A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge

Part of our Rainbow Reels Film Talk Series!

Initially tossed aside as a dashed-off follow-up to a surprise horror hit, this slasher sequel was often kept in the closet of the Freddy Krueger franchise. But what audiences missed in the mid-80s is that Freddy’s Revenge functions as a fascinatingly entertaining take on teenage angst filtered through the lens of homo-existential panic. Much to the chagrin of fans of the original classic, Freddy (Robert Englund) transcended beyond the dream world in Freddy’s Revenge , frequently possessing the body of new-to-town Elm Street resident Jesse Walsh (the now proudly-out Mark Patton). The deliciously queer subtext is so thinly-veiled that it often becomes the text in marvelously absurd ways – from a hazy trip to a downtown S&M bar to a twink-trolling leather-daddy gym teacher and more. Similar to its protagonist, Freddy’s Revenge was considered an “outsider” within the series, but has since developed a reputation as a queer cult gem.

Laura McVey

Laura McVey is a librarian, writer, and lifelong cinephile. She was born and raised in Hamilton, and earned a Liberal Arts degree at the University of Waterloo and a Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of Western Ontario. Laura is passionate about making connections through the medium of film, and hopes that the Rainbow Reels series will help expose filmgoers to queer stories from all over the world.