed allegiances and buzz-sawed the Stranger in the abdomen, killing him. The red-robed Mercedes was shocked and engaged in a ferocious catfight/chain-saw battle or 'duel' of the chain-saws with Samantha. She was slashed in between her breasts with the end of the chain-saw, splashing blood over both Samantha and Chandler (lying on the altar). The police arrived to arrest the other cult members who attempted to flee, and Samantha and Chandler comforted each other with kisses and an embrace. Back in his office as Samantha slept on his sofa, Chandler ended the film with a voice-over:
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   Sally (Susie Wilson) - Gumshoe Jack Chandler's Girlfriend      Chainsaw Hooker Lisa (Esther Elise)  Samantha - Dancing in the Bar  Mercedes at Bar with Jack Chandler  Chest-Carving Sequence  Three Chainsaw Hookers: (l to r): Mercedes, Ilsa, Samantha - Threatening Jack  Four Other Hookers in the Temple  Mercedes Shocked by the Stranger's Death  The Chain-Saw Duel: Mercedes vs. Samantha  The Death of Mercedes  Samantha in Chandler's Arms |
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Nightmare Sisters (1988) (aka Sorority Succubus Sisters) Director David DeCoteau's horror flick script was composed in seven days and it was shot in four days (with a budget of $40,000), before being released direct-to-video. The tagline was:
It starred three of the best of the reigning Scream Queens:
The lengthy opening sequence of widow Amanda Detweiler's (Sandy Brooke) visit to a malevolent, con-artist psychic named Omar (Dukey Flyswatter) set up the backstory that the crystal ball was possessed. The unlikely trio of nerdy and geeky females found themselves sitting around by themselves at the sorority house (Tri Eata Pi) on the weekend, after finding it impossible to get dates with the fratboys. So to make themselves noticed, they at first invited over three other dorky, non-athletic guys:
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 - they didn't know it was cursed!). The severed head of the deceased fortune teller appeared in the crystal ball and instructed them to grab the magical orb to "break the circle." They became possessed and were transformed into topless, sex-starved goddesses. One of the nerds reacted: "Advanced Trigonometry did not prepare me for this!" There were two classic scenes to follow:
Then, their goal was to seduce their male dates-guests. In various fantasy sequences, they were transformed into different personas:
In the meantime, three jock athletes (Phil, JJ and Bud) peeped on their activities, kidnapped the male nerd losers, replaced them, and then one-by-one found themselves attacked by the sexy females who were now demons, vamps or succubus females - their male genitals were consumed and their bodies disintegrated. The film ended with the nerds hiring a gray-haired exorcist named Father Perrin (Jim Culver) - "specializing in demons, hobgoblins, and poltergeists." He was paid with an American Express credit card to rid the three sorority sisters of possession by a cursed succubus (supernatural demon), and to destroy the crystal ball. |
 (l to r): Mickey, Marci, and Melody  Three Nerdy Frat Boys  Seance with Cursed Crystal Ball   (l to r): Mickey, Melody, and Marci  In the Kitchen Eating Peach Pie   Another Transformation into Evil Succubus Females  Entangled in Rope by Exorcist  The Exorcised Demon |
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Sorority Babes in The Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988) Director David DeCoteau's nudity-filled B-grade supernatural horror-comedy sex film was a cheaply-made parody of college sorority coeds and horror films in particular. It was followed by a direct-to-video sequel Sorority Babes in the Dance-A-Thon of Death (1991) by director Todd Sheets (with none of the cast reprising their roles). The film's tagline slightly hinted at the movie's plotline:
The film opened with three geeks in their apartment:
The trio were drinking beers and mostly doing nothing, except for Calvin who was watching the late-night horror movie Dreamaniac (1986) on television, and Keith who was oogling an issue of Penthouse.
At midnight, the three nerds watched from an outside window at the sorority house as two sexy Tri-Delta (Delta Delta Delta) sorority pledges were inflicted with a hazing initiation:
During their Tri-Delta initiation as pledges, three sorority girls supervised the hazing of the newcomers:
The two girls in their panties and half-T-shirts were draped over a sofa and disciplined with a paddle to their behinds, then sprayed down their fronts with dessert topping (whipped cream). Afterwards, they showered to clean up, when the three nerds were caught spying on them in the bathroom inside the house. When discovered ("busted"), the three "perverts" and Lisa and Taffy were ordered, as part of their punishing initiation, to steal a shiny trophy from the Bowl-a-Rama bowling alley at the Plaza Camino mall. They were unaware that the mall was owned by the father of the sorority leader, Babs. Babs planned to watch them on her father's closed-circuit security cameras and then "scare the s--t out of 'em". During the theft, the group came across another burglar with a crowbar named Spider (Linnea Quigley), a feisty, foul-talking, leather-clad punk rocker-biker who was also breaking into the bowling alley. Spider sarcastically greeted the group: "What is this? Midnight Wimp Bowling League?" and then told Taffy and Lisa: "Prom queens on the loose. Or is it high school hookers?" When the huge bowling trophy accidentally fell onto the floor and its bottom opened up, a vengeful, jive-talking genie ("Uncle Impie") (voice of Dukey Flyswatter) emerged and spoke: "Old Uncle Impie is just a little bit cranky. No fun being locked up like that, especially in a bowling trophy." The mischievous Uncle Impie resembled a gargoyle. The genie-imp offered three wishes in exchange for being freed, quickly suggested and delivered, in this order:
The Imp also zapped the three sorority sisters watching from a security booth, and turned Frankie into the "Bride of Frankenstein." The Imp's real intent was to transform all of them into his zombified, demonic minions. Babs was electrocuted into unconsciousness when she fled and touched the electrified outer mall exit doors. Jimmy realized his stack of gold was fake (painted wood), and Taffy's gorgeous dress was only rags. Ultimately, Jimmy was decapitated by an ice machine and his severed head was used as a bowling ball thrown down the lane. The others fled or were forced to combat the 'undead' sorority sisters. Meanwhile, on the floor of the locker-room, Lisa (who was put under a spell to be insatiably hungry for sex) pursued Keith - in a lengthy inter-cut sequence.
