October is in just a few short weeks, and we all know what that means. It’s time to pop open our streaming services or other movie watching devices and start watching some good old fashioned horror movies! Whether it be the the ghostly Paranormal Activities, and The Blair Witch Project, or even some good old slashers like Halloween or Friday the 13th. There’s also another important part about October coming up, and that’s LGBTQ history month. As much as I hate admitting it too, there’s never been a more important time to be willing to be vocal about queer rights and the right to be one’s true and honest self, so why not express that belief by watching some queer Horror films. I’m not condoning the quality of these movies to you or if you’d like them, as this list is mostly just sharing the cool stuff that’s out there if you’re willing to give it a shot.
#1: Nightmare on Elm Street Two: Freddy’s Revenge.
Nightmare on Elm Street Two: Freddy’s Revenge or what some might call, the gay Nightmare film, is not subtle with its Queer undertones. The main focus of the plot itself is that Freddy is possessing our young protagonist Jesse who is played by Mark Patton who was at the time a closeted gay man. The movie doesn’t do much to hide the undertones of its queerness either with an scene of Freddy sexually caressing Jesse’s lips with his finger glove, or even the scene where he sleepwalks into a gay dive bar. I can’t pretend it has the best representation in the world, as it’s a movie made in 1985, but if you’re looking for something a little more classic this is one I recommend. You can watch it currently on HBO Max or Apple TV.
#2 Jennifer’s Body
Jennifer’s Body is a cult classic of a horror movie making the rounds again after being released nearly fourteen years ago. The movie suffered from selling it as this sort of “sexy” Megan Fox piece when it really isn’t that at all. Instead the movie follows two teenage girls, Jenniffer (Megan Fox), and Needy (Amanda Seyfried), as they navigate their friendship after a tragic night ends up with Jenniffer getting sacrificed to demons and becoming vampiric. The movie isn’t subtle about the relationship Jenniffer and Needy might have and has strong bisexual undertones throughout the whole movie since both girls are with or end up with boys throughout the film, but there’s always just this air of tension between the two girls that gives the impression they both care for each other more than they’re willing to say. That’s not even getting into the scene where the two share a kiss on screen before pulling away from each other. I really do love this movie, and I can’t hide my biases, there’s just so many iconic lines and moments throughout this movie, and I really am able to appreciate what it’s trying to do. You can watch Jenniffer’s Body right now on HBO Max or you can rent/purchase it on Amazon Prime.
#3 Fear Street Part 1:1994
For this next recommendation I point to a much more recent film than the other two in this list. The whole trilogy of Fear Street movies is a set of really fun movies that feature a main lesbian couple on screen. No queer coding or undertones, just a really complicated romance that just happens to also be gay. In the film, A group of kids in the aptly named Shadyside town have seemed to unleash a set of unstoppable killers on the town and the seemingly long lineage that details just how this whole situation came to be, even going back to 1666 as a time period. This set of films was released back to back within about three weeks of each other, so it’s highly recommended to watch all as one complete package if you have the time to. As just explained, the first movie focuses a good amount of time on the romantic subplot between our two main characters Deena and Sam and it actually feels hopeful despite the problems they face with each other, and the monsters chasing after them, which is such a nice change of pace from other movies that touch on the subject. The three films are currently streaming solely on Netflix, but I think they’re well worth your time especially for the season.
Now of course this barely even begins to cover all the different spooky LGBTQ movies out there, let alone ones that were simply written, directed, or starred queer creators, but these are three movies I’m more familiar with, and would absolutely recommend to anyone who wants to have a gay old time, this halloween.