Femme Fatales Vol. 6 # 4

4 TIA CARRERE-PART II: KULL'S QUEEN
Originally pitched as a "fortune-telling concubine," Carrere crusaded for the plum role of a sinfully sexy sovereign.
Article by Alan Jones
8 UMA THURMAN: BATMAN'S FEMME FATALE
She offered the director of BATMAN & ROBIN an ultimatum: "If you want a damsel in distress, let's part ways."
Article by Fred Szebin
12 SABRINA, TEENAGE WITCH, SOUNDS-OFF
Fading from CBS, Melissa Joan Hart turned an ABC slot into gold; but some condemn her sitcom as Satanic!
Article by Fred Szebin
14 LADY'S NIGHT AT "CLUB VAMPIRE"
POISON IVY's screenwriter makes directorial debut in Roger Corman film: Blue blood vamps need babes.
Article by Douglas Eby
16 VAMPIRE FEMMES: THEIR REINVENTION (?)
Only three more years until the 21st century. Will the new generation of vamps pump new blood or bite the dust?
Article by James Ursini
32 GAME OF PLEASURE: VIRUS TURNS VIXEN
Baltimore filmmakers nix amateur equation (Bimbos+Gore=Movie). A lowbudget prompts unique script.
Article by Bruce G. Hallenbeck
38 MIKE MYERS: SCHLEPPING HIS SLEEPER
As summer fades, the season's surprise hit—a melange of sex, s-f & '60s schtick—is eulogized by its star.
Article by Jeanne Rohrer
42 THE SCI-FI CINEMA'S CRUELLA DE VIL
Hilary Shepard—writer, POWER RANGERS siren, critics' darling is the sci-fi genre's unsung heroine.
Article by Amelia Kinkade
46 THE SCI-FI CINEMA'S BENNY HILL
Hollywood is rocked by Milo Minara's mirth. Tinseltown's 3-D spin on invisible dorks and turn-on technology.
Article by Dan Scapperotti
48 B-QUEENS, "BASHED!"
Patchwork purgatory; Full Moon's unification of final drive-in divas with their modern video & cable heirs.
Article by Amelia Kinkade
52 "THE KILLERS:" LEAVE IT TO CLEAVER
Produced for $100,000, this "DESPERATE HOURS/TEXAS CHAIN-SAW' hybrid was the big buzz at Cannes.
Article by Amelia Kinkade
56 TAAFFE O'CONNELL: MAIDENS & MAGGOTS
On-screen, the bombshell was snared by a giant worm; off-screen, she was almost sold into white slavery.
Article by Laura Schiff
5 FATALE ATTRACTIONS
62 LETTERS
EDITORIAL
So why did we devote this issue's centerfold to a low-budget movie? Some staffers were surprised, considering the A-caliber of actresses who have been interviewed for subsequent issues. Well, lately, B-films have been routinely vindicated as pretty loathsome (low-budget =low brow). Even a certain cable network boasts its venue of films doesn't include B-pictures. Why the bad rap? Because the advent of VCR and the slasher genre introduced cheap phylums of film—"t&a" and "gore"—which their cellar dwellers try to camouflage as B-movies.
A real B-movie is made by a rebel who can communicate his/her vision for under $70 million (corporate Hollywood's average price tag per movie). Staffer Jennifer Huss has noted that "some of the past decade's best movies—BOUND, HEATHERS, PULP FICTION—were made for only a fraction of the standard Arnold Schwarzenegger epic; comparatively speaking, these independently produced 'art' films are actually B-movies. You ever wonder why John Carpenter's B-movies—ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and HALLOWEEN—are so superior to his later stuff? Because, when he was still a struggling film-maker, Carpenter had to squeeze raw talent out of pocket change. Back then, he economized on special effects—not creativity."
The other evening, Jen and I viewed a 35-year-old, technological crudity titled CARNIVAL OF SOULS. Produced on "no budget," it was directed by the late Herk Harvey, a man impassioned with filmmaking. Actors cast as ghosts wore white pancake makeup. Dialogue was minimal; the images spun a simple scenario about a woman who thought she cheated death. The rustic locations—most memorably a derelict pavilion—were rendered, by the black and white cinematography, into an expressionistic milieu. Scary stuff. This morning, we heard that Wes Craven, who launched his own career with the low-budget LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, is remaking the film. While Mr. Craven is a talented filmmaker, we hope he remembers that color & computer-generated f/x are no substitute for the original.
Bill George