A look at how queer horror films have evolved over time, asssg more than 50 films that span the gay ghosts of the early 20th century to The Babadook.
Contents:
SEARCH ALL 259 GAY HORROR MOVI LGBT HORROR MOVI
* horror movie with gay characters *
Before homosexualy was formally legislated out of existence Hollywood by the Productn Co — monly referred to as the Hays Co, which tablished mandat for “moral standards” motn pictur and banned pictns of “sexual perversy” — the legendary filmmaker Jam Whale was buildg the foundatn for Amerin genre cema wh films like Frankenste, The Old Dark Hoe, and The Invisible Man. Here was Whale, a gay man, buildg horror his own image and havg astoundg box office succs as some groups were lobbyg Hollywood to censor queerns out of existence. Now we n choose om a lbian domtic drama volvg a baby werewolf Good Manners, a transfemist vampire movie B, or a French slasher set a gay porn muny wh Knife + Heart.
A rare slasher film wh a group of entirely openly gay characters, Hellbent is an outlier of s time that’s also a fe example of a story wh queer protagonists that go beyond the tradnal “g-out” narrative. Mdy beg openly queer is a ls fg character tra, which is admirable and mak Scream an antidote to the e of homosexualy as a punchle s precsor, where the character Robbie Mercer blurts that he’s gay jt to avoid Ghostface’s wrath. More fixated on his pannship wh his male partner and antagonizg a society uneasy by his mere prence, Griff is a figure wh his own queer unrcurrent like the monster Frankenste, another horror masterpiece om openly gay director Jam Whale.
While some earlier films do clu overtly gay them, thgs went unrground durg the Hays Co era, and the reverberatns of that subversive queerns rema uful to this day. A tan of classic horror, gay filmmaker Jam Whale wove queerns to most of his films, which clu the origal “Frankenste” and “The Invisible Man.” All his films see Whale stg gay actors and playg up queer them var ways. But as wh so much of Hchck, ’s hard to say that this is an outright homophobic visn, pecially when the script has the souciance of Osr Wil: “Before this day is out I fear we’ll hear that terribly old-fashned but que exprsive term ‘foul play,’” Sanrs says, all while munchg on a chicken leg.
The spookit, and gayt, time of year is here! * horror movie with gay characters *
“Mother” seems to mock him at one pot when he “tak her to the u cellar,” and she asks, “So you thk I’m uy, do you?” The remarkable thg about all this is that Hchck mak you intify wh Perks (who was gay and closeted real life) as much as he did Marn Crane herself, to the pot that, as Hchck often did at his perverse bt, you’re kda rootg for him.