I rounded up some gay features to cover just in time for queer pride 2023 (most of which land on the homo horror movies page).
BOB (2017)
This silly, supernatural, 25-minute short is produced, written, and directed by the couple that stars in it. For me it is a too cutesy outing with absolutely no meat on its bones.
A thin, white gay couple moves into a new apartment, and almost immediately a photo falls off a shelf, lights flicker, the couple uses an app to contact “Bob”, and then they call in their fruit fly, who is a medium. Would you believe she is a full-bodied woman with color streaks in her hair? I’ve been pretty much out of the concentrated gay community for years, but I guess nothing has changed….
Anyway, they perform a séance, we see in flashbacks that Bob is the gay guy from the Kirstie Alley sitcom Veronica’s Closet, and we learn he was involved with a self-loathing sleaze ball.
There’s really not much more to it than that, such as an explanation of how Bob became a ghost.
There’s barely any haunting, and the most ominous character present doesn’t even serve as a supernatural antagonist. Huge missed opportunity.
OUT OF BODY (2020)
Directed by and co-written by the leading man, this independent supernatural romantic comedy entertains and puts a smile on your face as two gay guys find themselves with a ghostly conundrum.
On Halloween night, Henry has friends over, and they end up dabbling in the occult.
Henry’s friend Malcolm, with whom he is secretly in love, decides to crash on the couch after the others leave.
The next morning, Henry wakes to find Malcolm is missing. Only, he isn’t. He’s a ghost, and he’s in the house. He has no idea how he died, where his body is, or how to let Henry know he’s there.
Slowly but surely, Malcolm makes contact with Henry and they begin trying to piece together what happened to him, why he’s still hanging around, and how he can cross over.
The film is funny, charming, and keeps us wondering what really happened to Malcolm on Halloween night. And therein lies the film’s one minor issue—it’s too long. With a running time of 104 minutes, it’s comprised of varying segments, most of which could easily have gotten their point across sooner—Malcolm realizing he’s a ghost, Malcolm trying to get Henry to realize he’s there, Malcolm and Henry using a magic book to determine how to help Malcolm’s ghost, Malcolm teaching Henry how to score a date with his hot neighbor, Henry having the date with his neighbor, etc. Some editing could have trimmed the film to a better paced 90 minutes.
In the end, while this mostly feels like a quaint ghostly love story, the final act brings us the resolution we need by delving back into the supernatural, and it’s kind of like watching an episode of Charmed. Pure, cheesy, sexy fun.
FIRE ISLAND (2023)
Breaking from what you’d expect of the usual gay slasher, Fire Island is not campy, not sexually charged, and doesn’t focus solely on overloading us with shirtless white hunks (although there are some in the background briefly).
Unfortunately, it also isn’t very inspired as far as slashers go. The plot and death scenes are bland and generic, most kills are essentially off screen, and there’s little in the way of suspense. It’s as forgettable as the myriad of straight-to-DVD, low budget slashers that followed in the wake of the Scream trilogy in the early 2000s, when everyone thought they could make a slasher.
There’s an opening kill, and then our mixed group of friends (gay male, lesbian, straight) heads to Fire Island. It’s May, which is the beginning of the tourist destination’s season, so it’s not a busy time of year. On top of that, this takes place during the pandemic, so the island is even more isolated.
There is, however, an old man that appears right on cue to warn the kids away. In this case, he’s more of a hot silver daddy, as it should be in a gay horror flick. He’s also one of many plot points that is left dangling. He speaks with an Irish accent, but we have no idea why. We have no idea what he’s talking about when he warns our main guy of danger, and it’s never clarified. He also just disappears from the film. Usually, these well-meaning weirdos are eventually murdered to up the body count. This guy must have just hopped on the next ferry back to the mainland and called it a day. Perhaps he’s seen more slashers than the makers of this film.
In a refreshing twist, there’s an older gay couple that gives us all the gay displays of affection, but the only sex scene involves a straight couple! However, they end up paying for it. Yay!
The killer wears a horned deer mask and often pops up in the shadows behind the characters. Scratch that. The killer constantly pops up behind characters. It’s like this is the one thing the filmmakers learned from watching slashers, so it is the go-to scare element here.
All the talk, bland kills, low energy drag host during a bar scene, and a pointless acoustic song performance fill the time unto we reach our final boy’s chase scene. There are definitely some effective camera angles and use of light during this segment, and it culminates in a body reveal party (yay!). However, the killer motivation is as uninspired as everything else, and the killer essentially comes out of nowhere. On top of that, would you believe COVID is the catalyst for all of the murderous happenings? Sigh.
And finally, for sticklers who know their Fire Island, the film fails to differentiate between Cherry Grove and The Pines and the landmarks that distinguish one community from the other.
BROOKLYN 45 (2023)
Brooklyn 45 comes from the director of We Are Still Here, but unlike the horror thrill ride that film is, this is more of a paranormal-tinged, wartime drama that unfolds like a dialogue-driven play. It’s just one of many movies Shudder seems interested in offering in their library these days that I call “trauma porn”.
As someone who isn’t a fan of period pieces, military themes, or films that are reflective of the horrible times we are living in politically (which is taking a toll on me and is something I try to escape from by watching horror movies), I personally couldn’t get into this one. But don’t let that scare you away, because it might just be your cup of tea, and it does offer some great performances from the likes of horror veteran Larry Fessenden, Jamie’s sister Lisa from Mad About You, and horror queen Kristina Klebe of Rob Zombie’s Halloween.
It’s Christmas time in 1945, and several military vets come to Larry’s house for a visit soon after his wife commits suicide. They quickly find out why he gathered them together—he wants to have a séance to help get closure after his loss.
Following an initial ghostly visit that really psyches you up for a supernatural experience, this instead becomes a character study about people who are fucked up due to “doing it for their country”. We learn about the awful things they did in war under the guise of patriotism. However, just like in our modern day climate, their “love of country” is actually nationalism; anyone not just like them is the enemy (aka: immigrants), and they use “just following orders” as their excuse for their evil actions. We also get some witch hunt torture, discussion about mental illness breeding nationalism, and citizens who pride themselves on their patriotism turning against their own people (as I said, all ripped from today’s headlines).
It’s not until the 65-minute mark of this 93-minute movie that supernatural and horror elements come back into play, and while they offer some of the fearful fun we’ve been waiting for, they are basically a metaphor for a committing atrocities is “just following orders” theme.
The film earns a place on the does the gay guy die? page because there is a gay character whose presence is reflective of the times—1945. Everyone knows he’s gay, and he brazenly flames out a bit in the presence of “friends”, but no one dare openly embrace his identity beyond throwing some slurs at him that he just brushes off. Oh. And playing right into the hate being aimed at queers today, wouldn’t you know it’s the gay character whose despicable actions involved children? Sigh.
ON TO THE HORROR TEASE…I MEAN, TEES
Not only is it pride month, but I just realized that May marked 10 years since I started Boys, Bears & Scares! So I thought I’d give you a look at my newest horror T-shirts.
I scored most of them on Amazon—but some of them are already gone from the site! I guess you really have to stay on top of what shirts they have to offer and order them as soon as you see them.
It’s Angela, a delicious vampire, centerfold Jason, and more. See them all in action in this quick video montage I put together. Happy Pride!
