How the ‘Gayest slasher movie ever made’ went from pariah to cult classic

Originally published in Trinity Film Review- The LGBT Cinema Issue, 2020

The story of the critically panned flop to cult classic is one we’ve heard time and time again, but it’s hard to think of many films shunned for their homophobic undertones, only to be revived and celebrated decades later as cultural icons. In the case of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, that’s exactly what happened.

Of course, the reaction to the film wasn’t rooted in homophobia for most, and to get it out in the open straight away, Nightmare 2 is far from a perfect film. It may have grossed over ten times its budget and continued to propel what would become an 8-film juggernaut of a franchise, but it was panned by many for its rushed production (releasing less than a year after the original smash-hit) as well as its fairly inconsistent script and performances.

Robert Englund does of course return as Freddy Krueger, every bit as camp and sinister as before, bringing terror to a whole new cast of teens. There may not be anything as iconic as the blood fountain scene from Wes Craven’s classic, but the bizarre dream set pieces are still spectacular, with some uncomfortably good body horror thrown in the mix. He may not have gotten the praise for it at the time, but relative newcomer director Jack Sholder brought some energetic, suspenseful horror to the series, and Hellraiser composer Christopher Young’s score keeps the horror alive throughout.

But, of course, little of the conversation around the film today centres around any of its more conventional filmmaking; there’s only one quality of note for its fans today- the film has become beloved and admonished in equal measures for its bizarre and sometimes problematic gay undertones. The film’s protagonist Jesse, played by up-and-coming actor Mark Patton, has come to be affectionately referred to as the first male ‘scream queen’, though the discourse around his campy performance wasn’t always so sympathetic. His screams are more than a little bit effeminate, his ‘bromance’ with his male ‘friend’ oozes more chemistry than with his actual on-screen girlfriend, and we’re treated to just as many shots of him shirtless or in his underwear as with any 1980s slasher scream queen.

Upon release, the film’s director expressed complete cluelessness to any homoerotic undertones, and writer David Chaskin completely denied any intent on his part, placing the ‘blame’ for the film’s queerness squarely on its star. To this day, Patton insists that any perceived ‘gayness’ the film was what killed his young career, and as a now openly-gay man, he admits how difficult it was to be ‘outed’ against his will as a closeted gay leading man, something that was essentially career suicide in 1980’s Hollywood. And indeed, instead of this Nightmare launching his career like the young Johnny Depp before him, he didn’t return to acting for over thirty years.

Patton insists that there was no doubt in his mind of the underlying queerness of the film when he read the script, and that it became far more than just subtext as the production went on, saying of one day on set that it was “like I’m in a bukkake video”. He blames David Chaskin for the ‘betrayal’ of what he experienced on-set, who over the years has denied any direction in his script for any of the ‘gayer’ choices Patton made in his performance; he says Chaskin sabotaged him and “systematically fag-bashed me for 30 years”, and insisted that growing up as a closeted gay man, “nobody ever affected my confidence- the boys that threw rocks at me, nobody- but this man did”.

Whilst Chaskin has slowly acknowledged some intention on his part to highlight the ‘gay panic’ sweeping the globe with the AIDS epidemic and widespread homophobia therein, many suspect his capitulation only comes in the face of queerness becoming more socially acceptable, in an attempt to save face. It’s entirely possible that any gay undertones in the script were more negative in their intention than anything else, given some of the more problematic stereotypes that come into play with Coach Schneider’s character, an S&M-loving abusive gym coach who repeatedly tells his students to “assume the position”. After all, the film centres around a teen protagonist with “something inside him, trying to get out”, wherein his internal conflict is only really resolved after the death of his male ‘friend’, and the love of his pure, very straight girlfriend prevails. Regardless of Chaskin’s intended subtext for the film, it’s somewhat uplifting that audiences today have found a way to embrace the film’s camp, unabashed queerness and wash away any possible ill intentions.

Maybe one of the funniest parts of the story is that of director Jack Sholder, who was seemingly completely unaware of any homoerotic text or subtext, only ever saying about Patton that “it never occurred to me that he was gay- although he wasn’t too great in the makeout scenes, so I should have picked up on it”. Incredulously, Sholder must have shown up and shot for multiple gruelling days for the infamous shower scene completely oblivious; a scene wherein our hero meets Coach Schneider at an S&M bar called ‘Dom’s Place’, is forced to run laps in the school gym and take a shower, whilst Schneider, still in full leather regalia, is pelted by levitating balls, tied with skipping ropes and dragged into the shower where he’s stripped naked and spanked bare-assed by towels. The scene really needs to be seen to be believed, and it’s far from anything you could call subtext.

The passion and fascination for this film has only grown in the thirty-five years since its release; it’s been a staple of LGBTQ-screenings, Mark Patton has become a favourite at horror conventions and a prominent HIV spokesperson to boot, and just last year a feature-length documentary was completed on the journey Patton and the film have gone through over the years. Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street has made the rounds at festivals around the world, and whilst it was made available on-demand in the US this March, there’s no word yet on when it will be made more widely available. Whenever it does drop, I don’t doubt that Freddy’s Revenge will be brought into the conversation once again, and I welcome the chance for more people to get to see this bizarre, messy, and underappreciated entry into the LGBTQ horror canon.