Rue Morgue Magazine, April 2008

This issue is truly a must-have collector's item for any Vampira fan. It features the last-ever interview with Maila Nurmi, conducted only weeks before she passed away, plus many other articles and never-before-seen photos. The layout is beautiful (just look at how many people are clamoring for a poster version of the cover!), and overall this issue achieves a level of journalistic greatness that's all too rare today.

Here's just a tiny sampling of all the great Vampira information in this issue. Be sure to buy your own copy to get the full story!

Note From Underground
by Jovanka Vuckovic (Rue Morgue Editor-In-Chief)
(Excerpts)

It's 10 a.m. on Sunday February 17, and just as I'm putting the finishing touches on my makeup, the doorbell rings at my pal Spooky Dan's house, where I always lay myself to rest when I visit Los Angeles. Here, I opened wide the door, and standing there, wearing a grin and an oversized, untucked black and white skull shirt is Bill Moseley. "Morning!" he exclaims, in that characteristic Chop Top/Otis voice. "You ready to go to a funeral?"

I sure was, and soon we arrive at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (see Travelogue, p. 66). . . . we are gathering here today to attend a funeral service for one of Tinseltown's genre icons: horror host and glamour ghoul Maila "Vampira" Nurmi.

The Last Interview With Vampira
by Dave Alexander
(Excerpts)

Since there is almost no archival footage of the show, tell us about your performance.

I was hypnotizing the camera. It was like home cooking. I would tell the cameraman to come closer, closer, closer. And I would tell him to just focus in on my eyes, and then I'd stare into the camera and pretend I was staring into the eyes of my lover. And I am a hypnotist. I hypnotized silently without saying anything. "You're fascinated. You're fascinated. You'll come back to the camera, you'll come back to the camera," I was saying silently. . . . And then the newspapers were writing about that, how people were running in to see the show. I was hypnotizing them and they didn't know it . . .

Do you keep up on the genre currently? Do you watch horror movies?

I am not a moviegoer. I like black and white movies. I detest colour. Soft colours are nice; everything else feels like razor blades on my eyeballs. I hate the high-definition color they use now. . . I would be dragged by my first husband to see movies. He was a screenwriter. And we'd go every Saturday to see the new biggie. Cowboys were big in those days. How I hated it. I would go to the ladies room and sit in the lobby and watch people because to me that was interesting. Universal energy. People dressing a certain way and buying buttered popcorn. I wanted to know why people wanted to buy popcorn. . . .

Portrait of a Dark Diva
by Paul Corupe
(Excerpts)

One of the most influential horror hosts of all time, Maila Nurmi was often just as mysterious in life as she was in death. Vampira: The Movie, a 2007 straight-to-DVD documentary by director Kevin Sean Michaels, features a wealth of captivating interview footage with Nurmi, as she discusses her career, relationships and personal outlook on life as a horror icon.

"My goal was to preserve Maila's essence in some way, so people could see what an afternoon was like with her," explains Michaels, a former art director for Troma Entertainment. "Maila is the iconic horror host that all others would be judged against, yet very few would ever see. . . ."

In the Shadow of Vampira
by Dana Gould
(Excerpts)

Dana Gould, comedian, actor and Emmy award-winning writer for The Simpsons, was also one of Maila Nurmi's closest friends in her later years. He exposes the colorful, compassionate artist behind the cool veneer of white makeup and black dresses.

Actors who become identified with iconic characters often refer to it as a blessing and a curse. This is especially true of actors in the genre. Bela Lugosi spent his whole life trying in vain to escape Dracula's typecasting clutches. In the end, he was even buried wearing the Count's cape. . . . But never have the roles of actor and character been so intricately intertwined as in the strange case of Maila Nurmi and her alter ego, TV's original "Glamour Ghoul," Vampira.

. . .
Although I had no idea what to expect, I found Maila quite charming and funny. I wanted to thank her for helping me launch the show, but, despite it being 1995, she didn't have a phone ("Ugh! Awful things."), so I wrote her a thank you letter. She wrote me back and we became pen pals of a sort. . . .

. . . Over time, I realized how hard she worked at keeping up with who she thought she was supposed to be. The caustic wag, so willing to dish, was a smokescreen. . . .

