Hey there! I'm new to this Tribe and I've been trying to catch up on all the great discussion topics. I haven't seen much talk on any of those great-ish 80's underground horror flicks yet, particularly anything of a decidedly homo-erotic nature.
One that always stands out, in my mind, is 'Basket Case' ... early 80's, directed by Frank Henenlotter. Not a particulary well acted film, as I recall (How many of them really were?), but dark and gritty, with a rather bizarre plot-line about a young man separated from his siamese-twin brother ... that he carries around with him in a wicker basket. The brother is really nothing more than a murderous lump of hideously deformed, [rubber] flesh.
I've always remembered the scene of the young, main character being pursued down a dark street ... showing full frontal nudity! Full male nudity was, sady, never properly exploited in horror films. And, to a gay, teenage, punk kid, starved for homo-erotic eye candy, it was a near boner popping experience!
I remember a FFN shot near the opening of 'Ghost Story', as well, when Alice Krige's ghostly apparition forces a guy through the window of a high-rise, plummeting backwards to his death. That was one creepy chick, even without the ghostly apparition ... supplied by Dick Smith! I might be wrong, but I think this is the same woman that played the Borg Queen in 'Star Trek: First Contact'.
Does anybody have any other fond memories of growing up gay, with horror films?
One that always stands out, in my mind, is 'Basket Case' ... early 80's, directed by Frank Henenlotter. Not a particulary well acted film, as I recall (How many of them really were?), but dark and gritty, with a rather bizarre plot-line about a young man separated from his siamese-twin brother ... that he carries around with him in a wicker basket. The brother is really nothing more than a murderous lump of hideously deformed, [rubber] flesh.
I've always remembered the scene of the young, main character being pursued down a dark street ... showing full frontal nudity! Full male nudity was, sady, never properly exploited in horror films. And, to a gay, teenage, punk kid, starved for homo-erotic eye candy, it was a near boner popping experience!
I remember a FFN shot near the opening of 'Ghost Story', as well, when Alice Krige's ghostly apparition forces a guy through the window of a high-rise, plummeting backwards to his death. That was one creepy chick, even without the ghostly apparition ... supplied by Dick Smith! I might be wrong, but I think this is the same woman that played the Borg Queen in 'Star Trek: First Contact'.
Does anybody have any other fond memories of growing up gay, with horror films?
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 5:41 PMWell in my case the only connection i can made between horror movies and being gay is that i discovered my sexual orientation the same year i got into horror films but that was not related to each other. Anyway Horror films helped me a little bit to go through being a gay kid and school geek-outsider for a while, it was nice to just come from school a friday, go to the videostore and watch something entertaining and forget about classes, homework and all the rest of crap. I never expected for horror films to show any gay content and when that happened it was more like a shock reaction than an excitement, an example popping into my mind is "A nightmare on Elm Street 2" and when i saw that it was like more well let´s see i think that had some gay overtones but hmmm not sure maybe i am starting to see gay stuff where is not just cause i found out i am gay...then when i grew up i was like oh hell yeah that was defenetly gay lol.
As for satisfying my homo-erotic curiosity i have to say that thanx to a very good tv channel here in spain and a cult film show that was on at late late night i got served well just by watching two very good movies by the way "My Beautiful Laundrette" (Daniel Day Lewis is sooooooooo hot in that one as gay punk guy) and "Querelle", -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 6:28 PMOh, well, yes ... 'Nightmare On Elm Street 2' was definately homo-erotic ... probably the most, out of the series!
'My Beautiful Launderette' is not a horror film, but it's definitely on my list of all-time-favorite films! Some very fine performances there ....
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 6:23 PM"PHANTASM" was the first scary movie I ever saw. (Yes I know it's a silly movie, but it's a cult classic none-the-less) Sooo, I was like scared and turned on at the same time! I was a young teenage boy turned on by the teenage boy character running from the Tall Man and those stupid flying things with the blades! It messed me up! (LOL) I was skinny and had long hair at the time, so I really identified with his character. Anyways, thanks for making me think back about that moment in my Life. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 8:10 PMPhantasm was the first R-rated movie I ever saw in the theatre! What a wild opening scene to watch as a twelve-year-old! I don't think it's a silly movie... well, it sure scared the bejeebus outta me back then!
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 7:02 PMAlice Krige did indeed play the Borg Queen in both "First Contact" and in the finale of ST: Voyager.
She also plays the mum in "Sleepwalkers" (boy, did she lub on her son played by Brian Krause *'Leo' to you Charmed Fans*) She is a stunning actress, and I'd watch her clip her toenails.
One of my fave "for and by homos but nobody knows it" horror flick is FRIGHT NIGHT!
