OUT TAKES Dallas Presents Creatures From The Pink Lagoon

By: Joseph Melnicoff Nov. 01, 2006

On October 31, as part of their eighth annual lesbian and gay film festival OUT TAKES Dallas presented a triple feature of Halloween-themed films. I attended the second film in the trio—Creatures From The Pink Lagoon. Prior to the screening, Madam of Ceremonies Titsy Slipper and OUT TAKES Dallas Director at Large Brian Hawker welcomed the audience as free candy was distributed by OUT TAKES volunteers. Jeff Rane, the co-producer of Uptown Players, who is a collaborator with OUT TAKES Dallas, presented the 2007 Uptown Players season. For more information on Uptown Players, please visit their website.

Creatures From The Pink Lagoon was a delightful send-up of those tacky horror movies about zombies. The story was similar: a group of people were trapped in an isolated residence while flesh-eating zombies roamed around the home and tried to attack them. However, there was one significant twist: all the men in the house and the zombies outside were gay.

Shot in glorious black-and-white, Creatures From The Pink Lagoon had equal dosages of humor and horror. Many facets of gay culture—from body building to show tunes—were examined and gently parodied. The performers were all excellent, with high honors going to Lowell Deo as the outspoken host and leader of the group.

Director Chris Diani has filmed with a knowing eye for the detail. The film captures perfectly the look and feel of those old movies. In some of the close-ups, Mr. Diani even uses videotape for a maximum grainy effect. He also tints some of the action in pink for a comedic look. A steady hand is employed throughout—although the characters and circumstances are one-dimensional, Mr. Diani adds enough surprises to the mix to keep us entertained. Who knew the true power of Judy Garland's voice?

The eighth annual OUT TAKES Dallas gay and lesbian film festival continues through Sunday, November 5. There will be a Men's Mixer on Saturday, November 4. The Awards Ceremony will be at 7:30PM on November 5 at the Magnolia Theater. For more information on the film festival, please visit OUT TAKES Dallas' website. The link for Creatures From The Pink Lagoon website is included as well.

Photo of Titsy Slipper by Pete Flores

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