Kristine DeBell

Those of you who best-remember Kristine DeBell as the titular innocent-but-quick-learning lass in the 1976 adult feature film Alice in Wonderland: An X-Rated Musical Fantasy (arguably one of her best-know roles), and expect to hear some of the lowdown on it from her in this interview, may be disappointed. Kristine agreed to do this interview for Idol Features under the condition she wouldn't be asked any questions regarding that film. However, you can get the answers to pretty much all the questions I would have asked her about Alice and the film, from the March 22, 2015 article at The Rialto Report.

After "Alice," which was her first film role, Kristine went on to have a successful mainstream acting career, that included both film and television. Her long list of big screen credits includes Blood Brothers, The Main Event, and Meatballs, alongside such names as Richard Gere, Ryan O'Neal, and Billy Murray, respectively. Her TV credits include prominent guest roles on Barnaby Jones, CHiPs, Night Court, and a stint on the long-running daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless. Of course, there were some parts she narrowly missed getting during her heyday, such as the part of Vickie La Motta in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull, but those at least lend themselves to some good audition stories.

After pretty much retiring from show biz in 1990 to raise a family, Kristine returned to acting a few years ago, and after the 20-plus year hiatus, took on the new challenge of playing characters quite unlike those she played when she was in her 20s and early 30s. In this recent interview, she talks about what that's been like. We also touch on what Hollywood was like for her back in her 70s and 80s heyday, and drop a few names along the way. Above photos, circa 1978 and 2016, courtesy of Kristine, herself.

June 27, 2016 interview with Kristine DeBell

Film Director Chandra Gerson

Chandra Gerson started out in show biz doing extra work in front of the camera, which led to her taking acting classes at the famed Lee Strasberg acting school. However, Chandra soon found that her true passion in films, was working behind the camera. She subsequently founded her own production company, Kitnkat Productions, in 2009, and has since produced some award-willing shorts, as well as one feature length film, a 2015 psychological drama entitled Book of Choices, which will be shown at the Delhi Women's International Film Festival in India this October. She also produced a fun documentary on the 40th anniversary of Knott's Scary Farm, the horror attraction of the famous Knott's Berry Farm, where Chandra has been regular visitor for years.

Last month, Chandra attended the annual Marché du Film ("Film Market") in Cannes, where three of her short films were shown: Burning Distortion (2012), a story about a man's dark side coming to light, Salvation of One (2014), about a young man who gets out of the mob and wants to right his wrongs, and A Gracious War (2014), about a police detective who finds out he has much more in common with a suspect he's interrogating, than he thought. Hear more about her aforementioned works, as well as more about Chandra herself, in her recent interview with Idol Features. Above photo by Carrie Cavalier.

June 10, 2016 interview with Chandra Gerson

Nadia White

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Rachael Robbins - Behind the Scenes with Mike James

At my request, my friend, esteemed pinup photographer Mike James, once again delved into his photo archives to come up with some candid, behind-the-scenes shots of another one of the lovely ladies who's worked with him over the last several years.

Rachael Robbins, who was included in my first James Girls feature and a subsequent solo interview, has compiled a long and impressive modeling and acting resume that includes Playboy magazine to, more recently, her outstanding performance as the leader of the Van Houten sisters in Ken Del Vecchio's horror Bleeding Hearts. The above 2007 shot of Rachael relaxing while Mike was setting up for a shoot, as well as all of the following photos, are being published here for the first time, anywhere.

Deborah Funes

May 23, 2017 Author's Addendum: It is with a heavy heart I write this, as I learned today of Deborah’s passing, just one year after I had the pleasure of interacting with her for this interview. Deborah was one of the few ladies I stayed in touch with after her interview published and it honored me that she considered this to be one of her best interviews ever. Even though I can’t say I was one of her close personal friends, Deborah, with her optimism, love for life, and knowledge about what she believed in, was someone I could even turn to for help, and she was happy to give it when I did. Rest in peace Deborah and I’m sure that someday soon, your spirit will oversee the completion of Touch My Heart.

– Chris Charles

Actress and model Deborah Funes began her career performing in elementary school plays in her native Argentina, where she acted to an audience of teachers, parents, and nuns. As an adult, she  began modeling professionally at 18 and went on to appear in television commercials and popular shows on Latin TV before moving to the US. Now calling Miami home, Deborah has appeared in several independent films, alongside some big names in the industry, while making quite a name for herself. Her growing list of credits include a lead role in Jim DeVault's Jebadiah's Axe, as well as prominent roles in Joe Hollow's Disciples and Lawrence W. Nelson's You Found Me.

