Linnea Quigley was one of the leading scream queens in the ’80s. She was a major reason people rented VHS tapes of Silent Night, Deadly Night, Return of the Living Dead, Savage Streets, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Night of the Demons and Sorority Babes In the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama. She even had time to make an appearance in a Nightmare on Elm Street movie. She hung out with Rhonda Shear on USA’s Up All Night. She knew how to scare and be scared on the screen. It’s just natural that a movie called Scream Queen would have Linnea star as the troubled horror star.
Malicia Tombs (Quigley) gets ticked off while shooting a horror scene on the beach. She can’t accept her co-star’s reaction to being strangled. She’s frustrated at the inept director. She has had it. She ditches the shoot and drives off in her car. Turns out this was a bad career move as she gets into a horrific wreck and dies. But was it really a simple car accident. There are quite a few people who think it was a murder. Detective Hamer (Slay Belles‘ C. Courtney Joyner) pokes around the crew and cast. There are also a few rabid fans of Malicia Tombs that want to see her final film released even if the director swears there’s not enough to be released. A mysterious stranger is willing to pay to have the film completed even with the star unable to be a part of the reshoots. Who is this stranger that lures them together with the promise of a completion budget? Is there a chance that Malicia is really dead. Is she going to stage her biggest comeback yet? Or is someone going to take out the rest of the cast?
Scream Queen might have been shot on video, but the low budget horror film works. They only have a limited time with Linnea Quigley so her character appears only at the key times. The rest of the cast does more than fill up space when she’s not around. They seem like the kind of people that would work on low budget films. In a way a movie shot on video in the late ’90s reminds me of film school projects. Except this one isn’t nearly as boring as the tedious videos that were inflicted upon us at parties. The running time is tight. There’s a lot of stuff happening in the second half of the film as everybody appears to be in jeopardy. Will anybody survive this shoot?
The big highlight of the film is a video with Linnea Quigley singing a parody of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made For Walking.” She gives the tune a chainsaw twist. It’s a hoot.
For a few years, Scream Queen remained stuck in the video editing stage as there were various issues. Even when it came out on VHS in the early 21st Century, the film was hard to find. This went from a “lost film” to an obscure part of Linnea Quigley’s Filmography. Now the movie is finally out and gives us a chance to enjoy Malicia Tombs crowning performance.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The director-approved SD master from original tape elements. This looks like it was shot with your father’s VHS camcorder which adds to the voyeuristic quality of the film. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo. The location sound is spotty at times. But the movie is subtitled.
Audio Commentary with Writer / Director Brad Sykes has him explain what went on during the shoot. He shot at a house Glendale. He brings up how they couldn’t get too bloody because they couldn’t mess up the borrowed place. When you’re working on a tight budget and schedule, you don’t have time to mop up blood on the wood floors.
Once Upon A Time In Horrorwood (29:46) is a behind the scenes documentary. Brad Sykes says they shot most of Scream Queen from January to February in 1998 with little scenes being shot for a few months more. He wanted it to be a satire of low budget horror filmmaking. They shot a few scenes in Linnea Quigley’s house and the music video was near her place. He talks about how getting friendly with a producer on a low budget production led to them making Scream Queen. He was thrilled the Linnea Quigley wanted to make the film. She only shot for a few days. But she so enjoyed working with him, she asked him to shoot the music video and allowed it to be a part of the film. Sykes goes into how he found his cast for the low budget effort. He talks about the battle with the producer over grilling steaks for the crew meal. He lets us know about the troublesome member of the cast.
Second Feature: Original Producer’s Cut of Movie (78:35) is a different cut from Sterling Entertainment. This is also 1.33:1.
New Linnea Quigley Interview (12:19) has her thanking us for watching the film. She talks about how she liked working with independent filmmakers. She liked working with Brad Sykes. She had no idea that the script was written for her. She just identified with the role.
Editor Mark Polonia Interview (2:58) has him recall this was his first paid editing gig. He talks about how the film was rough cut when he received it, but he had to do a lot of sound editing and color correction. He liked the murky look Brad Sykes achieved. Polonia is very active cutting horror films including Hell on The Shelf.
Behind The Scenes Image Gallery (3:14) includes actor’s headshots, behind the scenes photos,
Linnea Quigley Image Gallery (0:50) has her showing off a weird weapon that became the VHS box cover art.
Original Script Selects are a few pages so you can see what was on the page before they brought out the chainsaw.
Original Trailer (2:09) opens like the film and cuts into the mystery of what happened to the Scream Queen.
Visual Vengeance Trailer (2:09) tightens up the original trailer.
Six-page liner notes by Tony Strauss of Weng’s Chop Magazine goes into why it took so long to get edited only to receive a not large release. When it was originally was coming out on DVD, things went wrong. But now the Blu-ray is here.
Collectible Linnea Quigley folded mini-poster is suitable for framing.
‘Stick your own’ VHS sticker set that will spice up your Blu-ray box.
Limited Edition slipcase by Rick Melton is only for the first printing.
Limited Edition ‘Series 2’ Video Store Rental Card will give you the feeling that you need to rewind the tapes and get them back in time. This is also for the first printing.
Video Vengence and Wild Eye Releasing present Scream Queen. Directed by Brad Sykes. Screenplay by Brad Sykes. Starring Linnea Quigley, C. Courtney Joyner, Kurt Levee, Jarrod Robbins, Nova Sheppard, Emilie Jo Tisdale & Nicole West. Running Time: 74 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: November 28, 2023.
