Pulp Features

Had she been born a few decades ago, there is no doubt Debbie D would have gone to Europe to become a mainstay in films done by Jesus Franco or Paul Naschy, as she would have been tailor made for the uncanny fetish-horror films these two loved to crank out. With her 36C-cup sized breasts, looks, and willingness to get undressed in front of the camera, she would have fit into their scripts like the proverbial hand in a glove.

A self-admitted exhibitionist, Debbie has repeatedly stated she has no qualms about running around naked, a la other scream queens from the past such as Leanna Quigley. In spite of her willingness to bare all, she has never done an X rated film and has said that she would not do the one. The closest she has come to such is what she terms one or two “Y” rated videos, geared toward the fetish market and articles for the adult fanzine Batteries Not Included. She has a love instead, for horror film, where sensuality and terror are often intermingled.

On the web she has become quite popular, with several sheets and sites carrying interviews as well as her own pages, devoted to her activities, schedules, and videos.

Outside of horror, she also sings, works as a model and as a mermaid (yeah, you read that right) for various events and artist’s sittings.

Among her videos, it becomes hard to tell where the fetishes and the horror seperate. Titles of a few videos, like Jacker (a long shower scene, but Psyhco it isn’t) and The Burglar From Hell, for example, give indications by covers alone, as to what should be expected. Other video shorts like Play Dead Inc and The Vampire’s Curse are more “traditional” horror films, though the nudity again runs wild.

Operating out of eastern Pennsylvania, she is fast becoming a familiar face at midwestern horror conventions in the United States, where she sells her videos, signs pictures, and meets the fans. There is also a mermaid figurine of her, which is available through her website.

While some people might wait longingly for her to break down an do an outright X rated movie, odds are it isn’t going to happen. She is, however, looking at a number of short horror projects, once again with a focus on fetishes and creepy intruders to menace her. She is also looking at some vampire-type plots once again. One of her past projects saw her as a young girl who finds an old daggar, accidently cuts herself, and through this, rather than the traditional bite on the neck, starts to spout fangs, becoming a vampire herself. This is a basic plot which may in time, spin varied sequals.

Weird, yes. Attractive, yes. Talented? Well, if you look beyond some of the odd, fetish-geared roles and the mythological statement sometimes used about “no clothes making up for no talent”, one finds considerable skills there. With a bigger budget for her films, she would definately be appreciated more. (Think how some of the lowbudget kings like Franco, Naschy, Wood, Don farmer or others might have done with proper backing for crews, special effects and distribution). Likewise, some of the roles she appears in just don’t let her display all of her creativity. So, hopefully, some big producers will notice her along the way and instead of being a cult heroine among the indy fans, she may become a scream queen in the true sense of the word.

Carlos Alberto Alonso was born in La Coruna, the same place as the late and respected Amando de Ossorio , who gace the world of horror the infamous Blind Dead series. Though they never worked together, Alonso grew up admiring this man and one can see some of the influence this has had on his own works, most especially in the musical score. Like Ossorio, with his familiar templar theme, a bastardized Gregorian chant utilized in all of the aforenoted Blind Dead series, Alonso too, has used repetitive, even annoying film scores, with screeching Spanish bagpipes (they do have them in northern Spain), hoofbeats and heartbeat sounds to enhance the suspense in his films.

Until recently, this new director has been primarily known as a man who makes short films, but is now seeking to expand into features. in the meantime, his past projects have won various awards and he has been making the circuits, attending various horror film festivals in Europe, to gain support for new projects.

Among his most notable creations was the recently released As Muxicas. In Spanish, with English subtitles, one isn’t sure whether to laugh or be baffled, as the story surrounds two elderly actors. The plot involves an aging husband in wife living in Spain in the early 1920s. Each fearing the other will die, the husband announces calmly that he will dig his wife’s grave, though she isn’t even sick yet. Okay, so much for that. The rest of the story is best left to be viewed, though most safely conclude what they think will happen doesn’t happen. When the husband says he will have to kill his wife, because the grave has been dug but cannot remain empty, due to some peasant superstition, the course of action seems set, but all is not what it seems.

The title of As Muxicas relates to a superstition from northern Spain. Here, the souls of departed people appear as tiny sparks of flame, like those admitted from a bonfire. To see them is to prove fatal, the unlucky viewer being hit with a death curse. Well, there’s something you don’t see every day.

