Celebrating The Iconic Horror Actress Catriona MacColl!
I’ve been exploring cult films across many genres and decades, and when I stumbled on one of Director Lucio Fulci’s best shockers, it led me to this incredible Cult Movie Queen:
“Shocktober 2022″” has a look at her career, highlighted by 3 classic 80’s shockers!
Catriona MacColl was born in October 1954 in London.
She studied to be a Dancer, but an injury ended that career, and she went into acting instead.
She is best known for her work in Italian Horror, beginning with Lucio Fulci’s classic shocker “City of the Living Dead” in 1980:
This is the perfect film for Halloween season!
Check out the trailer:
A reporter and a psychic race to close the Gates of Hell after the suicide of a clergyman caused them to open, allowing the dead to rise from their graves.
This was also released as “The Gates Of Hell” and I love this poster even more!
She used the spelling Katherine in some of the films, but I’ll continue to call her by her birthday name Catriona.
Catriona got a well-deserved “Scream Queen” tag based on these films!
The next year she re-teamed with Fulci for his next classic shocker:
The Beyond (1981)
A young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural “accidents”, she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.
Here’s the trailer:
I also loved the original Italian poster for this film as well:
That same year, they made this great thriller – which I only recently got the chance to see:
“The House by the Cemetery”
This 1981 shocker is a classic: A New England home is terrorized by a series of murders, unbeknownst to the guests that a gruesome secret is hiding in the basement.
Check out the trailer:
Catriona was stunning in this tight white blouse – and the film delivers on the scares as well!
Dagmar Lassander was also featured in the movie:
She had a provocative career as well, and you can see all of her highlights by clicking here:
After making these Fulci thrillers, Catriona was apparently offered the lead role in the Director’s next film, the notorious “The New York Ripper” – reports say the Actress was a little suspicious of the role and turned it down.
Actress Zora Korova ended up with a role in the film, which many consider to be Fulci’s most shocking ever!
But it wasn’t Zora’s by a long shot! Click here to see the most shocking movie this Actress made!
Even though she turned this film down, MacColl made three great films with Fulci – here’s a great interview she gave about that:
“As far as the legacy goes, I don’t know what to say. It’s difficult to analyze that, but obviously there is one. Lucio was a very mysterious person and never will be completely unfathomed. So perhaps the mystery surrounds the legacy as well. Filming is about osmosis, it’s the right elements coming together, and that in a way is where chance comes into it. Anyway, it’s all in a day’s work, isn’t it?”
The Actress has more than 60 credits in a terrific career that continues today – she works in film and TV, comedies, dramas and thrillers as well.
Bravo to her on a stellar cult film career! She reminds me of another English Actress who made provocative choices throughout a long career:
Helen Mirren was fearless as well – still making brave choices – see some of her most controversial work here, including one that deserves a spot on any “Shocktober” list:
All month long, I’ve been focused on Cult Movie Queens who made the horror genre so memorable…like Rita Calderoni:
She was “Nude For Satan” and so much more!
See her wildest film by clicking here:
You know what they say? There are no small roles…well, Sandy Johnson proved that!
She appeared for only a few moments but it was in the most iconic horror film of all – click here to see that credit and more:
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Categories: 70's Films, Classic Horror, Euro-Sleaze, Exploitation Films, Extreme Cinema, Grindhouse, Horror films, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Talent / Celebrites
JR-Sploitation! 
Back in 2009, I met her at a Rock And Shock convention. Very nice lady.
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I looked up “Man Eaters” when I saw Roberta Weiss was in it (Canadian actress who caught my eye in episodes of “The Hitchhiker” (“Deadly Nightmares” in the UK for some reason) and “Tales From The Darkside”) and seeing it was BASED ON A PLAY, not something you’d expect for something with an English title of “Man Eaters”. IMDb plot summary : “Two shipwrecked castaways discover the island they have landed upon is shared by three beautiful women living alone… who are rather hungry!” Also, it’s apparently a French sex comedy…
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