Cisg (1980): Friedk's Bold, Sleazy Thriller about Gay S&M Subculture, Starrg Al Paco | Emanuel Levy

cruising 1980 gay scene

A psychopath is surg New York Cy gay clubs and vicly slayg homosexuals. Detective Steve Burns (Al Paco) is orred to don leather attire, hang at the cy's S&M jots and keep an eye out for the killer. But as Steve be immersed club hoppg, he begs to intify wh the subculture more than he expected. Meanwhile, Steve behav distantly around his girliend, Nancy (Karen Allen), the police force's homophobia be apparent and the killer remas at large.

Contents:

AL PACO'S GAYT MOVIE: THE 'CISG' CONTROVERSY OF 1980

A serial killer btally slays and dismembers several gay men New York’s S&M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns is sent unrver onto the streets as y for the murrer. * cruising 1980 gay scene *

9/101, 391 RatgsDirected by William Friedk Uned Stat, Wt Germany, 1980Crime, LGBTQ+, Mystery, Drama102SynopsisA serial killer btally slays and dismembers several gay men New York’s S&M and leather districts.

SynopsisA serial killer btally slays and dismembers several gay men New York’s S&M and leather districts. In 1980 William Friedk and Al Paco ma Cisg, a stylish but famo thriller that tak viewers to the unrground world of gay leather and S&M clubs on the hunt for a serial killer. Cisg is famo for s dark and gratuo pictn of gay life at the end of the dis era.

The film was protted by moralists who thought the film signaled the end tim, and gay rights activists who thought the film picted homosexualy as nothg more than a llectn of perverts hangg out a leather many misunrstood films of the era, Cisg has attaed a kd of cult stat even if is a b of a ms.

CISG (1980): FRIEDK’S BOLD, SLEAZY THRILLER ABOUT GAY S&M SUBCULTURE, STARRG AL PACO

In 1980 William Friedk and Al Paco ma 'Cisg,' a stylish thriller that tak viewers to the unrground world of gay leather and S&M clubs on the hunt for a serial killer. Gay activists objected to as anti-gay, while straight moralizers thought was praved. It's hardly the kd of movie that you'd expect om the director of 'The Exorcist' and 'The French Connectn,' and the star of the 'Godfather' films. * cruising 1980 gay scene *

My take was that his unrver work had opened homosexual sir him that he hadn't been aware of. homosexual sadomasochistic sex he is assigned to filtrate? nightclubs which gay men gather to dance, drk and make pairgs while.

and to film as much as possible on lotn, the New York gay muny rose. “Cisg, ” they said, would prent a distorted view of gay. is, and that, if gays were “to” vlence, attacks on them would somehow be.

A RETURN TO CHIGO’S 1980S GAY PARADISE, THE BELMONT ROCKS

What do we thk about Crern playg this for pri? Didn't gays do prott march and such when this thg was theaters? * cruising 1980 gay scene *

girliend, we learn, and his work the gay bars seems to affect his. Whether he do or don't have gay sex Is central to this story'.

Paco is movg toward a gay orientatn and do not fd S&M all that. A thriller wh slasher and psychologil elements about the serial killgs of gay men volved the S&M scene.

Paco is an unrver police officer wh the task of tchg a serial killer that is targettg gay men the unrground nightlife of New York. Didn't gays do prott march and such when this thg was theaters? Much of the prott at the time of filmg was due to this beg about a gay serial killer when there was ltle if any posive pictn of gay men.

Cisg (1980) Official Trailer #1 - Al Paco Movie HD A police tective go unrver the sleazy and unrground gay subculture of New York Cy to tch a serial killer who is murrg numero gay men wh S&M tactics. Cast: Al Paco, Pl Sorvo, Karen Allen, Barton Heyman, Jam Remar, Mike Starr, Powers Boothe Director: William Friedk * cruising 1980 gay scene *

If anythg, Cisg exposed my own homophobia and jtified my fear of hookg up wh random stranger.

Also, beg a somewhat self-hatg gay I immediately picked up on the fact the murrer killed men who rembled is Anonymoreply 5June 26, 2021 5:01 PM. I was too young to be aware of the ntroversy at that time about gay pictn film.

Later, when I got olr, I would be lectured by elrgay slds but I still like the movie - not only for the gay sh but ’s also a good, entertag mystery thriller.

A police tective hunts a killer through the sleazy gay nightclub scene of 1970s New York Cy William Friedk's grty and ntroversial crime drama "Cisg" (1980), starrg Al Paco. Detective Steve Burns go ep unrver and learns the ruals and culture of hard-re S&M to... * cruising 1980 gay scene *

I thk the prottors were aaid that middle Ameri would assume that all gay men are to BDSM and are all perverts after watchg the movie. I thk DeNiro would have ultimately had gay sex and been sucked to the world, which is implied somewhat, but not shown or Anonymoreply 12June 26, 2021 5:46 PM. I thk today would be ncelled for showg gay men as sex starved viants when fact this was and is a big part of gay life for R14 - I jt typed that above when I saw you post.

