A Tribute to Barbara Steele

I'll be hard-pressed to ever put any horror actress above Ingrid Pitt, but of all the icons, Barbara Steele is one of the most memorable. He had an incredibly distinct bone structure and...these eyebrows that could just kill a guy. What's more, she had presence. Presence that dominated the screen, no matter who she was with. Except Vincent Price...they were a good match onscreen. But I'm very biased towards Mister Price, as I'm sure most of you realize by now.

When I first saw 'Black Sunday', I was struck dumb by just how gorgeous this woman was at the same time as being...very creepy. If I had to pick one woman to represent the Victorian ideal of beauty onscreen, I think Barbara would take the cake. Much like Anita Ekburg, Barbara was often dubbed over with other women's voices in her roles. I will go ahead and say I am not a fan of that particular device when I think an actress has a perfectly lovely voice, but what is even more amazing is that Barbara was still wonderful, despite the fact that she still didn't often get the chance to do her own talking.

Unfortunately, Barbara really didn't get a fair cut in a lot of movies. She also grew to resent being known as a scream queen, which is perfectly understandable. She was almost onscreen in a Corman film, but her scenes were cut. I haven't seen them, so I can't say for certain whether or not the decision was a good one...but it probably wasn't.

I'd like to end this short entry with a quote from Barbara herself, which might shed some light as to why she was so incredible in the few horror films she was in, and I think holds true for all great movies...scary or not: "Film is so porous, and to my mind, so oddly occult, that I think that film itself absorbs odd energies like a living skin." You're one in a million, Barbara Steele. One in a million.

Scream Queens and Glamorous Ghouls

Recently I made a picture post devoted to the male horror greats in their youth, who made the silver screen come alive (ironically). Now I've decided to give you guys a bit of a treat, for the women onscreen who, whether evil or innocent, still stand today as creepy icons.

Simone Simon

Perhaps not so famous to most of us, she was incredibly gorgeous, and especially in Catpeople, which is what makes her an icon, in my mind.

Ingrid Pitt

Ingrid was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen onscreen. With one look, she could probably seduce every man on-set in her prime. This helped her incredibly deadly characters, and was only emphasized by the grace she seemed to exude with every movement or word. If it's not apparent, she's one of my favorites.

Vampira (Maila Nurmi)

I don't think I need to explain why this lady is an icon.

Vera Miles

Psycho. Nuff said.

Jamie Lee Curtis

Honestly, I can only ever picture one woman when it comes to slasher chicks. She's the top girl in these movies, even after all the different movies that have come out. Though Jamie is defined by more than just her famous horror role, Micheal would be nothing without her.

Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)


She's the mistress of the dark. I really don't need to add anything else.

There are so very many actresses out there who've made their splashes on the big and little screen in very scary ways, but not nearly enough time in the world to cram them into one entry. In the future, I hope to mention a few more, but hopefully this will do for now.