It was a great year for gay horror at Bent-Con. Aside from an assortment of great horror panels (mine being one of them!), there were plenty of horror films being screened. Here’s the breakdown of the ones I was able to see.
To Fall From Love
Directed by Harman Gill
Running about 20 minutes, To Fall From Love is like the climactic scene of a gay “fatal attraction.” When the film opens, a male secretary who is in love with his boss already has him tied up—and is not happy about a framed photo of the boss with his wife and kids. We see through flashbacks how this secretary interpreted his relationship with the boss as romantic. Yet, while it may seem that it’s just another tale of a crazy, lonely gay guy stalking a straight man, the film actually explores themes of homophobia and gay self-loathing.
I Wouldn’t Wish the Eighties on Anyone! (2013)
Directed by Craig Ford
This 20 minute short film is dark with a campy undertone thanks to the melodramatic music and gothic set. Plus, it takes place in the 80s! But don’t expect new wave music and breakdancing. The only reason we know it’s the 80s is because of one shirtless young man’s confessions to his psychiatrist that he fears his sexual experimentation has given him the “disease.” But just like the “God hates fangs” metaphor in True Blood, the impact of AIDS on an individual is explored through a macabre horror theme that is revealed by the end of the film.
If you’re looking for smart, implicit gay horror rather than the usual sexually charged gay horror, this is a film to check out.
Good Samaritan
Directed by Jeffrey Reddick
Good Samaritan is the directorial debut of Jeffrey Reddick, the writer of Final Destination, Tamara, and the Day of the Dead remake. Jeffrey sure knows how to bring horror to the screen, which makes you kind of wish he had directed the films he wrote. This 9-minute film is tight and tense, and plays out like an episode of The Twilight Zone. It explores—in the most supernatural of ways—the guilt an agoraphobic man experiences after he resorts to filming someone being beaten on the street because he fears running out to help.
This creepy feature would be a great opening short in a claustrophobic agoraphobia horror double feature with director Chris Moore’s gay psychosexual suspense flick Perversion, which I blog about here.
Sacrament
Directed by Shawn Ewert
Because I was out doing a horror panel, I wasn’t able to get to the screening of the full-length feature Sacrament. That’s okay, because I’d already seen this backwoods horror flick, which I blog about here. But it was a treat when one of the actors who plays one of the gay male leads in the film came to my publisher’s table and introduced himself to me because he recognized my Boys, Bears & Scares T-shirt!
Dorchester’s Revenge: The Return of Crinoline Head (2014)
Directed by Tommy Faircloth
Another film I’d already seen and blog about here. I actually was able to sit in on the screening of Dorchester’s Revenge, and I’m so glad I did. Seeing it with an audience this time made it even better. This slasher had the crowd laughing, screaming, and groaning in disgust at all the right times.
Bite Marks
Directed by Mark Bessenger
Talk about an awesome double feature. Gay vampire flick Bite Marks played right after Dorchester’s Revenge. I’ve seen this sexy horror comedy at least half a dozen times because I’ve made my friends watch it. It’s a gay horror classic. I blog about it here.
