A Nightmare on Gay Street 6

A NIGHTMArE on

Written By Ahan Dhar GAY Stre StreET

The second installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Freddy’s Revenge (1985), is undoubtedly its gayest—which is what makes the movie truly scary. A myriad of commentators have interpreted the film’s iteration of Freddy Kreuger and its homoerotic themes as a representation of the protagonist Jesse’s repressed homosexuality. This sequel centers around teenage Jesse, who is possessed by Freddy in his sleep and forced to do things against his will, namely, murder. This overarching narrative is combined with countless queercoded moments. At one moment, Freddy tries to convince Jesse to succumb to him, telling him, “I need you,” while caressing his lips with his finger-blades. At another, Jesse tries to have sex with his girlfriend, but freaks out and leaves after he starts to turn into Freddy. The most bizarre sequence sees a delirious, sleep-deprived Jesse wandering into a gay bar in the middle of the night where he runs into his gym teacher. For some reason, the teacher makes Jesse run laps as a punishment and sends him to the showers, before he himself is dragged into the shower, stripped, and whipped to death by Jesse/Freddy. It’s undeniably camp. Nevertheless, what makes the film horrifying is the fact that Mark Patton, who portrayed Jesse, was closeted during the film’s run. Patton has spoken out about how he felt betrayed by the filmmakers, who knew about his sexuality, increasingly emphasized the homerotic undertones as production progressed, and ultimately took advantage of his identity. Being in the closet is traumatic enough, but being confronted with your sexuality in a mainstream movie is far worse. While the film’s writer David Chaskin has since tried to apologize to Patton, he also explained how he intended to tap into the “angst” caused by the rising homophobia during the AIDS crisis to give the film an edge. However, we now know that the true horror he inflicted was the emotional stress upon Patton, who left the film industry as a result.

Layout By Stephen Pastore Photos By Claire Reynolds Models: Lizzie Demacopoulos, Izzi Budetti, Stephen Pastore