But if the person jt intified as gay (and whe), they would not Anonymoreply 20June 26, 2021 5:56 PM. It's an credibly tertg film and I thk a lot of nuance the characters is lost bee the plot reli so heavily on the dience gog wh the assumptn that beg gay is disorred some of whether the film actually SAYS that or not pends on who you thk the murrer Anonymoreply 21June 26, 2021 5:57 PM.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* CRUISING 1980 GAY SCENE

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class><div class="available-ntent"><div dir="to" class="body markup"><div class="ptned-image-ntaer"><figure><a class="image-lk is-viewable-img image2" target="_blank" href=" data-ponent-name="Image2ToDOM" rel><div class="image2-set"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /><img src=" width="1456" height="977" data-attrs="{"src":"" class="sizg-normal" alt srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" fetchprry="high" /></picture><div class="image-lk-expand"><svg xmlns=" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#FFFFFF" stroke-width="2" stroke-lep="round" stroke-lejo="round" class="luci luci-maximize2"><polyle pots="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyle><polyle pots="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyle><le x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></le><le x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></le></svg></div></div></a></figure></div><p><em>Mdg the Gaps is a recurrg feature which Keh Phipps watch and wr about a movie he’s never seen before as selected at random by the app he to talog a DVD and Blu-ray llectn accumulated over the urse of the last 20+ years. It’s an attempt to fill the gaps his film knowledge while removg the horrifyg burn of choice. This is the fifth entry.</em></p><p><span>What’s to be done wh films that are morally reprehensible (or nta some eply reprehensible elements) but artistilly val? I have no one-size-fs-all answer, only exampl that, for me at least, make the qutn more plited. Take Blake Edwards’s 1968 film </span><em>The Party</em><span>. On the one hand, ’s probably the director’s masterpiece, a brilliantly staged strg of ic set piec that’s the clost Hollywood ever me to makg a Jacqu Tati film. On the other, stars Peter Sellers unr brown make-up adoptg a broad accent to play a bunglg Indian character. If that was ever a sound ia ( wasn’t), ’s so far removed om ntemporary sensibili to make </span><em>The Party</em><span> a really hard s the days. It’s hilar and ventive. But is watchable? (On the other other hand, was a big h India at the time, and Satyaj Ray was a fan. The matters get plited.)</span></p><div><hr /></div><h4 class="hear-wh-anchor-widget"><em>The Reveal</em><span> is a rear-supported newsletter dited to brgg you great says, reviews and nversatn about movi (and a ltle TV). While both ee and paid subscriptns are available, please nsir a paid subscriptn to support our long-term staabily.</span><div id="§the-reveal-is-a-rear-supported-newsletter-dited-to-brgg-you-great-says-reviews-and-nversatn-about-movi-and-a-ltle-tv-while-both-ee-and-paid-subscriptns-are-available-please-nsir-a-paid-subscriptn-to-support-our-long-term-staabily" class="hear-anchor-widget offset-top"><div class="hear-anchor-widget-button-ntaer"><div href=" class="hear-anchor-widget-button"><svg xmlns=" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-lep="round" stroke-lejo="round" class="hear-anchor-widget-in"><path d="M10 13a5 5 0 0 0 7.54.54l3-3a5 5 0 0 0-7.07-7.07l-1.72 1.71"></path><path d="M14 11a5 5 0 0 0-7.54-.54l-3 3a5 5 0 0 0 7.07 7.07l1.71-1.71"></path></svg></div></div></div></h4><div data-ponent-name="SubscribeWidget" class="subscribe-widget"><div class="pencraft ontend-pencraft-Box-module__ret--VfQY8 ontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-jtify-center--SQPji"><div class="ontend-ponents-ee_email_form-module__ntaer--OfBh4"><form actn="/api/v1/ee?nojs=te" method="post" noValidate class="form ontend-ponents-ee_email_form-module__form--LDIzl"><put type="hidn" name="first_url" /><put type="hidn" name="first_referrer" /><put type="hidn" name="current_url" /><put type="hidn" name="current_referrer" /><put type="hidn" name="referral_" /><put type="hidn" name="source" value="subscribe-widget" /><put type="hidn" name="referrg_pub_id" /><put type="hidn" name="addnal_referrg_pub_ids" /><div class="ontend-ponents-ee_email_form-module__siBySiWrap--yhsgv"><div class="ontend-ponents-ee_email_form-module__emailInputWrapper--BXNrb"><put type="email" name="email" placeholr="Type your email..." class="pencraft ontend-ponents-ee_email_form-module__emailInput--BLQGf" /></div><button tabInx="0" type="subm" class="button rightButton primary subscribe-btn ontend-ponents-ee_email_form-module__button--WcLG9"><span class="button-text ">Subscribe</span></button></div><div id="error-ntaer"></div></form><div class="ontend-log-typo_handler-EmailTypoHandler-module__animatnWrapper--UT0du"></div></div></div></div><div><hr /></div><p><span>Stereotyp and brownface asi — and what a clse that is to follow wh the word “asi” — there’s never any sense of hatefulns wh </span><em>The Party</em><span>. I’m not sure I n say that about William Friedk’s 1980 film </span><em>Cisg</em><span>, a murr mystery set agast the backdrop of New York's Wt Village leather scene.  