William Shatner has always been a great storyteller, but this one might be his most unforgettable.
During a recent chat, the 94-year-old legend admitted he once had a full-on bathroom emergency right in the middle of his 2012 Broadway run of Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It. And yes, it happened on opening night. If you’re searching for William Shatner story, Shatner Broadway, or embarrassing celebrity moments, you’ve come to the right place.
Shatner explained that he’d been dealing with stomach issues that day, and the second he stepped onstage, things took a turn.
As he put it, “All of a sudden, I have to go. In fact, I’m going to use the past tense. I had gone.”
That’s… not the kind of dramatic reveal Broadway usually aims for.
He didn’t try to power through it either. Shatner told the audience there had been a “technical difficulty,” then ducked offstage to deal with the crisis. He later joked that “things were coming out of me I didn’t know existed,” which is both horrifying and impressively honest.
But in true showbiz fashion, he got himself cleaned up, walked back onstage, and finished the performance like nothing happened.
According to him, the show ended up being “very successful,” which feels like an understatement considering what he endured.
It’s one of those celebrity confessions that instantly becomes internet gold, partly because Shatner tells it with a kind of dramatic flair no one else can quite pull off. And honestly, it’s kind of refreshing. Most stars pretend they’re not human. Shatner shares a story that proves he absolutely is, even if the universe decided to humble him at the worst possible moment.
If nothing else, it’s a comforting reminder that even Captain Kirk has had a humiliating day at work. And he still got a standing ovation.
I don’t love Tom Cruise. And it’s not the Scientology. Or maybe it is and I just don’t know it. He’s weird. Let’s just put it down to that.
But there’s one movie of his that I’ve seen probably a hundred times or more; if not start-to-finish, then in bits and pieces as I’ve happened upon it while channel surfing and been powerless to pass it by: “The Firm”.
Released in 1993, “The Firm” stars Cruise as Mitch McDeere, a Harvard Law graduate recruited by a small firm in Memphis. What Mitch soon discovers is that the firm secretly represents the Morolto crime family . . . a.k.a. the mafia, and there’s no way out. At least not alive.
Mitch ends up stuck between the firm, the mob, and the feds, who want him to snitch, which would get him disbarred, and put him on the mafia’s not-so-loved list.
His solution? Instead of revealing client secrets, he gives the government evidence of massive overbilling at the firm . . . enough to indict every partner on federal charges; destroying the firm and keeping him from getting whacked. Or so he hopes.
“The Firm” is a tense, well-written thriller with great characters . . . including Wilford Brimley ignoring his diabeetus and playing against type as the evil, badass head of security for the firm. (“What do you think I am here, a fuckin’ night watchman?!”)
But here’s where The King comes in . . .
Mitch doesn’t come up with the overbilling idea on his own. He gets it from a client. A black client.
But at the end of the movie, when an FBI agent asks him how he came up with it, he says, “It was on the bar exam. They made me study like hell for it.”
In other words, he steals the intellectual property of a black man and passes it off as his own. Not only that, but he does it in Memphis, Tennessee, the home of the man who did it best: Elvis Aaron Presley.
And he never even offered so much as a “Thank you very much.”
If you’ve been waiting to see what happens next in “KPop Demon Hunters”, go ahead and settle in.
Netflix and Sony confirmed that “KPop Demon Hunters 2” is officially in the works, but it won’t hit our screens until 2029. Yes, that’s four long years from now.
It’s not exactly shocking news for animation fans, though. Animated movies, especially ones as detailed and high-energy as this, take years to produce. Every glittery music video moment, every epic demon battle, every shiny Seoul skyline, it all has to be built frame by frame. So, while the wait is painful, the payoff should be gorgeous.
The only confirmed details so far are that the sequel is in production and will be directed by the same creative duo behind the first movie, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans.
No hints yet about what the story will cover or whether the original voice cast is coming back.
Still, fans of the first film are already buzzing online. The original “KPop Demon Hunters” blended stylish animation, K-pop glamour, and monster-fighting chaos into something that felt like Blackpinkmeets “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. It became a cult hit for that very reason, with viewers begging for more.
So while 2029 feels like a lifetime away, at least we know the wait will eventually end. Until then, there’s plenty of time to perfect your dance moves and brush up on your demon-slaying skills.
“Home Alone” fans, you might want to sit down for this one. Macaulay Culkin just brought back his iconic character, Kevin McCallister, for a brand-new commercial, and it’s got people wondering if we just got a dark update about the McCallister family.
The ad comes just in time for the 35th anniversary of “Home Alone” and was made for Home Instead, a company that offers non-medical, in-home care for seniors. Instead of setting booby traps for the Wet Bandits, Kevin is now setting up a safety plan for his mom.
