Doc Rotten's 666 Revelations: Scream Queens of 1974

Scream Queens in 1974 are a broad mix of roles. Some are monsters, such as Juliet Mills in Beyond the Door, Marki Bey in Sugar Hill and Carol Speed in Abby, while others begin defining the final girl, such as Olivia Hussey in Black Christmas and Marilyn Burns in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Many are supporting roles such as Caroline Munro in Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter and Julie Ege in The Legend of Seven Golden Vampires. Terri Garr even gets to play the “straight man” in Young Frankenstein, while Madeline Kahn and Cloris Leachman hone their comedic skills in the Mel Brooks' classic. And Sharon Ferrell deals with the fears of giving birth to a monster in It’s Alive. Be they monsters, final girls or comic relief, here are six of the Scream Queens of 1974.

JULIET MILLS as JESSICA BARNETT in BEYOND THE DOOR

The Exorcist (1973) gave birth to a wave of exorcism movies looking to cash in on its box office success. The devil and his demon counterparts seem to be taking possession of innocent women across the world at an alarming rate. In Italy, director Ovidio G. Assonitis, cast actress Juliet Mills in Beyond the Door. In the story, Mills’ character, Jessica Barrett, pregnant with her third child, starts to show signs of possession. When Richard Johnson shows up to help it turns out the baby may just be the son of the devil. Much like Linda Blair’s Regan, she begins to not only physically change appearance but also spit green bile, speak in tongues and foul language, and spin her head around 180 degrees. Mills, best known as Phoebe Figalilly in the TV series Nanny and the Professor, only stars in two genre films during her career, this film and Waxwork II: Lost In Time (1992).

OLIVIA HUSSEY as JESSICA BRADFORD in BLACK CHRISTMAS

1974 is a landmark year for the final girl concept of horror films, especially slasher films in their infancy. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre along with Black Christmas both propel their female leads into the final girl role. For Bob (Porky’s and A Christmas Story) Clark’s Black Christmas, also known as Silent Night, Evil Night, Olivia Hussey steps into the role of Jessica Bradford who must survive when a murderer invades her sorority house. The exotic beauty is previously best known for the star-making, celebrated role of Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet (1968). In the Canadian low-budget shocker, she adds to the tension by starting the film very cool, very in control and then degenerating into a nervous, frightened wreck by the film’s conclusion. Hussey breaks new ground with this role and provides a blueprint for many final girls to follow, from Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween (1977) to Carol Kane in When A Stranger Calls (1980) to every final girl in the Friday the Thirteenth franchise.

CAROLINE MUNRO AS CARLA in CAPTAIN KRONOS, VAMPIRE HUNTER

Caroline Munro continues her rise to fame with the role of Carla in Hammer’s Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter. On their way to Durwood Manor, Captain Kronos (Horst Janson) and Professor Hieronymus Grost (John Carter) encounter the young gypsy girl Carla and free her from imprisonment. Carla becomes a student of Kronos, learning the ways of hunting and killing vampires. She also becomes romantically involved with Kronos. While she does become the victim – twice – Carla is more a member of the man’s club in the Hammer chiller. She assists Grost in tracking the vampires (burying toads!) and is a key element to gaining entrance back into Durwood Manor to confront the vampires. With this film, Munro completes her contract with Hammer; however, she follows the director, Brian Clemens, to her next role as Margiana in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) and later becomes a Bond girl in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). She continues to make a splash in the Horror genre including the slasher flick The Last Horror Film (1982).

MARKI BEY as DIANA “SUGAR” HILL in SUGAR HILL

As does Carol Speed in Abby (1974), Marki Bey plays the title in Paul Maslansky’s Sugar Hill role as Diana “Sugar” Hill. When Diana Hill’s fiancée meets an untimely death, she sets out to get revenge on those responsible, including the local crime lord named Morgan played by horror icon Robert Quarry. She enlists the help of the voodoo queen Mama Maitresse (Zara Cully) to strike a deal with the Lord of the Dead, Baron Zamedi (Don Pedro Colley). She is given control over the Baron’s voodoo zombies to track down and kill Morgan and his gang. When “Sugar” needs to awaken the zombies, she too changes - transforming from the straight-haired, beautiful Diana Hill into a Coffy clone, complete with Pam Grier’s afro and white jump suit. She is also cursed with some of the silliest dialog ever. Still Marki Bey manages to make an impression and carries her striking wardrobe quite well. She has a relatively short career starting with The Landlord (1970) and ending with TV appearances on Charlie’s Angels (1977), Starsky and Hutch (1977-1979) and Trapper John, M.D. (1979).

