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Jamie Lee Curtis: The Making of a Scream Queen – Terror Train

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Terror Train’s climactic scene occurs between Alana and Kenny in one of the abandoned train cars. In the scene, Kenny, in the guise of a conductor’s uniform, reveals his true identity to a horrified Alana.

Then Kenny pulls Alana close for an extremely deranged and twisted kiss. The kiss then triggers in Kenny painful flashback memories of the fraternity prank which allows Ben Johnson’s Carne character, the train’s conductor, to move behind Kenny with a shovel. He then whacks Kenny out of the train and sends Kenny crashing into an icy lake to his presumed death.

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The most interesting part of the filming of this scene was the kiss. The kiss wasn’t in the script, and was added on the insistence of Curtis who felt it would add power to the scene and to the end of the film. “I just thought that if she kissed him that it would bring a lot of tenderness to the scene and to the film,” recalls Curtis. “The kiss was totally my idea. All during filming, I was looking for ways to make my character more interesting but there weren’t many opportunities because most of the film was about the action and the killer.”

The idea of kissing Jamie Lee Curtis was a big surprise for the transsexual Derek MacKinnon who had no idea his stint playing the deranged Kenny Hampson would include this added fringe benefit. MacKinnon would actually kiss Curtis twice, the second time being at the end of filming when Curtis would carry out her ritual—a ritual that Curtis began with Nick Castle at the end of filming on Halloween—of planting a kiss upon the guy who was playing her screen nemesis. “Jamie was very uncomfortable about doing that scene, with kissing me, and it was very awkward but she insisted on it, and insisted on adding tenderness to the scene,” recalls MacKinnon. “She was a great kisser, and I thought we did a really strong scene, and then at the end of the filming she just kissed me out of the blue, right in front of the crew, and that kiss was even better than the one we filmed.”

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Terror Train’s transsexual theme is interesting because Curtis herself was going through a period in her career where tabloids had begun spreading the false and outrageous rumor that Curtis herself was a hermaphrodite who was born with both female and male genitalia. This is a hateful and ridiculous rumor—obviously born out of Curtis’ own androgynous, tomboyish appearance and sexuality that’s especially present during the climactic scenes between Alana and Kenny—that has nonetheless become an urban legend over the years, fueled also by Curtis’ later inability to bear children. “The tabloids wrote things like that about her and it was unbelievable to see her go through something like that,” recalls MacKinnon. “Everyone who was around her could see what a beautiful woman she was.”

Like the final scene of Prom Night, where Curtis’ face was eerily twisted in a state of warped convulsion, Curtis’ reaction to Kenny’s kiss is just as horrific and raw, with her lips contorted and quivering in response to the perverse act. Curtis’ masculine, raw sexuality is on full display during these final scenes. With her hair frazzled, her face covered with terror, her makeup dripping all over her face, Curtis appears like a caged, seething animal who’s no longer preoccupied with grief over her murdered friends, nor any possible thoughts of revenge, but is instead focused on basic survival. These images represent Jamie Lee Curtis, in terms of her scream queen persona, in her most basic and savage form.

Although the final confrontation between Alana and Kenny represents the end of the film, it wasn’t the end of Terror Train’s filming. On the last day of filming, a skeleton crew traveled to New Hampshire to film the icy exterior sequence where Kenny hurtles out of the train and then falls into an icy ravine which is seemingly his final resting place. Art director Guy Comtois played the killer as he’s floating lifelessly in the icy water because the stuntman who was supposed to do the scene became scared of the freezing water and kept trying to swim instead of playing dead.

Curtis’ last day of work on Terror Train was the filming of Terror Train’s origin sequence, the prank sequence that drives Kenny crazy, which was shot on December 22, 1979, Terror Train’s second to last day of production. This is the opening scene in the film, where young pledge Kenny Hampson is duped by Hart Bochner and the rest of the nasty frat members into thinking he’s going to have sex with Curtis in the upstairs bedroom of the frat house. This scene, Curtis’ last filmed scene, was shot inside a real frat house located across the street from Montreal’s McGill University where the film opens.

By this time, Spottiswoode had grown impatient with the inexperienced Derek MacKinnon who in turn thought Spottiswoode was trying to make his life hell. “He wasn’t an actor; he was a transvestite from the streets of Montreal, and he wasn’t familiar with the concepts of a contract and showing up for work on time,” recalls Spottiswoode who allowed Caryl Wickman to work closely with Curtis and MacKinnon for this scene. “In a strange way though he did a pretty good job. He was familiar with that world of cheap theater and was strangely effective.”

