Vulture's 55 Essential Queer Horror Films

Vulture's 55 Essential Queer Horror Films's icon

Created by Fergenaprido.

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By Jordan Crucchiola
JUNE 26, 2018

From 1934 until 1967, Hollywood movies were shaped by the Production Code, otherwise known as the Hays Code. Written in 1930, but not implemented until four years later, this set of rules was generally intended to keep movies from “corrupting” the people who watched them. Given that homosexuality was considered either a physical or psychological malady in the early 20th century, the code effectively legislated any limited queer presence out of existence. While homosexuality was not explicitly banned in the Hays’ text, it was mandated that “no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.” It was also codified that only “correct standards of life” should be presented,” and that “sex perversion or any inference to it is forbidden.”

In other words, for a long time, cinematic queers were pushed underground, relegated to existing only in subtext — and most often as villains. In order to get queer stories onscreen, filmmakers had to find creative ways to subvert the system.

Horror films in particular have made for a fascinating case study in the evolving perceptions of queer presence; queer-horror filmmakers and actors were often forced to lean into the trope of the “predatory queer” or the “monstrous queer” to claim some sense of power through visibility and blatant expressions of sexuality. Below is a beginner’s guide to the most essential queer horror of the past 90 years. It also doubles as a timeline of the evolution of queer horror: How LGBTQA themes and characters went from hiding between the lines in movies with “gay sensibilities” in the 1930s to breaking out as Pride memes almost a century later — going from invisible (lesbian ghosts!) to closeted (literally, in the case of Dorian Gray) to fabulously out (who wouldn’t have given in to Catherine Deneuve’s Miriam Blaylock?), before finally being allowed to exist as multidimensional characters onscreen.

From the coded abominations of James Whale’s taboo-skirting films of the 1930s to the Pride reign of The Babadook, here’s our guide to queer horror cinema.

1-7: The 1930s and 1940s — Fear the Queer Monsters
8-12: The 1950s — Kitschy Monsters and More Queer Subtext
13-17: The 1960s — Farewell to the Hays Code
18-22: 1970s — The Lesbian Vampires Are Loose!
23-32: 1980s — Resurgent Conservatism, the AIDS Crisis, and the Mainstreaming of Queer Culture
33-38: 1990s — New Queer Cinema and Gay Vampire Dads
39-47: 2000s — Out and (Getting) Proud
48-55: 2010s — They’re Here. They’re Queer. Get Used to It.

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  1. 1 new

    The Old Dark House

    1932, in 5 top lists Check
  2. 2 new

    Bride of Frankenstein

    1935, in 19 top lists Check
  3. 3 new

    Dracula's Daughter

    1936 — a.k.a. Daughter of Dracula, in 1 top list Check
  4. 4 new

    Rebecca

    1940, in 23 top lists Check
  5. 5 new

    Cat People

    1942, in 15 top lists Check
  6. 6 new

    The Uninvited

    1944, in 2 top lists Check
  7. 7 new

    The Picture of Dorian Gray

    1945, in 5 top lists Check
  8. 8 new

    Creature from the Black Lagoon

    1954, in 1 top list Check
  9. 9 new

    Les diaboliques

    1955 — a.k.a. Diabolique, in 21 top lists Check
  10. 10 new

    I Was a Teenage Frankenstein

    1957, in 0 top lists Check
  11. 11 new

    I Was a Teenage Werewolf

    1957, in 1 top list Check
  12. 12 new

    I Married a Monster from Outer Space

    1958, in 2 top lists Check
  13. 13 new

    Psycho

    1960, in 39 top lists Check
  14. 14 new

    Et mourir de plaisir

    1960 — a.k.a. Blood and Roses, in 2 top lists Check
  15. 15 new

    The Haunting

    1963, in 6 top lists Check
  16. 16 new

    Orgy of the Dead

    1965, in 0 top lists Check
  17. 17 new

    Frankenstein Created Woman

    1967 — a.k.a. Frankenstein Made Woman, in 1 top list Check
  18. 18 new

    Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray

    1970 — a.k.a. Dorian Gray, in 0 top lists Check
  19. 19 new

    Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde

    1971, in 1 top list Check
  20. 20 new

    The Vampire Lovers

    1970, in 1 top list Check
  21. 21 new

    Les lèvres rouges

    1971 — a.k.a. Daughters of Darkness, in 6 top lists Check
  22. 22 new

    La novia ensangrentada

    1972 — a.k.a. The Blood Spattered Bride, in 2 top lists Check
  23. 23 new

    The Rocky Horror Picture Show

    1975, in 13 top lists Check
  24. 24 new

    Fear No Evil

    1981, in 0 top lists Check
  25. 25 new

    The Hunger

    1983, in 2 top lists Check
  26. 26 new

    Sleepaway Camp

    1983, in 1 top list Check
  27. 27 new

    De vierde man

    1983 — a.k.a. The 4th Man, in 5 top lists Check
  28. 28 new

    A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge

    1985 — a.k.a. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, in 1 top list Check
  29. 29 new

    Fright Night

    1985, in 2 top lists Check
  30. 30 new

    Witchboard

    1986, in 0 top lists Check
  31. 31 new

    The Lost Boys

    1987, in 3 top lists Check
  32. 32 new

    Hellraiser

    1987, in 3 top lists Check
  33. 33 new

    Nightbreed

    1990, in 1 top list Check
  34. 34 new

    The Silence of the Lambs

    1991, in 36 top lists Check
  35. 35 new

    Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

    1994, in 4 top lists Check
  36. 36 new

    Nadja

    1994, in 0 top lists Check
  37. 37 new

    Heavenly Creatures

    1994, in 7 top lists Check
  38. 38 new

    Kondom des Grauens

    1996 — a.k.a. Killer Condom, in 0 top lists Check
  39. 39 new

    Make a Wish

    2002, in 0 top lists Check
  40. 40 new

    Haute tension

    2003 — a.k.a. High Tension, in 2 top lists Check
  41. 41 new

    Hellbent

    2004, in 1 top list Check
  42. 42 new

    Seed of Chucky

    2004, in 0 top lists Check
  43. 43 new

    The Covenant

    2006, in 0 top lists Check
  44. 44 new

    The Gay Bed and Breakfast of Terror

    2007, in 0 top lists Check
  45. 45 new

    Låt den rätte komma in

    2008 — a.k.a. Let the Right One In, in 14 top lists Check
  46. 46 new

    Otto; or, Up with Dead People

    2008, in 0 top lists Check
  47. 47 new

    Jennifer's Body

    2009, in 1 top list Check
  48. 48 new

    Chillerama

    2011, in 0 top lists Check
  49. 49 new

    All Cheerleaders Die

    2013, in 0 top lists Check
  50. 50 new

    L'inconnu du lac

    2013 — a.k.a. Stranger by the Lake, in 6 top lists Check
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Last updated on Apr 5, 2021; source