Being openly and undeniably queer in horror didn’t happen overnight. For so long, non-heterosexuality in the genre was coded or downplayed. Villainization was also common. Exploited, however, shows just how far we have come along in terms of transparency. While this 2022 film doesn’t have the renown or accolades of others, it does offer a change in routine. Neither queerness nor terror are sacrificed or dialed back in favor of the other, and the story is refreshingly uninhibited.

It would seem confusing to call Exploited openly queer when two of the central characters start out as closeted, albeit one of them is more intensely so than the other. Nevertheless, appearances are deceiving in Carl Moellenberg and Anthony Del Negro’s script. That sense of deception begins quickly — along with the film’s sensuality— as a webcam fetish model known as “wrestlerstud99” (Colin Bates) is attacked and presumably murdered by a masked intruder in his own dorm room. All while an unidentified patron watches through the victim’s camera. The outcome is unclear in real time, but director Jon Abrahams (Scary Movie, House of Wax) delivers an attention-grabbing preview of the film’s persuasive blend of sex, eroticism, and horror.

Diegetic found footage comes into immediate play as the present-day story kicks off. Later on after the wrestlerstud99 incident, freshman Brian (Jordan Ver Hoeve) discovers a foreboding and mysterious flash drive in his dorm room at the same university. On it is an array of wrestlerstud99’s webcam sessions, including his final one. Whether or not these videos were personally recorded by the performer himself or someone else is unclear at that time. All the same, Brian obsesses over the whereabouts of the cammer; the discernible innocence of the protagonist is eroded as he falls deeper into this dark rabbit hole as well as the fantasy of wrestlerstud99. While not quite on the exact same wavelength or done to the same effect, this aspect of Exploited feels akin to other films where the viewer — anyone ranging from spectator to editor to censor — is affected on a deep and psychological level by the lurid footage they expose themselves to over and over again.

Image: Jordan Ver Hoeve, Hannah Rose May and Makenzie Vega in Exploited.

Coming out can pose a risk in any given genre, but horror naturally presents singular obstacles for the vulnerable party. The passé “closet monster” trope of past queer cinema — the menace of exposure sends a closeted character into a whirlwind of paranoia, anger, and fear — is embodied in Brian’s new roommate and, much to his own surprise, bedmate. A drunken night out as well as Brian’s heady obsession with wrestlerstud99 led to the unplanned hookup. In the wake of that one-night stand, Brian is more confused and hurt than fearful of being outed, whereas Jeremy (Andrew Matthew Welch) feels vulnerable for reasons both stated and implied. That dread then manifests as a leather-clad, gimp-masked villain who harasses and stalks Jeremy online before escalating to physical violence. Their recurring text threat of “why are you ignoring me?” has a loaded meaning here. As it turns out though, Jeremy’s visceral reaction to his potential exposure is not simply just another case of self-loathing or monsterizing. He has rather valid, not to mention sad motivation for his erratic and severe behavior.

Usually the kneejerk reaction to seeing a masked antagonist in any horror film is “slasher,” but Exploited acts far more like a giallo. The story is nonlinear and convoluted, the visual style dips in and out of garishness and surrealism, and the protagonist is embroiled in a sexual and psychological mystery. On top of that is a general sinuousness to most everything and everyone; as said before, nothing is as it seems. Several reviews have then described this film as Rear Window for the digital age, seeing as the main character here is also succumbing to the mental aftermath of witnessing what he thinks is a murder. In place of James Stewart peeping on a neighbor through a long-lens camera is a closeted college kid who peeks into the private acts of a fetish model and his clientele. The certain ingredient of social isolation fuels both characters’ head trips, although in Brian’s case, his withdrawal doesn’t stem from a physical injury. Another difference is Brian’s instinct, while misled and affected by multiple forces, isn’t totally incorrect. There is, in fact, something amiss about wrestlerstud99.

Image: Jeremy sees the killer wherever he goes in Exploited.

In some cases, other queer horror films can be overly precious with their material, especially if the story is personal. However, Exploited is never afraid to get messy and rough itself up. The film shows no regret as it goes to wild and unexpected places. Of course, not every turn is as rewarding or well handled as the next; Exploited often takes on more than it can handle or has time for. Even so, the director and writers don’t seem too hung up on delivering a correct and tasteful portrayal of queerness. That’s not to say this is a negative depiction, either. Subtract the high duress of their weird situation, and the two main queer characters feel like real people here, more or less. That detail plus a relatively happy ending — one replete with acceptance and love — and surprising moments of sex positivity tend to be overlooked in appraisals.

This twisty film mixes digital voyeurism and softcore thrills with specific ingredients of gialli, thus creating a sticky genre concoction that won’t go down easily. By no means is Exploited for everyone, but the end result is darkly fun and, above all, blatantly queer.

Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Image: Poster for Exploited.

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Based on an unpublished story written by Adam and Daniel Cooper, the zombie-comedy package I Used to Eat Brains, Now I Eat Kale has found a home at Amazon MGM Studios.

Ryan Gosling will produce the film adaptation of the 42-page tale, THR reports.

The website previews, “Story details are being kept hidden, but it is described as being set in a ‘post-post-apocalyptic’ world where former zombies struggle to reintegrate.”

The Hollywood Reporter also notes in today’s report, “[Ryan] Gosling is not attached to star in it at this stage, and there is no director on board yet.” Stay tuned for further updates.

Adam and Daniel Cooper are scripting the feature film adaptation.

Gosling and Jessie Henderson produce via their General Admission banner.

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Up next from writer/director Tilman Singer (Luz) is NEON’s Cuckoo starring Hunter Schafer (“Euphoria”), and a brand new official poster has been released this afternoon.

Look for Cuckoo to arrive in theaters nationwide on August 9, 2024.

Check out the new poster down below.

In Cuckoo: “Reluctantly, 17-year-old Gretchen leaves her American home to live with her father, who has just moved into a resort in the German Alps with his new family. Arriving at their future residence, they are greeted by Mr. König, her father’s boss, who takes an inexplicable interest in Gretchen’s mute half-sister Alma. Something doesn’t seem right in this tranquil vacation paradise. Gretchen is plagued by strange noises and bloody visions until she discovers a shocking secret that also concerns her own family.”

Dan Stevens (The Guest), Jessica Henwick (Underwater), Marton Csókás (Freelance), Greta Fernández (Santo) and Jan Bluthardt (Luz) also star in Cuckoo.

Meagan wrote in her review out of SXSW, “There’s inventive worldbuilding on display that sets this high-concept horror movie apart and a few intense horror cat-and-mouse scenes that deliver palpable tension. But Singer approaches it with a playful sense of humor that only further nudges Cuckoo into the realm of weird cinema. It’s so refreshingly unconventional and unpredictable in every way, right down to its raucous, entertainingly silly finale, that it’s hard to care about all of the plot that gets discarded along the way.”

Tom Quinn, Jeff Deutchman, Emily Thomas and Ryan Friscia executive produced Cuckoo for Neon, with producers including Markus Halberschmidt, Josh Rosenbaum, Maria Tsigka, and Ken Kao, Thor Bradwell and Ben Rimmer. Shot on 35mm in Germany, the upcoming film is a cooperation between Germany’s Fiction Park and the United States’ Waypoint Entertainment.

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No one likes a sore loser, but perhaps sore winners are even worse. As seen in B&B, the big-screen debut from TV writer and director Joe Ahearne, a couple cannot simply accept their victory and move on with their lives. Quite the opposite: here Tom Bateman and Sean Teale’s characters return to the scene of the crime. The crime, of course, being one based on prejudice. However as much as B&B feels of its time, on account of the ripped-from-headlines setup, this twisting thriller from 2017 cooks up a timeless degree of suspense.

Ahearne, who was more inspired by the general social and political landscape than any single event, taps into a hot issue that still comes up today. The denial of service to those from the LGBTQ+ community continues to happen even in areas with anti-discrimination laws in place. So although Marc (Bateman) and Fred (Teale) have won their lawsuit against the owner of the titular B&B in question, there remains what seems like a Sisyphean task. Bigotry will persist well into the main characters’ lifetime. This explains why they, particularly Marc, are always in defense mode and intolerant of any infraction. They know something like this could happen again. That mentality adds to the paranoiac quality of this film and drives it toward a surprising outcome.

B&B is not one to waste its or the audience’s time. A newspaper with an unmissable front-page headline brings viewers up to speed: “Homosexuals sue Christian for double bed.” That then leads into a questionable move on the characters’ part; Marc and Fred, now married, book another stay at the offending inn, St. Jude’s B&B. It has been a year since the incident, and now the plaintiffs have come to rub their triumph in the face of the defendant, Paul McGann’s Bible-thumping character Josh. Admittedly, Fred would have been satisfied with celebrating elsewhere, but Marc is more adamant about having this uncomfortable reunion. That grating and smug behavior of his, as well as Fred’s profound ability for jumping to conclusions, give these characters some edge and the audience more to chew on.

Image: Sean Teale’s character runs into James Tratas’ character in B&B.

The tension is inescapable with the story and interactions primarily taking place inside this isolated inn. And one with no safe spaces to hide in, no less. Ahearne establishes the suffocating atmosphere early on, with the camera’s focus getting tighter and tighter, and these already small rooms becoming increasingly crowded. Viewers are trapped with these characters and their discord. Later on, B&B temporarily leaves the confines of St. Jude’s and heads for a spacious and somber cruising park. The change in scenery, albeit for a short while, allows for a different variety of chills.

Marc & Fred and Josh’s hostilities alone are not substantial enough to support an entire feature, so two more characters are introduced: Josh’s son Paul (Callum Woodhouse) and a guest (James Tratas) who showed up without a reservation. Along with them are additional subplots that give the film its ultimate zigzag characteristic. The introduction of these other characters comes with a brief but welcome amount of distraction from the friction with the host; Marc and Fred learn their presence is only making Paul’s life as a closeted teen harder, and the couple’s incidental competition for best gaydar, as they size up the ambiguous Alexei (Tratas), provides a spot of comic relief. Yet after Fred’s sudden suspicion — which is both irrational and somewhat accurate — leads him to believe Paul is risking his life for a hookup with the inn’s only other guest, he and Marc become embroiled in a not-so-cozy mystery.

That intimate closeup featured so visibly on the film’s poster suggests a different type of thriller. Yet in actuality and with pleasant haste, Ahearne directs us away from the realistic culture clash on deck and swerves into a more general audience-accessible but still rather specific story. One only feasible because of the preexisting agitation between these three men. Even as B&B moves into genre territory though, the battle of beliefs is always on the minds of the couple; amid the bending mystery in store, that thickening air of distrust is affected by Marc and Fred’s constant misgivings of Josh, especially in light of the innkeeper’s unexpected self-interest.

Image: Tom Bateman’s character searches for some kind of understanding with Paul McGann’s character in B&B.

B&B makes good use of Bateman and Teale’s characters, whose differences in personality fuel the film’s second (and better) half. One’s need to always be right and his penchant for snooping reveals significant clues along the way, whereas the other brings hell upon them both by acting heroically. Although a more tangible plot takes over after Fred goes to rescue Josh’s son from what looks to be a potential gay bashing, the writing never abandons developing its characters. Irksome as they may be, they are an interesting lot. All of whom Ahearne shows sympathy for in spite of his personal values. That lack of a black-and-white narrative certainly gives cause for reflection.

The poster’s tagline “They Made Their Bed… Now They Have to Die in It” is squandered here, seeing as the story never takes on any semblance of a conventional suspenser. The film also doesn’t qualify as a standard whodunit; in hindsight, “whydunit” is a muchly preferred description. Nevertheless, if not for its clearly defined and modern timestamp, B&B delivers clever and effective thrills in the vein of classic Hitchcock films.

Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.

Image: The “They Made Their Bed… Now They Have to Die in It” poster for B&B.

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From the writer of Last Shift and its remake Malum, 123 Go Films has released Scott Poiley’s horror movie Exhume (2017) onto Digital and VOD outlets, we’ve learned this week.

Written and directed by Scott Poiley, Exhume stars William Haze (The Punisher), Alice Rietveld (Skyfire) and Sarah Sculco (Last Shift, Cassadaga).

123 Go Films previews, “Inspired by true events, this edge-of-your-seat horror will have you guessing what is happening to this family.”

Here’s the official plot synopsis: “Over 50 unmarked graves were discovered in Marianna, Florida at an institution dedicated to the rehabilitation of troubled children. Patrick Connor and his wife Karen Connor were the archeologists that uncovered the evil buried under the earth so many years ago. During their excavation of the vast property, their troubled daughter, Emma, began to experience what she thought was episodes of sleepwalking. Patrick soon found out; this was the furthest thing from the truth.

“As the days progressed, Emma began to deteriorate into what can only be described as possession. The daughter they had known and loved was gone. Patrick’s only chance to save his daughter was to flee the boy’s school, but it was too late. In the final moments before their escape Emma brutally slaughtered her mother and fatally wounded her father.

“In the days that followed, the Connor family vanished, never to be heard from again.”

Exhume is produced by Mary Lankford Poiley, Chris White, Brent Kunkle, Anthony DiBlasi, Michael Finn and Scott Poiley. Find the film on VOD now and watch the official trailer below.

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