Before the scene in the frat house was shot, Curtis went upstairs to the bedroom to prepare for the scene. MacKinnon was downstairs, preparing for the scene with Wickman who’d grown close to MacKinnon along with Curtis and the rest of the cast who found Wickman’s presence invaluable. “Roger wanted me to go upstairs naked for the scene and I was very nervous about that until Caryl talked him out of it,” recalls MacKinnon. “Another strange thing that happened was that Hart Bochner and the rest of the cast, including David Copperfield who’d actually flown back in from Los Angeles just for the end of filming, were all sitting downstairs on a couch when I went upstairs to do the scene with Jamie. Hart told me to ‘break a leg’ before I walked upstairs to face Jamie. I was very nervous about the whole thing, and so was Jamie.”

In the bedroom scene, Kenny walks into the darkened room where he hears Curtis’ sexy voice imploring him to move over to the bed and to “kiss me.” When Kenny moves to the bed, he doesn’t find Alana’s warm body in the bed but rather a decomposed cadaver that the cruel frat pranksters stole from a University lab. Kenny then freaks out and has a nervous breakdown while Curtis, who co-star Howard Busgang recalls being “very nervous” prior to the filming of the scene, watches in stunned horror.

The cadaver was played by a young Montreal actress named Nadia Rona who went through five hours of makeup for her scene with Curtis who stood behind the bed and offered Rona encouragement. “They put me on a table and then Jamie and the guy walked into the bedroom,” recalls Rona. “Jamie was very friendly and pleasant, and Roger was also very nice and supportive. We would shoot the scene over and over again and each time the guy, Derek, would keep falling on top of me. That was the worst part for me because he wasn’t very coordinated and he kept doing the scene wrong. Jamie was always behind me and kept asking me if I was okay, almost like she felt protective of me. I could tell she was a very dedicated actress. It took many hours to film the scene, and everyone was tired, and when we finished, we all had a glass of wine.”

This was the last scene Curtis shot in the film, and as was the case at the end of Prom Night’s filming, Curtis flew back to Los Angeles immediately afterwards, anxious to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve back at home. Like Prom Night, the friendships that Curtis had formed on Terror Train with her inexperienced Canadian counterparts would quickly become a distant memory, although Curtis did maintain a correspondence with co-star Timothy Webber for a couple of years after Terror Train’s filming. “When the film came out in 1980, there was a premiere in Montreal and Hart Bochner showed up along with his father but Jamie didn’t show up,” recalls MacKinnon. “I later traveled and did press for the film for a year but I never saw Jamie again.”

This excerpt was taken from the book Jamie Lee Curtis: Scream Queen, which is available in paperback  and on Kindle.

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‘Strange Darling’ Featuring Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald Lands Nationwide Release [Watch Clip]

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Strange Darling Kyle Gallner

‘Strange Darling,’ a standout film featuring Kyle Gallner, who is nominated for an iHorror award for his performance in ‘The Passenger,’ and Willa Fitzgerald, has been acquired for a wide theatrical release in the United States by Magenta Light Studios, a new enterprise from veteran producer Bob Yari. This announcement, brought to us by Variety, follows the film’s successful premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2023, where it was universally praised for its creative storytelling and compelling performances, achieving a perfect score of 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes from 14 reviews.

Strange Darling – Movie Clip

Directed by JT Mollner, ‘Strange Darling‘ is a thrilling narrative of a spontaneous hookup that takes an unexpected and terrifying turn. The film is notable for its innovative narrative structure and the exceptional acting of its leads. Mollner, known for his 2016 Sundance entry “Outlaws and Angels,” has once again employed 35mm for this project, cementing his reputation as a filmmaker with a distinct visual and narrative style. He is currently involved in adapting Stephen King’s novel “The Long Walk” in collaboration with director Francis Lawrence.

Bob Yari expressed his enthusiasm for the film’s upcoming release, scheduled for August 23rd, highlighting the unique qualities that make ‘Strange Darling’ a significant addition to the horror genre. “We are thrilled to be bringing nationwide theatrical audiences this unique and exceptional film with terrific performances by Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. This second feature from talented writer-director JT Mollner is destined to become a cult classic that defies conventional storytelling,” Yari told Variety.

Variety’s review of the film from Fantastic Fest lauds Mollner’s approach, saying, “Mollner shows himself to be more forward-thinking than most of his genre peers. He’s clearly a student of the game, one who studied his forebears’ lessons with adroitness to better prepare himself to put his own mark on them.” This praise underlines Mollner’s deliberate and thoughtful engagement with the genre, promising audiences a film that is both reflective and innovative.

