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Sure, irradiated zombies and bloodthirsty apocalypse bikers can be pretty scary. Draculas and Frankensteins? Scary. Cthulhus… Mothmen… Graboids? The absolute worst. But for indie content creators, no boogeyman or cryptid is quite as hair-raising as the many great and monstrous leviathans ritualistically summoned by the occult and alchemical ritual known as filmmaking. Look: there’s Shaky Financing dragging itself out of the swamp, eyes burning blood red! And there: Collapsing Theatrical Market, unfurling its batwings in the rafters of the old abbey! And so on and so on.

But! As the Cryptkeeper, Vaultkeeper and Old Witch have reminded us many times before, misery loves company. So rather than hanging on the edge of your seat anxiously peering through ragged knuckles at the current (but only temporary!) dumpster-fire state of your latest film project, instead console yourself with the fact that many of your Halloweentime horror favorites have had their own very bumpy rides.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge star Mark Patton examines his legacy in Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street, now streaming on Screambox.

Featuring interviews with Robert Englund, Robert Rusler, Clu Gulager, and Jack Sholder, the poignant documentary tells the story of Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge star Mark Patton and his own personal experience with the film’s reception and legacy. Bringing necessary context to the time period the 1985 film was made in, the doc offers a powerful and beautiful look at one man’s journey to set the record straight and rewrite the legacy of the horror sequel.

“Through interviews with the cast and crew of NOES2, as well as film and queer culture luminaries like Peaches Christ, directors Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen are unafraid to revel in the love and fandom that has grown for the film, while also confronting...

In his latest interview/podcast host and screenwriter Stuart Wright listens to story consultant and blogger Gareth Dimelow talk about 5 Queer Themes in Modern Horror. You’ll find Gareth on twitter at @gdimelow

Films discussed include:

A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’S Revenge Nightbreed Interview With The Vampire Haute Tension Midnight Kiss

Other key texts referenced:

The Celluloid Closet a book by Vito Russo, made into documentary (1995) of the same name & directed by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman Monsters In The Closet: Homosexuality And The Horror Film, a book by Harry Benshoff Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender In The Modern Horror Film, a book by Carol J Glover Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street documentary on Shudder directed by Roman Chimienti, Tyler Jensen A Queer Horror Documentary from the Makers of Horror Noire is coming soon to Shudder tbc...

Looking to heat up your summer from the air-conditioned confines of your own home? Shudder has you covered this June with an eclectic set of horror films both old and new, including the Mark Patton documentary Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street, Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses, the horror anthology Scare Package, and much more!

Below, you can check out the full list of titles coming to Shudder in the Us this June, and be sure to visit Shudder's website to learn more about the streaming service and their scary good lineup!

"Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street

Some have called it the 'gayest horror movie ever made,' but for Mark Patton, the star of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, it was anything but a dream come true. 30 years after its initial release, Patton sets the record straight about the controversial sequel...

This wasn’t supposed to be how it went down. For the past four years, Rod Thomas, who performs under the alias Bright Light Bright Light, has DJ’d an afternoon dance party called “Romy & Michele’s Saturday Afternoon Tea Dance” in New York City at Manhattan’s Club Cumming and Brooklyn’s C’Mon Everybody. Last month, he released the first track, “This Was My House,” a fantastically fun disco bop off his forthcoming album, Fun City (due out in September). And for the video, which debuts today, he...

In 1985, New Line rushed out a sequel to its breakout horror hit of the prior year. But while commercially successful enough, “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” was initially disliked by mainstream horror fans, then later won cult status, for the same reason: It struck many as “the gayest horror film of all time,” with content that was either homoerotic or homophobic or both, depending on your view.

Breaking from slasher-genre norms, its protagonist wasn’t a “Final Girl” but a cute, blond, “sensitive” high school boy for whom Robert Englund’s murderous Freddy often seemed to be a metaphor: A flaming little secret Jesse doesn’t want to “come out,” and which only the love of the girl next door (Kim Myers) can save him from. Lead Mark Patton was a closeted gay actor who considered the film’s ambivalent sexual agenda publicly “outed” him. Documentary “Scream,...

Mark Patton was in his mid-twenties when he was cast as Jesse Walsh in “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge,” which was as financially successful as the first movie in that series. But the blond and beautiful and sensitive Patton, who was a closeted gay actor, took a career hit for being seen as a male scream queen. The new documentary “Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street” details how Patton disappeared and then re-emerged to take control of his image.

Directors Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen have packed the film with as much social context as possible, and they view as many sides of this story as they can in a fast-paced, engaging style. There are interviews with academics and drag queens and fans of the horror genre, and this gives the movie a wide-ranging perspective that helps us better understand the moving personal story at its core.

Virgil Films & Entertainment is releasing Tyler Jensen and Roman Chimienti's new documentary Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street about the classic fright fest film The Advocate dubbed as "the gayest horror film ever made"; 1985's A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. The film is playing select theaters now and a DVD and digital release is scheduled for March 3rd.

For the film's closeted young star, Mark Patton, such a tag was a stark reminder about the homophobia rampant in Hollywood at the time-and the painful experience he had making the high-profile film and living through the polarizing critical aftermath.

"I was not an out gay actor in 1985. Nobody was. Hollywood was very homophobic and AIDSphobic, and when you signed on for roles they often gave you a blood test. So, if you were gay, you were hiding. I was a 25 year old man, working very hard to have a career.