Probably the most noteworthy of Deborah's accomplishments, wasn't before the camera. Two years ago, doctors found a cancerous tumor in her breast. Despite recommendations from her doctors to undergo conventional treatments, which involved chemotherapy, Deborah recovered using natural remedies. After a long road and dedication to her course of action, in March of this year, she is cancer free and the tumor is almost completely gone. She's currently working on a film based on her experiences and her healing process entitled Touch My Heart. Read on to learn more on this and other topics covered in Deborah's exclusive interview with Idol Features. Above photo by Dmitry Chernomazov.

Tina Krause - Behind the Scenes with Mike James

Actress Tina Krause was featured in my second installment on the models of prominent pinup photographer Mike James. She first shot with Mike in 1997 and has done shoots with him almost every year since. She's appeared with Mike at trade shows and events as the official spokesmodel for Azimuth Design, as well as appeared in print ads for the company. In essence, James Girl Tina is to Azimuth Designs, what Hooters Girl Lynne Austin was to Hooters restaurants.

Friday the 13th Victim, Judy

Throughout the Friday the 13th franchise (except for the first one, of course, since it was mom doing the killing in that one), Jason Voorhees has always been an innovative and resourceful murderer. A prime example of that is this scene from Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, in which Jason uses the sleeping bag that Judy seemed to think would keep her safe from him if she just tucked her head inside of, as a tool to pummel her against a tree. A little more can be learned about Judy at the Friday the 13th Wikia.

 

Jennifer Louise Bardsley

Born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, Jennifer Louise Bardsley began her modeling career as a Kmart clothing model when she was in her teens ....a gig that didn't exactly cause her to become "bitten by the modeling bug." After a long hiatus away from being in front of a photographer's lens, which included a stint in the US Army, she returned to modeling in 2011 and has since built up an impressive portfolio. Just a few samples of which are included here.

Jennifer decided to branch out into acting three years ago with student films and in 2014, she landed a part in Len Kabasinski's Blood Mercury. Obviously impressed with her acting skills, Len subsequently cast Jennifer in his recent film Angel of Reckoning (which stars Donna Hamblin), and she is now slated to be a part of Len's upcoming, Hellcat's Revenge. She's also currently part of the cast of the Erie-based comedy-horror TV series, SPOOKS. Above photo courtesy of Jennifer, herself.

May 5, 2016 interview with Jennifer Louise Bardsley

Suicide Girls Blackheart Burlesque

The Suicide Girls' 2016 Blackheart Burlesque tour was slated for a performance at O'Brians Event Centre on Sunday May 1 in Saskatoon, Canada, but because of an "absurd adult services bylaw" in the city of Saskatoon , the show was cancelled. (Article here) However, the tour's next stop was the Garrick Centre in Winnipeg, where the ladies performed last night (as this goes to press), to a sold out house.

There has never been a Suicide Girl, past, current, or former, who has been featured here but we'll make efforts to end that spell in the near future. The Suicide Girls Blackheart Burlesque tour will continue throughout the rest of this year. Check the schedule at their official website to see when they'll be in your city.

Samantha Christianson Does Pinhead

In the above video, Winnipeg-based makeup artist Samantha Christianson demonstrates her remarkable skills as she transforms herself into a horrific-yet-sexy female version of the iconic Pinhead from the Hellraiser film franchise. This is also Sam's official entry into the 2016 NYX FACE Awards (Like and comment on this video at her Youtube channel).

After all the submissions are reviewed, the top 30 finalists will be announced on May 2. NYX will reveal the first challenge for those top 30 on May 6. From May 20-27, fans will then get to vote for their favorite and the top 20 vote-getters will go on to the next phase of the competition. See the NYX FACE Awards official site for the full details and it goes without saying that Sam will be getting Idol Features' votes and endorsement, all along the way to August 20, when the field will be narrowed to six and a live vote will be held determine the overall winner.

Donna Hamblin - A Closer Look

Despite having appeared in such films as Cauldron: Baptism of Blood, Mark of the Astro-Zombies, and Blood Reunion 3: Hunters, Donna Hamblin isn't fond of the dark, being covered in fake blood, and to this day, can't sit thought The Exorcist. However, she puts all that aside and always gives 100% when doing a scene in a horror movie.

A favorite of acclaimed cult filmmaking guru, Ted V. Mikels, Donna has appeared in several of Ted's films and is slated to appear in more, including the highly anticipated Ten Violent Women Part 2. She'll also be starring in Len Kabasinski's upcoming Angel of Reckoning, along with Scream Queen icon Deborah Dutch. Len, another director who's recognized Donna's talents, also cast her in his 2014 action sci-fi film, Blood Mercury, also along with Deborah.

Last November, during the making of Ten Violent Women Part 2, Donna was interviewed by her fellow actress Dawna Lee Heising, which we featured here. Knowing Donna deserved a closer look, she graciously gave this exclusive interview to Idol Features, where, besides her acting roles, we cover some other topics, such as the charitable causes she's involved with in Las Vegas, the city she's called home for most of her life. Above photo of Donna and Ratzy-Rue courtesy of Donna, herself.

