Can you handle the comedy of Curse of the Queerwolf?

If micro-budget indie film Curse of the Queerwolf were made today by a gay director, it would be a midnight movie cult hit. Back in 1988, it was apparently looked at as an anti-gay horror comedy. To be honest, even if I had seen it back then, I would have found it wickedly funny.

This tasteless trash is about a dude who accidentally brings home a transvestite…who then bites him on the ass. Turns out, there’s a curse going around; when you get bit by a queer, you become a queerwolf! Your wrists go limp during a full moon and you transform into a queeny transvestite yourself, complete with dress, fingernails, and makeup! Nope, no hairy burly werebears here, but the curse is called Dickanthropy!

So yeah. There are endless stereotyping gay jokes in Curse of the Queerwolf, plus gay panic (queer is a disease that can be caught by sexual contact, after all) and homophobic slurs. But…it’s all really satirically funny and also shows how ignorant the straight characters are. The lead dude’s transformation into a limp-wristed transvestite is hysterical (he seriously looks like Matt Lauer in drag).

When he wakes up the next morning, he’s in a bathhouse, facedown, surrounded by guys giving him a thumbs up.

However, there’s also nonstop bashing of machismo. For starters, the lead dude becomes Queerwolf because he frequents pick-up joints with his buddy and then cheats on his lady. When he begins to have panic about his own sexuality, he puts on an “I’m a man” song sung by a dude with a deep bass voice, and begins doing beefcake poses in front of a mirror to prove his own masculinity…which of course all comes across as Village People GAY. In order to stop the transformations, a gypsy gives him a picture of John Wayne to keep around his neck, which keeps Queerwolf from coming out. She also gives him a solid silver dildo to stick up his ass when the moon is full. Okay, even just typing that made me giggle.

Eventually, during a holdup at a restaurant, Queerwolf makes an appearance. Men are bitten and absolutely fabulous queerwolves are everywhere, biting and converting other men. And when one of the robbers shoots Queerwolf, he’s unharmed, because nothing can hurt Queerwolf! So everyone thinks he’s Superman!

And then there’s the fagxorcism. The fagxorcist splashes Queerwolf with beer and shows him pix of macho icons like Burt Reynolds, Mr. T., and James Bond. Sports balls are thrown at him. He pukes pink pea soup.

There is also horror spoofing galore. Aside from some great gags poking fun at The Exorcist during the fagxorcism (I can’t help it, I like saying that), other horror films are referenced, including The Shining, Deliverance, and Poltergeist.

Honestly, Curse of the Queerwolf is so gay and has so much gay comic sensibilities that I couldn’t imagine it actually being appreciated by STRAIGHT guys. At least not with the way times have changed in the past 25 years. I consider this a gay camp classic in my collection.