Himbos in Peril: The Boxer-Briefs Horror of David DeCoteau

by Patrick Gratton

Marcus Hobson’s body trembled as he felt an external power take control. “Is this what enlightenment feels like?” Nothing’s been the same since the night he met Jaspen Frasier, the president of Omega Alpha Psy. Marcus never saw himself pledging. But that all changed with a single touch, as Jaspen confided in Marcus the secrets of his success. This holy ointment, was god’s, or the devil’s, gift to man to reclaim eternal power. The veil that set him back had been lifted, everything was within his grasp. Exhilarated, he wanted to be free to possess whatever his will desired. He basked in his beauty. His modesty had withered away, he felt free, free of the confines of his mind and soul. What mind? What soul? Little did Marcus know that those were withering away as well.

This is an excerpt from a synopsis of the David DeCoteau film The Brotherhood VII: The Ascension. Or is it? Does the film actually exist? I might have made it up but does it matter? With a filmography whose imagery and plots are so indistinguishably alike, as to make the audience's mind as foggy as the hunky protagonists, who is there really to say?

As a self-described “Gay Roger Corman”, the prolific DeCoteau has 160+ directorial credits to his name. It’s rare to find a filmmaker with such a large output, delving into so many various genres, with such limited social imprint. Despite his success working with B-Movie Mogul Charles Band, DeCoteau’s name is barely mentioned, even within the halls of the queer horror canon...

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Halloween Obsessiveness: Uma's "Poison Ivy"

We thought it might be fun if Team Experience shared a few of our favourite Halloween memories with you.

by Nathaniel R

Some years ago I quit Halloween. It wasn't for lack of loving the holiday (have pumpkin patch sized love for it!) but for personal sanity. Favourite costumes over the years included Pinnochio, Peter Pan, Glinda the Good Witch (with my ex as The Wicked Witch and my best friend as The Tin Man, pictured left), Medusa (with an elaborate snake wig), and Mr Green in a group Clue costume. Letting Halloween go wasn't quite a cold turkey move but I knew I had a problem.

To surely every therapist's delight, the problem came from childhood...

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October Wrap-Up.

Tomorrow is Halloween which means October is nearly gone. Happy Devil's Night! Apart from the madhouse of virtual festivals (which all decided to happen at once!) and finally getting all Oscar charts up for this strange season we spent most of October celebrating Montgomery Clift's Centennial. We're so proud of that 18 episode series and the fine insights of our writers so we sincerely hope you got something out of it and were spurred on to discover at least a couple of his pictures that you hadn't seen before. If you did, please let us know in the comments so we know we reached people. Highlights from October follow...

12 Highlights You Might Have Missed

• To Die For -Chris revisits for the 25th anniversary of Kidman's breakout
• Damon Identity - Patrick's thinkpiece about Matt Damon's persona
• Bram Stoker's Dracula - Michael's hilarious first screening (!) of this visual orgy
• Smackdown 1965 - Shelley Winters vs Maggie Smith vs Ruth Gordon
• Sally Kirkland FYC a legendary Oscar campaign for Anna (1987)
• Ranking Olivier's 10 Oscar nods -Cláudio on Sleuth, Othello, Rebecca, etc...
• From Here to Eternity - Nathaniel on the peak of Montgomery Clift's stardom
• The Furniture: Suddenly Last Summer - Daniel on wild gardens, descending thrones, medical theatres
• Almost There: Andrew Garfield -for The Social Network's 10th anniversary
• Pretty Woman Fantasy - Christopher recounts a fateful Halloween night
• NYFF: French Exit - Nathaniel works out his issues with the transfer
• Making Montgomery Clift - Sean's thoughtful epilogue to our series - have any of you seen this documentary?

5 Most Discussed Articles

• YNMS: Hillbilly Elegy - Damn the opinions were out to play!
• Cancel the Oscars' is bulls***t - And more (heated) opinions
• YNMS: The Prom - Meryl, Nicole, and more in this movie musical
• Best Actress Predictions - Always discussable!
• Oldest Best Actress lineups will 2020 break the record set just seven years back?

COMING IN NOVEMBER: New films including Ammonite, Mank, Monsoon, Wolfwalkers, Sound of Metal, and Hillbilly Elegy and retrospectives including Home for the Holidays 25th, Gene Tierney's 100th, and of course our 1987 series culminating in the season finale of Supporting Actress Smackdown. 

If you're just rejoining us looking to catch up. 2020 so far...
2019 Film Year Wrap | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct

Showbiz History: '98's American History X, '80s Harry Hamlin

8 random things that happened on this day (October 30th) in showbiz history

Rudolph Valentino cheekily decides you can't watch him undress in behind the scenes footage

1921 The Sheik starring Rudolph Valentino premieres, inventing the male movie star sex symbol. The world swoons. Women faint.

1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast of HG Wells "The War of the Worlds" causes mass panic when people are convinced it's real.

1943 Federico Fellini (23) and Giulietta Masina (22) marry in Italy. A scriptwriter and a radio actress at the time, they will become legends.

American History X, Baby Boom, Harry Hamlin, and more after the jump...

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How Had I Never Seen..."Bram Stoker's Dracula"

By Michael Cusumano

“You haven’t seen Bram Stoker’s Dracula?” my girlfriend gasped, stopping her laundry folding dead.

This caught my attention as it upset the established dynamic of our relationship. I am the one who interrupts every conversation with some version of “What? You’re telling me you’ve never seen [insert name of film no one has ever watched outside a film studies program]?!"

She then reflected on how gorgeous Coppola’s vampire opus is and chastised herself for not owning it. This again was a reversal of the natural order. I wake up with night sweats at the thought that there is a great movie somewhere I don’t own. She owns approximately seven DVD’s she acquired by accident in the early 00’s which she stores in a dusty case next to "Jagged Little Pill" and her old Microsoft startup discs.

I immediately turned off what I was watching and popped on the Coppola film...

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