MARILYN BURNS as SALLY HARDESTY in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

If Olivia Hussey began to draft the outline for the final girl in horror films; Marilyn Burns solidified the concept in Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as Sally Hardesty. Traveling with her brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) and friends, Jerry (Allen Danzinger), Kirk (William Vail) and Pam (Teri McMinn) in Texas, the group encounters a family of cannibals, including the homicidal Leatherface. One by one, the family begins to pick off the youngster until Sally is left to fend for herself. Somehow she survives Leatherface’s attacks and flees capture all the while avoiding becoming lunch and being crafted into a fashion accessory. While her role is often reduced to screaming and then screaming some more, she still manages to bring a strength to the character and an intelligence that enables her to escape. Before she can though, she is put through hell: jumping out a second story window, being kidnapped by the owner of a nearby gas station, bound, gagged and sat before the family dinner, surviving “Grandpa’s” hammer and leaping through a window yet again before being chased by the chainsaw wielding Leatherface. Sally Hardesty may be one of the most important female roles for the horror genre, influencing final girls in movies such as Halloween (1978), Friday the Thirteenth (1980) and most every slasher film in the Eighties. Marilyn Burns appears in the genre again in Helter Skelter (1976) and Eaten Alive (1977).

TERRI GARR as INGA in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

The horror comedy is a tough genre-blending beast to successfully master. Mel Brook’s lucked out when he cast the beautiful and talented Terri Garr as Inga, the gypsy lab assistant, in his comedy/horror masterpiece, Young Frankenstein. Staring alongside Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and Marty Feldman as Igor, Terri Garr must become their straight man. But she is far more than that. In her breakthrough performance, she is able to hold her own beside the two comedic talents and show her funny bone as well. The script also affords her some of the funnier lines in the movie as well and she is able to upstage both Wilder and Feldman from time to time. The three make a delightful trio that finds few to rival their timing, charm and banter. Who else could deliver the line “He vould have an enormous schwanzstucker” with such finesse? Garr follows Young Frankenstein with very few genre related pictures, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and becomes more famous for her comedic roles in Oh, God! (1977), Tootsie (1982) and Mr. Mom (1983).

Doc Rotten's 666 Revelations: Scream Queens of 1973

When discussing Scream Queens in 1973, it is impossible not to include Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist. She is undeniably the most recognizable horror icon of the decade, a decade that introduces us to Bruce the shark, Michael Myers and Leatherface. Guided by William Friedkin’s Golden Globe winning direction, Blair’s performance leaves a lasting and influential mark on horror. It is rare a horror movie is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Golden Globes, but the innocent looking thirteen year old was nominated for her supporting role. Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil was also nominated for lead actress. It’s a stellar year for scream queens. But they aren’t the only ones who gave memorably and commendable performances this year. Julie Christie plummets into depression and sorrow in the harrowing Don’t Look Now. Pamela Franklin faces her greatest fears in Legend of Hell House. Pam Grier leads a voodoo clan and battles William Marshall in Scream, Blacula, Scream. And Margot Kidder gives a dual performance as both Danielle and Dominique in Brian DePalma’s Sisters. Here are the six Scream Queens who made an impression on horror cinema in 1973.

JULIE CHRISTIE as LAURA BAXTER in DON’T LOOK NOW

In Nicholas Roeg’s haunting film Don’t Look Now, actress Julie Christie plays Laura Baxter who struggles to deal with the loss of her child who drowned in a pond. Her husband, John (played by Donald Sutherland), takes a job in Venice, Italy (restoring an old church) and brings her along in hopes to overcome her depression and repair their stressed relationship. While John works, Laura encounters and befriends two elderly women, one of whom is blind, psychic and claims to be in contact with her deceased daughter. While her husband is suspicious of their motives, Laura is given great comfort from the pair and continues to visit them even after tragedy strikes again upon the films conclusion. Julie Christie, a cherished, sought-after and well respected actress, brings a deep sorrow and passion to the character of Laura Baxter. In a rich, cerebral film that requires such, Christie provides a rare mature, realistic woman, simultaneously strong and fragile. Christie, who previously starred in Fahrenheit 451 (1965), returns to the genre in Demon Seed (1977).

