A quiet queer star. An 80s horror romp. Did people know it’s this gay?
Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a re-watch.Why does Roddy McDowall not get more love?
The quiet, whisper-voiced actor appeared in a whopping 270 movies & TV shows before his death in 1998. He also became one of Hollywood’s most renowned film historians, amassing a collection of more than 1,000 films at a time before most movies were even available on videocassette.Oh yeah, McDowall was gay and threw some of Tinseltown’s most notorious gay beach parties.
So, there’s that.In honor of the late, great, Mr. McDowall, we’ve devised this weekend’s Screen Gems double feature. We begin with one of the actor’s most popular films–and one of his best performances.
Director Tom Holland’s (no, not that Tom Holland) Fright Night became an unexpected hit back in 1985 thanks to its unique mix of horror, humor and Jungian undercurrents.