Eventually, Keith fled from the sex-crazed Lisa, but was attacked by Rhonda and had his face shoved into a hot stove and fried in a deep-fryer. Frankie and Rhonda stretched and killed Taffy by pulling on her body from both ends. It appeared Rhonda was killed when hit in the head with a bowled ball by Spider.
Babs awoke and also became possessed by the Imp, and then beat Lisa to death with a wooden paddle. Calvin tossed a Molotov cocktail at Babs to incinerate her, in order to save Spider. After knife-wielding Frankie killed the janitor, Spider decapitated Frankie who was chasing her with an axe. Spider and Calvin escaped from the mall, but then a revived Rhonda attempted to attack Calvin from the back-seat while he was driving - she died in an uncontrollable car-crash. The only two survivors were Calvin and Spider, who noted in the aftermath that they didn't want to wait around for the cops:
Spider invited Calvin to her place - with a ride on her bike. The last image was of a recaptured Uncle Wimpie trapped inside a Prince Alberto pipe tobacco tin on the street corner, begging to be released - he had lost all his powers:
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 Sorority Pledges: (l to r): Taffy (Brinke Stevens) and Lisa (Michelle Bauer)    Taffy and Lisa: Shower Sequence After Whipped Cream  Spider (Linnea Quigley)  "Uncle Impie"    After Sex with Keith, Lisa Was Attacked by Babs  The Imp Recaptured |
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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 just $40,000. It was followed by the sequel, Assault of the Party Nerds 2: The Heavy Petting Detective (1995). The tagline was:
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:
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:
The two rival fraternities, one nerdy and one full of jocks, were:
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. |
 Muffin (Michelle Bauer) and Bambi (Linnea Quigley)     Bambi (Linnea Quigley) With Cliff  Vanna (Tantala Ray) - Frat Party Scene |
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Deadly Embrace (1989) Director David DeCocteau's tawdry erotic thriller included all the elements of a pot-boiling soap-opera tale of deception, and betrayal in a deadly triangle of relationships. Its tagline was:
In the plot, beautiful, pampered and wealthy, but lonely, voyeuristic and under-sexed Beverly Hills housewife Charlotte (Mindi Miller/Ty Randolph) felt neglected by her sleaze-bag philandering, real-estate-developer husband Stewart Moreland (Jan-Michael Vincent). The inattentive husband Stewart was pursuing his sexy secretary DeDe Magnolia (Ruth Collins) and trying to avoid seeking a divorce (and losing half his wealth) - on advice from his lawyer Evan Weiss (Jack Carter). To spy on his wife and to implicate her in an adulterous affair, he hired hunk handyman Chris Thompson (Ken Abraham) to spy on his wife and seduce her, while living in a bungalow on the premises.
Complications arose due to the presence of Chris' girlfriend, aspiring actress and college student Michelle Arno (Linnea Quigley) who arrived at the house for a visit. She began to realize that Chris was having a second affair on the side. During a sensuous suntan-oiling session by the pool with Charlotte, Chris began to suffer hallucinatory dreams (in cutaways) of a strip-teasing topless female (Michelle Bauer), credited as "Female Spirit of Sex" - a nymphomaniac-spirit who was a tempting sight to encourage Chris to cheat on his girlfriend. At the same time, Charlotte became unhinged by the presence of Michelle, and was videotaping her trysts with Chris.
Charlotte devised a murder plot to kill Michelle - but first forcibly showed her the tape-recorded video of her having sex with Chris. |
 Charlotte Oiled at the Pool by Chris  Charlotte with Chris   "Female Spirit of Sex" (Michelle Bauer)  Charlotte's Videotape of Michelle with Chris |
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Murder Weapon (1989) This was another erotic thriller - actually a slasher film - from director David DeCocteau (credited as Ellen Cabot), with the taglines:
The film opened with a lengthy flashback sequence involving two murderous, man-hating psycho-bimbos, who were in a mental institution and had established a friendship - both were daughters of infamous syndicate hit men:
Dawn was possibly molested by her Mafia-father, then incarcerated after a freak fire (set by her?) that killed her entire family. Amy had become crazed and violent due to a similar cycle of sexual abuse from men. Both of them used sexual blackmail to escape from the asylum. Dawn accused her shrink Dr. Gram (Lenny Rose) of raping her during hypnosis to get freed (with a videotape as proof), and likewise, Amy also convinced her physician Dr. Randolph (Lyle Waggoner) to release her. Once both were freed, Dawn held an overnight slumber party at a secluded mansion owned by Amy's late Mafia-related father. She invited her ex-boyfriend Jeff (Eric Freeman), and other frat boy-males (and other exs) including Kevin (Stephen Steward), Cary (Allen First), Billy (Richard Sebastian), Bart (Rodger Burt), as well as Eric (Mike Jacobs, Jr.), Amy's boyfriend. Murders soon abounded committed by a gloved, leather-clad mystery killer, including these major deaths (in this order):
In the concluding confrontation in the basement, the masked killer (who was stalking Amy) was doused with gasoline and incinerated. When the killer's face was revealed, it was Dawn! |
 Dawn in Parked Car with Jeff (Eric Freeman)    Dawn (Linnea Quigley)  Amy (Karen Russell)  The Reveal of the Killer |
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Mickey
Melody