ELLEN BURSTYN as CHRIS MACNEIL in THE EXORCIST

In a year of strong female horror roles, Ellen Burstyn is nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Chris MacNeil in William Friedkin’s The Exorcist. Burstyn stars as the mother of a young teenager who is possessed by an evil spirit. Chris MacNeil is a successful, strong woman and a single mother, dealing with the stress of her job, her divorce and her blossoming teen. As the strange and frightening events that surround her daughter increase, she faces them head on, resilient When the doctors (and science) continually fail her, she fights back insisting on answers and options. After all further options prove unsuccessful, and believing her daughter is now possessed by an evil spirit, she reaches out to the church for answers, requesting an exorcism. Finding the church, like the doctors and psychiatrists before them, are hesitant to believe her plight, she fights yet again for her daughter, convincing Father Karras to move forward with her request. It is her role as the ever-vigilant mother who will never give up on her daughter that anchors the film and keeps the audience invested in the narrative. Burstyn never truly returns to genre, but does finally receive the Oscar the following year for her role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974).

LINDA BLAIR as REGAN MACNEIL in THE EXORCIST

For her role as the possessed young Regan MacNeil in Exorcist, Linda Blair was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, she is also nominated for the Golden Globe in the same category. Unfortunately as it was learned her role was handled too heavily with special effects and voice work from Mercedes McCambridge, that the likelihood of winning diminished considerably (She does win the Golden Globe however). While such a sour downturn continues to haunt much of Linda Blair’s career, her role provides a powerful and haunting performance that deserves such recognition. As the story unfolds, she refers innocently to an invisible friend in the basement named Captain Howdy, then as the horror begins to take hold and she behaves unexpectedly or encounters unexplainable phenomenon, and she must brave the cold and unfeeling methods of modern science. The audience feels her pain along with her as she braves needles and probes and huge machines wailing loudly as they examine her. Then, when medicine fails her, a psychiatrist is brought in to examine her and he hypnotizes her in hope of speaking with the mysterious Captain Howdy. When the demon insider her is brought to the forefront, Blair’s Regan transforms into a snarling, twisted version of her previous self. From then on, she quickly becomes the possessed child most horror fans are familiar with, her face scarred with lashes from holy water, eyes glazed over white and spitting bile at the exorcists trying to save her. Hers is a brave and strong performance. Linda Blair returns to the franchise with Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and the genre with films like Hell Night (1981).

PAMELA FRANKLIN as FLORENCE TANNER in LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE

When Dr. Lionel Barrett (Clive Revill) is hired to investigate the haunting of the Belasco Mansion, he brings along his wife, Ann (Gayle Hunnicutt) and two different type of psychics to uncover the truth behind the supernatural events, Ben Fischer (Roddy McDowell) a physical medium and Florence Tanner, a spiritual medium. The young, attractive, naive and vulnerable Tanner is played by Pamela Franklin and it is through her that the research team (and the audience) first encounter the spirit (or perhaps spirits) inhabiting Hell House. She is in constant confrontation with Barrett who distrusts her and her methods and believes the spirits are only scientific “energy” and not spirits. Through her intent to prove Barrett wrong, and never wavering in her beliefs, she invokes the spirits, succumbs to a spiritual molestation and jeopardizes her safety. She even overcomes her own fear and faces down the spirit of the house during the film’s climax. 

PAM GRIER as LISA FORTIER in SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM

Pam Grier makes a striking Voodoo Queen as Lisa Fortier in Scream, Blacula, Scream. The rising star quickly shows she can hold her own against the Shakespearean trained actor playing Blacula, William Marshall. The make a formidable pair. When Mama Loa passes, her adopted apprentice, Lisa Fortier, is chosen over her own son, Willis, to be her successor. Willis resurrects Blacula to keep Lisa from becoming the new Voodoo Queen, but the black prince becomes enamored with her instead. Unlike most scream queens in similar horror features, Grier’s character is as entrenched in the supernatural workings as the antagonist and she is armed with knowledge and tools typically scripted for the likes of Professor Van Helsing as played by Peter Cushing. Not only does she battle and defeat Blacula, but she also saves the male lead from certain death as well. Bravo.

