Five Spooky Watches For Halloween — Liverpool Queer Collective

Oct 26

Oct 26 Five Spooky Watches For Halloween

It’s the spookiest time of the year and Vicky Andrews is here to share her top five frighteningly good watches for a Queer Halloween.

With trick or treat replaced by track and trace, Halloween is going to be a little bit different this year. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get dressed up, drink some pumpkin punch or a Bloody Mary or two and enjoy your very own Fright Night. The horror genre has a huge following among queer audiences and there are plenty of scary movies that have LGBTQ+ themes, actors and writers or are just screamingly camp.

Exhibit A: gay screenwriter David Chaskin’s sexually repressed Jesse in ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 2 - Freddy’s Revenge’ (1985), widely considered to be the gayest slasher movie of all time for its blunt homoerotic imagery. Meanwhile over at Camp Crystal Lake, ‘Friday the 13th Part VII - The New Blood’ (1988) had such a strong line-up of queer actors that it earned the nickname ‘Fri-gay the 13th’. Freddy and Jason notch up some impressive stats but in the interests of quality over quantity, haven’t made it into my top five.

Also just missing out is ‘The Craft’ (1996) directed by gay filmmaker Andrew Fleming, which celebrated sapphic witchcraft long before Willow and Tara became spellbound with each other in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. Long-awaited sequel, ‘The Craft - Legacy’, is released this October and features transgender actress Zoey Luna in a storyline about trans inclusivity. It’s about time we saw more LGBTQ+ characters stepping out of the shadows.

So grab some popcorn and your bubble buddy, cat, or favourite cushion and settle in for a spooktacular evening of thrills, chills and bellyaches. And if anybody does come knocking on your door, never, ever say, “I’ll be right back…”

You’ve probably heard of Clive Barker, the openly gay, Liverpool-born writer behind ‘Hellraiser’, ‘Candyman’ and ‘Nightbreed’. Barker isn’t the only gay writer to make his name with a series of horror blockbusters; cue Jeffrey Reddick (‘Final Destination’), Don Mancini (‘Child’s Play’) and Kevin Williamson, the genius behind ‘Scream’.

Packed with raging hormones and sassy one-liners, the first film in the franchise reveals a serious man-crush between two of the main characters, Billy and Stu. Don’t believe me? Watch it again. Add Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers as two of the most badass final girls ever and it’s the perfect formula for a horror film; smart, funny and scary as hell.

If your partner ever suggests an open relationship and you’re not all that thrilled, point them in the direction of this tragic love triangle between the living and the undead. 200-year-old vampire John (David Bowie) realises that eternal life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be as his body begins to deteriorate and turn to dust.

Can his ancient vamp partner Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) save him by introducing some new blood (Susan Sarandon) into their relationship? And how many coffins does one couple need in their apartment? Written off by critics on its original release, this erotic thriller has since become a cult vampire classic.

IT Chapter Two cast — IT Chapter Two

(2019)

Sometimes the scariest thing in the world is the thing you can’t see. Stephen King’s dark imagination and vivid sensory descriptions create the kind of monsters that stay with you long after the lights go out. Many of his books reference LGBT characters and themes and this sequel is bookended by a brutal homophobic assault and a major plot twist involving a significant gay character. Tim Curry’s giggling, creepy Pennywise left some serious clown shoes to fill, but Bill Skarsgård does a great job making sure you never visit the circus again.

Both the original and the 2013 remake are bucket loads of bloody fun, but ‘Carrie’ is also a poignant coming-of-age drama that hits home for anyone who ever felt like an outsider.

Carrie White has a terrible time at the hands of her peers and deeply religious mother, who abuses and humiliates her in all manner of ways, calling her breasts ‘dirty pillows’ and forcing her to pray inside a closet. And if that subtext doesn’t scream sexual repression then pass me my coat. Only when Carrie stands up for herself at the high school prom does she discover her true powers. It’s just unfortunate that by then she’s annihilated half the town. This is Carrie’s coming out party and she’ll cry if she wants to.

Jamie Lee Curtis holding an Axe from Halloween H20 — Halloween H20

(1998)

Two decades after John Carpenter’s original classic, Jamie Lee Curtis reprises the iconic role of Laurie Strode in this slick anniversary chapter. Laurie is working as the headmistress at a private school when serial killer Michael Myers decides to pop by. Michael is pure evil; powerful, clever, emotionless and with a sadistic sense of humour. Don’t be fooled by his Tinder profile, he’s really not the sort of guy you want dropping in on you at work.

Since 1978, Laurie has prayed every night for Michael’s return, just so she can kill him. Talk about mixed signals. Based on a story by Kevin Williamson, Jamie returns as the original ‘Scream Queen’ and queer icon for a new generation of fans.