Horror Crush: Daphne Zuniga

It's time to induct another beauty into this site's hollowed halls of the Horror Crush section! Toay's inductee is an actress who has been a big crush of mine since childhood, Melrose Place beauty: Daphne Zuniga!

Daphne Zuniga was born on October 28, 1962 in San Francisco, California. Her mom was a Unitarian minister of Polish and Finish decent, and her dad, from Guatemala, and was an emeritus professor philosophy at California State University, East Bay. In her early teens, she began to show an interest in acting and attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She would later enroll in the University of California to study theater.   

While, she might be best known for her mainstream work, in particular the aforementioned Melrose's Place, she has actually appeared in a decent amount of horror. Far more than I even thought she had. In fact, her first acting gig was in a 1982 slasher movie The Dorm that Dripped Blood. Also known Pranks, I've never seen this one, but I already knew that it actually made Britain's infamous Video Nasties list. She plays a supporting role in this tale of college students who stay over Christmas vacation to clean out a condemned dormitory. They get killed one by one, of course. Only 19 when she appeared in it. Any, fans of this one? And, how she is in? Let me know in the comments section below.

Two years later she appeared in another college centered slasher movie, The Initiation. This time, though, she had the lead role, as Kelly Fairchild. In it, she's been haunted by a nightmare since childhood were some dude gets immolated in her parents (played by Clu Gulager and Vera Miles[!!!) room with both of them present, post-coitus. Meanwhile, an inmate said parents fear has escaped from a sanitarium. People begin to die, of course, as a mysterious assailant keeps knocking them off. 

I actually only saw this a few days ago and quite enjoyed it. It isn't that gory or innovative when it comes to the kills, though one or two are pretty good. What it is, is suspenseful. And, while it is a bit on the slow side, it builds up nicely to a really good climax with a great setting: a mall. The slow pace does allow for likable character development and some good acting from Miles and Gullager. Zuniga is especially good as the lead, making for a believable final girl that we actually care about.

It goes without saying that Zuniga looks absolutely gorgeous. She also appears in her panties with a quick plummer's crack shot. The other girls in the flick are also pretty and, in keeping with the sensibilities of slashers back in the day, do get nude.

In 1987, she appeared in what is probably her most famous movie role, Princess Vespa in Spaceballs. This is where I first saw her in and first crushed on her. But, it's her role two films later, in 1989, that solidified my crush on her: The Fly II. Dealing with the rapidly growing and mutating son of Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), Martin (an excellent Eric Stollz), is looking to cure himself of his genetic curse. But, the bad guys wanna study and use him. He isn't happy about that to say the least, especially cause these assholes lied to him and even experiment on his doggy damning it to a deformed hell. Said scene is absolutely heartbreaking and soul crushing. It always makes me sob, even though I can't  actually watch the scene on top of having watched it many times.

Look this movie is no where near the level of David Cronenberg's masterpiece of a first film, arguably the greatest remake ever made. So, don't waste your time comparing it, OK? Instead, enjoy for what it is, a fun monster movie. It has incredible FX, but then again, it's directed by and has FX handled by Chris Walas (who also handled the FX on the first movie). So, it obviously would be. It has some incredible gore, including two scenes, a face melting and a crushed head via elevator. that really push the R-rating at the time. 

It's also really well acted. Stollz is great, of course, as is Lee Richardson as Anton Bartok, the flick's truly despicable main villain. Also, good is Zuniga. She plays the very sweet and likable love interest to Martin, Beth Logan. Watching this as a kid, I was blown away by her beauty and their sex scene. Actually said scene shows no naughty bits, but it somehow still caught my pre-teen brain/ hormones attention (not that hard to do back in those days, to be honest).

Her next two horror roles were both on TV. The first was for a short lived show that I never heard of before, an anthology called Nightmare Classics (1989). 

The other was in an episode of The Outer Limits (1999). I haven't seen this one either. But, if any of you guys have seen either, let me know in the comments section. Let me know how the episodes were and how she was in them.

I met her at an August 2017 Monster-Mania. She was all smiles and seemed to be having a lot of fun at the con. She also still looks absolutely gorgeous!

 

To mainstream audiences she maybe best known for Melrose Place and Spaceballs, but she'll always be best remembered by me, and probably other genre fans for her horror roles, in particular, The Fly II. For her breathtaking beauty and great acting skills in said roles, I am proud to induct Daphne Zuniga to be an official Horror Crush!

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Monster-Mania Aug. 2017

On August 19, 2017, my good friend, and one of the Master's Minions, Freddie and I, headed over to Cherry Hill for another edition of Monster-Mania!! This was an awesome experience, from start to finish, and, overall, ranks among my favorite con experiences, which is a lot!

The first celeb that I went up to was the beautiful Alison Lohman. I know her best from one of my favorite horror movies of the last couple of years, Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell. She played the lead in it and was great! You may also know her from White Oleander were she looked especially breathtaking as a goth chick, among other roles that she has done. She was so sweet and talkative in person, as she told us about how great it was working with Raimi, and the usage of, mostly, practical FX. She is also so naturally beautiful! Lohman signed my Blu-ray copy of Drag Me to Hell. I was so happy to meet her as she was one of the two that I most wanted to meet for the first time.

The other person I most wanted to meet the most was the still gorgeous Daphne Zuniga. Many will best know this talented stunner from Melrose Place or from the Mel Brooks comedy Spaceballs. But, my favorite role of hers in the oh so fun sequel The Fly II. I actually asked her about it, and she told me that she could talk more about it more at her panel later in the day. But, she did tell me that she was already friends with Eric Stolz before shooting the flick. She is very sweet and seemed to be having a lot of fun at the con, as she was all smiles. I got to get a pic with her.

And, so a little later we did attend her panel, where she talked about being cast in Melrose Place, and how great it was to work with Mel Brooks, how she improved the scene where the laser blast messes up her hair, and more. She also mentioned that John Candy was so nice in person. I asked her about The Fly II, of course, and she spoke of how she got the role, thanks to Brooks, as it was produced by him. She also told us about emoting as Eric Stolz turned into a fly monster, and of how good an actor Stolz is, even, under all that makeup. She mentioned how he liked it with makeup FX, having done Mask, a little before this one. This most also be the first time were she not only talked about those movies, but also the cult flicks The Dorm that Dripped Blood and The Initiation, since they came out, if not ever! But, she looked liked she had a great time answering all the questions and reminiscing about her career.

Later, I went up to Lloyd Kaufman, at the Troma booth. Uncle Lloyd is always such a blast in person! I got Troma's War, which I had finally upgraded to Blu-ray, which he signed. He also signed my copy of Return to Nuke 'Em High Vol. 1, which was already signed by much of the cast. I got pic with him, and, of course, Toxie!

I finally met PJ Soles! Best known for roles in classics like Halloween, Carrie, Rock N' Roll High School, and The Devil's Rejects, she is truly one of the sweetest celebs ever! She liked my Fright-Rags Jaws shirt, which is freaking, no make that ''totally'', awesome! Next, time that she is at a con, I gotta bring my Halloween Blu-ray with me, so that she can sign it.

There was also  more cosplay than I usually see at this con. Here are two of my favorites:

How fucking awesome is this The Shining family cosplay?! This has to be one of the greatest group cosplays ever! LOVE this!!

This Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom couple cosplay is EVERYTHING!

After a couple of years, it was great to see the Twisted Twins, Jen and Sylvia Soska, again! I got to interview them, and that will be posted when it is edited and ready. Until, then here is a pic of us, from this con.

Finally, I thought I would share with you guys the swag that I got:

Fright-Rags- Aliens socks

Blu-rays- Creepshow 2, Beyond the Darkness, Troma's War, and Burial Ground

Funko Pops- Stranger Things Eleven with Eggos and Masters of the Universe Trap-Jaw. 

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