MARGOT KIDDER as DANIELLE/DOMINIQUE in SISTERS

As director Brian De Palma evolved into a respected director often compared favorably to the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, he offered the challenging role of Danielle Breton and Dominique Blanchion in the film Sisters. De Palma places Kidder in the Norman Bates role with Sisters and heavy-handily draws inspiration from Psycho (and other classic Hitchcock films). However, he brings with him a technique he soon claims as his own: the split screen. This technique is used to great effect in Sisters as it also visually represents the Danielle and Dominique’s fractured personalities, separation from each other, and simultaneous points of views throughout the film. In one of her earliest roles, Kidder leans on De Palma’s skills to illustrate the characters she is given to portray in Sisters and elevates her performance above what it may have been in other hands. Margot Kidder follows Sisters up with other Seventies horror classics such as Black Christmas (1974), The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975) and The Amityville Horror (1979). During this time, she is offered the lead female role in the big screen adaptation of DC Comics’ iconic costumed hero, Superman (1977), and forever becomes associated with the character Lois Lane.

Doc Rotten's 666 Revelations: Scream Queens of 1972

Few female roles in 1972 would rise above the supporting role, the damsel-in-distress. One of those roles would go to Sandra Cassel in Last House on the Left where she is the primary focus of much of the picture, struggling to survive unimaginable horrors. Joan Collins would face a maniacal Santa in Tales from the Crypt in a role where she would be protagonist and antagonist simultaneously. Stephanie Beacham shines in Dracula AD, 1972, but ends up being little more than the victim. She fares a little better than Caroline Munro in the same picture, who manages to overcome the script and turns in a memorable performance. Elke Sommer faces off Baron Blood for Mario Bava and Fiona Lewis has to square off against both Dr. Phibes (Vincent Price) and Darrus Biederbeck (Robert Quarry) in Dr. Phibes Rises Again. Adrienne Corri is a human leader of a band of undead gypsies in Vampire Circus and Joan Van Ark faces a swamp full of deadly reptiles in Frogs. Here are six of the Scream Queens who left an impression in 1972.

STEPHANIE BEACHAM as JESSICA VAN HELSING in DRACULA AD, 1972

As Jessica Van Helsing, the Granddaughter of Lorrimer Van Helsing, Stephenie Beacham portrays the modern gothic scream queen in Dracula AD,1972, Hammer film’s attempt to modernize the Dracula legend. Both captivating and charismatic, Beacham manages to bring more to the role of Jessica than the script demands. In the story, Jessica is no more than a pawn, a way for the resurrected Dracula to get revenge on the Van Helsing family name. To her credit, she does manage to glue together the Victorian elements to the present 1972 day settings. Regrettably, however, she is never allowed to inherit her family namesake and all the vampire vanquishing is left to her grandfather, played by Peter Cushing. It seems audiences in 1972 were not ready for a Buffy-like character just yet. Stephanie Beacham is also cast in And Now the Screaming Starts costarring again with Peter Cushing.

CAROLINE MUNRO as LAURA BELLOWS in DRACULA AD, 1972 

Dracula AD, 1972 is a significant movie in Caroline Munro’s career. Up until this point she was a model that had appeared in a number of films, such as The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again. With this film, it all changes as Hammer films signs her to a long-term contract. While, the role is a supporting role, it ignites the acting bug for Munro and she becomes a full time actress that happens to model. Even with minimal screen times and fewer lines, Caroline Munro is able to steal the movie from lead actress Stephanie Beacham when they share scenes. She is also given more memorable interaction with the villains, Johnny Alucard and Count Dracula, and is featured heavily in the press materials alongside Christopher Lee. And so a Scream Queen is born; she follows this movie up with films like The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter (1974), At The Earth’s Core (1976), Maniac (1980) and The Last Horror Film (1982). She also makes quite the fetching Bond girl in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

ELKE SOMMER as EVA ARNOLD in BARON BLOOD

For his next horror feature, Baron Blood, Mario Bava casts Elke Sommer as Eva Arnold. Baron Blood is a return for Bava to more gothic pictures full of witchcraft, iron maidens, zombies, and atmosphere and Sommer is his modern replacement for Barbara Steele and Jacqueline Pierreux in his earlier pictures, Black Sunday (1960) and Black Sabbath (1963). In Baron Blood, Sommer’s Eva Arnold is Herr Dortmund’s beautiful assistant who finds herself attracted to the hero, Peter. Together they read an incantation on the bell tower and unleash the evil of Baron Blood. Her character is very much in vein of damsel-in-distress; however, she is allowed to be a larger part in vanquishing the monster. While, for much of the film, she is running and screaming or lying unconscious; in the end, she does manage to untie both Peter and Karl allowing all three to escape. Elke Sommer returns in Mario Bava’s next film as well, Lisa and the Devil a.k.a. House of Exorcism (1973).

