This 2011 documentary covers the three greatest Scream Queens of all time (and the only REAL ones in my opinion) as we see how they came to be so popular and their eventual fall in popularity. This doc features all three women talking about their ups and their downs and the careers they made out of being Scream Queens.

Studio: B+Boy Productions (available via MakeFlix.com)
Release Date: August 13th, 2011 (video) / August 18th, 2020 (blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 5 minutes 6 seconds
Region Code: FREE
Picture: 1080p (1.78:1 aspect ratio)
Sound: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: None
Slipcover: No
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer, David DeCoteau, and Fred Olin Ray
Written by Jason Paul Collum
Directed by Jason Paul Collum
Rating: Not Rated (contains footage from various films with strong language, violence, and nudity)

THE FILM

Three girls living in Los Angeles, CA in the 1980s found cult fame when they "accidentally" transitioned from models to B-movie actresses, coinciding with the major direct-to-video horror film boom of the era. Known as "The Terrifying Trio," Linnea Quigley (The Return of the Living Dead), Brinke Stevens (The Slumber Party Massacre) and Michelle Bauer (The Tomb), headlined upwards of ten films per year, fending off men in rubber monster suits, pubescent teenage boys, and deadly showers. They joined together in campy cult films like Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-a-Rama (1988) and Nightmare Sisters (1987). They traveled all over the world, met President Reagan, and built mini-empires of trading cards, comic books, and model kits. Then it all came crashing down. This documentary remembers these actresses - and their most common collaborators - on how smart they were to play stupid.

When someone thinks of the phrase "Scream Queen", they usually think of people like Jamie Lee Curtis or Janet Lee. Most don't know that the phrase actually refers to three actresses who starred in tons of b-movies throughout the 80s: Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer, and Brinke Stevens.

SCREAMING IN HIGH HEELS covers the era in which these three wonderful actresses were most prominent. Linnea was of course Trash in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Brinke was in SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE as well as being the first cover girl for Femme Fatale magazine back in the day. Michelle Bauer was the female lead in THE TOMB. All three have become friends and appeared in a bunch of films together.

This doc is a love letter to these three ladies. We see their rise in the business as well as their fall due to video becoming a much different beast in the 90’s than it was in the 80’s. It's sad because these ladies are really good at what they do but were never given the chance to shine in bigger films. They have continued to do films, Michelle Bauer not so much, and they have remained friends.

I love docs like this as they give me titles that I have either never heard of before or have forgotten about. These things are always good for information about different films, even when the information comes from an unworthy doc. This is a totally worthy doc that more people need to see. I feel like these actors have lost some credibility throughout the last ten or so years and its time for them to shine again. All three will be appearing in SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA 2, so that is definitely a step in the right direction.

THE PICTURE AND THE SOUND

Presented in the film’s aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the film looks good. It was shot in HD so there is no loss in quality going from medium to another. The interview footage looks great while the footage from all the films the actors have appeared in varies from film to film. Some films look pretty good and others look like they came from a second or third-generation VHS.

The sound is lossy Dolby Digital and sounds just fine.

THE PACKAGING

THE MENUS

THE FEATURES

Brinke Interview (14m 5s, HD, 1.78:1)

Linnea Interview (14m 9s, HD, 1.78:1)

Michelle Interview (13m 58s, HD, 1.78:1)

Trailer (1m 55s, HD, 1.78:1)

Convention 1 (9m 52s, HD, 1.66:1)

Convention 2 (22m 50s, SD, 1.33:1)

Photo Gallery (2m 4s, HD)

Reunion (33m 59s, HD, 1.78:1)

Like the feature itself, the special features are worth sitting down for. The deleted interview footage contains some really nice stories from each of the three Scream Queens and adds to the overall story of the doc very nicely. The convention footage and the reunion, filmed through Skype or Zoom, is really fun as well.

THE WRAP-UP

SCREAMING IN HIGH HEELS is a really great doc about the heyday of the video store that housed the heyday of the Scream Queens films. I don’t think that any of these actors could be nicer and they deserve so much more than what life has given them. Watch this doc with a pen and paper in hand, take down the titles of the films shown, and then order them from whatever label has put them out. Watch these films and appreciate the kind of actor we will never see again: the Scream Queen.