Directed by Tom Holland, it's a spectacular array of homological imagery and themes. And I'm not just making it up. Several years ago, nearly an entire issue of Scarlet Street was devoted to Fright Night, and included an interview with Stephen "Your so cool, Brewster!" Geoffries. Holland actually made Amanda Bearse' vampiric mouth look like a monstrous vagina at the movies finale on purpose! Poor Charlie!
And isn't it nice that Dandritch had a live-in decorator (who just happened to be a simulacrum!)
Not too mention the three out-moes who starred in the flick: Amanda Bearse, Stephen Geoffries, and *God rest is soul* Roddy McDowell.
Gee, it's only been twenty years, and I still go on and on and on about this movie.... -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Fri, March 11, 2005 - 9:05 AMBy the way, if anyone knows William Ragsdale, the star of FRIGHT NIGHT (and Fright Night II!) I wouldn't mind meeting him... you know... for coffee...
ha hah ha
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, June 28, 2008 - 3:31 PMFright Night is in my top 5 of all 80's campy horror films! It's fantastic!
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 8:01 PMSpeaking of full frontal nudity, I remember sneaking "Fear No Evil" into the house and watching it late one night when my parents were asleep. I expected the usual tits and ass nudity that was so prevalent during that era, but lo and behold, the director threw in a full frontal shot during a shower scene where a boy is being taunted by bullies.
I also recall frontal nudity in "Cat People" but unfortuately, it was Malcolm McDowell.
A film largely forgotten these days was a 1982 mystery/slasher entry called "Night Warning." It was directed by William Asher, who also directed a great many episodes of Bewitched. It starred as Jimmy McNichol as a teenager who, along with his crazy aunt, is terrorized by a homophobic cop. A couple a good gory killings and some surprisingly sympathetic gay characters. Sadly, it's long out of print and there's no sign of a DVD yet.
And speaking of "Fright Night," what an awesome movie. It's just one of those that's pure fun that you can watch over and over. It also gave me a brief crush on Chris Sarandon, who made a rather suave vampire. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 8:07 PMWilliam Asher was married to Elizabeth Montgomery, which is one of the reasons Bewitched was developed. (talk about a series with seriously gay under and overtones...) -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 8:41 PMthere's the whole new "cute boys in underpants series" (young warlocks, the brotherhood, vood doo academy etc) that are expliclty gay, but they are not scary in any way (not even any gore really) and their being so obviously gay almost takes the fun out of it....but there is a certain charm to them....
in recent cinema, how about jeepers creepers 2 (only one female character gets killed (the bus driver) and it doesn't really show it....all the other nubile young flesh being ripped is male)...tons of totally gratuitous male nudity as well....and did anyone else notice the almost "throwaway bit peice" in the first one where the creature is digging through the kids luggage, and just for a second you can see that what he/it is sniffing is the brothers briefs? hee hee.
queer horror almost seems a redundant term in some ways (unless you demand expolicit connections be drawn)...there are so many elements of each mied into the other in terms of genre...lucky us.....blessing and a curse..... -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 8:43 PMwelcome to the tribe by the way! : )
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Thu, March 10, 2005 - 9:06 PMBy the way, I'm sure this book has been mentioned somewhere in this tribe, but even if it has....
Monsters in the Closet: homosexuality and the horror film, by Harry M. Benshoff
Basically, Benshoff summizes that horror movies, historically, have sort of acted as a sub-genre of film that is highly gay-themed. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Fri, March 11, 2005 - 5:34 AMI looooooooooooooooove " Fright Night" what an awesome movie, it was very cool cause you could easily identify with the main character and also cause I think Chris Sarandon played one of the best vampires ever. He was really charming and a threat at the same time and sometimes u felt he was so cool that you would have let him turn you into a vampire as well. It´s a good film and it doesn´t get dated at all with reruns what you can´t say with alot of the actual horror movies that come up.
About "Night Warning" never saw it but we talked about in one of the tribe´s threads devoted to gay themes and tones in horror films.
I think one of the pioneers of including gay tones in horror films are the productions of Hammer films although usually it was more about lesbianism than gay matters but hey if any of you have seen "Frankenstein created Woman" and the uncut version of " Taste the blood of Dracula" you can´t those didn´t have some heavy gay tones (in "Taste the blood of Dracula" there is a scene that implies the three gentlemen that resurrect Dracula had gay experiences as a way to get some new excitement in their lives) -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 10:35 AMHow completely gay is FRIGHT NIGHT? Roddy McDowell! Amanda Bearse! And of course Stephen Geoffreys! They were all queer and the movie itself is so super homo.