And there's much more! Read about Maila Nurmi's final feature film appearance in I Woke Up Early The Day I Died, Bill Moseley's Travelogue of Terror (describing a trip to Maila Nurmi's final resting place), plus Rue Morgue's usual eclectic assortment of insightful reviews and articles.

Who Calls the Shots, April 1, 2008

Kevin Sean Michaels - Documentarian, VAMP Productions
by Daniel Douros
(Excerpts)

It might seem strange to go from working with Lloyd Kaufman at Troma Entertainment (home of the Toxic Avenger) to becoming a festival winning documentary filmmaker, but not when the subject of your first documentary is Maila Nurmi, commonly known among fans as Vampira, the original goth girl. Long before Elvira made the undead look sexy, Vampira was vamping it up on her own show and in Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space. Nurmi, who died in January 2008, was a reclusive and reluctant subject who had avoided interviews for decades before meeting Kevin Sean Michaels.

Kevin has a knack for befriending strangers. When I first met him I found him open, honest, and possessing the dry, subtle humor of an deep thinker. Upon discovering that I was launching the web site Who Calls the Shots, Kevin volunteered to an interview before I could even think of a way to ask him. The responses he gave are inspirational, insightful, and full of advice for the burgeoning filmmaker and documentarian.
. . .

As a kid, you used to make movies with an 8mm camera. Did you ever shoot any documentaries?

I think the Super-8 movies I made reflected my childhood a bit, but I also romanticized about early silent filmmaking, partially because my camera had no sound. The first thing I shot starred my best friend and the video game character Pac-Man. I had a small plastic Pac-Mac and, by starting and stopping the camera, stop-motion style, we pretended that Pac-Man was chasing my friend and then finally kills him. That was the first one. I was out of step with the times because I suggested to my friends that we make a silent film with dialogue on title cards. I had a hero, a damsel in distress and a mustache-curling villain. There was no editing, so I would pan over to the title cards and then back to filming. My friends had never seen silent films, so to them I was doing something new.

. . .

Lloyd Kaufman, the man behind Troma Entertainment, is a legendary micro-budget producer and director. What is the most important lesson you learned while working with Lloyd?

"You get what you pay for."

Vampira: The Movie features music by Ari Lehman, a former actor known to many genre fans as the original Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th, and now the leader of the band FIRSTJASON. What tipped you off that Ari would make a good composer for the project?

I got to know Ari through the convention circuit. When we were doing Poultrygeist at Troma, I suggested Ari that he come up with a couple of musical tracks. Ultimately, Troma went another direction, but I became a fan of Ari’s music, which I thought would work great with Maila Nurmi’s words. We are both fans of William Burroughs and Laurie Anderson and spoken word. There are so many sides to Ari, not just the deformed one who sprung up from Crystal Lake.

Fashion Doll Quarterly, Spring 2008

Goth Goes Wild
Doris Mixon meets up with a uniquely talented designer to give us fashions to die for
Text by Doris Mixon, all ensembles by Fashion Boulevard.
Photography by Alexandra Forbes
(Excerpts from three-page article)

We've recently joined forces with a very talented designer named Azrael Renea des Reves (AKA Russell Powell III) who is a fabulous Victorian Goth and vintage costumer. For over the last 10 years it has been his passion to indulge in the grace and glories of the past, to redefine beauty and bring back to life the sumptuous styles of yesteryear. He draws his inspiration from the fashions of old, from the 1700s to the 1950s. . . . He recently worked on "Carnies 2006" which starred the great character actor Doug Jones (best known for his roles in "Hocus Pocus", "Pan[']s Labyrinth", and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer") and cult icon Reggie Bannister, from notable films such as "Phantasm I - V" and "Wishmaster". . . . At this year[']s Comic Con Azrael was contracted by Kevin Sean Michaels to help promote his new documentary "Vampira: The Movie". For this he was asked to create an official replica of Vampira's well-known costume seen mostly in her 1950s TV show, but is best known now for her appearance in Ed Wood's classic "B" movie "Plan 9 From Outer Space". The gown was later worn by his sister Crow Taylor as she strutted her stuff on the convention floor posing for pictures and handing out promotional material for the movie. Later in the convention Crow would wear another gown of Azrael's personal design call[ed] "Decadent Darkness", to appear at the film[']s screening and later during Comic Con's Masquerade Gala and Press Junket. Azrael created the gown again in miniature for Fashion Boulevard, and the jewelry was created by his friend Cambria who is also a talented jewelry designer. (A picture of the dress is featured with this article on the previous page.)

