Celebrating queer horror movies shouldn’t be solely for the month of June. Taking the time to understand your history as part of the LGBTQ community, or the role allies must play, is continually important every day of the year. Knowing what came before helps shape the present-the future. In a perfect world, Pride Month is every month. And creators and artists have long used every kind of genre to explore and celebrate queer identity and history. Including horror movies.
The depiction of queerness in horror is complicated. While I believe horror, at its very core, is queer in general, the characters who are either explicitly queer or queer-coded don’t always survive their movies. Nor are the portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters always free of stereotypes or bigotry. Doesn’t matter if they are the victim, antagonistic, the villain, etc. Ignoring that horrible Scream 4 (2011) quote of how if you want to survive a modern horror movie, you have to be gay—queerness still means danger in some horror content and that’s more reflective of real life than anything else. But queer characters still deserve to triumph and survive.
Revisiting throwback horror that’s queer (whether explicit or coded) is part of understanding what’s contributed to queer culture. Some older horror movies haven’t aged well and some don’t break the problematic thermometer. But there are also ones that are legendary. I’ve chosen some older horror movies that are most certainly queer. And are some of the best as far as throwbacks go—here are my favorite LGBTQ+ horror movies from the 1970s and ’80s.
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
What makes this early ‘70s horror movie worthy of mention? The outright queerness—and the fact that a character experiences a queer awakening. Throughout history, vampires have dripped sex, and many (if not all) are queer. This film follows a young dysfunctional couple, Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) and Stefan (John Karlen) who stop at a French hotel during their honeymoon. From there, they meet Countess Bathory (Delphine Seyrig), an infamous vampire, who eventually seduces Valerie and turns her. Some may say this movie isn’t a positive representation, especially when the Countess doesn’t survive and is essentially using her companion, Ilona (Andrea Rau). But it’s in Valerie embracing her queerness, realizing her own power, and leaving heteronormativity and a shitty relationship behind that snuffs out any negativity for me.
The Hunger (1983)
One of the sexiest high fashion or perfume commercials ever? Quite possibly. Erotic horror movies are, after all, an experience. And this one has David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, and Catherine Deneuve in it. The plot overall isn’t very complex, it’s mainly about a vampire couple and a doctor that specializes in research about sleeping/aging. Naturally, there’s a love triangle, betrayal, and sex. But where The Hunger lacks in a strong plot, it makes up for in how very queer the movie is. And the ways it depicts desire and pleasure.
Fright Night (1985)
An absolute horror classic that not only explores queerness (even when it’s hard to watch because of certain allegories) but has several (confirmed) gay actors in it. The film follows Charley (William Ragsdale) and his fixation on the fact that his next-door neighbor, Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) is a vampire. When nobody believes him, he seeks the help of a TV show host named Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), who played a vampire hunter in films. This film is so bold in its queerness, from Jerry and Billy (Jonathan Stark), Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys), Peter Vincent, and even Charley and his girlfriend, Amy (Amanda Bearse). There are so many themes of queerness threaded throughout, and that’s why this is still one of those horror movies noted as queer horror.
The Lost Boys (1987)
A soundtrack that slaps, memorable characters, and a whole lot of queer subtext. That sums up The Lost Boys (1987) almost perfectly. It helps that the director, Joel, was an out gay man when he was alive. The film follows Michael (Jason Patric), Sam (Corey Haim), and Lucy (Dianne Wiest), a family that moves to California to live with Lucy’s father. Eventually, Michael is drawn in by some mysterious woman named Star (Jami Gertz). Who happens to be a thrall to David (Kiefer Sutherland), the leader of a gang of vampires. Of course, Michael gets turned and his brother, Sam, has to recruit his friends in an effort to save him. Between David and his very fabulous-looking gang, Michael’s push and pull when it comes to David, and Sam as a character, there’s no avoiding the queer coding.
Hellraiser (1987)
This list wouldn’t be complete without including the iconic horror film, Hellraiser (1987)—which was based on Clive Barker’s novella, The Hellbound Heart. The plot follows Frank (Sean Chapman), a sadomasochist who summons the Cenobites by way of a mysterious puzzle box. He’s ultimately ripped apart because they can’t differentiate between pain and pleasure. When his brother moves into his old house with his wife, Julia (Claire Higgins), with whom Frank had sex with before, Frank convinces her to lure men back so he can build his body back with their blood. Clive Barker being a gay man himself certainly adds to this film. The Cenobites (especially Pinhead) are likely what homophobes will picture if you mention queer BDSM—but the underbelly of this film is one that explores what society represses and the complicated nature of pain and pleasure as they’re intertwined. By exploring sexuality in a way that challenged what was normal—Barker made a gory, fun, iconic queer horror film.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
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