if it was horror One thing that can work in this genre is to produce some compelling and well-crafted villains. However, it is all too common for many of these villains to reflect some controversial traits and personalities. While it could be argued that a decent group of horror (and non-horror) villains before the 1980s fed on weird stereotypes and symbols, the films of this decade began to be downright terrible in how they portrayed some horror villains.
Following the controversial arrest and trial of a certain American serial killer, the moral panic that accompanied it seemed to spark something in the minds of Hollywood horror writers. On February 6, 1980, the notorious killer John Wayne Gacy went on trial for the murders of 33 young men and boys. The trial, combined with the growing Satanic Panic, facilitated the emergence of a toxic culture that led to a growing pattern of horror villains exploiting that panic.
While many horror films of the decade did not feature explicitly gay villains, their subtextual inspirations were undeniable. It is unfortunate that shortly after the 1980s, the HIV/AIDS crisis began, which further entrenched horrific stereotypes of LGBT people in the cultural understanding, which was particularly reflected in the horror villains of the decade. This had many political and cultural effects, and it is worth noting that it led to a rise in many communities demanding such characters, and some franchises proving their support for their gay (and non-gay) audience.
A brief look at weird horror movies before the 80s.
Prior to the 1980s, the use of homosexual themes in horror films was less prevalent, and without a concurrent cultural panic, there was little reason for movie studios to build negative characters. However, However, older horror films reflected homosexuality in their portrayal, albeit in a less outwardly homophobic manner.As with many horror films throughout history, Fear has focused on highlighting the “other” as terrifying.That the “other” could be so easily denigrated partly explains how personality traits in the 1980s became so outwardly toxic.
Early monster movies offer an interesting insight into the development of homosexuality within horror films, even if the intentions are less clear. Many die-hard fans of the 1941 Gothic classic, wolf manHe saw beyond his metaphor of puberty and understood that Larry Talbot's relationship with his body, emotions, and father reflects a common experience among transgender people.Struggling with a rapidly changing body and an uncontrollable mix of emotions, this form of body horror may seem a little close to home for some people with gender dysphoria.
By focusing the public's fear on physical changes that were considered abnormal in a heterosexual society, such tropes found a place within the surrounding culture to thrive. Horror films focusing on physical monsters grew in popularity from this point onwards, creating the basis for films such as Sleeping camp Objecting to transgender bodies as intended horror. Not all of the representations were intentionally negative, but they all contributed to the normalization of homosexual images as evil and accepted as such within the horror genre..
The Rise of the Gay Villain in Horror Films
As we have discussed, the trial of John Wayne Gacy has entrenched a climate of disdain for LGBT people in popular culture. As the 1980s progressed, the demonization of gay people became more apparent in slasher horror films.Gacy's crimes were vicious and violent, but public perception focused excessively on his sexual orientation, and people began to view gay people as such as well. This helped give birth to the anti-gay trend that became dominant in the 1980s, with the focus on the villain's homosexuality as a threat to normal life.
Nightmare on Elm Street 2
A major vilification of gay men can be found in the 1985 supernatural horror film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's RevengeIn this film, the coach is portrayed as a predator who targets young people at the school, and does a convincing job of portraying himself as such to the audience. However, his perversions only exist in a dream world and do not occur in reality. Despite this information, The stereotype that a gay man in a position of authority is an automatic threat to young people prevails..
This comes directly from the assumptions reflected in the media after Gacy's arrest and trial, and highlights its impact on the genre. The raw homophobia inspired by this film's stance helped drive Mark Patton, who played Jesse Walsh, out of Hollywood, underscoring the power of this attitude to people's lives.
Sleeping camp
Back to the 1983 movie, Sleeping campThe casual homophobia this trend has encouraged has proven increasingly toxic. In this film, the main villain, Angela turns into a deadly opponent after being bullied because of her father's sexual orientation.Furthermore, the revelation at the end of the film that Angela was assigned male at birth engages this issue, as it forces the audience to accept that the real horror was her gender identity not matching the sex she was assigned at birth. Thus, the presence of gay people enabled societal fears by presenting them as terrifying, as their deviation from the norm led to unspeakable things against non-gay people, such as murder..
Hunger
The vampire films of the decade are a good example of how horror films continued to use more subtle references to homosexuality to instill fear in the audience. An important theme in such films is the horrific consequences of praying over unsuspecting victims and infecting them through their blood. There is a great deal of similarity between the depiction of vampires in the 1980s and AIDS victims, which reinforces the already frightening response that the mass media was simulating at the time.
Looking at movies like HungerStarring David Bowie, The infection is portrayed as selfish, with heterosexual characters seduced by violence and manipulation.This is similar to the popular notion that HIV/AIDS was a “gay epidemic” and that the irresponsibility of gay men was the reason that straight people were infected with the virus. This helped normalize a bitter misconception, and was only exacerbated by the physical deterioration that Bowie’s character suffered in the film.
What is the legacy of this metaphor?
All of the films discussed here point to a common thread occurring within the horror genre, which largely began in the 1980s. Gacy's trial brought his horrific crimes to light and helped cement the notoriety of LGBT people. There's no reason to believe that the film's writers were ostensibly trying to feed this beast with their projects, but they certainly weren't working against popular belief..
This in turn has led to some lasting legacies in the film industry. Among the most notable legacies are: The phenomenon of “gay burial”This trend takes LGBTQ+ characters from TV and movies and presents them as inferior to their straight counterparts, and therefore more deserving of death. Importantly, this trend did not originate in the 1980s but has been around since the early 1800s. However, the AIDS crisis and homophobic rhetoric of the time helped this harmful trend evolve and reach new heights. It’s not as common in more recent horror films, where it has gained significant controversy for obvious reasons, but it’s still around.
Likewise, all the negativity focused on the genre in an era where it is considered a cultural icon of horror has led many to reclaim these tropes. For example, since Mark Pattern came out publicly and shared his experiences working on Nightmare on Elm Street 2It has been widely recognized as a classic. The same is true of Sleeping campwith contemporary perspectives on films that find positivity in exploring the fear within being an LBGTQ+ person in a heterosexual, and sometimes dangerously gay, world.
