‘Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street’ Trailer: A Gay Horror Classic’s Sad Secret

Released in 1985 as the much-anticipated sequel to the wildly popular “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” was supposed to be lead actor Mark Patton’s big break. Instead, the actor found himself at the center of one of the gayest horror films ever made, a fate that was not kind to a closeted young man in the 1980s. For the first time in the 30 years since the film’s release, Patton is telling his story on his own terms in a new documentary titled “Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street.”

IndieWire’s exclusive trailer for the new documentary reveals how the original film became “a siren song for the queer horror community,” and turned Patton into “the Greta Garbo of horror.”

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Here’s the official synopsis: “In 1985, Mark Patton landed the lead in the hotly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster film ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street.’ It was a dream come true, putting him on track to become a young Hollywood star. But instead Patton found himself facing a stark reality: he was a young, closeted gay man starring in a subversively queer film that was maligned by fans, failed at the box office, and destroyed his career. He retreated from show business and left the country, unaware of the growing reappraisal of ‘Freddy’s Revenge’ and the cult status it achieved in the years following its dismissal.”

Directed by Roman Chimienti & Tyler Jensen, the film brings Patton out of hiding after 30 years, as he is finally ready to embrace the film and confront his own demons by telling his story. The documentary also examines how attitudes towards the controversial sequel have changed over time, along with the social mores of both Hollywood and society.

The film includes interviews with San Francisco icon Peaches Christ and members of the original cast and crew — including Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund.

The trailer teases plenty of eye-opening scenes with Patton, including his assertion that: “I wake up in the middle of the first movie that I’m the lead actor in and realize that there’s a gay subtext in it.” In a heated discussion with one of the original film’s producers in the present day, he is understandably combative, arguing: “When people ask you about it, you say, ‘Mark was just so gay that he ruined the movie.'”

“Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street” makes its U.S. Premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 22 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. Check out our exclusive trailer below.

And here is the rather provocative poster: