Horror Crush: Cami (Camille) Cooper

It's October! And, if you are a long reader of mine, you know that I try post a lot more horror write-ups during this month. Now, I realize I been posting more and more horror posts, but I, in turn, have realized that you guys are reading more of them. So, I am replying by posting more of what you guys wanna see. Anyway, let's jump right into this month's first post:

Today I add one of my biggest childhood crushes to this site's ever growing Horror Crushes, the beautiful Cami (Camille) Cooper!

Camille Cooper was born in Los Angeles but grew up in New York. She began acting in soaps General Hospital and Knots Landing. The first time I saw her was probably in the comedy Like Father, Like Son. And, while I liked her in that, it wasn't till later that she really caught my eye. She appeared in an episode of Werewolf (All Hallow's Eve), which I used to enjoy and watch as a kid. But, I don't remember much of it, much less she being in it. 

Her most memorable role is the one where I totally fell in love with her in: Wes Craven's Shocker. Shocker was Craven's attempt at giving us a new Freddy Krueger in Mitch (The X-Files) Pileggi's Horace Pinker. The movie has it's issues. Peter Berg makes for a terrible hero. It's also, at times, terribly silly or corny. But, it holds a special place in my heart. I saw this at the right age, being only about 12 or 13. I was deepening my love for horror, and Craven was one of the director's I was becoming obsessed with. This movie sealed that for me.

The awesome metal soundtrack (which I used to listen to all the time on tape), the cool FX, and Pinker were enough to make me love it. And, there was one more thing for me to love: Camille (here under the name Cami) Cooper. She was the perfect all American girl next door. Naturally beautiful, blonde, blue eyes, and with a sweet smile to die for. As our hero Jonathon's (Berg) girlfriend who gets knifed by Pinker, she was the perfect embodiment of that. She comes back as a ghost (at first blood-caked ala Carrie), to haunt and help her nice, but lame boyfriend battle Pinker. Honestly, she is more interesting and memorable than Berg, even of some this comes off corny. It helps that Cooper is quite good in the role. Though, I will say that even when I saw it, as a kid, I thought if one can have sex with a ghost, that is one I would totally try it with! Also, and this proves that I was always a weird kid, thought she looked good even covered in blood.

 

 

The next thing I distinctly remember seeing her was the movie she did right after: the oddball but hilarious and gooey horror/ comedy Meet the Applegates. She is the daughter in an all American family of giant mantises disguised as humans. I was so fucking happy to see her in this! She looked great, of course, and similarly I thought, eh, if giant bugs looked like her dating one wouldn't be all bad (yeah, I told you I was a weird kid!)! Sadly this movie has never been on DVD much less Blu-ray. And, it is a shame cause I recall it being really funny, over-the-top, and slimey!

Her last acting gig was in Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace. Now, I don't remember anything about this movie, much less her being in it. Which considering how much I loved her probably says a lot about this flick...

She serves as director of legislative affairs for The National Association to PROTECT Children. She spearheaded what was the largest crime bill for the 110th Congress. But, she made a return to horror fandom when she appeared on Scream Factory's release of Shocker. The Blu-ray is fucking awesome, and she still looks gorgeous!

I still love Shocker, all these years later, as watching it on Blu-ray last night proved to me. And, I still love Cooper. I gotta say that I wanted a girlfriend like her when I was a little kid. And, you know what? I still do! And, with that I proudly add her to this site's Horror Crushes!

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A Tribute to Wes Craven: Master of Horror Pt. 2: From a Shocker to a 4th Scream

For part 1, please go here: http://themastergio.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-tribute-to-wes-craven-master-of.html

Shocker (1989)- This was the first Wes Craven movie that I ever saw in the movies. And man back then, I was totally in love with it. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! The villain, Horace Pinker (as played by future X-Files actor Mitch Pileggi) was awesome! I had a crush on blonde hottie Cami Cooper, and the FX, to me, where just the coolest. Then, there was the soundtrack, which remains, to this day, a favorite of mine. With music from Megadeth (this is how I got into them), Alice Cooper, Dangerous Toys, Iggy Pop, etc, I was in metal heaven. It was around this time, that Craven became cemented as one of my heroes.
When, I watched again as an adult, I gotta say, it came off rather silly. And, I soon noticed that lead actor Peter Berg was not that great in the role, but he would go on to be a solid director in his own right (witness my favorite of his, Very Bad Things, for proof). But, despite its failings, Shocker remains way more fun than it has a right to be. It is, by far, the best of Craven's "bad" films. And, I CANNOT wait for the Scream Factory blu-ray to come out!

