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“A timeless fairy tale about love, dreams and fake blood...”

Scream Queen, the debut film from director Tatiana Bliss, is many things, but one thing it definitely is not is a horror movie. Fortunately, it has no intention of being one.

Set against the back drop of Hollywood’s ultra-low budget Z-grade stab-n-slash fright films, Scream Queen is actually a romantic comedy… and a surprisingly charming one at that!

Liz Lavoie plays Dana Lewis, whose “Gold Star Scream” has made her the star of cinema gems like Zombie Butchers and Blood Angels: Part Five. She is the reigning queen of the direct-to-video horror scene. Sick of touring the convention circuit and being ogled by horny fan-boys, Dana longs to hang up her gore-soaked bikini and find a role where she can show some true acting chops. Unfortunately, her agent thinks she’s too old to be playing 16-year old virgins anymore, and Dana finds herself replaced with a younger, jigglier actress. 

Desperate for work, Dana lands the lead in another schlock feature, High Desert Psycho Killer. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a nerdy fanboy for a director, a not-so-converted chicken coop for a trailer, and a volunteer crew made up of meth cookers, Dana thinks this is the end of the road. But when sparks begin to fly between Dana and Jason the director, the scream queen starts to see herself, her career and her life in a different light.

What is most striking about Scream Queen is the passion that clearly went into getting it made. Even though the budget is definitely shoestring, the acting is quite good across the board, as is the script and direction.

Liz Lavoie gives some emotional weight to Dana, in what could have been a real write-off in less capable hands. When she’s eviscerated at the audition for a major studio release it’s heartbreaking and painful to watch. But when she behaves like a spoiled bitch at the movie shoot, you just want to slap her.  Through it all there’s such an honesty to Lavoie’s performance that you can’t help but understand Dana.

As video store clerk turned independent filmmaker, Nipper Knapp (...seriously???) is that handsomely geeky guy that never, ever gets the girl in movies like this. However, Knapp plays Jason with such a passion for his craft, for movies....for horror movies… that it is completely believable and wonderful when Dana begins to see herself through his eyes as well as in his arms.

Scream Queen is such an endearing movie that one easily overlooks its very minor flaws, mostly budget related. After opening with a misleading but fun Waiting For Guffman-esque mockumentary feel, the story changes gears to a more traditional boy-meets-girl storyline. Even though the romantic elements of the movie are by-the-book predictable, the whole film exudes an odd kind of fairy tale feeling to it, even going so far as to have storybook-styled chapter breaks and a barbiturate/booze fueled Wizard of Oz style dream sequence. As a result, instead of feeling clichéd and obvious, the inevitable outcome seems just right.

Scream Queen was made with affection and heart. I’m looking forward to seeing what Tatiana Bliss will be able to do with some bankroll behind her next project.

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