DeathRock Magazine, Winter 2008

Vampira: The Legacy
by Alex Baker
(Excerpt from five-page tribute with vintage Vampira photos and interview with Kevin Sean Michaels)

Do you think that the factors that got Vampira's original 1954-55 show cancelled, were the same that got her started, ie the wonderful Charles Addams comics in the New Yorker?

Very good point. In the documentary 'Vampira: The Movie,' Maila talks about how ABC wanted to do The Addams Family TV show - but without her. Maila thinks it was some sort of blacklisting, but she never said why she was excluded. So yes, the very same thing that started her off ended her career on television. It came full circle.

It seems that Vampira [was] just a a little bit ahead of her time, but she touched on a new element of popular culture. I'd imagine we would not have seen Morticia Addams on the [] Addams Family television series, or in The Munsters, which aired five days later, if it weren't for Maila Nurmi testing the ghoulish waters with Vampira.

That's right. Maila says that ABC wanted to steal the idea of the Addams Family ten years earlier and not pay for the rights from Charles Addams. She said that she was not a thief, but a fan of Charles Addams. I imagine that in turn, ABC would have developed something like The Munsters. Maila wanted no part of that.

Where to buy DeathRock

Scary Monsters Magazine, scary sixty-fifth haunted issue

Scary DVD Headline Grues
by Ron Adams
(Excerpt)

VAMPIRA THE MOVIE chronicles the story of Maila "Vampira" Nurmi living on the very edge of show business and her rise to celluloid cultdom 50 years later. Her big break came in 1954 when she played the "glamour ghoul" Vampira, emerging from the mist to greet viewers of obscure horror movies on the new medium — television. Her newfound fame led her to friendships with Marlon Brando, James Dean and Anthony Perkins. But Vampira's show was abruptly cancelled. Nurmi appeared as Vampira again in the 1959 low-budget horror/sci-fi film, PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE, directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. and often dubbed "the worst film of all time." But you can't keep a good vampire down and Nurmi's character rose from the dead again in 1993's ED WOOD, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The movie renewed interest in Maila Nurmi and she has achieved a Bettie Page-like cult status. Special guests: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Forrest J Ackerman, David J. Skal, Jerry Only of the Misfits, Cassandra Peterson, Debbie Rochon, Lloyd Kaufman, Penny Dreadful, The Double D's, Jami Deadly, Svengoolie, Kevin Eastman, Julie Strain, and Zacherley.

Fangoria Radio, Feb. 1, 2008

Hosted by Dee Snider and Debbie Rochon
On Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 102, Fridays 10 PM to 1 AM

Today's guests:
GEORGE ROMERO . . .
JESSICA ALBA . . .

KEVIN SEAN MICHAELS
Kevin directed the much acclaimed documentary VAMPIRA: THE MOVIE. The doc features Vampira, her real name being Maila Nurmi, in her last interview before she passed away as well as rarely seen footage of her TV special from the 50's! Dozens of industry greats have come together and have been interviewed on this exceptional DVD which is also playing at many film festivals world wide and on TV. Get your questions or comments ready to call in or email us, because tonight we are going to discuss the FIRST horror host to ever grace the TV screen: VAMPIRA!

ZOMBIE TALK
We will DEAD-icate a special part of the show tonight to hear YOUR favorite zombie scenes from movies! Or you can tell us about the ones you hated the most! Are you a fast moving zombie fan or a slow shambling zombie fan? Let us know tonight!

Sound clips, when available, will be posted here.

AfterEllen.com, Jan. 25, 2008

The only goth chick: Vampira's legacy
by Final Girl
(Excerpts)

In the age of Suicide Girls and Elvira, when there’s a Hot Topic in virtually every town, it may be difficult to imagine a world in which there’s exactly one goth chick. In the mid-1950s, however, goth wasn’t at all trendy, cool, or a look to delve into to get back at your parents because they’re so square and they never let you do anything you want to do and they just don’t get it, that it’s totally, like, expressing yourself through the power of piercings, ill-fitting clothes and Manic Panic hair dye. Nope, in the mid-1950s there really was only one goth chick in the whole wide world, and that goth chick was Vampira. Horror fans lost a true pioneer on January 10, when Vampira died in her sleep at the age of 86.

