I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
Episode one tackles the early queer literary influences on the horror genre, including Mary Shelley, Oscar Wilde, and Bram Stoker. Episode two continues into Old Hollywood horror, opening on the films of gay director James Whale, who made iconic monster movies like the original Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, and moving into Hitchcock movies like Rebecca, The Birds, Rope, and Psycho, including a long interlude about Anthony Perkins’ life in the closet. Episode three is all about transformations, looking at werewolves and aliens as metaphors for queerness and transness. And episode four is for the monstrous dykes, the final installment taking a look at lesbianism in horror through the years, from the horny vampire sexploitation film boom in the 60s and 70s when titties and fangs went hand in hand, to more recent depictions of killer lesbians like those in Heavenly Creatures, Basic Instinct, and Bound.
Although I was aware of the connections between horror & the LGBTQI community I had never explored those connections deeply. As such, Queer For Fear acted as a perfect entry point into this area of study & even provided me with some revelatory insights. But can so many facets of horror really be so queer? As much as the documentary proves it, I still have my doubts because sure, we like to see the subtext but the bigger question is whether the film maker's intention was such or not? Interestingly, the documentary puts together the context clues that history might try to erase. And it links together the queer connections that have always been painfully obvious to queer people watching. The queer narrative of monstrosity, otherness, and an inability to simply conform will always be inextricably linked to horror.
In terms of moments throughout the series which evoke a strong emotional response an interview with the son of Anthony Perkins, star of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, is remarkably touching. Another one was exploration of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. During this segment of the first episode Stokers’ personal letters to Walt Whitman are read aloud & it is very clear that there are homosexual undertones woven throughout.
Personally I stay away form horror miles and miles away, so most of these films and their context were alien to me, but the documentary does a good job of showing all the important scenes of those films which are being discussed and so you do get an idea even without knowing about the films. Parts exhilarated me, made me feel like I was connecting with other queers over our strange, ugly obsessions. Even when I disagreed with certain interpretations of movies and their subtext, I enjoyed that difference. I like that Queer for Fear does not take itself too seriously all the time, throwing playful segments into its mix of clips and analysis. If you’re a queer or trans horror fan, please watch! You might have some frustrations with it, but you might also have fun. (5/10)
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