By: Arthur Jefferson
The problem with models? The faces generically freeze into porcelain smiles, evoking all the credible emotion of a Stepford wife. Tammy Rachelle, however, wears a flexible face and wields an expressive body. Little wonder that the apprenticing actress is modeling for a comic book, still in development, that involves "a hotty who is the intended dinner of cartoonish carnivores." Gauging the brevity of Ms. Rachelle's string bikinis, it's easy for her predators--including an oversize fish and alien chefs--to inspect what's on the menu. Rendered with a pulp-ish pastiche, Rachelle infused the character with an intelligence and warmth: sure, her character is hotter than a Cajun barbeque in the Sonoran Desert, but the model resisted any lapses into a Little Annie Fanny-type gullibility. Not unlike her beachcombing bombshell, the real-life Tammy Rachelle really cooks! And did we mention? She's quite passionate about horror films...
Favorite horror films: "The FINAL DESTINATION trilogy, MAY, HANNIBAL, CHILDREN OF THE CORN, THE SIXTH SENSE, APRIL FOOL'S DAY and the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series."
Worst horror movie: "BRIDE OF CHUCKY. Okay, the first one (CHILD'S PLAY) was really good, I got a good scare out of this psycho-doll. But by the time BRIDE rolled around, it was like 'Enough, already!' Now the Chucky films are just getting dumb and predictable."
Best performance by an actor in a horror film: "Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, he does an outstanding job of being creepy. He gives a performance that has you hiding behind your fingers!"
Favorite bogeyman: "Freddy Krueger, I just loved how creepy he was with all those razor fingers."
The scene that scared me the most: "The fade-out scene in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT where Mike, his back to the hand-held camera, is standing in the corner of the basement."
Favorite horror writer: "As a child, I loved R.L. Stine's Goosebumps books. Now I think Stephen King is a phenomenal writer of both, books and screenplays, such as Children of the Corn, Carrie and Christine.
Favorite sexy/erotic scene in a horror film: "It would likely be a scene in THE WICKER MAN (1973) when a nude Britt Ekland performs a torrid dance to seduce a virgin (Edward Woodward). A wall separates them but she 'communicates' quite effectively."
Best female character: "I like Catwoman but the BATMAN films actually broach sci-fi or fantasy. I'm also fond of the title character in MAY and Naomi Watts' working mother in THE RING."
Summarizing the genre: "I absolutely LOVE horror films, I've loved them ever since I was a child. My girlfriends and I would sit around on weekends and watch five or six in a row. It came to a point when we had seen everything at the video store! I think the Horror Cinema gives viewers a look into the world of terror and suspense that we're denied--or blinded to--with the obligations of reality."
Female roles in the genre: I think that, for a long time, women functioned in horror movies as only a cursory presence--they were 'just there' to give the killer someone to terrorize and kill off. It was the damsel-in-distress stereotype, ad nauseam. Now, however, women's roles have somewhat evolved into more significant characters like May Dove Canady (MAY), Selene (UNDERWORLD), Sil (SPECIES) and the vampiric Louise in the very underrated GIRL WITH THE HUNGRY EYES."
Final, superfluous question: do you sleep in the nude? "Yes...whenever possible!"
Click the photos to see them in LARGE format.
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