When you hear the term “scream queen,” everyone has a different actress who they would name. There are so many amazing performers who have embraced the moniker, but, in my opinion, no one more so than Linnea Quigley. With decades worth of memorable roles in films like Silent Night, Deadly Night, Night of the Demons, and Return of the Living Dead, she continues to appear in films and is a fan favorite on the convention circuit. Visual Vengeance has brought what they’re touting as a “lost” Linnea Quigley film, Scream Queen, onto a loaded Blu-ray that will ensure, twenty-plus years later, it will finally find an audience.
Malicia Tombs (Linnea Quigley) is a horror film actress who is working on a low-budget film called Scream Queen. After a dispute on set, she decides she has had enough and walks off. There’s a horrible accident, and her truck explodes, leaving Malicia (presumably) dead. This puts the cast and crew in an awkward position since the film is not completed.
Time passes by, and everyone has moved on with their lives until they begin to receive messages asking them to go to a mansion and are offered the opportunity to finish what they started. There’s a killer on the loose who has his eyes set on this group, and if they don’t act fast, they could all end up at the end of the scalpel.
It was a little surprising to me how gory the film ended up being. It’s not too far over the top, but there were more effects than I expected, and they were executed well. The cast does a solid job with the material, but in all honesty, you’ll want to see this strictly to fill in a small gap on Linnea Quigley’s resume. She plays a meta version of herself and just runs with it. It’s fun to see her parodying herself, and the mock music video content is pretty hilarious. Quigley fans will definitely be grateful to be able to own this film.
Considering where the source material came from, the picture looks great while preserving the SOV aesthetic. Director Brad Sykes has worked pretty extensively in the genre over the years, and this would have been one of his first forays.
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It’s no surprise that Visual Vengeance is committed to making sure their customers get the most out of their purchases. The disc is beautifully packaged with killer new artwork, slipcover, a new director-approved 480p SD master from the original tape elements, commentary with writer/director Brad Sykes, Once Upon a Time in Horrorwood: a new behind-the-scenes documentary, the original producer’s cut of Scream Queen, a new interview with Linnea Quigley, interview with editor Mark Polonia, BTS image gallery, Linnea Quigley image gallery, original script selects, trailers, six-page liner notes booklet by Tony Strauss, collectible Quigley mini-poster, and reversible sleeve that also features the original artwork.
Scream Queen is exactly where it should be now, available for genre fans to enjoy.
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