Welcome to your weekend streaming recommendations, a.k.a. the Weekend Watch, a handy guide to the queerest film and TV content that’s just a click away!
The latest (and supposedly final) entry in the Insidious series of Patrick Wilson-led horror films releases this week, and while reviews have been less than kind, Insidious: The Red Door has us in a spooky mood. Whether you want circuit boys being chased down by a psycho leather daddy, lesbian curses, or bittersweet gothic romance, these queer horror stories are sure to get your spine tingling (and maybe some other areas, too). Sorry, no Babadook here, but we promise you’ll find something to scream at.
Read on for some spooky queer horror to stream this weekend.
The Fear Street Trilogy
Directed by Leigh Janiak, this wild slasher trilogy based on the RL Stine novels was released over three consecutive weeks in July 2021 and stars Kiana Madeira as Deena, an openly gay teen in 1994 who lives in Shadyside, a small town known for bursts of violence ever few years. When Deena and her friends—including ex-girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch)—discover that Shadyside may have been cursed, the town is menaced by multiple supernatural slasher killers. With a great, empowering queer message and wild, insane kills over three movies that take place over three different timelines, this is a terrific horror experience.
Now streaming on Netflix.
Hellbent
This 2004 indie slasher flick by Paul Etheredge-Ouzts feels like an homage to the original 1978 Halloween, with a faceless killer targeting a likable cast of characters for seemingly no reason. In Hellbent, a group of friends—led by Dylan Fergus as Eddie—is stalked by a masked, muscle-bound leather daddy with a sickle. As the group parties at the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival, they’re picked off, one by one, in gruesome ways. Each character is unusually fleshed out for a slasher victim; Joey (Hank Harris) is a shy, sweet, inexperienced twink, while Tobey (Matt Phillips) is insecure about his drag costume. Hellbent is pretty gory and very low-budget, but it’s scary and charming thanks to a strong cast.
Now streaming on Here TV. Rentable on Amazon and Spectrum.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
Hastily slapped together after the surprise success of A Nightmare On Elm Street, Freddy’s Revenge is often considered one of the worst entries in the Freddy Krueger nightmare slasher series for its clearly rushed production, nonsensical story and general lack of anything that made the Wes Craven original so good. But, whether intentional or not, this film is one of the most homoerotic horror movies ever. Jesse (Mark Patton) may be one of the genre’s only male final girls, constantly menaced by Krueger (the amazing Robert Englund) and objectified throughout via sweaty night terrors. Jesse has long been considered queer-coded, and the gay cult following—plus the effect it had on the openly gay Patton’s career—are chronicled in the excellent documentary Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street, which is streaming on Tubi and Pluto.
Rentable on all major platforms.
The Haunting Of Bly Manor
Mike Flanagan’s 2020 limited series based on the novel The Turn Of The Screw is a slow-burn haunted house mystery that gradually reveals itself as a doomed gothic romance between two women. Set in the 1980s in the British countryside, Victoria Pedretti stars as Danielle, an American girl who takes a job as a nanny to two troubled children in a gothic mansion, immediately sensing something is amiss. As she bonds with gardener Jamie (Amelia Eve), Danielle realizes the ghosts haunting the mansion are both metaphorical and real—and very dangerous. Special kudos to Rahul Kohli and T’Nia Miller for selling an amazing B-plot romance, as well!
Now streaming on Netflix.
Chucky
The ongoing Chucky TV series is amazing for several reasons. First, it’s a continuation of one of the longest running horror franchises in history. Second, its protagonist is a gay geek who loves horror, Jake (Zackary Arthur). The show focuses on killer doll Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) as he continues his quest for murder and world domination (just go with it), with a fantastic performance by Jennifer Tilly as his girlfriend, Tiffany, and standout supporting heroine Alyvia Alyn Lind as Lexi, a mean girl with a heart of gold. The third season drops this fall, so check it out now.
Now streaming on Peacock, DirecTV, Fubo, AMC+, Shudder and USA.
The Kicker…
Raise your hand if you’ve lost an afternoon watching Trixie and Katya watching movies on YouTube. This Netflix marketing tool should be its own Netflix series, if you ask us. Because we’d never subject you to the garbage that is the latest Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, here’s Trixie and Katya enduring it instead.
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