Saturday, April 12, 2008

Vampira's Last Interview


The April issue of Rue Morgue contains the last interview ever conducted with the grand dame of horror Vampira.

Just prior to her passing earlier this year, Rue Morgue was fortunate enough to have the final conversation with Maila "Vampira" Nurmi, the world’s first horror host and glamour ghoul. Plus: Her long-time friend Dana Gould paints an intimate portrait of Nurmi from her halcyon years to her golden years, a look at the new Vampira documentary, as well as her last feature film appearance in the Ed Wood-penned I Woke Up Early the Day I Died.


It’s so sad they didn’t record any of her shows for posterity’s sake. I have a chilling feeling that I would have been a huge Vampira fanatic if her TV appearances were available nowadays. Here’s the only bit of video we have. The intro to her show.


There are lots of wonderful pictures of her so that’s something…


What I like most about Vampira, besides her overt goth sexiness (hubba hubba), is that she changed the perception of women in horror. No longer did the members of the “fairer sex” need to be the victims, but they could be the monsters as well. She paved the way for all the other scary gals that came later. If modern horror has a ghoulish godmother Vampira is it. She wasn’t a big star but she should have been.

-Swinebread

12 comments:

ladybug said...

You're up early on a Saturday!

I didn't know she had a TV show...I bet the producers are now kicking themselves in the rear for not recording her shows 'n' such - they money they would've made!

Also she seems to be a corset fetishist...probably an icon in that world as well!

Swinebread said...

she was the first Horror movie host on TV

rob! said...

she was WAY too sexy for the 1950s, i mean, wow! can you imagine being a teenaged kid in the 1950s and having this pulchritudinous display come into your house every week?

Arkonbey said...

JEEZUM, she had a small waist!

And thus Vampira leads to Elvira.

Your post reminds me. I found this horror comic blog yesterday. It posts a bunch of pre-code horror comics. Not covers, full stories!

Pandabonium said...

Never saw her before. Her waste looks really strange.

Used to enjoy Elvira way back when.

Overdroid said...

Her waste is strange, but she lived a full life so it's not as much of a waste as you think. Also she had a narrow waist, and that was strange too.

The link to the horror comics is awesome Arkon!

I had to listen several times before I figured out what she was saying after the scream. Here are the entertaining wrong guesses I came up with before I got it.

"Creamy eee-lastic weeblo"
"I'm a whore dontcha know"
"Dreaming a paxil pillow"
"Reevee alasix meslo"
"Free me my cervix is slow"

Dr. Zaius said...

As much as I like Vampira, you do a slight disservice to Elsa Lanchester in "The Bride of Frankenstein". Surely she was the earliest, and most memorable she-monster.

Arkonbey said...

OD: I never got what she said after the scream, so I'm going with your number three.

Dr. Z: BoF was the best. this is for you.

Overdroid said...

Make some of your own. It's fun. :)

"scree me chillax is miso."

Pandabonium said...

Sorry about that chief. Would you believe I meant to say, "her waste smells really strange, and her waist looks really strange"?

Would you believe I was wasted?

Dean Wormer said...

What's not to like?

Plus she had that terrific career acting in Ed Wood flicks.

Swinebread said...

Rob! – I think my head would have exploded. Maybe that’s why there’s a whole segment of society that loves Goth girls.

Arkonbey – heh heh , the interviewer actually asked her is she had any problem with her digestive tract. She didn’t until she got old.

Thanks for that link, that’s a wonderful great blog… I’ve added a link on my page.

Panda – Elvira owes everything to Vampria…

OD – Had to listen to it a few times too.

“Really mini slack between toes”

Dr. Zaius –gads! You are right my friend… (How can a salvage this?) ah, Elsa Lanchester’s monster was more of a victim type while Vampira wasn’t. How was that…?

Dean – you’re right about that!