by actress and journalist Debbie Rochon
If you asked the average b-movie aficionado who the first official 'Scream Queen' ever to appear on celluloid was, the majority would say Fay Wray, star of the 1933 classic King Kong. Not only was Wray hired to play the character Ann Darrow because of her on screen sexuality, but because she had an incredible set of lungs. She was no novice to shrieking for the camera. Wray had made horror movies before starring along side the most famous primate in film history, Doctor X (1932) and The Vampire Bat (1933) both made her eligible for the title Scream Queen prior to Kong's release. If indeed Ms. Wray was the very first Scream Queen, then this Female image has been around for a long time.
In the 1940's while mainstream Hollywood was busy dealing with war efforts and ducking anti-Communist hearings, genre films began mutating to keep up with the times. The war had a definite impact on what was being crafted by the filmmakers and on the audience; they wanted stories to take them out of reality and reveal an image far more in control like Joan Crawford's Mildred Pierce (1945). Noir films became the hot property of the 40's, and because of this shift there was a marked decrease in typical 'Scream Queen' roles being written. Fear not however, they did exist! Abbott and Costello ensemble actress, Hillary Brooke, exercised her vocal cords in such classics as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) and Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942) then later in Invaders from Mars (1953). French beauty Simone Simon seduced a multitude of fans with her horror classic Cat People (1942) and again in Curse of the Cat People (1944). Simone's probably as well known for her Cat films as she was for being arrested in a Mexican hotel with Robert Mitchum for Marijuana possession!
By certain scholar's accounts Hitchcock made the first 'splatter' film when he lensed Psycho (1960). This would place Janet Leigh in the most prominent Scream Queen role ever written. Certainly throughout the 50's and 60's there were numerous actresses, like the Roger Corman favs Sandra Knight and Beverly Garland, who were required to exercise their lung capacities in countless campy Sci-Fi and monster movies. During this era drive-in movies were the craze, and that's when the term 'B-movie' was coined. The first film shown was the 'A' flick and the second was the 'B' picture. The 'B' was always a lower budgeted, lesser-star-powered, most often black and white film. Many of the 'B' movies told spaghetti Western fables or Detective stories, but mutant aliens and giant insects were beginning to seize a lot of attention from the group spending the biggest bucks at the box-office: the teenagers. And as well all know, where you have creepy, oozing, disgusting creatures you also have some of the most beautiful women in the world! This "Beauty and the Beast" formula has been a financially successful union since the beginning of motion picture making. Throughout the 50's and 60's Scream Queens reigned like never before!
In 1978, Jamie Lee Curtis starred in the horror/cult classic Halloween. Screaming in her mother's footsteps (Janet Leigh of course being her mother), Jamie became an instant Scream Queen herself, starring in the most popular slasher films of the late 70's and early 80's: Prom Night (1980), Terror Train (1980) and Halloween II (1981). But Ms. Curtis did things differently, when most other actresses were required to perform topless in teen-driven horror movies, she kept her top on till later when she did the 'A' movie Trading Places. You could say Jamie inherited an admirable set of lungs and that screaming was actually good for the Leigh/Curtis family.
As the slasher trend grabbed the early 80's by the throat and squeezed, we started to see a new mutation in the Scream Queen species. While horror actresses were always pleasing to the naked eye, now the breasts were getting bigger and the screams louder. Of course to every rule there is an exception. While busty ladies like Monique Gabrielle (Chained Heat , 1983) and Michelle Bauer (Demonwarp, 1987) were shooting dozens of films during this decade, so was Brinke Stevens (Bad Girls from Mars, 1989). But Brinke was a different B-babe, her body type was similar to a narrow model, not a voluptuous sex kitten. One certainly doesn't become a Scream Queen without solid attributes; she could hit a high pitched scream as well as her low budget sisters could, but more importantly, well endowed or not, she was perfectly inclined to go topless. And the willingness to go topless has been the number one requirement of a working Scream Queen since the 'big' 80's.
With the birth of the VCR, filmmakers could then make product for the straight to video market. This was great for the genre directors. They now didn't have to compete with the big budgeted/studio blockbusters for big screen time. Couple that with the birth of Cable TV, another huge medium for genre flicks, and now you have an absolute explosion of low budget fare being shot and sold by independents. Troma Studios (The Toxic Avenger, 1984) capitalized on an old American International Pictures (AIP) marketing strategy; give a good-bad movie a great title with an eye-catching box cover and the video stores will pick them up! That worked for quite awhile till the buyers started getting wise and found they actually had to start watching the movies they were ordering, not judging titles on their impressive sleeve alone. So, by the end of the 80's the low budget horror market was glutted with product. Where does that leave the careers of our beloved Scream Queens?
Although the 1990's saw a marked decrease in b-movie production, a new outlet for the B-babes opened up: the horror convention. This was a very important venue for our sexy succubus' trade. Along with making appearances all over the world, they could SELL their photos and movie paraphernalia and thus make enough dough to weather the slow seasons. Alas, there was a new beast rearing it's head taking away some of the Scream Queen's 'steam'. This monster had actually been around for years working in exploitation films, but now it seems the genre directors needed this beast to help peddle their wares to the thrifty video buyers. The beast is known as either the Playboy Playmate or Penthouse Pet. Yes, these luscious ladies soon swept the B-girl trade by storm. Whether they had acting training or not, their titillating title guaranteed mucho work, not to mention their name above the film's title. Drop dead gorgeous dames like Pet Julie Strain (Sorceress, 1994) and Playmate Kathy Showers (ROBO C.H.I.C., 1990) made as many films per year as some of the 80's B-girls made during their reign. If the truth be known, the Pets and Playmates aren't today's official Scream Queens. They share resume credits sure, but a true Scream Queen isn't The Perfect Woman. She's sexy, seductive, but most importantly 'attainable' to the average guy. Or so it would seem. With the year 2000 right around the corner, it's hard to say what will become of the Scream Queen's vocation. Certainly with the current success of Wes Craven's Scream and Scream 2, the end does not seem in sight. With any luck they will continue to entertain the male viewing audience with their scantily clad appearances in B-movies. Oh yeah...it should be revealed that they undoubtedly give the best on screen 'deaths' in all Hollywood!
Originally published in GC Magazine - Edited by Jon Keeyes.