Pride Month: Queer Horror to explore on Shudder

Shudder has replenished its Queer Horror Collection for Pride Month, and 1428 Elm is here to help you select some great choices from the current roster.

What Keeps You Alive is one of the newer additions to the collection, and it premiered at SXSW in 2018 to mostly positive reviews. Hannah Emily Anderson and Brittany Allen star as Jackie and Jules, who are celebrating their first wedding anniversary by spending a few days at a cabin that belongs to Jackie’s family. Of course the cabin is in a remote area (this is a horror film, after all), so we know from the start that this isn’t going to be a romantic comedy.

When Sarah, one of Jackie’s childhood buddies visits, she refers to her as Megan, which is a surprise to Jules, who didn’t know her wife had ever gone by any other name. Though Jackie has a reasonable explanation, Jules doesn’t quite buy it, and pays a visit to Sarah, who gives her some interesting information about Jackie’s possible involvement with a drowning incident, and the film takes a sinister turn.

Despite several questionable decisions by Jules, What Keeps you Alive is an intense film that keeps you on the edge of your seat as you try to guess what will happen next.

The Last Thing Mary Saw will be loved by those who enjoy a slow burn, but don’t even bother if you hated films like The Witch and The Night House. Set in the mid-1800s, The Last Thing Mary Saw opens with a young woman being interrogated about her grandmother’s death. This woman is the title character, she is blindfolded, and we can see blood seeping from beneath each of her eyes.

We start to hear the story of Mary’s relationship with Eleanor, the house maid, and how Mary’s puritanical family reacted when the romance was discovered. Although there are horrific punishments for the two girls, the worst is reserved for Eleanor (beautifully played by Isabelle Fuhrman of Orphan).

Things come to a head when a creepy stranger appears and assaults Eleanor. Although the story is engrossing, the best things about this film are the acting performances by Fuhrman, Stefanie Scott as Mary (Insidious: Chapter 3) and Rory Culkin (Scream 4) as the stranger.

Shudder’s Queer Horror Collection has delightful films to go along with the dark and serious selections.

All Cheerleaders Die is probably my favorite film on this short list. Written and directed by Lucky McKee (who also wrote and directed the equally delicious May), All Cheerleaders Die is both funny and frightening, with plenty of gore effects to go along with the snappy dialogue.

When popular cheerleader Alexis is killed in a cheer accident, her friend Maddy takes over her spot on the team. As she begins to befriend and actually like the other cheerleaders, her ex-girlfriend Leena starts to get jealous.

But, as it turns out, Maddy has a devious reason to be on the cheer team; a reason that involves Alexis’s boyfriend Terry. Without giving away too much of the clever and entertaining plot, let’s just say that a violent car accident takes the lives of several of the girls, and Leena, who considers herself a Wiccan, brings them back to life. They all look much as they did before, but they are different in a very particular way.

I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed All Cheerleaders Die, and it is the film I most highly recommend out of the Shudder collection. So there you are, friends, a small handful of films to get you started on your exploration of Queer Horror.  What are you waiting for? Start watching Shudder right now!

For a full list of the films included in the Queer Horror Collection, visit the Shudder website.

Have you watched any of the offerings in Shudder’s Queer Pride Collection? Which are your favorites? Drop your fave titles in the comments section.