The fellas and I got together to watch Nightmare on Elm Street 2! Probably the weirdest departure from the Elm Street series. It’s also been labeled as “The Gay Nightmare” by fans and crew over the years. What was supposed to be a cash grab sequel, ended up kind of being a read between the lines gay movie with a good chunk of people who worked on it playing the subtext up - and no one actually discussing these decisions. What’s even better, is that it works as a gay film.
Nightmare 2 opens with a bus ride to an “Indiana dessert” Hell dream sequence in which Frederick Krueger, Esq. introduces himself to a very sweaty Jesse and his friends. Note the bus driver is Robert Englund when we start on Elm St, and changes to Freddy. We then see Jesse’s family having breakfast, while off camera we hear Jesse scream like a woman. His sister, who is eating the greatest cereal of all time - Fu Man Chews - looks up and says Why does he have to do that? She done with his drama, and it’s only the first 5 minutes.
While Jesse’s sister shows off her cereal toy, long orange Fu Man Chews fake nails resembling Freddy’s knives, Jesse’s girlfriend shows up to be driven to school. She is a pretty redhead that looks like a young Meryl Streep. You can already see the beginning of what feels like a role reversal, with Jesse’s girlfriend Lisa taking on the Glen role that Johnny Depp played, and Jesse being kind of a less brave version of Nancy from the first Nightmare. This continues throughout the film.
After much sweating and freaky waking dreams in which Jesse continues his high pitch shrieks, Jesse finally comes face to face with Freddy, in his house - not in a dream. Frederick Krueger flirtatiously tosses a one-liner at him while caressing him with his knife glove stating “I need you, Jesse. You’ve got the body and I’ve got the brains.” Swoon. Is this movie about a love connection or a nightmare?
Now we find out why Jesse is plagued by Freddy. While cleaning his room in what is possibly the BEST & CAMPIEST dance sequence in a horror movie ever!!!! Jesse grinds to a shitty cover of All Night Long, while popping lots of stuff near his crotch and air fucking a hockey stick in sunglasses and a ball cap. Lisa and his Mom bust in and catch him gyrating, ruining his fun. She clearly didn’t see the NO CHICKS sign on his door.
Lisa helps Jesse clean up when suddenly she finds a diary, right next to a game called Probe… Ok there’s no subtext there. Was props in on this?
Turns out his family bought the house from the OG Nightmare on Elm Street family and Jesse is the new occupant of Nancy’s room. Wow, don’t remember that diary from the first one, but suddenly there it is! So here is the first rule for the 2nd Nightmare. In this Freddy is like a ghost and haunting the inhabitants of the original house. He wasn’t wronged by Jesse’s family. He harassed Jesse because it’s in his territory, and he CAN. Oh and he now isn’t in just your dreams, but your reality too. I can not mention enough how much Ty Comeuppance loved this concept in the flick. Nothing is cooler and scarier than a real-life Frederick Krueger, Esq. running around in the day to day.
Soon Jesse is sweaty again and Frederick Kruger, Esq is ready to tell him his plan in another waking dream nightmare thing. Freddy wants Jesse to take the glove and start killing. Why? Who the fuck knows! But he wants Jesse to become HIM. Why on earth does he need a rando high school dude to do it for him? Is Freddy trying to retire? And he needs Jesse to replace him? Is he seducing Jesse so that they can be one together forever? IS THIS FREDDY KRUEGER MACKING ON A FUTURE MATE? The only thing I can see is that this is to propel this ridiculous plot forward. And it does!
So blah blah Jesse’s family gets attacked by their pet parakeet who seems to be possessed by Freddy? And then attacks the family and THEN just fucking explodes like a shitty magic trick. The father immediately turns to Jesse yelling at him that he MUST have done it with cherry bombs and Jesse must be on drugs… what???? When Jesse is like bitch please and walks away, his DAD rages like he’s about to get the belt and then mansplains it away to his wife. UGH. Later Dad.
