Tag Archives: gay sex

Big Gay Horror Show: Peccadillo’s Top 10 Queer Horror Flicks

There’s always been something queer, something camp about horror. It inhabits that weird space between reality and fiction, between fear and horniness, that gay people (for some reason) seem to know so well. The connection between screams and queens might be (without wanting to get all political) something to do with the fact that, sadly, simply growing up is a bit of a horror show for a lot of gay people – even today.

Anyway – to celebrate the release of our latest weird, wonderful horror – Till Kleinert’s relentlessly glorious THE SAMURAI – I thought I’d run down my favourite horror films that dabble in the dark art of homosexuality.

1. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Featuring one of the best and gayest hairdos ever committed to screen, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is camp as hell. A creature is shunned from society for his despised ‘condition’ and his creator is lured away from his own wedding night by the seedy and eccentric Doctor Pretorius – and forced to create a new mate for his own monster. That mate is the BRIDE, who is effectively a drag queen.

2. Psycho (1960)

I don’t want to pander to the stereotype that every gay man has a warped and warping relationship with his mother, but Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal PSYCHO undoubtedly occupies its own queer space in film history. Plus, Anthony Perkins’ was legendarily closeted and, (is it just me?), he’s oddly hot. A queer, Oedipal nightmare which I bet you want to watch again after reading this!

3. A Nightmare on Elm-Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)

Out actor Mark Patton (who plays Jesse, the sexually confused lead) has called himself one of the first ‘scream queens’. The tagline for this 80s anti-classic was, quite unbelievably, ‘THE MAN OF YOUR DREAMS IS BACK’. A gym coach gets SPANKED TO DEATH in the shower, for crying out loud. This film is, without doubt, terrible, but, as it’s many times been called ‘the gayest horror movie ever made’, we couldn’t not give it a starring role in this list!

4. Death Becomes Her (1992)

Meryl Streep. Playing a musical theatre star. Wants to outdo, possibly kill her rival (the glorious Goldie Hawn), and live forever. Need I say more?

5. Heavenly Creatures (1994)

The female of the species is more deadly than the male. So proves LORD OF THE RINGS director Peter Jackson’s campy classic HEAVENLY CREATURES, starring a young and porcelain Kate Winslet as the young school girl who falls in love with another young school girl. Enough of a horror film in itself, and it’s this unforgiving blend of dreadful reality with sumptuous fantasy that makes this a ‘horror’ in the true trembling, shuddering etymological roots of the word.

6. American Psycho (2000)

When it’s recently been suggested by a US study that 1 in 25 business leaders might be a psychopath, year on year Mary Harron’s study of violence and financial capitalism becomes more and more relevant. Reasons why this film is gay? Christian Bale is hot as hell in it, especially in that scene where he’s having sex with a woman but blows kisses to himself in the mirror. Reasons why this film is horrifying? Christian Bale is hot, as are a lot of those City boys, but there’s no escaping that their business, actions and behaviour are increasingly becoming more dangerous and pernicious and it won’t be long until they throw a chainsaw at someone whilst screaming, covered in blood, in their pants.

7. Pornography – A Thriller (2011)

Whilst I’d like to wax lyrical about how this is a campy, trashy underground genre flick you love to hate, it’s actually quite frightening. A lot of people watch it expecting trash, sex, gore, and whilst there certainly is that, there’s also something profound, unnerving and uncanny bubbling beneath the surface of this Lynch-meets-THE-FLUFFER puzzle.

8. Vampires: Brighter in Darkness (2012)

Now we’re talking. The tagline for the film is the wince-inducing ‘How Deep Is His Bite?’, but believe me, once this film has bitten you won’t be forgetting it any time soon. Shot on a nano-budget in an English castle, filmmaker Jason Davitt’s achievement is commendable, even though the film is totally, totally mad. Love it or hate it, whatever you do, watch it.

9. Jack and Diane (2012)

This is a movie about a lesbian relationship that could, quite literally, get torn apart. Especially when the werewolf transformations start occurring. I personally think this film is yet to receive the attention it deserves: it’s cute, the soundtrack is stunning, and Kyle Minogue makes a cameo as a horny, tattooed woman-lover so, yunno, double gay points.

