Hail to the Queen
I’ve been waiting patiently for years. Waiting for that special woman to come limping up my sidewalk, bloody from battle, barely clothed, and brutally beautiful. Waiting for her to steadily raise her shattered fingernails and wipe the sweat off her brow and then lightly tap on my door with the tip of her chainsaw. “What do you want?” I’d ask through the safety of the peep-hole. “I’m here to fight the bad-guys.” she’d respond. I’ve been waiting for my Scream Queen. She’s finally here.
Danielle Harris took her first giant step into the land of horror over twenty years ago when she played Michael Myers’ niece, Jamie Lloyd, in back-to-back HALLOWEEN films (4 & 5). Little did she know it would be this role that ended up being a glimpse at her destiny. Perhaps sidetracked by the fact that she was replaced as Jamie in 1995’s THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS, and had to watch her character be killed off by a corn thresher, she began to stray from the genre. She teased us with a short-lived comeback in 98’s URBAN LEGEND until finally bringing her career full-circle by being cast as Annie Brackett in Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN franchise re-boot. It was this moment she started getting fitted for the crown.
To hold the title of Scream Queen one must embrace it. Neve Campbell could have had it for years but decided films about disco and ballet were her chosen path. Ironically she wants it back by signing up for SCREAM 4. It’s too late. Meagan Good has been trying to get her hands on the crown for a while now but never seems to come up with more than a couple lines of dialogue and a quick death. Jamie Lee Curtis would be ashamed, if she cared.
Danielle has been milking the horror circuit for years now and is finally starting to see the benefits of being the genre’s First Lady. Her recent casting announcements for NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: ORIGINS and HATCHET 2 cap off a wonderful post-Halloween stretch with roles in films such as LEFT FOR DEAD, BLOOD NIGHT, HALLOWEEN II, GODKILLER, PRANK (for which she also directed a segment), CYRUS, CHEERLEADERS MUST DIE!, and STAKE LAND. And just to make sure you know where I’m going with all this, she’s getting ready to launch her new official website called HorrorGal.com.
Maybe it’s the booze talking but I think I’ve found my girl. A seasoned hottie with the chops for acting, an understanding of what fans want, and an appreciation of the genre. Laurie Strode’s little girl is all growns up and wearing her crown proudly. I dare somebody to try and knock it off.