Unable to sleep from Fred stress, Jesse goes out into the rain and walks to… an S&M club? That he just happens to know where it is. Where his gym teacher is there looking like a leather daddy and stops him from teenage drinking? What? I can’t even with this. I’m not sure why but they go back to the school together in the middle of the night where the gym coach makes Jesse run laps. Yup seems legit.
Hitting the showers, the coach is accosted by an invisible Freddy force with balls and jockstraps while Jesse rub a dub dubs. Then the coach gets tied up, dragged to the showers, butt slapped by Freddy with towels and dies. Jesse lady screams finding his dead coach and special Freddy knives on his person. Nooooo!!!! He just Freddied out!
Jesse is wet again and full on cranky. At lunch with his friends, he acts like a pissy bitch. Grady, his sexy mullet bestie stuffs his face while raging back at his friend. The energy is like a lovers quarrel.
At the pool party, Lisa and Jesse discuss that Jesse is feeling different because Freddy is inside him. This prompts a make-out sesh where Jesse eats out the space between Lisa’s tits. Freddy says a what up to Lisa that causes Jesse to get dressed and run straight into Grady’s bed. Like right on top of the dude in his bed. He tells Grady he’s scared of the dude trying to get inside of him. Suddenly Grady says what we’re all thinking “ Yeah, she’s female and she’s waiting for you in the cabana. And you want to sleep with me.“ He might as well be holding a ‘Jesse, you’re gay’ sign.
After murdering Grady, Jesse flees back to Lisa and tells her that Freddy is inside him and will take him again (and again and again). Lisa reverts to Nancy’s diary while Jesse Freds out. Freddy completely takes over Jesse and heads back to the pool party telling the kids “You’re all my children now!” as he takes some swipes at them. Surprisingly, one of the kids tries to reason with Freddy as if he’s some kind of lone gunman. Which also begs the question, are we, the audience the only ones seeing Freddy? Do the kids see Jesse acting like Freddy? For a party where Freddy Krueger just randomly appeared to start murdering everyone, the kids seem to be afraid, but almost underreacting. It would make a lot more sense if the kid trying to reason with Freddy, was, in reality, trying to reason with a glove carrying Jesse, his classmate. After all, technically it was Jesse that killed the gym coach.
The movie ends with a battle for Jesse between Lisa and Freddy. Lisa once again stepping into a hero like role. This time she is the Nancy of the film. Brave enough to fight and know, stop being afraid of Freddy and you win. And she does when she sets Frederick on fire, and out of the burnt corpse climbs out a very emotional Jesse. Lisa saves the day…. until we are back on the bus to school again…… noooooo!!!!
This movie is an amazing allegory. It feels like it pits the fears of coming out of the closet and admitting who you are against the trials of giving in to the evil of Freddy Krueger. There are some amazing theories out there on this film. After years of denying writing a gay film, and even blaming any trace of gayness you pick up on in the film on the lead actor, Mark Patton, writer David Chaskin finally admitted he did in fact purposefully write a subtext filled gay horror movie. Mark Patton has always maintained that halfway through filming caught on to all the subtext and became the self-titled First Male Scream Queen. Even sexy mullet actor Robert Rusler, who plays Grady, said he caught on to the allegory immediately and deeply enjoyed playing the dialogue up. Everyone seemed to know what was going on….except… the director.
The Best Parts - Lisa the Hero
- all the fantastic gay subtext
- Fu Man Chews and Probe
The Worst Parts - Freddy is very off brand
- the hard ass Dad
Ty - 3 Plisskens Matt - 3 Plisskens Jill - 4 Plisskens
References:
Gay Movie Dude - A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge Video Essay - YouTube video by Justin Simpson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coNYGzz2zQ8
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (Review, Recap, React) - YouTube video by Andrew R. Davis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba7T5UlWDWw
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy - https://amzn.to/2Dt7vuu
The Celluloid Closet - https://amzn.to/2sFW5wY
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