Showing posts with label Tura Satana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tura Satana. Show all posts

Monster Yakety Yak

"When I was nine I played the demon king in Cinderella and it launched me on a long and happy life of being a monster." - Boris Karloff

"I'd like to quit the supernatural roles and play just an interesting, down-to-earth person." - Bela Lugosi

"The film makers were scratching their heads wondering who they could get to put on the (Godzilla) suit, then the remembered my stunt. They thought hey let's get that guy we set on fire last year." - Haruo Nakajima

"My father would be horrified if he knew I was making it in the pictures and that I'm not billed as Creighton Chaney." - Lon Chaney Jr.

"No matter what you do, you can act your heart out, but people will always say, "Oh, Julie Adams - Creature from the Black Lagoon." - Julie Adams

"Often we'd secretly like to do the very things we discipline ourselves against. Isn't that true? Well, here in the movies I can be as mean, as wicked as I want to - and all without hurting anybody. Look at that lovely girl I've just shot!" - Claude Rains

"Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff didn't like the word 'horror'. They, like I, went for the French description: 'the theatre of the fantastique'." - Christopher Lee

"I don't play monsters. I play men besieged by fate and out for revenge." - Vincent Price

"My wife has good taste. She has seen very few of my movies." - Boris Karloff

"The monster was very hard to play because the (King Kong) suit was so different. The arms were long, longer than my own, and I had to use sticks to control the hands, also the legs were short so I had to walk all hunched over." - Haruo Nakajima

"As far as I see it 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' was just another movie and it was just another job. I've done many things since then that I am much more proud of. But I've gotten more reaction out of the Creature thing than anything else. Well, I guess that's life!" - Ricou Browning

"Every actor's greatest ambition is to create his own, definite and original role, a character with which he will always be identified. In my case, that role was Dracula." - Bela Lugosi

"He [Merian C. Cooper] called me into his office and showed me sketches of jungle scenes and told me, 'You're going to have the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood'. Naturally, I thought Clark Gable. But then he showed me this sketch of a giant ape up the side of the Empire State Building, and he said, 'There's your leading man'. - Fay Wray

"A reporter noticed me and a much smaller mate of mine when he visited his sick mom in the hospital where I was working and photographed us walking together and took some pictures of my feet. I didn't win the big feet contest, but that eventually led to my role in Sinbad." - Peter Mayhew

"They were considered B pictures because they were made on a tight budget. But we outlived many of the A pictures made at the same time." - Ray Harryhausen

"I sometimes feel that I'm impersonating the dark unconscious of the whole human race. I know this sounds sick, but I love it." - Vincent Price

"One is always considered mad when one perfects something that others cannot grasp." - Ed Wood

"I took a lot of my anger that had been stored inside of me for many years and let it loose. I helped to create the character Varla [in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)] and helped to make her someone that many women would love to be like." - Tura Satana

" I don't really scare them any more than do Jungle Jim, Dan Dunn, Tarzan, and the other heroes of the comic sections." - Boris Karloff

""The most memorable thing I did in that film (Bride of Frankenstein), I believe, was my screaming. In almost all my movies since, I've been called upon to scream. I don't know if it's by chance, but I would like to think that I'm not hired for that talent alone" - Elsa Lanchester

"I will play no more monsters. Dracula is different; he is such an exciting person." - Christopher Lee

FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! - Did You Know?

Trivia Compiled By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: IMDB / Wikipedia

It is commonly known that what one person considers to be a great movie may not be so great to others. Many of us have guilty pleasures in the realm of cinema that make others scratch their heads and mutter "wtf"? Certain aspects of a film may speak to one person yet be totally lost on another. One man's treasure is another man's trash and so on.

Such a film is the 1965 Russ Meyer classic (?) "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" which to me is one of those afore mentioned type of films. Why do I like it so much? Well ... I can only surmise that it has something to so with cleavage and violence. It may also have something to do with it being a great "quote movie" like "Army of Darkness", "Big Trouble in Little China" and "Shaun of the Dead".

