Digging into Queer Cult Classic ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 2’ [Guide to the Unknown]

A movie doesn’t have to be good for it to be GOOD. Better yet, it doesn’t have to be good for it to be meaningful.

For many, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge is more than a so-bad-it’s-good rewatch; it’s a film to rally around for its gay subtext (and just plain text). Though it was widely panned at its 1985 release, Freddy’s Revenge has since found a vocal audience in the queer community that celebrates much of what it was initially criticized for.

This week on Bloody FM’s Guide to the Unknown, Kristen and Will discuss the movie alongside the super illuminating documentary Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street. The documentary focuses on lead actor Mark Patton’s experience shooting the film as a closeted gay man at the time, going through the inner turmoil of being tasked with playing a straight role in a movie with queer undertones – the pressure and fallout of which became part of what caused him to leave the film industry and go off the grid.

The experts who weigh in on the legacy of Freddy’s Revenge in Scream, Queen posit that it isn’t as simple as just the sexuality, either implied or on display, that some of the mid-80s critics and audiences bristled at, such as a plotline involving a leather bar and a male gym teacher rumored to like “pretty boys.” They point out that the gender swap of having the lead, Patton’s Jesse, be pursued by the villain and saved by a girl in the end was also pretty subversive for the time. A man showing “damsel in distress” qualities was too much for some people to take.

But it wasn’t too much for swaths of people who saw themselves in Jesse, had crushes on Jesse, or both. In addition to Patton’s personal story, one of the best things about Scream, Queen is the scenes at screenings, Q & A’s, and conventions that show fans pumped to embrace what is, arguably, a not-great movie for what it means to them culturally and collectively, cosplaying and cracking up and having a great time.

It’s awesome, and the meta-knowledge of what the movie means to so many people makes the movie itself way more enjoyable to watch. Maybe every Freddy’s Revenge movie should come with a Scream Queen chaser, like a classic VHS box set.

For more about both movies, check out this week’s episode and subscribe to Guide to the Unknown on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to get a new episode every Friday.