Queer horror fans are always waiting for the next major release that celebrates queer lives and queer fear, and this year it looks like Meat is the one to see…and to add to the complete homo horror movies page. The title works on several levels, from the sexual man meat to the slashed dead meat, not to mention this is one meaty movie, running a momentous two hours and fourteen minutes long. Did it need to? No, but even being the stickler that I am about overblown lengths in indie horror flicks, this one managed to deliver enough in-your-face sex and violence to keep me watching.
When scream queer Roger Conners is involved in a movie, whether acting in it, directing it, or both, queer characters are always at the forefront and integral to the plot even if it’s not an inherently queer film. Not to mention the queerness is always unapologetic and not trying to appease cis het sensibilities. This is a film directed and co-written by Roger, and he also has a minor role in it as well.
With a title like Meat, it’s no surprise that we get a sleazy queer slasher (yay!), not one in which we cozy up to likable characters and root for them to make it to the final frame. This is a look at a nasty side of queer club culture. While approached from a queer perspective, it’s also in keeping with more modem slashers—despicable characters get what they deserve.
We meet Noah, who is drawn into the club scene by “friends” that prove to be vile excuses for humans. There’s a roofie/gang rape situation that leads to a tragic death. It’s a reprehensible take on the old school slashers in which a group of people did something “last summer” (so-to-speak), and eventually someone in a mask catches up with them to enact revenge.
In this case, that someone is dressed head to toe in silver studded leather. The killer’s presence is darkly sexy and flamboyantly flashy all at once. The kill sequences revel in brutality and practical, gruesome gore effects. While not an overly “scary” slasher, some of the chase and death scenes deliver on the suspense magnificently and are beautifully orchestrated as they carry you through the stalking and slashing, from a locker room shower scene to a bathhouse massacre. I really loved the longer kill sequences here.
Another highlight for me, naturally, would be the hypersexual situations. There’s plenty of unapologetic butt, balls, and dick action drenched in sleek neon lights and dark shadows, marrying the spirit of the club scene with the horror atmosphere. Even the dance music is actual thumping dance music reminiscent of decades past, not the low BPM, hollow rhythms of the EDM most popular these days. Hell, I’m old so I don’t even know if there’s a club scene at all these days…they were all closing in New York City back in the first decade of the new millennium, just as I was settling into being an adult and swapping out late nights and city lights for takeout and movies at home with the hubby.
It’s a challenge to make the perfect slasher—pacing, tension, scares, gore, sex, character development, mystery, story, visual presentation, a chilling score, etc. So many elements need to come together, and most films don’t tick all the boxes, but it’s no fun being a purist, so as long as there are aspects of the production that really grab me, I’m good, as I was with Meat. The kills and sex really carried this movie for me since these are those loathsome types of characters you don’t want to connect with—you just want to see them die. Even with a two-plus-hour runtime, I didn’t get the sense that any character was fully realized enough to sympathize with.
Instead of a single evening of slashing at a gay club situation, the film structure doesn’t let us settle in one place on one night with a core group. It spans a course of days and jumps locations, so there isn’t a straightforward plot throughline to carry us from start to finish. The killer seeks out victims instead of waiting for victims to walk right into their own demise, so the isolation of each character sort of reflects fractures that keep the queer community from standing together in safe spaces.
Meanwhile, there’s also a subplot featuring detectives on the case, but that tends to falter and eventually fades out of the picture completely. Bringing an investigation element into the story doesn’t carry much weight when there aren’t many mystery elements or false clues dropped along the way. Barely anyone seems like a red herring here, because we know most of them are destined to die. Only one character gets to shine, and that’s the “stud” of the group, who far overshadows the “final boy”.
As for the killer, the murdering motivation is somewhat derailed when the kills veer off into random victims to up the body count (not complaining about that) rather than sticking to those responsible for the specific incident that triggered the slashing to begin with. While the killer’s identity felt to me like it came out of left field, the killer’s final appearance perfectly encompasses the whole tone of the film—it’s both sexual and disturbing. Awesome, but I can’t share a visual of it because I don’t want to spoil the payoff.
In the end, I hope this one gets a physical media release, because it’s a goodie to add to my gay horror collection…along with all the other Roger Conners flicks I already have.