"I never try anything. I just do it. And I don't beat clocks, just people! Wanna try me?"

Then again there is only one name that you need to know, Tura Satana. If you don't know who that is you sure will never be able to forget her after watching "Faster, Pussycat!".

Did you know?

The film was shot in the extreme western parts of the Mojave Desert. However, some of the scenes appear to have been filmed farther east, near Baker, California. The last scenes in the film were made west of California City. The rail line running between Mojave and Trona, California is clearly evident.

Lead actress Tura Satana, legally owns her likeness and image. So, whenever Russ Meyer wanted to change the artwork or re-release the project, he had to get her permission and sometimes pay her all over again.

Russ Meyer named the movie like this because he claims that a movie has everything when it contains speed (faster), sex (pussycat) and violence(kill,kill).

In the beginning of the movie, when Billie detours to go to the lake, the front driver's side wheel cover is missing, and looks like some minor front end damage in the same area, which can be seen when she pulls up and stops next to the bush at the lake. Later on in the film, the wheel cover is present and there is no damage to the car.

When Billie and Rosie are fighting in the dirt after being in the lake, Billie's hair appears much shorter than it does in other scenes.

During the dinner scene, Billie is eating a leg and thigh of chicken but when the shot changes to behind the old man she's eating a cob of corn.

After Varla cuts the fence and gets back into her car, look at the rear side window. Crew member with hat is briefly visible in the reflection.

After Rosie and Varla take out The Old Man with the Porsche, the front license plate is shown hanging down. Later, when the Porsche is shown approaching The Vegetable, the license plate is back in place.

Gas Station Attendant: [staring down at Varla's cleavage as he pumps gas] Just passing through, huh? Boy, that motor's sure hot! You gals really must have been moving on these little machines. Yessir, the thrill of the open road. New places, new people, new sights of interest. Now that's what I believe in, seeing America first!
Varla: You won't find it down there, Columbus!


And now you know!

Happy Birthday Tura Satana

Written By: Ken Hulsey

What a better way is there to celebrate what would have been the 74th birthday of the B movie vixen with the dangerous curves Tura Satana then a bio, video montage and photo gallery.

(From Wikipedia)

Tura Satana (July 10, 1938 – February 4, 2011) was an American actress and former exotic dancer. She was best known for her role as "Varla" in Russ Meyer's 1965 cult film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.

During her early career, Satana appeared on television shows such as Burke's Law, The Greatest Show On Earth, Hawaiian Eye, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.. She also appeared as a dancer in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? with Dean Martin and Elizabeth Montgomery. That same year, she had a cameo as a Parisian prostitute in the musical Irma La Douce with Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine.

After starring in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Satana worked mainly with cult film director Ted V. Mikels in such films as The Astro-Zombies (1968), The Doll Squad (1974) and Mark of the Astro-Zombies (2002). She has also appeared as herself in various documentaries and TV shows including The Incredibly Strange Film Show (1988), A & E's documentary called "Cleavage"(2003), Strip de velours (2005) and Sugar Boxx (2007) which is currently in post production and co-stars fellow Russ Meyer alumna Kitten Natividad.

Please visit - http://www.facebook.com/tsatana

A Tribute To Tura Satana (1938 - 2011)

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: NY Times

The cult movie genre lost one of it's most infamous icons on Friday when actress Tura Satana passed away from heart failure. The 73-year-old actress was the star of some of the most notable independent films of the 1960s and 70s including "The Astro Zombies", "The Doll Squad" and "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!". Satana's portrayal of Varla in the Russ Meyer film would forever establish the Japanese born Tura Luna Pascual Yamaguchi (Real Name) as a pop culture icon.

To say that Satana lead a full and colorful life would be an understatement. As a young woman she had to endure the tribulation of being held in a Japanese internment camp in California. At thirteen she began a career as an exotic dancer after she developed the curvy figure that helped propel her to stardom. After that she became a nude model and then actress. At one point she even dated Elvis and turned down his marriage proposal.