Strange Darling

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Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Barbarella’ Revival Forges Ahead

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Sydney Sweeney Barbarella

Sydney Sweeney has confirmed the ongoing progress of the much-anticipated reboot of Barbarella. The project, which sees Sweeney not only starring but also executive producing, aims to breathe new life into the iconic character that first captured audiences’ imaginations in the 1960s. However, amid speculation, Sweeney remains tight-lipped about the possible involvement of celebrated director Edgar Wright in the project.

During her appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Sweeney shared her enthusiasm for the project and the character of Barbarella, stating, “It is. I mean, Barbarella is just such a fun character to explore. She really just embraces her femininity and her sexuality, and I love that. She uses sex as a weapon and I think it’s such an interesting way into a sci-fi world. I’ve always wanted to do sci-fi. So we’ll see what happens.“

Sydney Sweeney confirms her Barbarella reboot is still in the works

Barbarella, originally a creation of Jean-Claude Forest for V Magazine in 1962, was transformed into a cinematic icon by Jane Fonda under the direction of Roger Vardim in 1968. Despite a sequel, Barbarella Goes Down, never seeing the light of day, the character has remained a symbol of sci-fi allure and adventurous spirit.

Over the decades, several high-profile names including Rose McGowan, Halle Berry, and Kate Beckinsale were floated as potential leads for a reboot, with directors Robert Rodriguez and Robert Luketic, and writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade previously attached to revive the franchise. Unfortunately, none of these iterations made it past the conceptual stage.

Barbarella

The film’s progress took a promising turn approximately eighteen months ago when Sony Pictures announced its decision to cast Sydney Sweeney in the titular role, a move that Sweeney herself has suggested was facilitated by her involvement in Madame Web, also under Sony’s banner. This strategic decision was aimed at fostering a beneficial relationship with the studio, specifically with the Barbarella reboot in mind.

When probed about Edgar Wright’s potential directorial role, Sweeney adeptly sidestepped, merely noting that Wright has become an acquaintance. This has left fans and industry watchers speculating about the extent of his involvement, if any, in the project.

Barbarella is known for its adventurous tales of a young woman traversing the galaxy, engaging in escapades that often incorporate elements of sexuality—a theme Sweeney seems eager to explore. Her commitment to reimagining Barbarella for a new generation, while staying true to the character’s original essence, sounds like the making of a great reboot.

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‘The First Omen’ Almost Received an NC-17 Rating

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the first omen trailer

Set for an April 5 theater release, ‘The First Omen’ carries an R-rating, a classification that was almost not achieved. Arkasha Stevenson, in her inaugural feature film directorial role, faced a formidable challenge in securing this rating for the prequel to the esteemed franchise. It seems the filmmakers had to contend with the ratings board to prevent the film from being saddled with an NC-17 rating. In a revealing conversation with Fangoria, Stevenson described the ordeal as ‘a long battle’, one not waged over traditional concerns such as gore. Instead, the crux of the controversy centered around the depiction of the female anatomy.

Stevenson’s vision for “The First Omen” delves deep into the theme of dehumanization, particularly through the lens of forced birthing. “The horror in that situation is how dehumanized that woman is”, Stevenson explains, emphasizing the significance of presenting the female body in a non-sexualized light to address themes of forced reproduction authentically. This commitment to realism nearly landed the film an NC-17 rating, sparking a prolonged negotiation with the MPA. “This has been my life for a year and a half, fighting for the shot. It’s the theme of our film. It’s the female body being violated from the inside outwards”, she states, highlighting the importance of the scene to the film’s core message.

The First Omen Movie Poster – by Creepy Duck Design

Producers David Goyer and Keith Levine supported Stevenson’s battle, encountering what they perceived as a double standard in the ratings process. Levine reveals, “We had to go back and forth with the ratings board five times. Weirdly, avoiding the NC-17 made it more intense”, pointing out how the struggle with the ratings board inadvertently intensified the final product. Goyer adds, “There is more permissiveness when dealing with male protagonists, particularly in body horror”, suggesting a gender bias in how body horror is evaluated.

The film’s bold approach to challenging viewers’ perceptions extends beyond the ratings controversy. Co-writer Tim Smith notes the intention to subvert expectations traditionally associated with The Omen franchise, aiming to surprise audiences with a fresh narrative focus. “One of the big things we were excited to do was to kind of pull the rug out from under people’s expectations”, Smith says, underscoring the creative team’s desire to explore new thematic ground.

Nell Tiger Free, known for her role in “Servant”, leads the cast of “The First Omen”, set for release by 20th Century Studios on April 5. The movie follows a young American woman dispatched to Rome for church service, where she stumbles upon a sinister force that shakes her faith to its core and reveals a chilling plot aimed at summoning evil incarnate.

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