Queen of the Screen

by Jon Keeyes (October 1999)

More than any other actress of the 20th Century, Brinke Stevens has earned the b-film title Queen of the Screen. With a career spanning nearly twenty years, this alluring brunette has shaped the face of horror, become synonymous with screaming, and influenced nearly every aspect of the genre's culture. Viewed by most horror fans and historians as the greatest living b-queen, Brinke Stevens is the epitomy of seduction, class and style.

Beginning in 1981, Brinke quickly rose to the throne when she joined Linnea Quigley and Michelle Bauer as the three legendary Scream Queens of the fabulous eighties video era. Starring in such classics as The Nightmare Sisters, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, and Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity, Brinke found herself on the cover of genre magazines around the world. Her fame continued rolling into the 1990's with hits like Transylvania Twist, Mob Boss and Haunting Fear; an eerie rendition of Edgar Allen Poe's "Buried Alive".

And while other compatriots have fallen into obscurity, Brinke continues to stand at the forefront of the b-actress ranks, partly in thanks to the current resurgence in horror films. Said Brinke, "The sort of films I did in the late 80's-early 90's just aren't being made too much anymore. I mean, we shot them on 35mm at a $300-400,000 budget range. Now, they're either big-studio releases that cost over $20 million - or amatuerish 'backyard' videos done for $10-30,000. I can't break into the former, and I refuse to do the latter. I've upheld a good reputation as an actress, and I don't want to mess that up. However, it puts me in a frustrating position.

"Back in January," continued Brinke, "I was signed to do six or seven high-quality movies this year (like Vampirates, a $3 million epic to be shot in the Caribbean). But every single one of them fell through, mostly due to money problems. Meantime, I've actually been turning down paying offers on some really cheesy projects. Fact is, I haven't made any movies at all in 1999. Not that it bothers me...sometimes, I think it's beneficial to take a short break. Plus, I've been adequately supporting myself in other ways, like writing and producing."

Finding a new niche in her entertainment career, Brinke has been busily working behind the cameras. "This year," she said, "I sold my fourth screenplay, Buried Nightmares (co-written with Jeff Tinsley). It's the unofficial sequel to Haunting Fear. I'll also appear in it as a lead actress, reprising my role as the amnesic, tormented Victoria Munro. It opens with me screaming in a mental ward, and soon decends into bloody mayhem from there (much like the original movie). So saying, it was quite a depressing script to write - very dark and torturous. I was in a terribly bleak mood for two months afterwards.

"A company up in Central California bought it (Pacific Entertainment). We'll shoot it in a rural seaside town up there, probably in December on a $400,000 budget. For the first time, I'm coming in as a co-producer on a movie (though I previously co-produced Shock Cinema, a four-part video documentary on the horror biz). It's such a dream come true for me, since I've always wanted to gain more experience behind the camera.

"Being a co-producer means handling lots of fun little details: placating the investors, scouting locations, casting actors, and nitty-gritty stuff like scene breakdowns. I love every minute of it. Last month, we held an open audition for local talent. Over 300 people showed up; it was almost a mob scene. An excited TV news crew came by, and I was prominantly featured on the local 11 pm news that night ("Hollywood comes to Central California!"). It was a blast."

Excited, Brinke expanded upon her other behind-the-camera exploits: "The other projects I'm working on all involve writing in some form. I was asked to write a very cool chapter called 'The 1980's - The Art of Screaming' for an upcoming book, "The Essential Guide to B-Film Actresses". It'll also include chapters by Linnea Quigley, Julie Strain, and Debbie Rochon. Be sure to keep an eye out for it soon; it's a fantastic text with many excellent movie photos.

"I'm still trying to sell my newest screenplay, The Returning. I just pitched it to CBS as a movie of the week. I'm also working with a producer in Orlando, Florida, writing a family film script for him. (Of course, I'll write a part for myself as an actress, too.)

I've done a dozen magazine interviews this year, too. I've also kept busy by penning articles for genre magazines, like 'Fangoria' and 'Alternative Cinema', mostly about other local filmmakers. I even wrote a travel article about my hometown, San Diego, CA, for 'Tucson Lifestyle'. It keeps my writing muscles flexed, and it's lots of fun."

But fans have no need to fear that Brinke is leaving acting. As a matter of fact, 1999 has been a major year in video releases for this actress. Said Brinke, "A whole new batch of my movies have been released to video stores this year: Mommy 1 &2, Hybrid, Eyes Are Upon You, and a re-release of Dark Romances, Volume 1 &2. I also starred in a couple of family films in late '98, which are finally coming out on tape: The X-Ray Kid (wherein I play a sexy secret agent), and Mom, Can I Keep Her? I have a great role as an animal rights activist, where I free a gorilla from a cruel carnival owner.