In the spot, Kevin’s on the phone with one of his siblings and says, “I’m just worried about Mom being by herself, y’know? What if she falls down or gets snowed in? They never did catch that South Bay Shovel Slayer.”
Naturally, the internet immediately latched onto one thing: if Mom is living alone… what happened to Dad? Did Mr. McCallister die? Did they split up?
Later in the ad, Kevin meets Old Man Marley’s granddaughter as she’s shoveling the sidewalk, a sweet callback to the original film. The commercial closes with the tagline: “Home but not alone.”
Fans are calling it both touching and a little heartbreaking, like a grown-up epilogue to the Christmas classic. It’s nostalgic, a little funny, and just sentimental enough to make you call your own mom.
The phrase “Horror Sequel” can be a bad word. A really bad word. No, worse than that; a slur. The kind of horrific, dehumanizing slur you only hear from the mouth of a Quentin Tarantino character or a popular country singer.
But sometimes it’s a song. A transcendent lilt emanating from the golden throat of the most elegant songbird, directly into your undeserving earholes. Here are 10 of those cases:
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” (1986)
The only other film in the franchise directed by the original mad genius Tobe Hooper, and it shows. This movie gets several things right that few other “Chainsaw” flicks do, including Leatherface himself.
While so many sequels make him out to be a malicious, hulking, serial-killing monster, Leatherface is actually a frightened, confused child, who really only kills because he’s told to; or because he’s frightened by a sudden intrusion into his (slaughter)house.
“Chainsaw 2” takes Leatherface’s arrested development to the next level, by introducing a sexy DJ to oil up his blade. Add to that the career-making performance of horror hero Bill Mosely as Chop Top, and a hero played by Dennis FREAKIN’ Hopper, and you’ve got GOLD, baby.
“Troll 2” (1990)
I really believe the world would be a better place if everyone watched schlocky Italian exploitation movies from the late ’60s through the mid-’90s. I have no evidence to back that up, and no theories as to why it could be true. I just believe it.
Which is why “Troll 2” should be required viewing in every high school in America. This is a sequel in name only. It’s not remotely related to “Troll” (1986), which starred Sonny Bono and featured a character named Harry Potter and his son Harry Potter Jr.
Bad acting, bad special effects, and a ridiculous plot make “Troll 2” an absolute gem. One of the stars even made a documentary about it called “Best Worst Movie“ . . . and that title is pretty accurate.
“Halloween 3: Season of the Witch” (1983)
After “Halloween 2”, producers John Carpenter and Debra Hill were approached to produce a third installment. They agreed on the condition that they could retire Michael Myers, and thus, “Halloween 3” was born.
An evil toymaker produces Halloween masks that cause the wearers’ heads to rot like months-old pumpkins as snakes and all manner of insects escape from their upper orifices. But only when they watch the “big giveaway” on Halloween night, which is promoted incessantly with one of the most annoying ad campaigns ever. Yes, even more annoying than the Limu Emu. and Doug.
Unlike every “Halloween” movie that followed, “Halloween 3” is original, it’s creepy, and it stars the great Tom Atkins, who you may remember from “Night of the Creeps”, “Escape from New York”, “The Fog”, and “Creepshow”.
What’s the point of this horrible plot to kill millions of children on their favorite night of the year? To return Halloween to its bloody, Celtic origins. As our villain explains, “We don’t decide these things, the planets do.” As motivations go, that’s pretty damn cool.
Alas, the movie tanked, and everybody cried that Michael Myers wasn’t in it, so instead of an unique story every Halloween, we got 40+ years of bland, repetitive sequels. Thanks a lot, America.
“Jaws 2” (1978)
There are very few movies in the history of movies that can hold a candle to the original “Jaws”. And, full disclosure, “Jaws 2” doesn’t either. But it’s a fun ride and a damn good monster movie, not to mention that only other “Jaws” movie that’s worth your time.
Yeah, it’s completely implausible that another giant, killer shark would show up at the same beach where the first one went on a killing spree three years earlier. As one expert tells Chief Brody, “Sharks don’t take things personally.” (A line that became laughable in retrospect, after “Jaws 4” came out less than a decade later.)
But who cares? It’s a blast. It even presages the late ’70s / early ’80s slasher boom, focusing as it does on a group of terrorized teenagers stranded on a makeshift raft fashioned from their wrecked sailboats. The only difference is, the monster is killed by Brody once again, and not a by final girl whose abstinence from marijuana and premarital sex made her morally superior to her peers.