10. The Samurai (2015)

Well, this is why we’re here in the first place. Although queer horror always does something new, something original, something you’ve not seen before, THE SAMURAI does that with unfettered, gay-as-hell abandon. It’s a bloody, sweaty, sexy genre debut from cult filmmaker TILL KLEINERT where a wild-eyed man in a wedding dress leers straight-laced rural cop Jakob into a dark, solidly Freudian forest and unleashes a side to him Jakob had no idea existed… If you love horror, love queer, love anything on this list, then you’ll lap this up faster than a vampire in Red Cross centre.

LGBT History Month: Queer Around the World

We have our LGBT History Month Tree up here in the Peccadillo office (it may or may not be the Attitude ‘Naked Issue’), and we thought we’d do a series of blog posts throughout the month on LGBT history. Today: LGBT rights around the world.
Gay people on film gets more and more mainstream every year – THE IMITATION GAME, PRIDE, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB – these are massive, blockbuster, Oscar nom’d films – but they’re all Western, British or American, in English. I mean, no-one’s expecting a big gay Russian LEVIATHAN, but it’s sad, no, that a big gay Russian LEVIATHAN would, most likely, not get made? At least not right now. (The closest Peccadillo gets to this is our 2013 Polish drama IN THE NAME OF – a moving and controversial film designated ‘A genuine breakthrough’ by Sight and Sound.)

IN THE NAME OF: Polish men get biblical in the water.

Gay icon Hillary Clinton is good on this: ‘Gay people are born into, and belong to, every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths. They are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes. And whether we know it or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends, and our neighbours. Being gay is not a Western invention. It is a human reality.’

HILLARY CLINTON: The definition of sass.

So let’s take a whistle-stop tour through some of our favourite LGBT titles not in the English language. This week we’re celebrating the UK release of Brazilian film THE WAY HE LOOKS on DVD and Blu-ray, a sweet, funny and charming film about a blind teenager wondering who he’ll give his first kiss to, his best friend Giovana or handsome newcomer Gabriel. Brazil, with its yellows, lush greens and blues, looks phenomenal on film, and we whole-heartedly champion director Daniel Ribeiro on to his second feature film!

The heat is all well and good until you forgot sunscreen.

THE WAY HE LOOKS: The heat is all well and good until you forget sunscreen.

Also from South America is Lucia Puenzo’s (WAKOLDA, THE FISH CHILD) first feature film – XXY. After winning the Critics’ Week Grand Prize in 2007, the film disarmed audiences around the world with its unflinching portrayal of the life of an intersex teenager (played by the outstanding Ines Efron) living in Uruguay.

XXY: I would write a joke here but this is a genuinely upsetting scene. The bully is skinny.

One of our most remarkable films is Ligy J Pullappally’s drama THE JOURNEY, which tells the story of two beautiful young women who fall in love in an idyllic, though traditional, Indian community. LGBT rights in India are pretty poor, with the Supreme Court reinstating an upheld ban on gay sex in December 2013. One step forward, two steps back. LGBT activism in India remains, however, undimmed, and THE JOURNEY remains a powerful and poignant riposte to the December 2013 ruling.

THE JOURNEY: Splashy fun and games until the chafing kicks in…

Finishing today’s post (but throwing us forward into next week’s ACTIVISM! post) is CIRCUMSTANCE – one of the bravest titles in the Peccadillo collection. Telling the story of two girls navigating the underground club scene of Iran, as well as the extremely repressive restrictions placed on Iranian women above ground. Based on director Maryam Keshavarz’s own experiences of persecution, the film is nevertheless a subtle and intimate look at the burgeoning sexuality of two young women in a dangerous, stifling world.

CIRCUMSTANCE: If you have a sexual reaction to heat, Iran is a great place to live.

The writers, directors, producers and actors behind these films are exceptionally brave people, and here at Peccadillo we feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with them, and continue to work with them. Each film demonstrates how essential it is to see LGBT History month as a global, rather than national, event. Stay tuned for more posts throughout the month on LGBT history. Next time: ACTIVISM! The dramas and documentaries that really inspired, or reflect, change.