Alonso likewise has a knack for film quality and camerawork which is uncommon both in Spanish horror (remember some of the Paul Naschy films where it looked like the werewolf effects were created by old carpet and glue or sadly to say, Ossorio’s The Sea Serpent, with the hoakiest looking monster ever, a complete contrast from his terrifying Templars). Shooting in the north of Spain, where you have more mountains, rivers and forrest country, provide a big contrast with the usual fare generated from this country, with the dry deserts seen in westerns, bullfight footage depicted in Currito de la Cruz, Traje De oro and the like, or the murkier side of Madrid, as constantly cropping up with Almodóvar.

Keep an eye out for this fellow and visit his webpage. There are ample graphics, even for those who cannot read one sentence of the text. Here likewise, you can see some stills from As Muxicas, which has been wellreceived at recent festivals in France, Portugal and of course Spain.

Tod Slaughter would definitely be one of the screen’s greatest and most under-rated villains. He saved countless films from disaster with his campy, over-the-top performances and the relish with his portrayed a heel.

Born in England in 1885, Slaughter got his start on the stage before going into movies, where he found himself continually thrown into horror films and dark, gothic dramas.

Among his varied films were A Ghost For Sale, It’s Never Too late To Mend, Murder In The Red Barn, Sexton Blake & The Hooded Terror, The Curse Of The Wraydons, Murder At The Grange, Murder At Scotland Yard, and Darby & Joan.

Slaughter might best be remembered for his role as the key villain, Lucio, in Face At the Window. The script itself left a lot to be desired. A monstrous howl would sound, the intended victim of an unstoppable serial killer stalking Paris named The Wolf would be struck and while the knife blade flashed, the soon-to-be dead man would be distracted by a ghoulish monster looking in the window. In the end, the murderer was tricked into confessing his crimes, revealing the “monster” and partner in crime was his half brother, and well…

Slaughter pulled this silly product off and made it work. He smirked, he leered, he relished in his own villainy and oozed slime. To look at him back then, on screen, was to deplore him, with viewers forgetting the whole thing was a movie (and not a good one on the surface). They cheered in the theatres when he died.

Even those in modern times who have braved this movie have panned the script, but praised Slaughter for a masterful and totally annoying performance.

This movie is out on video and is worth watching simply for the “Slaughter show”

Likewise, Slaughter played Sweeny Todd in The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, long before the famous musical which depicted the crazed killer in an entirely different light. On Slaughter’s version, Todd uses his barber shop to attract victims, where he kills for profit and greed, rather than revenge like in the far more famous musical. Once again, he was utterly loony.

In judging films of this type, however, they are easy to pan when compared to modern standards. When one judges them from the time in which they were made, however, one appreciates Slaughter all the more, for he had the ability to make his villains creative, memorable and outlandish, in spite of few special effects, heavy censorship and studio sets that looked like they were designed by some school kids.

Slaughter likewise gave a credible showing in The Greed Of William Hart. Though the title sounds like some type of mafia movie or western with prospectors shooting it out in Gold Rush days, this was actually an outright horror story about grave robbers dealing with the business of reselling corpses for medical research. The names were changed, but the movie was based on the real life criminals, Burke and Hare.

The historical villains on whom the movie was based took to robbing grave and stealing corpses, which were sold to a doctor. They later found it easier to kill people, rather than sneak through the tombs and use these for the doctor’s needs. The devilish duo ended up getting caught, with one being hanged and the other turning evidence against his former friend for a plea bargain.

Though The Greed Of William Hart took liberties, no doubt existed upon whom the movie was founded.

In this film too, Slaughter maintained his arrogant, sleazy, vile image, playing the key villain with utter glee. As par for the course, he met an unpleasant fate in this one too, all to the joy of the theatre audiences of his day.

Slaughter died from coronary thrombosis in the 1950’s, yet the net pays homage to him with several articles and sites, even now, long after his passing. In the time gone by, among certain horror fans he has found a cult following he never truly had while alive. Granted, people always seemed appreciative of his skills, though among the bulk of horror fans, he remained and remains one of the screen’s most underappreciated villains. Too often, his work has been overlooked and lost in the shuffle, except for the diehards on the web and in the fanzines, keeping his visage in circulation.