I showed FRIGHT NIGHT at my Midnight Mass show a couple Halloween's ago and Stephen Geoffreys appeared on-stage with me. We talked about the making of the movie and his subsequent career in gay porn. The best gay gossip he dropped was hinting around that he had had a fling with Robert Englund (Freddy) during the filming of 976-EVIL. Another super gay horror movie. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Wed, October 4, 2006 - 7:16 PMI thought that the the scene where Chris Sarandon seduced Stephen Geoffreys into becoming a vampire was just about the hottest thing ever! He could bite my neck anytime.
LOVE your work, btw! I saw you when you hosted SHOWGIRLS and TRUTH OR DARE in New York and was blown away. Come back! We need you!
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Fri, March 11, 2005 - 7:20 AMOMG!!! I LOVE Basket Case! It was my first horror movie when I was just a wee lad! It was one of the first movies to make me think that I liked boys. I didn't dare admit at the time. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Fri, March 11, 2005 - 3:34 PMI'm glad someone else identified with 'Basket Case'!
'Fright Night' ... I can't believe I forgot about that one! It was one of my favourites. I had a major crush on Geoffreys ... wild, sarcastic, total geek! He was in a Sci-Fi movie, a few years later, called 'Moon 44'. There was a man/boy shower rape scene in that film, as I recall. Now I'm going to have to haul my ass over to HMV and buy the DVD's, just so I can start my Stephen Geoffreys shrine!
I had read somewhere that the director of 'Jeepers Creepers 2', was gay and did some jail time for possession of child pornography. If there's any tuth to the rumour, I'd wager that the entire movie was constructed around his personal masturbation fantasies! -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Fri, March 11, 2005 - 7:11 PMVictor Salva, the director of "Jeepers Creepers 2" (and the first one) did go to jail for child molestation...
Speaking of Geoffreys, I just watched 976-EVIL last night, and unless I'm completely making things up, it's... well, gay as hell. It has nothing to do with Geoffreys later being in gay porn, either.
Geoffreys plays this quiet teenager with a religious nut mom (Sandy Dennis) and a hunky cousin. He's got kind of a weird crush on his cousin, and constantly talks about the two of them going away together. After getting possessed by a demonic 976 number (ah, the '80s), he kills his cousin's girlfriend. As the demon possesses him more (or whatever) and makes him sound like a geriatric drag queen spouting bad Freddy Krueger-esque puns, his evil heterosexual side starts to come out, and he attacks the lone woman at a strip card game with four shirtless guys. Is the awful 976-EVIL really a story of a gay teenager whose desire to be "normal" leads him down a slippery slope of evil itself?
I may be reading too much into this.
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 4:00 AMWhat ... Geoffreys did gay porn? (Big IMDB pause here ...) I had no idea, I didn't even know that he was gay! Well, I guess that proverbial, genetically encoded "gaydar" was starting to fine tune itself, all those years ago.
I never did see '976-EVIL', though it sounds like a bit of a horror MOTW. Well, apparently I'll be on an 80's DVD horror quest this weekend! Thanks to alll, for triggering some dormant memories. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 7:06 AMYes, Geoffreys most definitely did gay porn. His screen name is Sam Ritter and he's still at it as far as I know. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 12:20 PMAccording to IMDB, his most recent porn flick was 'Seamen Training Day' (2002). He was using a new screen name here: Stephan Bordeaux.
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 8:36 AM976-EVIL makes a great doiuble-feature with EVIL SPEAK. Well, for me, at least, since I'm always getting the elements of those two movies confused...
The Eighties were kind of a Golden Age of Movie Horror, I think. They weren't always scary (but then, what horror movies really are?) but they sure were a lot of fun! -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 10:03 AMI'd say the early 80's more than the whole decade... after the slasher movie boom died down, there's not much there. Sure, there's anomalities likes 976-EVIL and Bad Dreams, but the studios kind of gave up on horror non-franchises for a while.
Good to know I'm not the only fan of EVILSPEAK out there. Clint Howard rules. (Even though HE never did gay porn. Thank god.) -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 10:43 AMRE: the 80s!
The eighties also brought us the Alien franchise, which re-defined the horror concept as well.
And The Hunger really helped kick off the sexy vampire craze! -
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Unsu...
Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 12:03 PMNot just sexy vampires but sexy bisexual Bauhaus-listening vampires. That movie was the proto-goth bible when I was a teen; I can't count how many parties had it playing in the background... -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 5:35 PM...undead, undead.... -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sun, March 13, 2005 - 9:47 AMLet's not forget the impact of 'Lost Boys', a few years later. Now, that one was definately homo-erotic; pure teenage angst and sexual tension, without the traditional gothic airs. How could you not want to be a young vampire, after seeing that one? -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sun, March 13, 2005 - 12:08 PMHow silly of us not to mention "Lost Boys" yet... directed by Joel Schumacher, the man who gave us the bat-nipple.
ha ha ha -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sun, March 13, 2005 - 12:38 PMAnd re-introduced the codpiece - now a rubberized standard to contemporary superhero uniforms! :P
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 10:04 AMOh, if you've got Comcast cable, check out the new "On Demand" feature... it's where I saw 976-EVIL--it's one of the free movies this month.