The People Under the Stairs (1990)- This is an odd one. Like Shocker, I LOVED this when I saw it in the movies. And, like that film, it's faults were clearer to me when I watched it again, this time with adult eyes. That said, the first half of the film feels like a throwback to the more hardcore and brutal Craven of old. Had it sustained this feel, it might be a minor classic. Sadly, it is marred by a way to happy ending and very pointless and annoying comedy. Still the villains played by Twin Peaks alumni Everett McGill and Wendy Robie are great, as is future My So Called Life star AJ Langer. I was about her age when this movie came out (like two years younger than her, actually) and developed a little bit of a kid crush on her. In fact, I did wished girls in my school looked like her. She blossomed into a beautiful woman, not surprisingly. Recent;y, Scream Factory did a special edition blu-ray of it, which I need to get.


New Nightmare (1994)- After the absolutely godawful Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (the WORST Freddy flick ever, IMHO), Craven returned to the franchise for this brilliant installment. Stepping out of continuity and into the "real world" with Robert Englund, the gorgeous Heather Langenkamp, and Craven himself, as themselves, he crafted a great meta-horror film, before he did Scream. Like some of his earlier work, he drew inspiration from real life. But, it was more prevalent here, perhaps thanks to whole meta-thing. Personally, speaking I loved the whole real world aspect of it. While, some it's flaws come further in repeated viewings, this remains a strong entry in Craven's work.

Scream (1996)- After the abysmal Vampire in Brooklyn with Eddie Murphy, natch, Craven bounced back with one of his biggest hits and most influential movies ever: Scream!! This one was made by word of mouth and slowly grew to a HUGE hit. I remember being blown away by it. I adored this film when I first saw it. Over the years, it has been tainted by rip-offs and sequels, so I had to pull away from it. In a recent revisit after years of not watching it, I loved it again. It's really a brilliant movie, with one of the greatest beginnings ever. It's influence and importance to the genre CANNOT be measured. While, I am not crazy about some of the slashers that followed, it helped to "rescue" the then floundering genre.
On a side note, I owned an unrated version of this film on lasersdisc. Sadly, we will never see that cut, again. Sucks, cause it was even better uncut. And, one more side note, dear God was Rose McGowan HOT as hell back then!!

Scream 2 (1997)- Hit it, while it's hot, I guess. So horror's new antagonist, Ghostface, along with the last movie's survivors/ heroes return only one year later. Not as good as the first film, by any means, but still a good little flick. But, really this style of slasher film was quickly wearing thin...



Red Eye (2005)- Dear God, Craven made some terrible shit around this time. Scream 3 and, even more so, Cursed were painfully awful, dreadful films. Which is why this one stood out, I think. Not really a horror movie, but more of a thriller; It's a pretty entertaining, even good little movie, whatever genre you refer to it as. Both leads are great. Cillian Murphy is an awesome villain, and Rachel McAdams makes for a very likable heroine. And, she looks great, then she always does. Unfortunately this movie is severely hurt by a ridiculous climax that no amount of suspension of disbelief will help. I remember watching that thinking to myself, "Really?!" *sigh*

Scream 4 (2011)- A true return to form after the unwatchable My Soul to Take (I mean I could not watch it! I switched channels on that shit!), this was his last film, sadly. But, at least it ends the series, and his career, on a high note. A smart, fun, and bloody (by far the bloodiest in the franchise, in fact), this movie is better, no make that  A LOT better, than it has any right to be. I really got a kick out of seeing this movies. It also solidified my thoughts that Courteney Cox is one of the yummiest MILFs around. It introduced the horror world to future American Horror Story actress the pretty Emma Roberts. Though her performance here is questionable, to say the least...

I hope you enjoyed this little look and tribute to Wes Craven's directing career. He is already so dearly missed. Thank you for everything, Wes Craven, and may you RIP.

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