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:
GAY MONSTERS
His ascent is siar to that of the gay Babadook, a phenomenon that took over pri season this year — for the uniated, he was the creature the top hat wh long claws whom you might have seen vogueg paras across the untry. Where I’m om, a small town the middle of nowhere, the gay man was the bogeyman. He was nstantly wag to prey upon the hapls straights their locker rooms, salivatg at the prospect of nvertg them to the gay dark si wh his be.
All the thgs were gay, bee they were you were spected of beg The Gay, you were met wh proverbial torch and pchforks. Gay. I unrstand why so many gay men see themselv pop divas.
‘PUMPG’ IS DANGERO NEW FAD AMONG GAY MEN
After the electn, beme clear that the Whe Hoe probably wasn’t gog to be l up the lors of the rabow anytime partly explas why the gay Babadook beme the pri in of 2017, after beg mistakenly labeled as an LGBTQ film on Netflix. Sure, there are plenty of gay and queer people who bristle at the prospect of beg pared to monsters.
Given that homosexualy was nsired eher a physil or psychologil malady the early 20th century, the effectively legislated any limed queer prence out of existence. While homosexualy was not explicly banned the Hays’ text, was mandated that “no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see . It also doubl as a timele of the evolutn of queer horror: How LGBTQA them and characters went om hidg between the l movi wh “gay sensibili” the 1930s to breakg out as Pri mem almost a century later — gog om visible (lbian ghosts!
Benshoff explas his book Monsters the Closet: Homosexualy the Horror Film, “Immediately before and durg the years of World War II, Universal Stud’s horror films began to employ a more humanistic pictn of their monsters, ” and the films of Val Lewton, like Cat People, reflected “a growg awarens of homosexualy, homosexual muni, and the dynamics of homosexual opprsn as was played out society and the ary. The Old Dark Hoe (1932)It should e as no surprise that a known gay director, Jam Whale, brought to life some of the most inic Universal Monsters durg their peak the 1930s. Whale imbued his movi, often about the ultimate outsirs, wh a gay sensibily: In Dark Hoe, five people are brought together when they’re forced off the road by a storm and end up takg shelter the same isolated home.