It seems as though Gay twitter ( yes it’s a thing) is buzzing about a new queer horror icon. It is ( of course) Cocaine Bear. It did come as something of a shock that the film was set in the back woods of Tennessee and not the back rooms of New York leather bars in the 90’s. We all marveled that queen. How anyone could do that much blow and still weigh 300 pounds was a mystery on par with the construction Stonehenge and the Pyramids. Better not to think out it too much. Just stand in awe and get on with life.
If Cokey the Bear ( yep, that’s what I’m calling him) is going to dethrone previous terror idols, he’s got his work cut out for him. Below is my rundown the the competition.
It seems only fitting to begin with the reining champion of queer horror, your friend and mine….The Babadook.
Since his debut in 2014 Baba has been embraced by gays worldwide. A mystery to some, we know exactly why. First, there’s that fabulous black on black Comme de Garcon number. The stovepipe hat seals the deal. Second, he creates a hand crafted pop-up book about….himself. You know who you are. Lastly, there is that restrictive high protein diet. He could be manning the front desk at any gallery downtown or ( more likely) sampling cologne at Saks.
Looking back to 1936 we have one a handful of lesbian or quasi-lesbian Vampires, Countess Marya Zaleska ( Gloria Holden) in Dracula’s Daughter. There were sexually vague ( or not) after. Fran and Miriam in 1974’s Vampyres, Miriam Blaylock ( Catherine Deneuve) in 1983’s The Hunger and a gang of blood-sucking strippers in From Dusk till Dawn in 1996. Countess Marya is the winner in my book. With the code firmly in place she brings as much sex and power to the roll and allowed at the time.
In 1931’s Frankenstein and 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein we get the age old story of the child rejected as an abomination stumbling through a sometimes cruel world looking for love. Not to mention that Elsa Lanchester’s Bride would influence drag queens for almost a century to come.
Joan Bennett brought the old Hollywood glamour to the role of Madam Blanc in Dario Argento’s 1977 Suspiria. Head mistress ballerina and witch. Talk about girl power. Her stint on TV’s Dark Shadows only adds to her allure. The 2018 remake saw the same role played by queer icon Tilda Swinton so not matter which version you see un-distilled queer glamor is on the menu.
Honorable mention:
So not technically a horror film, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is very scary and very queer. Bette Davis as deranged former child star Jane Hudson’s woven into he fabric of American queer culture.
There are many more. What did I miss? Who’s your favorite gay ghoul? Leave them in the comments.
Till Tuesday.