San Francisco’s Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Festival is the world’s longest-running queer film festival. Founded in 1977, it can always be guaranteed to showcase unique, eye-opening content. One such gem at this year’s festival is Spookable, a humorous offbeat trans werewolf horror story which premieres this Sunday June 23 as part of Frameline’s Fun In Shorts short film program.
With an entirely trans cast and crew, Spookable (15 mins) is a werewolf story of two trans best friends who venture into the woods on a cabin getaway vacation only to end up part of a horny supernatural world. It’s a clever inversion of cinematic horror and comedy tropes to explore trans identity and masculinity.
Produced by acclaimed trans-filmmaker and artist Zackary Drucker, Spookable is directed and co-written by trans-masculine filmmaker Jonathan Andre Culliton, and it is co-written and stars trans-masculine heartthrob / comedian / performer Marval Rex. The film combines hammy acting and a goofy script – think early nineties cable TV era production values – to tell a story that compares the journey of a trans man to the transformation of someone into a werewolf. The deeper voice, sudden hairiness, more masculine behaviour link both, as well as the similarities in the efforts some people make in clocking both trans men and werewolves! Looks like this was a fun film to make.
Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah
