In 1985, the much-anticipated sequel to the hit horror movie A Nightmare on Elm Street was finally released to a starving audience. The theaters filled with teens excited to be scared and thrilled by Freddy Krueger once again. I was one of those teens and it was a first and only date with this cute blonde girl I worked with at a local drug store. Turns out she already had a boyfriend and was just using me so she didn’t have to go alone (it’s okay, I had fun) and both of us liked the movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, but it didn’t blow our socks off. We parted and stayed friends until she left the job and who knows what she did with her life. The same question was asked for a long time about the star of the movie, Mark Patton, a budding talent that had been on Broadway and had several small roles in movies and in quite a few TV commercials. This was the movie that was going to break him out and make him a star. The only thing it did was take him Out of the closet, or at least make the audience suspicious of his sexual orientation. In other words, his career was wrecked, and following the death of his boyfriend, his life was shattered. Mark dropped out of the movie business and disappeared and everyone wondered what became of him. Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street is the story of what happened to Mark Patton and what made him into the man he is today.
Turns out, life was pretty rough there for a while. The 70s had brought a modicum of sexual freedom, and gay men and women weren’t quite accepted by general society, but they also didn’t have to hide as hard in the shadows to survive anymore, at least, not in the bigger cities. But then AIDS hit, and panic spread, and homosexuals were once more accosted as perverts, deviants, and dangerous to society. It was in the midst of these churning waters that Nightmare 2 was released, and soon after the observations about it started pouring in: this was the gayest horror film ever made. And right in the center of the controversy was its star Patton, who became the target of the derision, the mockery, and the virulent homophobia. Patton, unable to find leading work anymore (his agents told him he would have to be a “character actor” and prove his hetero bonafides to keep getting jobs), eventually dropped out. He had his own problems to deal with, having been diagnosed with AIDS and dealing with the death of his lover. So he disappeared into Mexico, until decades later, the makers of Never Sleep Again, a documentary about the Nightmare on Elm Street films, tracked him down. It was then that Patton decided it was time to tell his story.
Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street is that story. We get to learn intimate details about Patton and his life, from the earliest days of his realizing he was gay, to leaving home and hitting the bright lights of New York City, to finding acting gigs, to befriending Cher and other celebrities, all the way to Hollywood and his love affair with his famous boyfriend, that boyfriend’s eventual death, and into the world of Freddy and then notoriety. The story is told with quick but detailed strokes, and Patton is always charming and forthright. You really feel his pain but this also helps you to rejoice when healing and triumph comes his way. This is an endearing documentary, full of love and hope and healing. Yes, there is darkness in the world, but it can be overcome and people can find their moments of peace and blessings. We get to see his reunion with his costars from the Freddy film, and the love and friendship they all bear for one another. And Patton finally gets to confront the biggest problem he had with the film, screenwriter David Chaskin, and the two of them at last have a dialogue about the movie that changed Patton’s life. Patton is a great guy, a man who still lives a bit of a fragile existence, but someone who loves his fans and has a message to tell. A remarkable, heart-warming look into the trials and tribulations of Patton’s life, and the coming together of the horror community to embrace one of their own and help make him a hero, Scream, Queen! is a great documentary, an important film, and a must-see for fans of horror.
★★★★