Something to Scream About

Do we really need to hear the thoughts and feelings on life from a group of females who's claim to fame is merely the fact that they're aesthetically pleasing to the eye and/or know how to scream rather well? In theory no, it shouldn't be that high on the agenda for someone to watch. However in practice, it is an informative watch that any horror fan will want to watch, if not one to actively go out of your way to seek out. True, some of it MAY be, nay IS a tad pretentious (a constant falling of most, if not all feature length documentaries of any stripe).I'd like to say that it was kept to a bare minimum, but that's not the case. However, that being said, as a horror fan, I still found it interesting. Could the subject matter been handled better? That's debatable, but I'm on the side that it all come out well enough.

My Grade: C+

Where I saw it: Showtime

I was pleasantly surprised by this feature which was sent to me by a friend who knows I attend a lot of horror cons. Most of the girls I have met at one or other of these outings. It is amazing how how all of them came off so close to what was my impression of them from meeting them. The best I feel were Judith O Dea & Debbie Rochon. You can feel the sincerity in Judith & the endless energy in Debbie. You get a feel for the genuine niceness of Brinke Stevens who always has time for fans. Ariauna Albright comes across as the knowledgeable actress she is & a real person besides. The honest answers by Felisha Rose show her to be a strong woman & Denise Duff is just a pleasure to listen to. Lilith Stabs lived up to her reputation of not really appearing to appreciate anybody asking her anything & seemed to have her mind in some other galaxy. But apart from her all the others came across as really nice down to earth women who are very approachable & first rate performers. A video worth seeing.

This is a documentary that was recommended to me via the algorithms on Tubi. I also didn't realize that I saw it streaming on Screambox as well. What made me pull the trigger is that while watching another doc and this one was brought. Brinke Stevens is the host here as well and it is made by Tempe Entertainment, who also did the Shock Cinema series.

What I like about this documentary even more than the ones I keep referencing is that they have an interesting grouping of scream queens to talk about their experiences getting into making movies, things they've gone through both good and bad while working as well as a vibe of where they think things will go. This last one is more about their individual careers, or at the least, what they're willing to do for it.

We get the likes of Debbie Rochon, Julie Strain, Judith O'Dea, Ariauna Albright, Brandi Burkett, Debra De Liso, Denice Duff, Felissa Rose and Lilith Stabe. Like I've already said, it is interesting to have a cross section like this because Rochon has done upwards of almost 300 films as of writing this. She refuses to do nudity. Then you have Strain who acknowledges she's not a good actor and didn't have the training, but she had no issues with getting naked. That is something I love here is just hearing how all these women were able to work like they have. Some feel they've been taken advantage of, or at least stood up to people that tried to. It is both inspiring and other times heartbreaking.

I'll then finish out with talking about the filmmaking techniques. I did like that this starts with giving us the different topics that will be covered. It then is edited where we'll jump between the different actors, sometimes mirroring similar experiences where others will be the opposite. It does make it feel jumbled at times. There is footage edited in to help show things they're saying, that's a good touch. It just falls a bit short. Still worth a watch if you're a horror fan and interested in learning more about what goes into being a scream queen.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

At the very top of my list of "Reasons Why the 80's Sucked" is the emergence of the so-called "scream queen" in low-budget horror and genre movies. While there were obviously always pretty girls in horror movies, before the 1980's they were usually either genuinely talented actresses (like Jamie Lee Curtis, Lynn Lowry, Pamela Franklin, or Edwige Fenech),or even when they were talentless bimbos they were at least not the leads but were only there to take their clothes off and then exit stage left. In the 80's though these talentless bimbos (aka "scream queens") not only became lead actresses, but starred in a glut of bad horror movies that were little more than sorry excuses to get them naked. And while some feminists claimed these woman were exploited victims, the real victims were the pimply-faced, hairy-palmed ceiling painters sequestered in their mothers' basements watching these crap movies (not to mention genuine horror movie enthusiasts like myself).

I felt a little bit a schabenfreude therefore watching this doc. and seeing someone like Julie Strain complaining about how pathetic her career has become. It is a statement on the pathetic state of low-budget genre films that someone as talent-free as her ever had a career to begin with. Most of the other actresses in this documentary are much more upbeat if also much more obscure. Denise Duff, for instance, is very cute and apparently not only stars in crap movies but directs them as well. Interestingly, a couple of the actresses profiled (including the colorfully named Lilith Stabs)don't do nude scenes, which doesn't necessarily mean they are talented or that their movies are any good, but it's interesting. Curiously, this documentary shies away from showing any nude scenes, which is admirable I guess since it makes it a more serious and less exploitative work; still it would have been nice if they had shown some of these actresses nude if for no other reason than it might save some poor slobs from having to sit through their movies.

I also admired the candor of this documentary. This is is the first time, for instance, I've ever heard "scream queens" admit that some of their male fans are stalkers (frankly I can't imagine why anybody BUT a seriously deranged stalker would want to watch some of these movies). It was also fairly non-judgmental--it was not exploitative but also didn't have a feminist ax to grind. It let some of the actresses (like the aforementioned Strain) make an ass of themselves, but it was neither mean-spirited nor was it an advertisement/apology for the whole scream queen phenomenon. Watch this mildly interesting "scream queen" doc., and forget about the "scream queen" movies.

'Something to Scream About' is a lite trip down memory lane for those inclined as ladies who got their acting break in low budget horror pics drop soundbites. However be forewarned it's one more doc fond of a "talking heads" format so the narrative is very loose. Known genre lady Brinke Stevens serves as host (and producer) to partially keep it on track.

How they broke into the industry, art of acting down to smaller components of the genre. All the topics you expect get checked off, but the tastiest pieces come when it gets real. Working for poor directors, the measly paychecks or cuckoo fans. I'm not super deep into horror b-movies so confess to not being familiar with the majority of ladies spoken to here. However biggest name - the late Julie Strain - drops some spicy zingers and real ugly truths.

If you fit the target audience for 'Something' there might be enough to warrant giving it a go. At only 60 minutes long it didn't overstay its welcome, but it's also not worthy of repeat views. Relying heavily on nonstop interview snippets with only small clips of the movies themselves or pics to break things up. Bit of self promotion going on from the studio who shamelessly plug their own b-movies too.