While the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise is often known for pushing buttons in gore and terror, ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge’ is specifically known for its inclusion of queer culture. Now, a new documentary titled ‘Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street’ is set to delve into Mark Patton’s character and what this inclusion meant in the 1985 film, to Patton’s life, and career following its release. The idea for this documentary is to “not only to delight in the batshit uniqueness of NOES2, but also asks them to reckon with what it means for the film to exist in the first place.”
Even with the controversy at the time, the film would become a hit among horror fans but “amid backlash and finger-pointing about his sexuality’s impact on the film, and the fear of homosexuals and AIDS permeating the culture in the mid-’80s, Mark Patton left Hollywood. Now, more than three decades later, he wants to set the record straight.”
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The new documentary is being described as follows:
SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is a special kind of eye-opening documentary, inviting fans not only to delight in the batshit uniqueness of NOES2, but also asking them to reckon with what it means for the film to exist in the first place. Through interviews with the cast and crew of NOES2, as well as film and queer culture luminaries like Peaches Christ, SCREAM, QUEEN! directors Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen are unafraid to revel in the love and fandom that has grown for the film, while also confronting the heartbreaking and challenging realities that are part of its legacy. At the center of it all is Mark Patton, a wonderfully gracious and honest man with an important story who is sure to win the hearts of all.
NOES2 is a surprising example of how attitudes and conversations around the ideas of queer representation and portrayal in film have changed over the past thirty years. Derided by most series fans after its release, eventually embraced by curious audiences, it can now be celebrated for what it really is. SCREAM, QUEEN! serves as an essential companion piece to NOES2, allowing Mark to tell his amazing story and providing crucial context that seals its place in the pantheon of great horror films, queer or otherwise.
You can view the ‘Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street’ Trailer below:
The film had changed directions by having Patton’s Jesse being possessed by Freddy but “it was the film’s homoerotic shower scene, foray into a gay leather bar, and Patton’s positioning as a screen queen that raised more than a few eyebrows.” These days, this kind of inclusion has thankfully become more standard, but at the time it wasn’t well-received by audiences or Hollywood executives.
Will you be checking out ‘Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street’ when it is released? Do you feel that if the movie had been released today that Mark Patton would have had to leave Hollywood and his career behind? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Sources: Bloody Disgusting, YouTube
