10 Queer horror titles to celebrate Pride Month

What better way to celebrate Pride Month than with some queer horror?

Here are 10 recent queer horrors to sink your teeth into –

Bodies Bodies Bodies

Right from the outset, we are thrown into the intense relationship of Sophie and Bee, as they make their way to a remote mansion where they will meet some of Sophie’s friends, after a long spell apart.

From their first encounters, it is quite clear that something is off about this entire scenario, and after one of the group dies under shady circumstances while playing the titular game, suspicions arise and fingers are pointed in all directions.

At a brisk 95 minutes, Bodies Bodies Bodies is a rollicking good time, really showing the vapid nature of twenty-somethings, obsessed with social media and in some cases just doing things for the clout rather than for anything meaningful.

The comedy is also razor sharp, with some fantastic social commentary plus it isn’t afraid to get gory. Make no mistake about it, there will be blood.

The small cast all bring their A-game and bounce off each other well, and when the sh*t hits the fan the performances just go up a notch.

Death Drop Gorgeous

In Death Drop Gorgeous we follow Dwayne a dejected bartender plus an ageing drag queen as they both try and survive in the dark underbelly of the Providence nightclub scene.

While this begins like a twisted giallo, with black gloves to boot, when our killer is revealed the film does shake off a midway slump and becomes all the more entertaining.

There is a bottle fight that also rivals Road House for the amount of bottling and smashed glass, its truly something.

The drag scene feels like an untapped source of slasher films (barring the forgettable Killer Unicorn) so this feels like a step in the right direction to fully exploiting queer spaces for horror movie settings.

What Keeps You Alive

It all seems hunky dory for married couple Jackie and Jules as they set off on a romantic getaway to the middle of nowhere.

Little does Jule know that her partner has a dark past which will soon unravel itself.

For those who have seen Revenge, you may feel a slight sense of déjà vu with What Keeps You Alive, but the world of horror deserves both of these films.

The score from Brittany Allen is truly stunning too and really encapsulates the isolation and terror of this situation.

You may feel at one stage that director Colin Minihan has played all his cards but he has a few tricks up his sleeve, with the finale proving a real home run.

The Latent Image

Adapted from a 2019 short film, the feature-length version of The Latent Image, is a queer thriller with a real dark underbelly.

Joshua Tonks leads the cast as Ben, a reclusive writer who gets a surprise visit to his cabin by a drifter who may or may not have sinister intentions.

At first, his character may feel like he has one thing on his mind, Ben becomes a more complex character as the story progresses and the lines between fiction and reality start to blur.

The comparisons to something like Misery are more obvious but I also got vibes of something like Wolf Creek, with a predator who really wants to mess with its prey.

The violence is also unflinching and brutal, and you can almost feel at the bangs and crashes as they come.

The Latent Image does require some patience initially, but the pay off is definitely worth it, with some images that will stay with the audience.

Knife + Heart

Yann Gonzalez’s Knife + Heart is pure Giallo, but takes it to a very different setting; the gay porn industry of the 1980s.

As the film opens you may feel like you are watching an adult movie, but Knife + Heart quickly establishes a group of characters that rise above any sort of porn cliche.

Add to this the mystery of a whodunnit and our lead Anne, the head of the Studio, having weird visions and you will have a mystery that will keep you engrossed until the big reveal.

As this is set around the porn industry the killer uses this to his (or her) advantage, with some creative kills using sex toys with…..enhancements.

There is a camp element to Knife + Heart which helps the film during its slower moments and although it maybe could have trimmed off 10 minutes, there’s enough mystery and gore to keep the average slasher fan happy.

Shot on 35mm, Knife + Heart has a grimy feel to it, which knits with its narrative seamlessly, with an excellent throwback score from M83.

HEBGB TV

The style of HEBGB TV feels plucked out of the 1990s VHS era, with its eye-popping colours and over-the-top performances a real assault on the senses.