Before we get to that, here’s an sight on the problem of problematic films om </span><a href=" rel>a 2021 Vox article</a><span> by my iend Ey St. Jam. This passage sticks wh me as I thk about </span><em>Cisg</em><span>:</span></p><p><span>Silence of the Lambs</span><em> is a perfect movie — except ’s also a movie that helped perpetuate one of the worst, most transphobic stereotyp of all. I n hold the two ias my head, but when time to talk about the movie, pecially on social media platforms, ’s far easier to simply dig my heels and argue eher “I love this movie!” or “This movie is transphobic!” whout leavg room for nuance.</em></p><p><em>There has to be a better way.</em></p><p><span>Ey is a trans woman who elsewhere not that “to say seeg </span><em>Silence</em><span> at a formative age ma acceptg my own transns harr would be an unrstatement” but also that “</span><em>Silence of the Lambs</em><span> gave me a amework to thk about myself before I knew who I was the way treated Clarice Starlg, a woman st adrift an ocean of men. It treated Buffalo Bill like a human beg.” All of the thgs n be te at once whout negatg each other.</span></p><p><em>Cisg</em><span> is not a perfect movie. In fact, I don’t thk I like very much at all. It was ma 1979 </span><a href=" rel> amidst protts</a><span> spurred by </span><em>Village Voice </em><span>wrer Arthur Bell, who feared would be “the most opprsive, ugly, bigoted look at homosexualy ever prented on the screen.” He enuraged his rears to dispt the productn whenever they uld, and they took him up on the challenge. Much of the dialogue is ADR part bee of the screamg, trash n-bangg, and horn-blowg.</span></p><div class="ptned-image-ntaer"><figure><a class="image-lk is-viewable-img image2" target="_blank" href=" data-ponent-name="Image2ToDOM" rel><div class="image2-set"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /><img src=" width="1456" height="970" data-attrs="{"src":"" class="sizg-normal" alt srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" loadg="lazy" /></picture><div class="image-lk-expand"><svg xmlns=" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#FFFFFF" stroke-width="2" stroke-lep="round" stroke-lejo="round" class="luci luci-maximize2"><polyle pots="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyle><polyle pots="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyle><le x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></le><le x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></le></svg></div></div></a><figptn class="image-ptn"><span>A behd the scene look at the filmg of </span><em>Cisg</em><span>. Not picture: a lot of angry protters</span></figptn></figure></div><p><span>It’s always an iffy thg, judgg a piece of art you’ve never seen, much ls one that’s not even plete. But was Bell right? Well, ’s hard to say he was </span><em>wrong</em><span>. </span></p><p>Al Paco stars as Steve Burns, an amb New York p who tak an unrver assignment pursu of a serial killer who’s targetg athletic, dark-haired leather club habués. (Al Paco typ, other words.) He tak an apartment a gay neighborhood and starts checkg out the night life, dog his bt to nceal his shock at what he se the clubs or when a nvenience store salman (Powers Boothe, an early-reer one-scene role) explas the lor dg system of the srv he sells. (“The green hankie your right rear pocket means you're a htler. The green hankie your left rear means you're lookg to buy. The yellow hankie your left rear pocket means you give goln shower…” etc.) But shock isn’t the same as repulsn, and Steve starts to fd himself stirred by his new beat.</p><p><span>No dialogue ments on this, we’re never shown what happens when Steve wanrs off wh other men at the end of scen, and Steve seemgly never adms his new (?) feelgs to himself. If you’re not payg attentn, you might miss this subtext entirely. Friedk bak ambiguy to the film ways that are stylistilly fascatg but also kd of gross. Though they speak the same overdubbed voice, different actors play the killer each murr scene. (Shas of </span><em>Zodiac</em><span>.) Is there more than one killer? Is a ment on the way participants the scene lose their inti the rol they play? Or is a not-so-subtle equatn wh the leather scene—and homosexualy general—wh ath? The film’s famo climax—and, y, spoilers ahead —suggts that Steve might have bee a killer. Or maybe he was the killer all along?