. . .
After years of obscurity (The Vampira Show never aired outside of Los Angeles), Vampira was back in the spotlight after the success of Tim Burton’s 1994 biopic Ed Wood. Viewers were once again intrigued as actress Lisa Marie, as Vampira, sported the black dress, the black hair and the talon-like fingernails. Though she never achieved the fame she perhaps deserved, Nurmi’s contributions to the world of horror were acknowledged in documentaries like Death, Sex, and Taxes (1995), Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2000), American Scary (2006) and Vampira: The Movie (2006).

Horror Society, Jan. 24, 2008

Vampira: The Movie
Reviewed by Brian Kirst
(Excerpts)

With the recent passing of Maila Nurmi there probably isn’t a better time to seek out Kevin Sean Michaels’ fascinating and insightful documentary, Vampira The Movie.

Looking frail yet proud Nurmi recounts her life and times for Michaels’ loving camera. Nurmi tells of her impoverished childhood and of her days on the stages of theaters in New York. Her love of Charles Addams’ comics led her to create a costume variation on one of his characters (the future Morticia). This eventually led to her one year television hosting gig as Vampira. Intensely creative and magnificently proud, Nurmi soon found herself at odds with the traditional demands of television executives and by the time Ed Wood approached her for Plan 9 From Outer Space, she was financially desperate and willing to take on his poverty row project. Her silent, outstretched space vampire in that feature only added to her cult notoriety, though, and it is delightful to hear Nurmi talk of Wood and this project - especially as she expresses her regret that upon finding the dialogue so ridiculous, she bargained to make her character a silent one.
. . .

Nurmi eventually reveals herself, as many industriously imaginative types, as both highly modest and overly indulgent about her accomplishments. The fact that Michaels was able to get such a well rounded portrait of this magical idol just before her passing is a wonderful gift not only to the horror community but to history and society as a whole.

Decatur Daily, Jan. 17, 2008

Vampira, the first horror hostess, dies at 86
by Franklin Harris
(Excerpts)

Last week saw the passing of a television pioneer.
. . .

For her part, Nurmi didn’t fully exploit Vampira’s merchandising potential until late in life. But she nevertheless continued to cultivate a loyal cult following, and “Vampira: The Movie,” a documentary about Nurmi’s enduring character, was released in 2006.
. . .

Like many pioneers, Nurmi didn’t get the credit she deserved during her lifetime. But she will be remembered fondly for years to come.

Associated Content, Jan. 15, 2008

Maila Nurmi, Host of "The Vampira Show", Passes Away at the Age of 85
by Steven Bryan
(Excerpts)

In a news story that really bites, the Associated Press reported today that Maila Nurmi, who created the prototypical, late-night horror host known as Vampira, passed away on Thursday, January 10 at the age of 85. No official cause of death has been reported.

. . . For KABC TV in Los Angeles, Maila Nurmi created the character of Vampira to host horror movie broadcasts in 1954, but "The Vampira Show" lasted only a year. Still, with her ghoulishly sexy look, Maila Nurmi remained a horror fan favorite up until the day of her death.

Director Kevin Sean Michaels created what is perhaps the only documentary about Maila Nurmi and her contributions to the horror world in "Vampira the Movie." The official movie website contains information on how to order the film and also a copy of the court decision of the Nurmi vs. Peterson case.

Boston.com MovieNation, Jan. 15, 2008

Maila Nurmi 1921 - 2008
by Boston Globe movie critic Ty Burr
(Excerpt)

Maila Nurmi, the Finnish-born actress and pioneeering TV horror hostess who created the Vampira character in 1953, starred in the worst film of all time, and served as a crucial influence on the Goth look, died last week at the ripe old age of 86. The L.A. Times obit gives the basics, noting that Nurmi (born Maila Elizabeth Syrjaniemi) modelled her look on Charles Addams' Morticia and later unsuccessfully sued Elvira for ripping her off. She co-starred, of course, in Ed Wood's infamous "Plan 9 From Outer Space" (and was played by Lisa Marie in Tim Burton's 1994 "Ed Wood"), and also appeared in such deathless period classics as "Sex Kittens Go to College[.]"