March 21, 2016 interview with Donna Hamblin

Krista Grotte - A Closer Look

Actress and fitness model Krista Grotte's "day job" as a project manager for a Florida-based aviation technology company, requires her to travel quite a bit, which would make one wonder how she also manages to have a successful acting and modeling career. You'd think her frequent travels would hampering her show biz career. However, Krista says she coordinates the two by scheduling her shoots and appearances to coincide with where she'll be at the time, thus turning what could be an obstacle, into an advantage.

A favorite of award-winning director Thomas J. Churchill, Krista's proud to be starring in his upcoming film Check Point, and rightfully so. It deals with domestic terrorism, an issue our country is currently faced with, and has a strong cast. She's also been recently cast in three more of Thomas' upcoming films; Marilyn: Zombie Hunter, starring Sarah French, and two that have just been recently announced: Beautiful Nightmare, which will also feature Vida Ghaffari in a starring role, and Nation's Fire, which was covered in last week's press release featured here, that also included her Eye on Entertainment interview with the lovely Dawna Lee Heising.

Also, a correspondent for the Florida-based TV show Born to Ride, Krista, a motorcycle enthusiast herself, is a familiar face among the biker community throughout the southern states, where the show is broadcast. Just press play to hear about that and much more in Krista's very recent and exclusive interview with Idol Features.

March 21, 2016 interview with Krista Grotte

Krista Grotte Guests on Eye on Entertainment

Gracing the above promo poster for the upcoming action-thriller Nation's Fire is the multi-talented Krista Grotte, who was my recent guest on Eye on Entertainment. See the full press release.

Author Amy McCorkle

Award-winning author and blogger Amy McCorkle, whose works have been published under her real name as well as her pen name, Kate Lynd, is probably most noted for her non-fiction book, Letters to Daniel, which was spawned by her blog of the same title. Started in May of 2013, the blog Letters to Daniel consisted of open letters she had written to actor Daniel Craig, whom Amy is a huge fan of. However, the entries in the blog were definitely not typical gushing, fan letters. They were written as is Amy were talking to a close friend and the subject matter ranged from light and humorous to, as Amy puts it; "dark, heavy shit most people take to their graves with them." Most of Amy's other works have been of the sci-fi and erotic romance genre, which have also been quite successful, making Amazon's paid best seller list.

The Kentucky native and avid Wildcats fan is also a screenwriter. Her first films, which she also produced, she chalks up to learning experiences, but, as this goes to press, her script for the film adaptation of Letters to Daniel has been nominated for best script by the International Christian Film Festival and is an official selection at the NOVA Fest (The Northern Virginia International Film & Music Festival). Of course, for the ICFF, Amy decided to trim some of the coarse language from her script, as her writing pulls no punches. Above photo courtesy of Amy herself.

Heroines and Bad Girls Deep Inside the Pirate Office

As a creator, I get to draw inspiration from all over the place, and that all comes together for me here in my very own "Pirate Office." It's a place where I do all my digital artwork, great pinups for Geo's Vixens, and my salute to pinups. It's where I recently created the first book for The Angel Codex; Midnight Angel: Afterfall, and it's where I work on writings for Idol Features as well, like now.

All of this comes together in one spot: The Pirate Office. It's here that I'll now be focusing on as a feature for my Youtube channel, where the first episode is now up. I'll take all those who want to see what inspires some great art and a lot of madness. It's that source of energy that really takes me anywhere I want to go, in terms of my art. I'll be honest; usually, it's a very sexy place I end up going. Creating pinups for a living has really made my world complete, and many of the statues in the Pirate Office will be highlighted. I'll also be telling everyone what I like, or sometimes dislike, about various items that dwell deep within the Pirate Office's hollowed walls. It's a who's who of sexy horror and amazing comic book heroines and bad girls. Why is that? Because more than anything, I'm inspired by strong empowered and yes, sexy, creations.

What would have been Siren Thorn's interview

I dug this one out of my sent e-mails from December of 2010. Siren Thorn, whom I believe originally went by the professional surname of "Tee," was referred to me by May Ling Su, who's been featured and interviewed here in the past. May Ling thought Siren may be interested in an interview as she'd just gotten started modeling at that point. Siren e-mailed me back, stated she's love to do an interview and asked if we could do it over e-mail. I replied and told her that would be no problem, sent her my questions, and when I received no reply after a very reasonable wait, I made attempts to follow-up. Siren never did.

