Homo Horror Hall of Fame: Leatherface

Everyone knows Leatherface. He wears the faces of his kills, runs around with a big chainsaw in the flatlands of Texas, and likes to hang his victims on meat hooks while they are still alive.

But what people always tend to overlook is his flair for cross-dressing.

OK, I know. I know. I hear what you are thinking, astute readers. Cross dressing doesn’t make Leatherface a homo. And not everyone who has the gay does drag (just ask anyone who saw me when I dressed as Melissa Sue Anderson from Happy Birthday to Me for Halloween one year... I was so bad that someone made me promise to never do it again).

So, you are right. Leatherface's cross dressing does not equal him having the gay. In fact, the one time Leatherface showed any sign of a sexual interest was when he dry humped final girl Stretch with a chainsaw in TCM2....

"Get your subtext out of my vageen!"

So, I could put him in the transvestite category with other hetero icons like Bugs Bunny and Uncle Milty. But his gender distress seems a little more extreme than that. If I had to assign an LGBTQ letter grade, I gotta assume he falls somewhere in the T zone.

Take the following examples:

Leatherface in Vicki Lawrence's Mama drag

Leatherface in Dixie Carter drag

Leatherface in fey meltdown, while carrying a
chainsaw like a purse in Dixie Carter drag.

OK, purists. I know. These stills are from the much-derided Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. He also did some housewife drag in the original, but it's hard to get a good still. And I am NOT including anything from the Platinum Dunes’ remakes which, among other atrocities, sucked all the gay out of Leatherface … okay that sounded way dirtier than I intended.

However, I will counter with this: The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and this admittedly awful sequel were the only ones written by Kim Henkel. They were also the only ones in which Leatherface donned drag. Coincidence? Kim invented this character, so I'm assuming he is the expert on his nature.

And, yes, I know fellow LGBTQers. It's problematic. The transexual psycho was a staple of the 70s and 80s slasher film, seemingly ignoring the fact that most serial killers are heterosexual white men (not that there's anything wrong with that ... being heterosexual and white I mean ... not the serial killer stuff). But it is what it is.

So for all the great hot tranny mess looks Leatherface has rocked over the years, he deserves a place in the Homo Horror Hall of Fame. Don't agree with me? Just try to take it away from him...

I won! I won!

Hideous Linky

Freddy's -- er -- coming for you: Jason Adams over at My New Plaid Pants posted a titillating link today.

Its deliciousness can be savored over at FourFour.

It's a clip from Never Sleep Again -- the Nightmare on Elm Street documentary in which the filmmakers and actors from Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge fess up to the overwhelming gay-osity of that movie.

And yes, readers, Marshall Bell -- Homo Hall of Fame inductee Coach Schneider himself -- is interviewed.

Good times will be had by all, so go there now.

Homo Horror Hall of Fame: Jame Gumb a.k.a. Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs

Jame Gumb liked to wear makeup, mince around with a small dog named Precious, tuck his gennies between his legs while staring at himself in the mirror, and make dresses -- out of "great big fat person" girl skin.

In 1991, that made him a bit of a homo controversy. Jame was seen as yet another psycho-fag stereotype. Protests erupted. San Francisco burned (just after they had finally rebuilt after that whole Basic Instinct thing).

These were dark times, readers. Long before lovable pet homos on Will and Grace and Queer Eye appeared to re-assure hamburger-eating regular 'murcans that gays didn't want to skin their fatties. As it turns out, we only wanted to de-frizz their hair and toss their college-era bong-stained tie-dye wall hangings into the trash.)

But now that 20 years (gulp!) have passed and we have somewhat of a broader range of homos in the American film cannon, it's time to ask the question: what exactly was Jame's deal? Was s/he trans-sexual? Doctor Lecter says he is not (though he is an unreliable narrator if ever there was one). We know Jame had a boyfriend named Benjamin Raspall at one point, but he was also apparently shtupping ill-fated Frederica Bimmel (who provided the lovely diamond pattern for his lady suit). So does this make Jame a bi-trans-sexual?
Well, whatever Jame was, I will go out on a limb here and declare (you can't stop me, San Francisco!) that the Unsinkable Miss Gumb was not straight. This is not just some confused straight man who'd be eating Nachos at Hooters if it weren't for the years of "systematic abuse" he endured.



So Jame, hold your head high, girl. Apply as much lotion as you like. Put on your best nipple rings and blonde wig.

You are a beautiful butterfly and don't let nobody tell you different. You have now made the Homo Horror Hall of Fame and they can never take that from you.

Homo Horror Hall of Fame: Coach Schneider from Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2

Many horror movies have gay subtexts. What I love about 1984's "A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge" is that the subtext bursts right out of the screen and sprays the viewer with it's gooey gay love juice.

Take for instance, the scene where fey Final Boy Jesse wanders the suburban streets of Springwood (even the name of the town has a gay subtext) and inexplicably stumbles into a hopping gay leather bar.

And wouldn't you know it (and darn all the luck), mean old Coach Schneider is there. And Coach is not some "sipping a cosmo and catching up on some episodes of Golden Girls at the video bar" queer. No, sir. He is bitched up like an extra from "Cruisin'" and ready for action.

Sir Schneider grabs frightened Jesse by the scruff and commands him to "Hit the Shower!" and before you can say "Get your balls on my tumbling mat!" Jesse is stripped down and soaped up.

Unfortunately for Coach Schneider, Jesse is possessed by Freddy Krueger and, well, Freddy is a bit of a control bottom.

Freddy takes over Jesse's body, opts for a little (finger) knife play and turns hunky-pervy Coach Schneider from a butch top to a bleeding bitch bottom in no time flat.

Congratulations, Coach Schneider on being the first inductee to Post-Mortem Depression's Homo Horror Hall of Fame.

Feel free to hang around as long as you like.