Gay thriller movies
33 Essential LGBTQ+ Horror Movies
(Photo by © Altered Innocence / Courtesy: Everett Collection)
As elongated as there have been horror films, there hold been queer horror films. Before homosexuality was formally legislated out of being alive in Hollywood by the Production Code — commonly referred to as the Hays Code, which established mandates for “moral standards” in motion pictures and banned depictions of “sexual perversity” — the legendary filmmaker James Whale was building the foundation for American genre cinema with films like Frankenstein, The Aged Dark House, and The Invisible Man. Here was Whale, a gay bloke, building horror in his own image and having astounding box office success as some groups were lobbying Hollywood to censor queerness out of existence. Fortunately, they weren’t creative enough to drive the enormous bad Other away.
In the century since America became the world’s leader in horror film production, the genre became a bastion for the outsiders, the marginalized, the people made monsters by self-appointed adjudicators of sin, and who saw themselves in the supposed “villains” at the center of stories love Dracula’s Daughter. On exceptional occasion, queer folk
From police procedurals to heists, American film noir and French policiers via South Korean serial killers, Criminal Record is a column delving into the affluent and heady cinematic history of crime films. This week, a look at gay thrillers of the last ten years.
Sex, crime and danger have extended been a potent mix in film. In an industry long dominated by straight male anxieties, sex and danger have often been associated with honeytraps and femme fatales, a fear of women using their natural charisma and good looks to subjugate and gain power over the alpha male. Where would the crime genre be without that uniquely Western anxiety about sex?
For most of cinema’s reality, the expression of lgbtq+ desires has been mostly closeted or hidden, as it has with wider social mores regarding homosexual desire. Often, homosexuality in cinema is either coded with danger and malice, or gay characters in crime films are victims of the ‘bury your gays’ trope, where their sexual transgressions are punished by heteronormative society.
The list of genre cinema in which gay desire is a matter-of-fact rather than a dangerous obsession is vanishingly small – but the last ten years or so have notice
Best LGBTQ+ Thriller Movies, Ranked
The thriller and horror genres have always lent themselves well to queer and trans stories. Using these genres to explore themes of otherness and the feelings that come with that marginalization comes naturally. Depictions of monsters or fear and paranoia easily create parallels with these experiences of vilification that members of the LGBTQ+ community go through. It is also within narratives containing dark or scary storylines that moments of love and joy are the clearest, which mirrors finding companionship in spite of said vilification. Result workarounds with allegory and metaphor so that those in the know will understand what you’re referencing and others will stare past it is a significant part of Queer history — and a practice that continues today.
However, thrillers can also be a great vehicle for depicting morally questionable or corrupt characters that are enjoyable to root for anyway. While some favor their LGBTQ+ characters to be heroes, it can also be exciting to see just the contrary. Colin Minihan, director of What Keeps You Alive, sums up this sentiment well by saying, "I think that people will enjoy
The 25 best LGBTQ+ thrillers
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Victimis a extraordinary film for a whole host of reasons. Unlike many other British (or, for that matter, American) films made before the 1960s, it treats homosexuality in a way that verges on sympathy. It focuses on Dirk Bogarde, a successful barrister ensnared by blackmailers who threaten to reveal his homosexuality and ruin his career. It’s an expertly suspenseful film, and it uses the conventions of the noir thriller to travel the social problem of homosexuality, condemning those who would use its linked stigma as a weapon. It also features one of the best performances Dirk Bogarde ever gave.
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If there’s one director whose name is synonymous with the thriller genre, it would be Alfred Hitchcock, and Rebeccaremains one of its finest masterpieces. Though its story focuses on the nameless narrator (played by Joan Fontaine) as she navigates her new marriage to the enigmatic Maxim de Winter (played by Laurence Olivier), Judith Anderson’s Mrs. Danvers is the queer appeal of the film. Her obvious desire for the late R
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