"I also have a new movie coming out soon, Victoria's Shadow," she continued. "We shot it last year in Florida. A major set-back occurred while they were editing it. Seems the editing house was also doing a little 'adult film' work on the side. Well, they got raided by the police and all their negatives were seized, including ours. The producer had to drive three hours to another county, and went through a lot of hassles to free our movie from the court. Hence, it's been so delayed in its release.

"On the set of Victoria's Shadow, many people said it was the best work I've ever done. I played a ruthless vampire, and spent long hours wearing opaque white contact lenses and fangs. I really scared the pants off the cast and crew members - they thought I looked so creepy. It was a frightening role, and I killed a lot of people in that one.

"There was lots of humor on the set, too. For one chilling scene, I'm supposed to pick up a little girl, turn her upside down over my head, and tear out her neck. To help me lift her body, they tied a rope around her ankles and hoisted her feet-first up over a high tree limb. A black actor (who played the cemetary caretaker) watched big-eyed from the sidelines, quipping, 'I ain't never been to no lynchin' before...but them white folks, they be doin' it all wrong!' We blew about four takes after that, because we couldn't stop laughing."

From "ruthless vampire" to gun-totting sci-fi siren to sorority nerd turned seductress, Brinke Stevens has covered the gambit of horror cinema. With this much experience, even Brinke has a few opinions about the genre: "I think horror movies have always been cyclical in popularity. There'll be a huge run of scary flicks, and then people get tired of them. Eventually, viewers begin to miss them - and a whole new cycle will start up again.

"Consider the resurgence of 'teen terror' films, like Scream and the Last Summer series. We hadn't really seen that particular genre since the eighties. Of course, they tried to update them by making pointedly cute jabs at older movies...but it was still the same basic thing, wasn't it?

"The explosion of CGI/computer technology has inevitably changed the face of horror films. Decades ago, the original version of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting was a delightfully plain 'psychological horror' movie. Now it's got a $70 million budget that's lavished on incredible special effects and a high-Speed action director, Jan De Bont. Why redo a perfect original? Just because we can. . . It's sort of poetic justice, how the atrociously bad remake of Psycho sputtered and died.

"I was quite encouraged by the surprise success of The Blair Witch Project. It proved that micro-budget, shot-on-video movies could upset the status quo. Shot for under $40,000, the independent filmmakers sold it for about $1.1 million. Eventually, it grossed over $100 million in theaters alone. I do suspect it was a rare fluke, however - a throw-back in the face of megabudget, SFX-laden projects today."

Making a living in a genre that requires fear to come more from feel than effects, Brinke has enjoyed a number of scenes that will remain forever alive in the memories of fans. For Brinke, she has one particular favorite: "Ironically, it's never very scary to shoot a horror movie - that all happens later, thanks to the editing and music. But there's one scene I just love in Haunting Fear; it totally rocks! My husband and his mistress have just buried me in the basement (to collect on my inheritance). I wake up in the coffin and go completely insane. While those two are upstairs having wild sex, I'm frantically clawing my way out of the wooden box. My hands and face are covered with blood by the time I break out and start stalking them. It's so eerie and sinister, especially when you watch it late at night on video. It's a perfect Halloween movie!"

And Brinke is the perfect Mistress of Halloween. As we move into the 21st Century, the face of both Halloween and horror will undoubtedly change, and right there to guide it will be Brinke Stevens.

In the meantime, Brinke will be doing her part to join the new age of technology. Shared Brinke, "Right now, I'm designing my own website (brinke.com) and hope to have it up and running by the end of the year. Despite my background in science, I've always had such an irrational phobia of technology. I've so strongly resisted merely getting an e-mail address. But now, I figure it's time to join the 20th century before it becomes the 21st. The website will be helpful for posting my convention appearances and keeping fans updated about my career.

"If I can really get organized, I eventually hope to install a web-cam, just for fun, goofy stuff like a live-feed of me washing the car in a bathing suit, or taking a bubble bath at home. It'll also be "duck-cam", since watching Missy my duck take a bath in her toddler pool is pretty darn funny!

"Until then, I still rely on snail-mail at my official Fan Club address: BRINKE STEVENS, PMB 556, 8033 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90046. If you want a free catalog and a signed trading card, just send me an SASE. I always love hearing from my fans. Thank you all so much!"

Visit Brinke's Homepage

Originally published in GC Magazine - Edited by Jon Keeyes.