SANDRA CASSEL as MARI COLLINGWOOD in LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT 

Last House on the Left is Wes (A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984) Craven’s directorial debut and is produced by Sean (Friday the Thirteenth, 1980) Cunningham. It is a disturbing tale of rape and revenge, violent and graphic for its time, foreshadowing brutal films of the late Seventies and early Eighties. In the UK it became famously known as one of the “video nasty” videos banned in that country. For his lead, Craven cast Sandra Cassel as Mari Collingwood one of two women (the other being her friend Phyllis) brutalized by a gang of misfits, lead by David Hess as Krug Stillo. Barely surviving the ordeal she escapes and returns to her parent’s home, followed by Stillo and his thugs. In the finale, her parents confront the foursome and get revenge for horrors they’ve inflicted on Mari and Phyllis. Sandra Cassel, sometimes credited as Lydia Cassel or Sandra Peabody, only made less than a dozen films from 1970 through 1976.

JOAN COLLINS as JOANNE CLAYTON in TALES FROM THE CRYPT

Amicus films are the king of anthology horror pictures with films like Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), Torture Garden (1967), Vault of Horror (1973) and Asylum (1972). Fashioned after the EC comics from the Fifties, Amicus finally makes the connection official with Tales from the Crypt in 1972 basing the five stories on strips printed within comics. For the “All Through the House” episode, Amicus and director Freddie Francis cast Joan Collins to play Joanne Clayton. As one of the five travelers who encounter the mysterious man in the Crypt, Collins plays a disenchanted wife who executes her plans to kill her husband on Christmas Eve. In typical EC ironic fashion, she soon finds herself fleeing the threats of an escaped lunatic dressed as Santa Claus. Unable to call the police for fear of exposing her dastardly deed, she finds herself trapped inside her own home, until her daughter mistakenly allows Santa in through the front door. Throughout the Seventies, Joan Collins makes a number of appearances in genre films, such as Fear in the Night (1972), Tales the Witness Madness (1973) and Empire of the Ants (1977), before rising to world-wide fame as Alexis Colby on TV’s Dynasty.

ADRIENNE CORRI as GYPSY WOMAN in VAMPIRE CIRCUS

Seen previously in A Clockwork Orange opposite Malcolm McDowell, Adrienne Corri stars as the gypsy human leader of a band of vampires posing as a traveling circus in Hammer Film’s Vampire Circus, directed by Robert Young. Obsessed and maniacal, she commands her undead clan to carry out the curse of her lover, Count Mitterhaus, in effort to revive his dead corpse. Adrienne Corri brings the gypsy queen a stoic and commanding presence that serves the character well. She is quite believable as a mortal that could band and lead a group of misfit undead monsters and creatures of the night. The accomplished stage actress also stars in Madhouse (1974) alongside Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry.

Doc Rotten's 666 Revelations: Scream Queens of 1971

Thanks to recent pivotal roles portrayed by Ingrid (Vampire Lovers 1970) Pitt and Mia (Rosemary’s Baby 1968) Farrow and the changing times, actresses begin to find stronger and more important roles in genre movies of 1971. At times these roles would be more meaningful, such as Zohra Lampert in Let’s Scare Jessica to Death, but many, while given more screen time, would be more sensational, such as Hammer’s leading ladies Yutte Stengaard in Lust for a Vampire and Madeline and Mary Collison in Twins of Evil. Others would balance the extremes, such as Ingrid Pitt in Countess Dracula and Martine Beswick in Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (in which she would take half the leading role from Ralph Bates). Even in supporting roles, screen sirens find meatier material, such as Mariette Hartley in Return of Count Yorga, Rosalind Cash in The Omega Man and Jacqueline Bisset in Mephisto Waltz. Below are six scream queens from 1971 that made an impact on the face of horror.

