Don’t Snooze On Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street
As fans of both gay cinema and horror films, we here at TLA have always enjoyed the subversive charms of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. All subtext considered, it’s not exactly a gay-positive movie, but we’re fascinated by the fact that screenwriter David Chaskin was able to sneak a ‘gay panic’ allegory into a highly publicized blockbuster horror sequel – back in Ronald Reagan’s 1985, no less. While the making of the film has been covered in DVD special features and the heralded A Nightmare on Elm Street documentary Never Sleep Again, there’s a new documentary coming that examines not only the making of the film, but the aftermath.
A feature-length documentary focusing on the gay experience in Hollywood horror, Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street explores how that experience has changed in the three decades since actor Mark Patton‘s controversial portrayal of Jesse Walsh, the object of Freddy Krueger’s latent desire in the second film of the Nightmare franchise. Scream,Queen! examines that film’s infamous homoerotic subtext and the special place it holds in the Nightmare franchise as well as the gay film canon. Partly in thanks to evolving social mores, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 – which was considered controversial at the time of its release – is now being looked back upon with a new appreciation and fondness by horror aficionados and fans of the series.
More than thirty years after it first graced film screens, this doc joins Mark as he asks what all the fuss was about when teenager Jesse Walsh danced just a little too freely and screamed a little too loudly while running from everybody’s favorite crispy, wise-cracking villain. Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street features interviews with celebrities, film historians and fans to bring a deeper understanding of the social and political climate back when the film was released in 1985, as well as the positive and negative reactions it received – and how those reactions compare to the reactions of today’s audiences.
Check out the trailer for Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street below and click here to order your copy. The film is coming to DVD this week.
