'A Nightmare on Elm Street 2' at 35: Robert Englund addresses homoerotic subtext of 'the gayest horror movie ever made'
As far as famously homoerotic sequences in seemingly “straight” ’80s movies go, nothing will ever top the sweaty and shirtless fighter pilots bouncing around the sand to Kenny Loggins’s “Playing With the Boys” in Top Gun’s unforgettable beach volleyball battle.
But as Robert Englund — the man who donned Freddy Krueger’s murderous razor-claw glove to torment teens for eight installments of Nightmare on Elm Street — reminds us, the franchise’s first sequel, Freddy’s Revenge (1985), belongs in the same conversation.
“Part 2 has a really interesting bisexual, psychological thing going for it. We didn’t hit it over the head with a nail. But it was certainly there,” Englund told Yahoo Entertainment about the sequel, which turned 35 this month, during a 2014 Role Recall interview (watch above). “Not completely unlike the volleyball game in Top Gun.
“Part of it’s just there for window dressing. But part of it’s really there.”
Englund points to the relationship between Jessie Walsh (Mark Patton), the teen haunted by Freddy after his family moves into Nancy Thompson’s old house from Part I, and his new friend Grady (Robert Rusler). In one scene, the pair wrestle around the ground while playing baseball in gym class, with Jessie’s bare rump exposed the whole time. Jessie also dreams he’s at a gay bar in one scene, and watches his male teacher get murdered while stripped down in the shower. In another scene, Jessie escapes to Grady’s bedroom after his body begins to change while with a girl.
“It’s like Freddy is manipulating some latency between the boys,” Englund said. “It’s like Freddy’s wise to it, and playing with it.”
“It manifests, too,” Englund said, referencing the scene where Jessie ultimately kills Grady. “Freddy literally comes out of Mark Patton.”
It’s no wonder why Freddy’s Revenge has been called “the gayest horror movie ever made.”
Watch Part II of our Robert Englund Role Recall interview:
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