Over the 10 years that QUEERGURU has been covering all aspects of queer cinema, there is one genre we have deliberately avoided.  Until now, that is. It’s just a matter of the personal taste of our Editor-In-Charge,  He hates HORROR.  So for all of you who love the genre and keep asking thatb we include it in our coverage …..here you go.  

The upcoming London Frightfest is about to host premieres by international LGBTQ+ filmmakers and queer themed stiories.  Running from Thursday August 21 – Monday 25 August, FrightFest showcases sixty-nine features from across the world, embracing twenty-five main screen premieres and forty-four Discovery Screen titles, including the popular ‘First Blood’ strand, the latest genre documentaries, and a 4K restoration retrospective of one of the most game-changing British shockers ever

Among this fearsome line-up are several films that will appeal to LGBTQ+ fans of horror and fantasy.  Including.  World Premieres for claw-chiller DON’T LET THE CAT OUT, from director Tim Cruz and starring Anthony Del Negro, who previously collaborated on gay stalker thriller Ladybug, an audience-pleaser at FrightFest in 2024, and Ritesh Gupta’s THE RED MASK, a twisted love letter to the stalk and slash genre.

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From Australia, FrightFest welcome back transgender filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay who brings THE SERPENT’S

SKIN, her terrifying and tender exploration of love, gender identity and personal growth. Also, from down under is Parish Malfitano’s SALT ALONG THE TONGUE, a uniquely different horror, mixing witchery, spirit possession and exorcism with sheer cinematic poetry. The work of veteran Belgian filmmaker Harry Kümel is celebrated with 4K restoration of two films from 1971, his erotic vampire tale, DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS and MALPERTUIS, a surreal gothic tale of warlocks and imprisoned Olympian gods.

What is the secret behind the success of The Rocky Horror Picture Show? In the year of its 50th Anniversary, Andreas Zerr’s SANE INSIDE INSANITY: THE ROCKY HORROR PHENOMENON charts it all, from humble two-page script written in crayon and Off West End smash hit to flop film adaptation and global Midnight Movie cult success. With fantastic archive footage, new key cast interviews and a wealth of trivia information, this is the ultimate chronicle about the Queen Mother of B movie musicals.

Iconic personalities are the subject of this year’s documentaries. In CAPTURED SOULS: IN CONVERSATION WITH GRAHAM HUMPHREYS, where director Chris Collier explores the life and legacy of the UK’s most iconic horror illustrator, best known for the original film poster designs for The Evil Dead and A Nightmare on Elm Street.  Another infamous personality was Andy Milligan, a pioneer of avant-garde theatre a trailblazer of early Queer cinema, and one of the most divisive talents in exploitation/horror history. Now in THE DEGENERATE: THE LIFE & FILMS OF ANDY MILLIGAN the truth can be told about ‘The Fassbinder of 42nd Street’.

There are many guests attending from these films. They include Tim Cruz, (director Don’t LetTthe Cat Out); actors Anthony Del Negro and Jordan James Smith (Don’t Let The Cat Out);  Harry Kümel (director Daughters of Darkness & Malpertuis); Alice Maio Mackay (director, The Serpent’s Skin);  Parish Malfitano (director, Salt Along The Tongue);  Ritesh Gupta (director, Red Mask); Andreas Zerr (director, Sane Inside Insanity: The Phenomenon Of Rocky Horror); Graham Humphreys (subject of Captured Souls: In Conversation With Graham Humphreys); and Josh Johnson & Grayson Tyler Johnson (co-directors of The Degenerate: The Life & Films Of Andy Milligan).