I Do Movies Badly: Introduction to the Queer Vampire Cycle (featuring Terry Mesnard of Gayly Dreadful)
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Terry Mesnard of Gayly Dreadful brings some new blood (pardon the pun) to I Do Movies Badly to discuss films of the Queer Vampire Cycle. Terry talks about how his love for horror started with A Nightmare on Elm Street and its drag villain, explores how queer coded characters emerged out of a film industry and American society that didn’t want to acknowledge homosexuality, and wades in on whether a director’s intent matters as much as audience interpretation (SPOILERS: it does not). No matter what the directors may or may not have intended, Terry explores the queer subtext of the following three films: Tom Holland’s Fright Night (1985), Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys (1987), and Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark (1987).
James Whale was openly gay, even before he came to Hollywood. That’s not the same as having it known to the general public, but he wasn’t closeted either. There are conflicting accounts of whether the same was true of Murnau, but if he was out he would not have been the only one in silent era Hollywood.
James Whale was openly gay, even before he came to Hollywood. That’s not the same as having it known to the general public, but he wasn’t closeted either. There are conflicting accounts of whether the same was true of Murnau, but if he was out he would not have been the only one in silent era Hollywood.