Her Wikipedia entry has further details and links, and the website of the 200[7] documentary "Vampira: The Movie" offers some nice thoughts on the woman. . . .

Variety, Jan. 14, 2008

Maila 'Vampira' Nurmi dies at 86
by Variety staff
(Excerpts)

Maila Nurmi, who created the TV hostess character Vampira, died Thursday of natural causes in Los Angeles. She was 86.
. . .

Director Ed Wood cast her in "Plan 9 From Outer Space" as Bela Lugosi's mate. She also appeared in films including "Sex Kittens Go to College," "The Beat Generation" and "The Big Operator." Her life story was told in the 2006 documentary "Vampira: The Movie."

Monsters and Critics, Jan. 12, 2008

'Vampira' Maila Nurmi, dead at 86
by Stone Martindale
(Excerpts)

Hollywood has lost another legend. Maila Nurmi, who created the character, Vampira, passed away in her sleep yesterday at the age of 86.
. . .

In 2006, Nurmi was the subject of a documentary called "Vampira: The Movie." The documentary, directed by Kevin Sean Michaels, which noted that her stylized character set the standard for many horror hostesses, including Cassandra Peterson's "Elvira." Nurmi actually sued Cassandra Peterson, the actress and the case was dismissed when Nurmi was allegedly unable to pay for legal expenses.

Even animators tipped their hats to her in cartoon characters and graphic novels.

Fangoria.com, Jan. 11, 2008

January 11: RIP Maila "Vampira" Nurmi
by Sean Decker
(Excerpts)

Fango is saddened to report that actress, horror host and Goth icon Maila "Vampira" Nurmi has died. According to Nurmi friend and Arkham Studios FX artist Bryan Moore, the actress passed peacefully in her sleep Thursday, January 10 at her home in Hollywood, CA. She was 86.
. . .

Such was her universal appeal that she received an Emmy Award in 1954 for "Most Outstanding Female Personality" of that year, and while she’s a cult figure now, the actress counted among her acquaintances icons Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and director Orson Welles (whom she dated), as well as James Dean and sci-fi mogul/Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J "Forry" Ackerman. Nurmi’s additional screen credits include the 1998 feature I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY I DIED (the last Ed Wood script to be produced, in which she appeared opposite Billy Zane) and the documentaries SCHLOCK! THE SECRET HISTORY OF AMERICAN MOVIES (released in 2003 and directed by Ray Greene), AMERICAN SCARY (2006, directed by Robert E. Hudgens) and most recently director Kevin Sean Michael[s]’s docu VAMPIRA: THE MOVIE (2006).

MovieMaker Magazine, Jan. 8, 2008

Tromadance Film Festival Turns Nine!
by Jennifer M. Wood
(Excerpts)

When it comes to truly independent moviemaking, few studios have been doing it longer—or better—than New York City-based Troma Entertainment. Founded by Lloyd Kaufman in 1974, Troma is the world’s oldest continually operating fully independent studio—and the company responsible for such cult classics as The Toxic Avenger, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. and Tromeo & Juliet. So it’s not surprising that the folks at Troma have been bringing more movies to the people in the form of the TromaDance Film Festival, an eight-day celebration of the wicked, weird and hysterically funny, happening in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah this January 18 - 25th. MM spoke with Jonathan Lees, TromaDance’s co-director and program director, to find out more about this year’s event.

. . .

MM: This year’s event will kick off with an entire day of "Best Of" movies from the fest’s nine-year history. What are some of those highlights? What are some of the screenings and/or events you’re most looking forward to in 2008?

JL: The Salt Lake City Library, in their gracious donation of their amply sized auditorium, has given TromaDance a chance to branch out this year. We will be showcasing a selection of previous years’ shorts to introduce new audience members to some of the great works presented in the past; but more importantly, we were able to create a whole day of new programming suitable for the venue. This year we will begin the "Ackk!-ademic" series of documentaries and fiction features that focus on independent artists such as rebel Baltimore filmmaker Don Dohler in the excellent movie, Blood, Boobs & Beast, plus explorations on underground comic artists, sideshow performers, iconic figure Vampira and a little scholarly film called A-Bo The Humonkey, which is the heartwarming story of a deformed half-breed trying his damndest to get an education.