Set around Halloween, two children receive a package with a pulsating TV inside which unleashes The Purple Guy a genuinely creepy character, with sinister intentions.

We are then guided through a series of twisted short stories, mainly featuring the talents of Jake McClennan as different strange characters which are odd, and funny but so fascinating. It’s a real tour-de-force performance.

I mean where else could you see a barbershop band of candy corns?

The closest comparison I can find is 1986’s Terrorvision, with hints of IT given its sinister undertones between The Purple Guy and their intentions for these children.

The Jessica Cabin

For Daniel Montgomery’s comedy/drama with a tinge of horror The Jessica Cabin, they take the idea of spooks and make it more romantic and funny.

We follow a pair of ghosts trapped in the titular cabin, who become mildly obsessed with a new visitor and consider getting him to join their ranks.

The Jessica Cabin questions, in a lighter tone to something like Interview With a Vampire, what it is like to be eternal but be trapped in a certain place or lifecycle.

There are some genuinely touching moments and some great laughs along with some dark comedy that takes craft to pull off.

Spiral (2019)

When a gay couple move to a small rural town with their daughter, they get the sense of underlying prejudice which could mask something far more sinister.

Interestingly, the film is set in the 1990s with a running theme of fear of gay people, the post-AIDS crisis of the previous decade. The social commentary is there for all to see.

Our central relationship between Malik and Aaron feels built on fragile foundations and when this is chipped away ay by Malik’s paranoia things start to unravel.

There is also the added layer of Malik carrying around severe PTSD from a hate crime he and a former partner suffered in the 80s. This theme rolls throughout as his paranoia is only enhanced by the strange behaviour of his neighbours.

Spiral does well holding its cards close to its chest before bursting out during the shocking finale.

Knock at the Cabin

Knock at the Cabin loads its plot pivot very early on in the movie. Dads Andrew and Eric (Ben Aldridge and Jonathan Groff) are hanging out at a summer cabin with their adopted daughter, Wen (Kristen Cui).

Their peace is shattered by a group of initially threatening but increasingly benevolent strangers, headed by the gruff but conciliatory Leonard (heavy du jours Dave Bautista, most recently seen in Glass Onion), who break in, tie up the dads and explain the reason for their visit; in order to avert forthcoming world populace annihilation, one of the three members of the family must sacrifice themselves. Failure to do so will result in Andrew, Eric and Wen being the only people left alive on the planet.

There are some good performances here, stand out being first timer Cui as a young girl struggling to understand what the grown-ups are talking about; and the film largely gets by in the relief that Shyamalan has made a film that, while still coming across like an extended The Twilight Zone episode, at least gives us a premise we can relate to. 

Freaky

In the sleepy little town of Blissfield, a serial killer, The Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn on top form), has struck again. But this time he’s managed to get hold of an ancient dagger which has some unusual properties; namely the ability to allow the attacker to swap bodies with his attackee after ‘killing’ them.

Enter small-town girl Millie (Kathryn Newton) whose family life has become difficult following the death of her father: mum has taken to the bottle; her older sister, a cop, constantly gives her a hard time; and worse still she can’t pluck up the nerve to speak to the class hottie, much to the consternation of her friends.

But after being abandoned late at night after school, Millie encounters The Butcher, who stabs her with the mystic knife. The following day, Millie wakes up, injured but alive, as does the Butcher. But both have now occupied each other’s bodies. Millie has to adjust to being a very big man – and a serial killer to boot – and The Butcher to being trapped in the body of a teenage girl. But there’s a catch; if the spell can’t be reversed within 24 hours, the swap will be permanent. And Millie and friends do not want that to happen.

There is some serious gore going on in Freaky, (death by circular blade and ingestion of broken wine bottle, anyone?) which, even going by the standards of the movies it emulates, is pretty extreme. Very, very good.

Are there any recent queer horrors we missed that you’d recommend? Comment with your recommendations.