News

Great Performances in Horror: Desiree Gould as Aunt Martha in Sleepaway Camp

Published

2 years ago

February 16, 2022

“There are no small parts. Only small actors.”

You might have heard this saying before. Usually, it comes right after you’ve been offered the role of Townsperson #9 in your high school production of The Music Man, but what it’s saying is true. It takes a great, inventive actor to make something out of very little stage or screen time and create something memorable.

Case in point: Desiree Gould as Aunt Martha in Sleepaway Camp.

Talk to anyone about this film and, the odds are, they’ll eventually bring up the endearingly quirky Aunt Martha as one of the most unforgettable parts of an already zany and memorable late-in-the-game slasher film.

Writer/director Robert Hiltzik fills his film with an assortment of some of the strangest characters to ever inhabit a slasher film. From the dynamic mean girl sister act of Judy and Meg (M-E-G) to the grotesque sex offender cook, the sleazy camp owner, and the group of foul-mouthed campers, Sleepaway Camp’s cast of characters is nothing if not unique.

Even within this already kooky group of characters, Aunt Martha stands out as uniquely bizarre. Her first appearance in the film is right after the prologue where a father and child are killed in a nasty boat accident and the surviving child, Angela, goes to live with cousin Ricky and Aunt Martha.

To say Martha is overly enthusiastic would be the understatement of the century. Gould busts in with a brown paper grocery bag full of snacks for the camp-bound Angela and Ricky as she belts her first lines to the rafters as if she’s playing to an imaginary audience of thousands at Radio City Music Hall. It’s a charmingly unmodulated, presentational performance that wouldn’t feel out of place in an early John Waters movie. At times, it’s like watching an alien approximating their own version of how a human behaves.

A fine drinking came could be made out of Gould’s daffy tic of turning to the camera, as an aside, resting her fingers on her chin, and saying “I’m afraid that wouldn’t do at all.” It becomes her catchphrase.

The moment where she remembers that she tied a red string around her finger so that she wouldn’t forget to tell Angela and Ricky something and then can’t remember what it was is a master class of bizarre cringe comedy. This woman is truly operating on another wavelength from the rest of us and, from the way Ricky reacts to his mother’s behavior, you get the sense that he’s pretty accustomed to it by now.

Perhaps most disturbing is that we find out that Martha isn’t just your run-of-the-mill, pill-addled, day-drinking housewife but a doctor herself. Can you imagine Martha performing surgery on you? Who would give this crackpot a scalpel?

Y’see, Martha has taken the liberty of filling out both Angela and Ricky’s physicals for them and makes sure to tell them not to let anyone know how they got them. Why would Martha do this? What’s she hiding? Gould’s big blue eyes dart around in such an unpredictable fashion that you can never get a good read on her. Is she just an oddball or is there something more sinister afoot?

70-ish minutes, several dead campers, and one Silly Putty mustache later, Aunt Martha returns during the surreal climactic reveal where we discover that Angela was originally Peter, and Martha decided to raise the child as Angela because she “always wanted a little girl.” At this point, Martha goes from being charmingly weird to full-on insane. She also mentions that her husband left her (big shocker) and that prevented her from having the little girl she always dreamed of. Martha, have you heard of adoption or a drunken one-night stand without protection? Not that anyone in their right mind would willingly give you another child to raise, but it’s worth a shot. Certainly makes more sense than the child abuse she forced on poor Angela. With this reveal, Martha becomes the true villain of the film.

To any actors out there, let this be a lesson to you. It doesn’t matter how much screen time or how many lines you have. If Desiree Gould could make something memorable out of Aunt Martha’s 3-minute appearance, you can, too. She remembers the old showbiz saying of always leaving them wanting more and, for me personally, she leaves me wanting to see an Aunt Martha medical drama spinoff. Imagine that character in the operating room causing drama. Just putting it out there.

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News

Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

Published

2 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

Published

4 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film

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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

^Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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