INGRID PITT as COUNTESS ELIZABETH BATHORY in COUNTESS DRACULA

After reinventing the femme fatale with Vampire Lovers in 1970, Ingrid Pitt returns to Hammer studios to film Countess Dracula. Again, she would take the lead role and the lead monster. Female leading monsters have been few and far between; even the bride (Elsa Lancaster), in The Bride of Frankenstein, wasn’t the lead in her own film. Hammer is no stranger to bringing female monsters to the screen with such beasts as The Reptile (1966), The Gorgon (1964) and Frankenstein Created Woman (1967); but, even then, Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee would be the leading actor. Not so with Ingrid Pitt, in Countess Dracula the picture is all hers; she is the lead, the monster and the story. Ingid Pitt, as Countess Elizabeth Bathory, is villainous, vivacious and voluptuous. She would also appear in The House That Dripped Blood (1971) and The Wicker Man (1973).

ZOHRA LAMPERT as JESSICA in LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH

As Jessica in Let’s Scare Jessica To Death, Zohra Lampert commands the screen, not only with her performance but with her haunting narration provided throughout the movie. The film is entirely hers; it’s her story and her mental deterioration that is explored. The audience is also viewing the events through her eyes, seeing and experiencing what she sees and experiences. Throughout the movie, it is unclear if what is seen is fact or hallucination. In this, her role is very much like Mia Farrow’s role in Rosemary’s Baby (1968). As Jessica, Zohra Lampert makes a rare appearance in a genre movie, her next would be in the underrated Exorcist III (1990) playing the wife to George C. Scott’s portrayal of Lt. Kinderman.

JESSICA WALKER as EVELYN DRAPER in PLAY MISTY FOR ME

As Evelyn Draper in Play Misty For Me, Jessica Walker is the antagonist opposite Clint Eastwood as Dave Garver. Evelyn is obsessed with Garver, the famous disc jockey, continually calling in requesting he play the song Misty for her. Dave and Evelyn meet resulting in a one-night stand. Not satisfied with casual outcome of the affair, Evelyn becomes a psychotic stalker causing havoc on Garver’s career and home life. She ruins his business lunch, attacks his maid, invades his house and destroys his belongings, and finally threatens to brutalize his girlfriend Tobie (Donna Mills) Williams. The Golden Globe nominated role of Evelyn Draper would be the model for such deranged femme fatales in such features as (most notably) Fatal Attraction (1987), Basic Instinct (1992) and Single White Female (1992).

MARTINE BESWICK as SISTER HYDE in DR. JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE

Hammer films puts a bizarre spin on Robert Louis Stephenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by changing Mr. Hyde’s gender creating Sister Hyde. Ralph Bates’ Dr. Jekyll creates a toxin that supposedly cures all common diseases but instead transforms him into Sister Hyde, portrayed by Martine Beswick. Much like Countess Dracula and Play Misty For Me discussed above, the female is again the villain. Here, Director Roy Ward Baker and writer Brian Clemens make Sister Hyde the evil side of the male protagonist, Dr. Henry Jekyll. Throughout the Seventies, woman would either be the instrument of evil or just evil itself in many features such as Exorcist (1973), Beyond the Door (1974) and Carrie (1976).

ROSALIND CASH as LISA in THE OMEGA MAN

Director Boris Sagal and writers John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington cast Rosalind Cash as Lisa, one of the non-mutated survivors in The Omega Man, based on I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Rosalind Cash stars opposite, and holds her own against, the legendary Charlton Heston as Dr. Robert Neville. She starts off as a leader of a small team of survivors who encounter Neville, who is struggling to discover a cure, as they both fight off the mutated, vampire-like, survivors of an apocalyptic virus. Unfortunately, she would mysteriously and unexpectedly mutate and become one of “The Family” revealing Neville's hideout and sabotaging his safety. However, even in the end, having declared her allegiance to “The Family,” she revolts to stand by Neville, watching over him as he succumbs to his wounds.
   
MARIETTE HARTLEY as CYNTHIA NELSON in RETURN OF COUNT YORGA

In 1971, Robert Quarry’s Count Yorga would return to find Mariette Hartley as Cynthia Nelson the object of his affection and the instrument of his demise. Mariette Hartley, who would rise to fame playing in a series of Polaroid TV commercials opposite James Garner, portrays as the attractive, desirable lead, the damsel in distress and, finally, the victorious heroine. In a rarity for vampire features, there is no “Van Helsing” character to destroy the Count, Hartley’s Cynthia Nelson steps up during the finale and stakes Count Yorga with an axe. While the typical “Van Helsing” character is a loner, driven, with nothing to lose, Cynthia has to tragically sacrifice much of what she loved, her sister, her little brother and her fiancée.