The interview I had planned for Siren was actually intended for a different, now defunct, website I was writing for at the time, but I'm publishing this here now because I'm not featuring Siren, I'm featuring my questions, and, since this is my site, here's where my questions will be featured. So, enjoy these fairly basic interview questions Siren never bothered to answer. At left is where a photo of Siren Tee, who now goes by "Siren Thorn," would have been.

Destinie Orndoff

Co-founder of indie film production company, Deranged Minds Entertainment, Destinie Orndoff has been an avid horror fan since she was six and saw A Nightmare on Elm Street. Rather than the film giving her nightmares, as it would most kids that age, it gave her dreams of someday making and acting in her own horror films. She and her partner launched Deranged Minds just last year and they are currently in production with their first film, a slasher entitled Red Eye.

Set in the backwoods of Black Creek, West Virginia, Red Eye is the tale of four friends who set out to document a local legend for a horror film festival. In Desitnie's own words:

We have unique and relatable characters to genre fans and many, quotes and classic moments that horror fans will eat up." We, being fans of the genre ourself took it upon ourselves to do something for the genre that has made such an amazing impact on our life. We are genuine horror fans making horror to give back, its our dream and passion. We feel it is very important to include the fact that this film will NOT be a "found-footage" film. What it IS, is a pulsating slay-fest that unfolds this sadistic story, drop by drop, including many, many twists. Get ready for a place where your passion bleeds through.

Another thing that particularly makes this film look very promising is that two of the names that have already signed on to appear in it, are quite big names in indie horror: Jessica Cameron and Heather Dorff. Listen to Destinie's exclusive interview with me, as we also delve a bit into what gave her her passion for horror and who her inspirations in the horror industry have been. If you're in the horror industry and have not yet heard of Destinie; remember you heard of her here first.

February 29, 2016 interview with Destinie Orndoff

Collette England - A Closer Look

Drummer for the Norfolk-based all-female rock trio, the Drendas, Collette England was interviewed alongside her two bandmates, guitarist Holly Womack and bassist Denise Lawrence, here in July of last year. After learning that playing with the Drendas isn't Collette's only artistic outlet (okay, and seeing that she looks like a young Susan Sarandon), I contacted her for a solo interview.

Besides pounding the skins for the Drendas (okay, and looking like a young Susan Sarandon while doing it), Collette also performs with Norfolk's own Absolute Uncertainty Sketch and Improv Comedy. As the solo interviewee here, she talks about that and a few other facts about herself that the casual Drendas' fan probably didn't know, such as her also being a Navy veteran. Of course, Collette gives her Drendas bandmates and her fellow performers in Absolute Uncertainty a shout-out, as well as the The Pushers' Improv Training and a certain someone for being "so onboard with all her shenanigans." Oh, and when asked to supply a photo, Collette is know to go above and beyond the call, as exemplified by the above and particularly by the following photo, both courtesy of Collette, herself.

February 24, 2016 interview with Collette England

Kristina Michelle Revisited

Since her first interview here, the events Cleveland-based actress and producer Kristina Michelle runs have grown considerably. 2016 marks the fifth showing of the Horror Hotel International Film Festival. What started as a one-day show has grown into a four-day event that now includes multiple screening rooms, panel discussions, and the ever-popular Scream Queen competition. The other event she produces, the Indie Gathering International Film Festival, now will include the United Latino International Film Festival, which will feature Spanish language indie films from around the world. Also debuting this year at both events will be a car show and outdoor drive-in-style film showings.

In the studio on the Reel TV Network, Kristina still hosts Horror Hotel as her alter ego, Lamia (featured here in May of 2014), with occasional guests from the horror industry. Indie Film School, a show that's shot at the aforementioned conventions and Indie Music Scene, hosted by Jessica Graie, who features music videos and interviews with indie bands, are two other shows Kristina produces. Listen to Kristina's recent interview and check out the Reel TV Network website for more details on the shows. Above photo by Scott T. Morrison of Discovery Photo Online.

February 22, 2016 interview with Kristina Michelle

Andreea Boyer Revisited

Currently in Los Angeles, where she's been working on her new screenplay, actress and writer Andreea Boyer gave me an update (taking advantage of us being in the same time zone) on her activities since our first interview last summer. Besides appearing in Ulli Lommel's highly anticipated Boogeyman: Reincarnation, which is slated to be released this year, Andreea has added some prominent achievements to her list of studies since last August. Late last year, she studied with famed director Jack Garfein in Paris and then at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where she studied Shakespeare. While in London, she also landed the part of Veronica in the Marcus Warren's upcoming thriller Snapshot, which also stars Sasha Jackson (Blue Crush 2).

Certainly a name to look for watch as she shows remarkable dedication to her craft, Andreea also shares what gave her the passion for writing and performing, as well as how she enjoyed spending last Christmas with only the company of her friend's little dog.

February 21, 2016 interview with Andreea Boyer