Queer For Fear: The History Of Queer Horror – Review
Halloween is upon us, which means we’re all looking for some spooky season movies to help get into the spirit. For this reason Shudder’s upcoming documentary series, Queer For Fear: The History Of Queer Horror, could not arrive at a better time.
Queer For Fear is filled with interviews & historical information about the queer underpinnings of the finest horror cinema the world has ever known.
From its literary origins with queer authors Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde to the pansy craze of the 1920s that influenced Universal Monsters and Hitchcock; from the “lavender scare” alien invasion films of the mid-20th century to the AIDS obsessed bloodletting of 80s vampire films; through genre-bending horrors from a new generation of queer creators; Queer for Fear re-examines genre stories through a queer lens, seeing them not as violent, murderous narratives, but as tales of survival that resonate thematically with queer audiences everywhere.
Horror And LGBTQI Fans
Although I was aware of the connections between horror & the LGBTQI community I had never explored those connections deeply. As such, Queer For Fear acted as a perfect entry point into this area of study & even provided me with some revelatory insights.
One such revelatory moment was during the exploration of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. During this segment of the first episode Stokers’ personal letters to Walt Whitman are read aloud & it is very clear that there are homosexual undertones woven throughout.
In terms of moments throughout the series which evoke a strong emotional response an interview with the son of Anthony Perkins, star of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, is remarkably touching.
Overall the presentation of Queer For Fear is very much in line with the norms we’ve come to expect form documentaries produced by streaming platforms.
Queer Horror Creators
Across the four episodes viewers are presented interviews from various LGBTQI queer creators such as Renée “Nay” Bever (“Attack of the Queerwolf” Podcast co-host), Mark Gatiss (Co-Creator, Writer & Actor, Sherlock and Dracula on BBC), Lea DeLaria (Actor, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2000), Orange is the New Black), Jennifer Tilly (Actor, Child’s Play franchise), Karyn Kusama (Director, Jennifer’s Body, Yellowjackets), Leslye Headland (Creator, Russian Doll), and Alaska Thunderfuck (drag artist). These interviews are then interspersed with clips from the films which are being explored to create a wonderfully compelling watch that is hard to stop.
Watching this four part documentary series opened my eyes to the world of LGBTQI culture in the horror genre & has since made me rewatch many of these films with a new perspective.
Queer For Fear: The History Of Queer Horror is a must watch for any horror aficionado – be they straight, gay, bisexual, trans, asexual, pansexual or otherwise.