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Fri, October 6, 2006 - 5:52 AMI'd really like to believe it.
Any kid whose mother is Sandy Dennis (especially Sandy Dennis acting like she does in THAT movie) has to be gay.
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Unsu...
Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sat, March 12, 2005 - 12:00 PMBasket Case rocks, haven't seen that in years, but yeah, I remember a very 'mo vibe and it being a very popular cult film at the time.
Forgot the FFN in Ghost Story but that movie did scare the hell out of me as a kid. I also remember really liking Fred Astaire in such a diffferent, late-career role.
How about Fade to Black? Dennis Christopher, who I was all hot for after Breaking Away, followed that wholesome story with a movie about an obsessed horror fan who assumed the role of different horror characters in his killings. I can't remember if there was any explicit 'mo content or it was just the presence of Christopher. (Who I believe is totally qwar, right?) -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sun, March 13, 2005 - 6:48 PMI rememeber a film called fear no evil having a very homo vibe as well as freddy 2 and drive in when i was growing up. I loved grwoing up0 being into horror becuase it let me escape my terrors and disolve into other worlds and terrors i could handle. I think they saved my life actually. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Sun, March 13, 2005 - 8:09 PMWow,...that's pretty deep, ZombieMan. I'm not being sarcastic. I respect brutal honesty.
I on the other hand, am very "affected" - I avoided scary movies for a long time! I'm a "tough guy" that get easily emotionally caught up in a story. For example, I was pretty upset when the werewolf ripped out the throat of that first kid in "An American Werewolf" in London. Yes, I am one of those annoying people in the theater that accidently screams out loud during the scary parts of horror films! (LOL) Oh well,...hee hee -
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Unsu...
Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Mon, March 14, 2005 - 12:01 PMI just watched Fear No Evil.
I haven't seen that flick since the 80's!
I know someone else here mentioned it.
But I just have to add my 2 1/2cents.
The flic was cheezy as hell but G.A.Y. to the hilt! ( dick shots even! ) I remember feeling bad for Andy's character ( gay unity i guess). I wanted him to win in the end. Still enjoyed it anyway.
Stefan Angrim ( brother of allison angrim of "little house on the prarie" ) has to be a "sista" cuz he's pretty flamin in this flic! Especially runnin around in that tacky 'Fredricks of Hollywood " get up at the end! LOL Miss Thang Miss Thang! tsk tsk! The " Vinnie Barbarino" type character must be one of us too
cuz he sure did GRAB Andy for that final kiss!!
* sigh!* Young love. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Mon, March 14, 2005 - 12:59 PMI fukkin' love you, Mamualde. Ya jess 2 fukkin' funnay fo' words.
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Fri, October 6, 2006 - 5:55 AM*Yes, I am one of those annoying people in the theater that accidently screams out loud during the scary parts of horror films!*
I think it's a common misconception that those kinds of people are annoying. One of my best friends doesn't like going to horror movies because she gets embarrassed and is afraid that everyone hates her when she ducks or screams or puts her hands over her eyes (which she even does in bad horror movies like FRIDAY THE 13TH 3!) I *love* people like that--I feel so desensitized to horror films sometimes since I've seen so many of them, that seeing somebody really flipping out because of a horror movie refreshes me and sort of allows me to experience the genre anew! Scream away!
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Mon, March 14, 2005 - 2:09 PMI gotta say, I identify with Zombie Man here! I had a pretty shitty childhood, and horror/sci-fi were a big part of my escape and coping mechanisms.
I always find it amusing when contemporary society blames youth violence on the brutality of horror films and video games. For me, it's all about the release of tension, agression and violence, before it reaches the proverbial "boiling point"!
I guess I managed to see some hope, in the art and science of it all, rather than become the next breed of serial killer! It changed my life and gave me a direction to follow ... Aint nothing wrong with being dark, as long as it has an artistic outlet! -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Mon, March 14, 2005 - 4:32 PMI totally relate, too, but for me it was comic books. -
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Tue, March 15, 2005 - 8:47 AMCan't it be both? I was a total comic book addict and "Fangoria" subscriber for most of my childhood.
Now I've just stopped reading "Fangoria," but the rest hasn't changed.
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Re: Growing up gay, with horror ...
Mon, March 14, 2005 - 5:12 PMAmen to that.
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