Virgil Films is releasing Tyler Jensen and Roman Chimienti’s new documentary Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street on DVD and Digital HD in March. The press release below has further details. Our own Peter Martin caught the film last Fall, here is an excerpt from his review. ...we gain insight into Mark Patton, an individual who bares his soul with a greater purpose in mind than furthering his own career. While the first half of the film is of special interest to fans, the second half of the film really brings home fundamental truths that are still being addressed in the film industry today, and make it a well-nigh essential document for all truth-seeking movie lovers. Watch the trailer below and...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Exclusive: A documentary about the problematic legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge told through the perspective of its then-closeted gay star Mark Patton has been acquired by Virgil Films & Entertainment.

Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street recounts Patton’s difficulties making the 1985 horror sequel, which put him through a range of salacious on-screen ordeals designed to whet the homophobic appetites (conscious or otherwise) of 1980s audiences. Directed by Jack Sholder and written by Scott Chaskin based on Wes Craven’s characters, the film was shot for just a few million dollars but grossed $30 million, extending what would become a half-billion-dollar global franchise.

Critics largely dismissed Freddy’s Revenge, but in the decades since, the film’s unique status as an unintended cultural artifact has made it something of a cult classic. The Advocate has described it as “the gayest horror film ever made.”

Virgil,...

Mark Patton is the star of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, which now has something of a unique place in horror history. Once viewed as one of the worst entries in the beloved franchise, the conversation has shifted over the years. It has been called the gayest horror movie ever made. Complex as its legacy may be, in recent years, it's started to find its audience. As the new documentary Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street shows, the movie's legacy is quite complex.

Despite starring in a hit movie, Mark Patton who, at the time, was a closeted gay actor, he decided to leave Hollywood behind, disappearing from the public eye for decades. In recent years, Patton has actively been embracing his role as horror's first male scream queen and has taken a very active role in the horror community. Much of that time has been...

An interesting little tidbit about me: years ago, when A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge star Mark Patton had come in to be interviewed for the Never Sleep Again documentary, I was one of the first two reporters to interview him upon his reemergence. I knew at the time it was a big deal, but now after viewing Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street, I realize just how monumental that moment was, especially for Patton, who had left Hollywood behind in the mid-’80s, and hadn’t looked back until that very moment when he came in to talk about his involvement in the sequel.

Directed by Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen, Scream, Queen! is centered around Mark Patton’s life now, as he makes appearances around the world, as well as what his life and career were like early on until he starred in Freddy’s Revenge,...

For years, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge has been viewed as one of the worst, if not the single worst entry in the long-running horror franchise. However, in recent years, the narrative surrounding the movie has changed, and much of that is due to its star, Mark Patton, taking an active role in the horror community and embracing his role as a not-so-typical horror icon. Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street documents Patton's journey and makes for a truly fascinating, eye-opening watch and window into what might be one of the most widely misunderstood horror movies ever made.

Scream Queen follows Mark Patton as he travels to horror conventions across the U.S. and aims to shine a different light on the controversial sequel to Wes Craven's classic A Nightmare on Elm Street. We follow Patton on his journey from city to city as he...

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge is known for its homoerotic subtext. The first sequel in this long standing horror franchise has even been hailed as the "gayest horror film ever." In the latest Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street documentary trailer, Mark Patton tells his side of the story, which includes a lot of ups and downs. In celebration of the documentary's premiere this weekend at Austin's Fantastic Fest, there will also be limited edition copies of the soundtrack on vinyl.

A lot has changed since 1985 when A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge was released. Mark Patton thought his career was over, so he left the industry. Patton was living as a closeted gay man when he made the sequel, which made all of the attention surrounding the homoerotic subtext even worse for him at the time. Patton is now telling his story in Scream,...

At Screen Anarchy we are excited about the rise of genre cinema that speaks to and about the Lgbtq community. This year's NewFest has a trio of genre pics that should thrill and delight audiences at this year's 31st annual festival. You will get to see Michael Elmore's vampire flick Bit, led by trans actress Nicole Maines from Supergirl. Freddy fans can catch Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen's doc Scream Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street. And if aliens are your thing then Santiago Loza's Spanish language Brief Story From The Green Planet should please you. Hallokween announcement follows. New York’S Lgbtq Film Festival Sets 2019 Lineup For ‘Hallokween’ Genre Program NewFest, York’s leading Lgbtq Film and Media Arts organization, has...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Released in 1985 as the much-anticipated sequel to the wildly popular “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” was supposed to be lead actor Mark Patton’s big break. Instead, the actor found himself at the center of one of the gayest horror films ever made, a fate that was not kind to a closeted young man in the 1980s. For the first time in the 30 years since the film’s release, Patton is telling his story on his own terms in a new documentary titled “Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street.”

IndieWire’s exclusive trailer for the new documentary reveals how the original film became “a siren song for the queer horror community,” and turned Patton into “the Greta Garbo of horror.”

Here’s the official synopsis: “In 1985, Mark Patton landed the lead in the hotly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster film ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Inside Out Toronto, Canada’s leading Lgbtq film festival, announced its full lineup for its 29th edition today, including news that the Taron Egerton-starring Elton biopic “Rocketman” will open the festival following its Cannes premiere. Mindy Kaling’s “Late Night” will close the festival, with Netflix’s update to “Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City” featured as a centerpiece presentation.

The festival also announced Thursday a new four-year partnership with Netflix in support of Lgbtq filmmakers in Canada. The strategic partnership will begin with the 2019 edition of the festival, which runs May 23 – June 2. Through Inside Out’s Lgbtq Film Financing Forum, the first of its kind in the world, the Netflix funds will be used to expand Inside Out’s professional development and mentorship programming to develop the next generation of Canadian creators and talent.

“Inside Out is committed to establishing itself as the home of Lgbtq filmmakers,...