Article by Maya Vukovska
Whether it’s cockroaches, uncanny noises and eerie shadows in a haunted house, or creepy urban legends, some people love to be scared. But when it comes to horror movies, I may say viewers maintain a special relationship with the genre. What has tremendously added to the genre’s attractiveness over the past decades, is the queer element. Actually, queer characters, subtly or not that subtly portrayed, have always been an essential part of horror in all its forms - from the 1963’s “The Hunting” with its lesbian character Theodora to the 1985’s absolute classic “Nightmare on Elm Street”, which is considered by some the gayest horror movie ever made. But now, we’re not going to dig into the past. The intention is to deliver a watchlist of queer horror movies made in the past ten years, which are, if not good for watching, at least good for a solid laugh.
Strangers by the Lake, 2013
Summertime in France, nude beach, woods surrounding it, naked horny guys speaking French - if that’s not the perfect setting for a great gay movie, I don’t know what is! But hold on, there’s much more to the whole picture than this. Franck, who is a regular to this popular cruising place for gay men, falls for a mustached guy with an enviable dick, Michael, who turns out to be a killer. What the audience may find bizarre and silly is that even though Franck sees Michael drowning another man in the lake, he doesn’t break things off with him. But you know, Europeans can act strangely on many occasions!
This French erotic thriller was well received both by the critic and the public and won the “Queer Palm” award at the Cannes Festival.
Titane, 2021
Still in Europe, still in France. And partly Belgium.
The main protagonist, Adrien, is a super sexy chick who has a titanium plate fitted in her head after a skull injury. She works as a showgirl at a motor show and her dancing attracts men like crazy. Adrien is into women, but her biggest turn-on is cars. Plus, she kills whenever the mood strikes her. From start to finish, this movie is batshit crazy - it’s both beautiful and disgusting, the credit for which goes to the director, Julia Ducoumau. And the performance of actress Agathe Rousselle as Adrien is just astonishing. Oh yes, and this shamelessly brutal film won France Oscar’s entry.
Velvet Buzzsaw, 2019
We are already used to seeing brilliant Jake Gyllenhaal in the shoes of gender-bender characters, so this role is nothing new for him. This time he is the bisexual art critic and gallery owner Morf Vandewalt who accidentally snaps up a deceased artist’s stash of paintings. Of course, his intentions are to get rich, but sometimes people’s actions have, you know, shocking consequences. This messy and at times silly mystery thriller may not satisfy fans of horror movies, but the combination of talented actors (John Malkovich, Toni Collette, and Rene Russo are keeping Jake company!) makes it worth watching.
Killer Unicorn, 2018
This one will make you give up your social gay life forever. Seriously. Our boy, Danny, is an average Brooklyn party boy. As such, he is very much excited about a huge party event, one of Brooklyn’s biggest, actually. The night starts fun but quickly takes a horrendous turn when Danny is attacked by a stranger. The kid survives, and a year later, he decides to give his social life a second chance. Bad choice! A man wearing a unicorn mask starts killing his queer friends, one by one.
OK, this movie is really bad, to be honest, and offensive, too, but if you have absolutely nothing else to do you can give it a shot. I mean, it can at least give you an idea for your next Halloween costume.
Thelma, 2017
This Norwegian horror movie was on my top 10 list for 2017 - and not just because I am a huge fan of Scandinavian cinema! A plain-looking college student raised in a super-religious family starts her freshman year at the University of Oslo. She is not very sociable but develops deep feelings for her friend Anja. At some point, Thelma starts having seizures which unlock her dangerous supernatural powers.”Thelma” was nominated for Best Foreign-language film at the 2018 Academy Awards.
B&B, 2017
The plot of this offbeat little British film is simple, yet bears a socially important message. The protagonists of this movie are Marc and Fred, a gay couple from London, who go to war when refused a double bed at a remote guest house run by a conservative Christian owner. They win the case in court but when they come back to claim their rights, everything goes wrong. Eventually, it all turns into a battle for survival.
