Today’s horror film landscape features more LGBTQ+ characters than ever before, but that doesn’t mean classic horror doesn’t have its own rich and celebrated queer history.
During the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, there were plenty of horror films that featured queer-coded characters and themes. Many of those movies remain rightfully iconic to this day.
So for those of you who want to make your Pride Month a little bit spookier, here are five classic horror films to add to your watchlist tonight!
Bride of Frankenstein
Director James Whale is widely remembered for his contributions to classic Universal horror. He was at the helm of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man, among others, but Bride of Frankenstein is undoubtedly among his crowning achievements.
It’s also a very fun and very queer film.
Much has been made of the relationship between Colin Clive’s Dr. Frankenstein and his dubious scientist pal, Dr. Pretorius, played by the underrated Ernest Thesiger. Considering both actors were rumored to be bisexual themselves, that makes the queer-coding even more noteworthy.
In an era where few queer actors or directors were out, it’s even more groundbreaking that James Whale himself never hid his sexuality, making him a true trailblazer in the genre.
If you want to make this Pride Month even more special, pair a viewing of Bride of Frankenstein with the 1998 biopic, Gods and Monsters, starring Ian McKellen as Whale. It’s a heck of a double feature, and one that's absolutely more than worth your time.
The Seventh Victim
Producer Val Lewton famously released a series of films for RKO in the 1940s that not only pushed the boundaries of what horror could be, but also featured occasionally queer-coded themes.
Arguably his most famous film, Cat People is frequently described as a queer classic with its depiction of female sexuality and repression. But when it comes to weird unsung horror films with LGBTQ+ themes, you can’t do better than The Seventh Victim.
Plucky teenager Mary learns her older sister Jacqueline has gone missing, so she sets out to the fearsome big city to find her. Little does Mary realize that she’ll have to contend with everything from an unsettling cosmetics business to an all-out cult.
Along the way, we come to realize that Jacqueline has plenty of secrets of her own, including her possible romantic relationship with Frances, a female friend and fellow cult member.
The plot is like quicksand, constantly threatening to swallow you whole, and the ending is so strange and nihilistic as to be a total downer, but I still can’t recommend this one highly enough.
A hidden gem of queer cinema to be sure.
Dracula's Daughter
A direct sequel to Tod Browning’s 1931 Dracula, this film literally starts exactly where the previous movie left off. And I’ll be honest and say that I actually prefer Dracula’s Daughter to its predecessor.
That’s mostly due to Gloria Holden’s pained and poignant portrayal of the eponymous vampire. She brings such an ethereal presence to the role, at once glamorous and gloomy.
Dracula’s Daughter is frequently cited as being among the first horror films—and even one of the first films in general—to feature sapphic attraction, albeit in a highly veiled depiction.
Regardless, Dracula’s Daughter remains a criminally under-seen entry in the Universal horror canon, as well as a perfect film to add to your Pride Month viewing.
The Uninvited
On its surface, The Uninvited feels like a classic, traditional ghost story. But dig beneath its surface, and you’ll find a very haunting and very queer film at its heart.
A brother and sister move into an abandoned seaside mansion, only to learn that it’s haunted by the spirit of a woman named Mary Meredith. As the mystery unfolds, we learn that Mary’s relationship with her childhood friend, Miss Holloway, has echoes of Rebecca de Winter’s sapphic dynamic with Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca, another queer gothic classic.
There are some nice twists and turns in The Uninvited, and out of all the films on this list, it feels the most like the horror equivalent of having a warm cup of tea on a stormy night.
It's beautiful and haunting in equal measure, and absolutely queer enough to watch this June—or any other month of the year, for that matter.
The Old Dark House
We opened with one of James Whale’s classic horror films, so let’s close with another!
Although it’s not nearly as celebrated as Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, The Old Dark House is an absolute must-see of classic horror.
The setup is gloriously simple: it’s a dark and stormy night, and several stranded travelers find themselves at the foreboding Femm estate during a torrential downpour. Things get very weird—and very oddly funny—from there.
Once again, Ernest Thesiger appears as the potentially queer-coded character Horace Femm. The film also features actor and future director Charles Laughton, who is widely accepted among classic horror fans as having been queer himself.
Add in James Whale’s trademark camp flourishes, and you’ve got one incredibly memorable foray into classic queer horror.