In later life Satana continued to act and enjoyed interaction with her legions of fans at conventions and special appearances.

According to Tura's long-time manager Siouxzan Perry a memorial service will be held on July 10th which would have been her 74th birthday.

Fans by the hudreds have been leaving heart-felt messages of love for Tura on her Facebook page. If you would like to express your feelings about her life and career you can do so at: http://www.facebook.com/tsatana

Here is Tura Satana's bio (From Wikipedia):

Tura Satana (July 10, 1938 – February 4, 2011) was a Japanese-born American actress and former exotic dancer. She was best known for her role as "Varla" in Russ Meyer's 1965 cult film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.

Satana was born Tura Luna Pascual Yamaguchi in HokkaidĹŤ, Japan. Her father was a silent movie actor of Japanese and Filipino descent, and her mother was a circus performer of American Indian (Cheyenne) and Scots-Irish background. After the end of World War II and a stint in the Manzanar internment camp in Lone Pine, California, she and her family moved to the Westside of Chicago. She developed breasts very early and, despite being an excellent student, was constantly harassed for her figure and Asian heritage. Walking home from school at the age of nine she was gang raped by five men. Her attackers were never prosecuted and it was rumored that the judge had been paid off. This prompted her to learn the martial arts of aikido and karate and, over the next 15 years, track down each rapist and exact revenge. "I made a vow to myself that I would someday, somehow get even with all of them," she said years later. "They never knew who I was until I told them."

Because of the rape and the bribed judge, she was sent to reform school as a teenager and became the leader of a gang. In an interview with Psychotronic Video, she said, "We had leather motorcycle jackets, jeans and boots and we kicked butt." At 13, she was married in Hernando, Mississippi, a short-lived union arranged by her parents and the family of her 17-year-old groom.

Satana then came to Los Angeles at age 13 with a fake ID and tried her hand at blues singing. When that failed, she started modeling as a bathing suit photography model and posed nude for the silent screen comic Harold Lloyd, who did not know she was underage. Lloyd told Satana she should be in films because she was photogenic. While working as a photographic model, Satana contracted makeup poisoning and could not wear any makeup due to the ensuing skin erosions. She returned to Chicago to live with her parents and started dancing. Satana danced at the Club Rendevouz in Calumet City, Illinois, where she was known as Galatea, the Statue that Came to Life. She was offered a raise to become a stripper. She eventually became a successful exotic dancer, traveling from city to city and working with Rose Le Rose, Maxine Martin, The Skyscraper Girl, Tempest Storm, Candy Barr and Stunning Smith the Purple Lady. Satana credited Lloyd with giving her the confidence to pursue a career in show business: "I saw myself as an ugly child." Mr. Lloyd said, "You have such a symmetrical face, the camera loves your face... you should be seen." Because of her dancing, her face, and her figure, she was ultimately voted one of the 10 Best Undressed Burlesque Dancers of the 20th Century by Bill Hanna of Hanna-Barbera.

At 19, Satana got pregnant, but continued dancing for the next eight months, earning a typical weekly salary of about $1,500

During her early career, Satana appeared on television shows such as Burke's Law, The Greatest Show On Earth, Hawaiian Eye, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.. She also appeared as a dancer in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? with Dean Martin and Elizabeth Montgomery. That same year, she had a cameo as a Parisian prostitute in the musical Irma La Douce with Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine.

After starring in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Satana worked mainly with cult film director Ted V. Mikels in such films as The Astro-Zombies (1968), The Doll Squad (1974) and Mark of the Astro-Zombies (2002). She has also appeared as herself in various documentaries and TV shows including The Incredibly Strange Film Show (1988), A & E's documentary called "Cleavage"(2003),Strip de velours (2005) and Sugar Boxx (2007) which is currently in post production and co-stars fellow Russ Meyer alumna Kitten Natividad.

