Gore gay

Jack Sholder, 1985)

The most famously queer-coded horror movie of the last 35 years, this obvious example wrote the book on queer subtext. How radiantly full of life she was. —CB

“Strangers on a Train” (dir. James Whale, 1935)

The classic “Frankenstein” sequel has a lot of queer subtext, primarily in the relationship between Dr.

Frankenstein and his mentor, Dr. Pretorius, who run off together on Frankenstein’s wedding night.

Synopsis: When members of a dance troupe are lured to an empty school, drug-laced sangria causes their jubilant rehearsal to descend [More]

Starring: Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub, Kiddy Smile

Directed By: Gaspar Noé

For decades, the LGBTQ+ community has been relegated to side characters, jokes, or simply non-existent in the cinema-sphere and the lack of representation was deafening.

Arguably the most famous cult film in film history, Jim Sharman’s rollicking rock musical retells the Frankenstein story from a subversive, quirky, and queer point of view, as squares Janet (Susan Sarandon) and Brad (Barry Bostwick) end up stranded at the castle of sweet transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter (a delectable Tim Curry), who seduces and schemes against the two as he builds the ideal man; ‘ideal’ meaning a muscle boy in tight, tight gold shorts.

She’s also a symbol of unfulfilled queer longing, as her relationship with the title character of Hitchcock’s best picture winner seems to defy death itself.

Rebecca de Winter, the grand lady of Manderley, died under mysterious circumstances. Wes Craven, 1972)

Wes Craven’s provocative sexpolitation film is one of the earliest examples of a rape revenge fantasy, a common trope that has recently undergone a much-needed reinvention and reclamation by women filmmakers.

For so long, LGBTQ characters had to linger just beneath the surface, often hiding in plain sight. —JD

“Psycho” (dir. When Rebecca’s widower takes a new wife, Mrs. Danvers feels betrayed on Rebecca’s behalf. While some earlier films do include overtly gay themes, things went underground during the Hays Code era, and the reverberations of that subversive queerness remain fruitful to this day.

—WC

“Nightbreed” (dir. —WC

“Fear No Evil” (dir. Clive Barker, 1987)

A prolific and successful horror fiction writer who began directing to adapt his work himself, out gay filmmaker Clive Barker is responsible for two of the films on this list, “Nightbreed” and “Hellraiser.” Barker’s directorial debut spawned a wildly successful horror franchise that includes 11 “Hellraiser” movies.

And it all started with the original, which is often read as a celebration of otherness and alternative sexualities.

Here are our essential LGBTQ+ horror movies, in order of release. – Jordan Crucchiola

(Editor’s note: We’ve updated the list for 2022, including Titane, Freaky, and Fear Street Part Three: 1666.)

Critics Consensus: Elevated by writer-director Clive Barker's fiendishly unique vision, Hellraiser offers a disquieting - and sadistically smart - alternative to mindless gore.

Directed by Jacques Tourneur, “Cat People” tells the story of a woman who believes she is descended from a race of people who shape-shift into panthers when sexually aroused or angered. The series traces the genre’s origins, beginning with a reclamation of Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker as queer writers, through Alfred Hitchcock’s many queer-coded films, and runs all the way to Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story” empire.

As just one example, the lesbian vampire, first introduced in the 19th-century Gothic novella “Carmilla,” led to an explosion of movies in the 1970s.

The queering of Jimmy Stewart? But well after her death, her most faithful maid, Mrs. Danvers, recounts how lovingly she’d brush Rebecca’s hair for a half hour each night. [More]

Starring: Steven Strait, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford, Taylor Kitsch

Directed By: Renny Harlin

#15

Critics Consensus:Jennifer's Body features occasionally clever dialogue, but its horror/comedy premise ultimately fails to be consistently funny or scary enough to satisfy.

Alfred Hitchcock, 1948)

Having a screenplay written by Arthur Laurents should qualify Hitchcock’s insular, apartment-set drama for the Queer Hall of Fame by default. How beautiful Rebecca’s things were. Throw in a performance from bisexual icon David Bowie and a straight line to Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive” (2013), and “The Hunger” has more than earned its place in the queer horror canon.

Craven’s controversial directorial debut was a major box-office success, even if critics at the time could not get over the extreme depictions of sexual violence.