Shudder’s Queer for Fear Horror Doc Series Entertains and Educates

Shudder documentary collection Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror has solely 4 episodes to dig into all the things its title implies—so as a substitute of a rapid-fire encyclopedia, it properly goals to be extra of a curated cross-section specializing in particular moments and developments in horror historical past. Impeccable enhancing and a various array of speaking heads additional elevate it above the same old clip-show fare.

Also elevating the collection: the truth that Bryan Fuller—the person who fanned the flames of hundreds of “Fannibals” throughout Hannibal’s lip-smacking run—is one in all Queer for Fear’s administrators and govt producers, in addition to one in all its speaking heads; you’ll be able to see his affect on the collection’ visible fashion, a placing mix of creepiness and class. Queer for Fear can be notable for not simply specializing in films; the title guarantees “queer horror” and it dives proper in with episode one, which explores the lives of a few of gothic literature’s most beloved creators—together with Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley.

Their affect carries over right into a dialogue of the early Universal Monsters films—significantly the works of James Whale, who was as open about his queerness as an individual might be in Thirties Hollywood, each in his private life and in his movies (as Queer for Fear amply illustrates with Bride of Frankenstein). Episode two digs into Alfred Hitchcock, with an emphasis on movies like The Birds, Rope, Strangers on a Train, and particularly Psycho. Anthony Perkins’ son, horror director Oz Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel), gives his personal recollections of what life was like for his father—who spent most of his Hollywood profession within the closet, regardless of his shut identification with the decidedly queer-coded character of Norman Bates.

While Queer for Fear does take a literal strategy to a few of its interpretations, declaring characters who learn as clearly homosexual in movies like (Whale once more!) The Old Dark House and (Hitchcock once more!) Rebecca, it’s at its strongest when it examines the queer subtext that’s so regularly current within the horror style. Because horror films are usually marginalized and never seen as “serious” cinema, they’ve extra leeway to supply subversive social commentary—one thing style followers have lengthy realized, and one thing queer followers specifically have lengthy appreciated. Particularly highly effective are the documentary’s investigations into what that subtext means for viewers—particularly again when the movies had been first launched, lengthy earlier than Hollywood at giant realized the significance of queer illustration, and even when the portrayal of homosexual (or extra usually, coded-gay) characters wasn’t precisely flattering. And Queer for Fear doesn’t merely rush via its examples. In its part on Dracula, as an illustration, it examines how the long-lasting vampire’s onscreen portrayals by Bela Lugosi and Gary Oldman are sometimes, as filmmaker Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body) factors out, an extension of the ebook’s “expression of a fear of queerness,” referring to Stoker’s sophisticated legacy as a (most likely) homosexual man who fearfully remained within the closet.

Along with Kusama, Perkins, and Fuller, Queer for Fear’s excellent interviewees additionally embody Mark Gatiss (Dracula, Sherlock), Kimberly Peirce (Carrie, Boys Don’t Cry), Justin Simien (Bad Hair, The Haunted Mansion), Leslye Headland (Russian Doll, The Acolyte), and lots of, many extra—together with drag icon Alaska Thunderfuck, who does a dramatic Mary Shelley studying clad in possibly probably the most glamorous riff on Carrie White’s gory promenade costume ever worn.

io9 solely received an opportunity to display screen the primary two Queer for Fear episodes, however the remaining two will cowl “the ‘lavender scare’ alien invasion movies of the mid-Twentieth century to the AIDS obsessed bloodletting of ‘80s vampire films” as well as “genre-bending horrors from a new generation of queer creators,” according to a Shudder press release. Even with its focused approach, that still feels like a lot to pack into two-ish hours; you get the sense that the series could have run for many more than four installments. Maybe Shudder will make that happen?

Queer for Fear’s first episode arrives September 30 on Shudder, with the remaining three episodes arriving weekly thereafter.

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