After making Ted V. Mikels' The Doll Squad in 1973, Satana was shot by a former lover. She later found employment in a hospital, a position she kept for four years. She had studied nursing at Firmin Deloos Hospital. She was then briefly employed as a dispatcher for the Los Angeles Police Department. In 1981, her back was broken in a car accident. She spent the next two years in and out of hospitals, having two major operations and approximately fifteen others.

Satana dated Elvis Presley but turned down his marriage proposal, though she did keep the ring. Satana married a retired Los Angeles police officer in 1981, and remained married until her husband died in October 2000. She has two daughters from a previous relationship. Her older daughter Kalani had a cameo role in Mikels' Ten Violent Women. She had remained friends with Mikels till her death.

Tura Satana Photos:



Ted Mikels' Grindhouse Reunion - Vegas Style!

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Ted Mikels

This coming April the Las Vegas Palms Casino & Resort will be filled to overflowing with the cream of the B movie crop when legendary cult film maker Ted Mikels brings his "Grindhouse Reunion" to 'Sin City'.

The venue will serve as the perfect showcase for Mikels' latest film, "ASTRO ZOMBIES M3:Cloned" which will screen for the first time at the event.

Here is the press release posted by Mikels:

On April 26, veteran Hollywood film-maker Ted V. Mikels will unleash his latest gang of demented mutants on a new generation of grindhouse movie fans in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"Where better to have a world premiere for ASTRO ZOMBIES M3:Cloned than in one of the most glamorous locations in the world?" asked Mikels.

"The mutant clones are going totally first class this time!" The iconic horror movie-maker is best known for his 1971 film, The Corpse-Grinders. He also filmed the first zombie movie ever shot in color – the original ASTRO ZOMBIES in 1969, starring John Carradine and Wendell Corey. Mikels is also well-known for creating unusual promotional activity surrounding the release of his films, and this event will prove to be no exception.

TVM Global Entertainment has announced that the premiere is being billed as the Ted V. Mikels' Grindhouse Reunion. Mikels will treat his grindhouse fans to two pre-release director's cuts, offering them a double feature on premiere night. The world premiere of Astro Zombies M3: Cloned will open the show, followed by Mikels' 2009 film Demon Haunt.

"Not only will most of the cast and crew from AZM 3 be there in person, but we are expecting guest appearances at the theatre from many of my actors and production people from both yesteryear and this year," said Mikels. Fans can expect to catch a glimpse of AZM 3 stars Fletcher Sharp and Donna Hamblin, along with such veterans of Ted Mikels films as Francine York from Doll Squad, Tura Satana, from the original Astro Zombies, and Shanti, from Corpse Grinders 2 and Demon Haunt. "Plus the very talented artist who scores my music, as well as the fellow who built the original corpse-grinding machine, and many others," said Mikels. "It will truly be a Ted V. Mikels Grindhouse Reunion!"

The TVM Studios world premiere event is scheduled for 7 PM on Monday, April 26 at the 14 screen Brenden Theatre inside the Palms Casino & Resort. The theatre is located at 4321 West Flamingo Blvd, Las Vegas, NV. To learn more about the Brenden Theatres, where the audience is the star, visit http://www.brendentheatres.com

See Also: The Doll Squad Moves In To Protect Florida From An Astro Zombie Attack / The Monster Mash - 08/17/09 - A Look At Smaller Monster Movie Productions / Ted V. Mikels Is Still Making More Astro-Zombies / Sara Dunn Photo Shoot And Casting News / Spend Your Valentine's Day Surrounded By Sexy Bikini Girls...Green Mutant Killer Bikini Girls / Bikini Monsters Scare Up Some Press In St Petersburg And Tampa - Exclusive New Photos! / It's Bikini Monster Girls Gone Wild! / Bikini Monsters - Posters, Behind The Scenes And Make Up Tests Oh My