</span></p><div class="ptned-image-ntaer"><figure><a class="image-lk is-viewable-img image2" target="_blank" href=" data-ponent-name="Image2ToDOM" rel><div class="image2-set"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /><img src=" width="1456" height="972" data-attrs="{"src":"" class="sizg-normal" alt srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" loadg="lazy" /></picture><div class="image-lk-expand"><svg xmlns=" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="#FFFFFF" stroke-width="2" stroke-lep="round" stroke-lejo="round" class="luci luci-maximize2"><polyle pots="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyle><polyle pots="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyle><le x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></le><le x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></le></svg></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Ultimately, </span><em>Cisg</em><span> ambiguo- self to ath. It mak villas of homophobic ps who harass cross-drsg sex workers (and mand sexual favors of them) and picts Steve’s gay neighbor (and maybe love tert?) Ted (Don Srdo) wh tremendo sympathy— if not enough sympathy to avoid turng him to the trope of a tragic, doomed gay man. But mostly wants to gawp at what se, lgerg on lurid tails ways that feel signed to shock rather than ve nsiratn. As Phil Nobile Jr. put </span><a href=" rel> a 2012 look at the film</a><span>, the “extreme subculture is more exploed than explored.” In 1980, pictns of gay sexualy of any kd mastream films were pretty rare and ually pretty tame. Though ls explic the released versn than Friedk’s origal cut, </span><em>Cisg </em><span>drops viewers the ep end wh explic pictns of an tentnally sular gay subculture. Today, a thriller set a gay nightclub scene would be one of many pictns of LGBTQ+ existence. Unschooled viewers 1980 wh no pot of parison were given no reason not to mistake for the whole of LGBTQ+ existence by a film that ved them to view wh, at bt, wars and spicn. (Even the termology makg distctns between L, G, B, T, Q, and + wasn’t place yet.) </span></p><p><span>On the other hand, and there’s seemgly always another hand the suatns, </span><em>Cisg </em><span>is a remarkable document of a particular rner of the New York unrground ma by a hell of a skilled director. For extras, Friedk drew on thentic members of the S&M crowd—those who weren’t prottg—and shot the film at the mafia-owned gay clubs that served as loc of the scene. (Those that didn’t refe permissn on prciple, that is.) There’s a hntg bety, too, to the way Friedk shoots the park ed for after-dark hook-up lotns, and the murr scen play as disturbgly as parts of </span><em>The Exorcist</em><span>. The film has been reasssed (and sometim fend) over the years, and ’s doubtlsly benefted om beg a piece of history rather than a work whose implitns for the here and now make dangero. Is a good movie? Can a movie be good but also kd of evil at once? I don’t know. But I </span><em>do</em><span> believe ’s better to look at and try to figure that out rather than look away.</span></p><p><strong>Next: </strong><em>Death Valley </em><span>(1982)</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":" The Reveal","actn":null,"class":null}" data-ponent-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href=" rel><span>Share The Reveal</span></a></p><p></p><div class="ptned-image-ntaer"><figure><a class="image-lk image2" target="_blank" href=" data-ponent-name="Image2ToDOM" rel><div class="image2-set"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" /><img src=" width="485" height="150" data-attrs="{"src":"" class="sizg-normal" alt srcset=" 424w, 848w, 1272w, 1456w" siz="100vw" loadg="lazy" /></picture><div></div></div></a><figptn class="image-ptn"><a href=" rel>Pre-orr here</a><span> or at the bookstore of your choice</span></figptn></figure></div><p></p></div></div><div class="visibily-check"></div><div class="post-footer"><div class="pencraft ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flexGrow--mx4xz ontend-pencraft-Box-module__ret--VfQY8 ontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-jtify-space-between--NvIcg ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-align-center--rSd6h ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-16--TpblU ontend-pencraft-Box-module__paddg-y-16--ohCEm ontend-pencraft-Box-module__borr-top-tail-themed--e17yZ ontend-pencraft-Box-module__borr-bottom-tail-themed--eVwFY post-ufi"><div class="pencraft ontend-pencraft-Box-module__ret--VfQY8 ontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt ontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-8--HFpIK"><div class="like-button-ntaer post-ufi-button style-button"><a role="button" class="post-ufi-button style-button has-label wh-borr"><svg role="img" style="height: 20px; width: 20px;" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="#000000" stroke-width="2" stroke="#000" xmlns=" class="in"><g><tle> .

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