Why you should see EASTERN BOYS

At Peccadillo we have literally hundreds of films recommended to us every year and there just isn’t enough time to see them all. EASTERN BOYS was recommended by a sales company that we regularly work with, was premiering at the prestigious Venice Film Festival and the previous work from director Robin Campillo indicated he was definitely someone to watch, but the title of the film and the subject of Eastern European rent boys made it all sound so… 90’s.

It would have been very easy to skip the 9am market screening, but we’re glad we didn’t, because the film was definitely one of the best of the year and in Venice it picked up the Horizon Award for Best film – but that was after we had acquired it.

Eastern Boys Final UK Quad

EASTERN BOYS opens with what can be described as a classic cruising scene. Daniel spots Marek hanging out with friends at the Gare du Nord station in Paris and virtually stalks him until he gets him alone, agrees a price and arranges for the young man to come to his apartment the next day.

When Daniel opens his door it’s to a young boy called Marek, the trap is sprung and then “that scene” happens. It’s the scene that everyone who has seen the film talks about, a celluloid moment that is impossible to erase and is certain will go down in film history as one of the most memorable moments in film – ever.

EASTERN BOYS is both an edge of your seat thriller and an intimate exploration of the evolution and meaning of love, it seamlessly moves between one genre and the other toward an unexpected but ultimately very satisfying ending. The film is one hell of a journey and one that Peccadillo is very proud to bring to you.

So please seek out those few cinemas brave enough to show something different to mainstream holiday fare (there are fewer of them every year) and settle back and enjoy an utterly brilliant cinematic experience.

Director Robin Campillo will be in London to present the film On Friday at The Curzon Soho and on Saturday at The Hackney Picturehouse, click below for details of these and other screenings around the UK

For more and to book tickets: http://bit.ly/EasternBoysCinema

Feburary’s Must See: Stranger By the Lake

Peccadillo Pictures are thrilled to be behind the critically acclaimed and widely admired gay cinema sensation of 2014; Alain Guiraudie‘s intoxicating blend of bold homosexual erotica and compelling psychological thriller, Stranger By The Lake (L’inconnu Du Lac).

Stranger By The Lake has been praised in countless publications and chosen as a highlight of many must-see lists of the year – Time Out and French film journal Cahier du Cinema, Little White Lies, to name but a few – and it was awarded a five star rating by Empire. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it went on to win the award for Best Director, and the Queer Palm award. It also currently holds an 100% score on go-to film rater Rotten Tomatoes. Guiraudie – one of France’s most accomplished auteurs- is now on his tenth feature and finally earning his place in the art-house limelight. So what, you may ask, is this fuss about? The reasons are multiple.

There’s the atmospheric setting; a picturesque, serene lake in France during a balmy summer, which also happens to be a cruising spot for gay men. A setting that is at once erotically exposed and secretive. When the film gives way to mystery and suspense, the sense of place transforms from a place of natural, pastoral beauty to something more eery and sinister. Of the cruisers, the film focuses on Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps), a highly sought after cruiser in the spot. After several mindless encounters, Frank swims past Michel (Christophe Paou) and rapidly falls into love – or lust – with him, despite warnings from middle-aged Henri, a fat and disillusioned loner he has befriended by the lake. After seeing Michael commit a terrible act of violence, Franck’s unflinching passion threatens to disrupt his moral integrity.

There’s also how celebratory it all is of homosexuality and the male form. It would be a trying effort to find a more sexually explicit art-house film than this, (yes, even Blue Is The Warmest Colour) and a franker portrayal of gay sex so utterly devoid of any inhibition or apology. Likewise, the voyeuristic quality of the sex scenes, plus the treatment of the suspense, expertly echoes Hitchcock; a similarity many viewers are enjoying. The film also moves effortlessly from a sensual art-house film into a murder thriller. Not to mention, there is somehow humour in there too, in the form of an overweight and overtly optimistic cruiser named Eric, always hopefully trying it on with his superior looking fellow naturists. The comedy somehow blends in expertly well, in a film which you wouldn’t expect it to at all; leading this film to become a wonderful and unique hybrid of comedy, romance, erotica and murder thriller.

We could go on, but it would be wiser to believe the hype and experience this absorbing sexual thriller for yourself, in cinemas from 21st February.

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