Doc Rotten's 666 Revelations: Scream Queens of 1970

Scream Queens from horror movies of 1970 introduce us to a few stars of the decade and close the chapter on few stars from decades before. They must face murderers, mad magicians, vampires, Frankenstein Monsters and cavemen. Important female roles are few and far between. Below are six female scream queens who made an impact on horror film history.

PAMELA FRANKLIN as JANE in AND SOON THE DARKNESS

While not her first horror movie, previous featured in both The Innocents (1961) - at the age of 11 - and The Nanny (1965), Pamela Franklin would begin her adult horror career with And Soon the Darkness and would follow this role up with films like Necromancy (1972), The Legend of Hell House (1973) and The Food of the Gods (1976) before leaving acting altogether in the early 1980s. With this movie, the actress, now in her early 20s, stars as Jane bicycling across the Paris countryside with her flirty friend, Cathy (Michele Dotrice). When Cathy disappears, Jane must uncover the whereabouts or, perhaps, the demise of her friend.

SANDRA DEE as NANCY WAGNER in THE DUNWICH HORROR

The H. P. Lovecraft classic tale, The Dunwich Horror, is adapted by Curtis Hanson and is directed by Daniel (Die, Monster Die!) Haller. Sixties teen actress and star Sandra Dee stars as Nancy Wagner who is entranced by the strange powers of the warlock Wilber (Dean Stockwell) Whateley. The Dunwich Horror is one of Sandra Dee's final film appearances as she was suffering in both public opinion (recently divorced from star husband, Bobby Darin) and in personal health (suffering from anorexia nervosa, depression and alcoholism). Dee know more for her earlier roles (Gidgit and The Reluctant Debutante) never took too many genre roles, besides The Dunwich Horror, she would guest star in some TV supernatural thrillers such as The Sixth Sense (1972) and Night Gallery (1971-1972).

VERONICA CARLSON as ELIZABETH HEISS in HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN

Previously starring in two other Hammer horror films, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), Veronica Carlson starred as Elizabeth Heiss in Hammer's attempt at a Frankenstein reboot, The Horror of Frankenstein. In this version she found herself being chased by David (Darth Vader from the Star Wars trilogy) Prowse and pursued by a new Baron Victor Frankenstein played by Ralph Bates. After two more genre roles in Old Dracula (1974) and The Ghoul (1975), she would all but retire from acting.

JOAN CRAWFORD as DR. BROCKTON in TROG

In her last on screen appearance, the legendary Joan Crawford takes another dive into the horror halls of fame. Her previous efforts include Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Straight-Jacket (1964), Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1965) and Beserk! (1967). Mrs. Crawford stars in Trog as Dr. Brockton, an anthropologist who believes she has found the missing link. She continues to defend the creature after it escapes and wreaks havok across the countryside. The reception to Trog was so poor, by critics and Crawford alike, that she publicly trounced the film many times and retired from making feature films.

INGRID PITT as CARMILLA KARNSTEIN in VAMPIRE LOVERS

In her first horror film for Hammer Films, Ingrid Pitt plays Carmilla Karnstein in the first of the Karnstein trilogy of films, Vampire Lovers. It would make her an instand horror icon, the Queen of Horror. She would bring the role a sexuality little seen in mainstream horror prior, but would become the staple of Hammer horror films since. This is her defining role and she holds her own along side of horror legend Peter Cushing. She would continue making horror films in the early Seventies, including Countess Dracula (1971), The House That Dripped Blood (1971) and The Wicker Man (1973). Today, she is a successful writer, has a large International fan club (Ingrid Pitt Fan Club) and continues to make appearances at horror conventions.

MADELINE SMITH as EMMA MORTON in VAMPIRE LOVERS

In 1970, young and beautiful Madline Smith would make a quick and lasting mark on horror scream queens as one of Hammer films leading ladies in both Vampire Lovers as Emma Morton and Taste the Blood of Dracula as Dolly. Later she would appear in Theatre of Blood (1973) with Vincent Price and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974). She would also become a Bond girl in Live and Let Die (1973). In Vampire Lovers she works opposite the legendary Ingrid Pitt, she would be the heroine to Pitt's antagonistic Karnstein.