Oh, and did I mention that the shark sinks a flippin’ helicopter???
“Evil Dead 2” (1987) and “Army of Darkness” (1992)
One of the most brilliant and subversive things about the original “Evil Dead” trilogy is that each installment represents an almost entirely different film genre . . . and fans have followed the saga of Bruce Campell’s incompetent demon fighter Ash just as avidly through each one.
“The Evil Dead”, released in 1981, is balls-out, unrelenting horror that just barely hints at the comedic turn the next two movies would take. “Evil Dead 2” threw in screwball comedy, but kept things bloody. It ended up as one of the keystone films in the “splatstick” trend of the ’80s that also included “Re-Animator”, “Return of the Living Dead”, and “The Toxic Avenger”.
“Army of Darkness” kept things R-rated by throwing in some F-bombs and a flash of boob, but other than that, it’s a swashbuckling medieval comedy-adventure with very little blood and a lotta yuks. Unlike its predecessors, this was an actual studio film, and they even got Danny Elfman to record a song for it.
“Evil Dead” also unique in that, as Mr. Campbell often points out, it’s possibly the only horror franchise where you root for the HERO, not the villain. Hail to the king, baby.
“Psycho 2” (1983)
A sequel to one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most celebrated films? Twenty-three years later? Without Hitchcock? This shouldn’t have worked, and yet somehow it delivered in a big way.
Anthony Perkins returning as Norman Bates is a huge reason why. Norman has finally been released from the nuthouse, and he’s trying to turn his life around. But suddenly, “Mother” starts sticking her nose in his business again.
Also not willing to let go is Lila Crane, played once again by Vera Miles, who’s determined to see Norman back in custody.
This one’s got a fantastic twist ending that’s worthy ol’ of Hitch himself.
“Dawn of the Dead” (1978)
Look up 10 different lists of the best zombie movies. Chances are, “Dawn of the Dead” will be on all of them . . . and #1 on most of them.
George A. Romero invented the modern movie zombie with 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead”, and lost absolutely no steam with this sequel a decade later. Everybody calls it a critique of American capitalism, and it is. But it’s okay if you just enjoy it as mindless, splatterific fun.
This is also the film that put FX master Tom Savini on the map as the go-to guy for gore well into the ’80s (because fuck CGI).
Tragic Epilogue: The Monroeville Mall outside Pittsburgh, where the movie was filmed, is still there. But not for long. Walmart bought it, and they’re demolishing it to build a “retail and commercial destination.” So if you wanna visit this piece of film history, which also houses the Living Dead Museum and bronze bust of Romero, make your plans ASAP.
“Exorcist 3: Legion” (1990)
Author William Peter Blatty and director William Friedkin had nothing to do with 1977’s “Exorcist 2: The Heretic”, and it was a shitshow. But Blatty himself directed “Exorcist 3” from a screenplay he wrote, based on his own novel. And it kinda slaps.
No Linda Blair or Ellen Burstyn this time around, but Jason Miller returns as Father Karras. If you’re wondering how that’s possible, you’ll just have to give it a watch.
Lieutenant Kinderman is also back, only this time played by George C. Scott, taking over for the late Lee J. Cobb. This time he’s trying to solve a series of murders that seem like they’re being committed by residents of an old folks home, and he meets an old friend along the way. Even a tacked-on exorcism that the studio forced Blatty to film doesn’t take too much away from the story.
You can disagree with me on the merits of this film, but one thing that can’t be denied: It has one of the best jump scares ever filmed.
“28 Years Later” (2025)
“28 Days Later” is a masterpiece. “28 Weeks Later” is okay. But “28 Years Later” is a return to something special. And it’s just the first part of a new trilogy.
There’s a message in here about British isolationism and societal regression, but what came to the forefront for me was the story of a son’s dedication to his mother, and a crazy guy, who turns out to be not so crazy, who helps them accept the inevitable.
Oh, and zombie dick. Massive, swinging zombie dick.
“Bride of Frankenstein” (1935)
Largely considered the first horror sequel, “Bride” is also one of the best. And if you ask me, it’s better than the original.
It’s a little scary, a little campy, a lot of fun, and yes, a little gay, thanks to Ernest Thesiger’s “coded” portrayal of Dr. Pretorius.
This, not the original, is also where you’ll find the classic scene of the Monster befriending the blind hermit . . . a scene that’s probably more famous in parody form in Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein“.
Interestingly enough, the Bride herself, who’s not only the title character but also one of the most indelible movie monsters 90 years later, only appears for a few minutes. Just long enough to reject her intended mate, leading to the film’s explosive conclusion.
The movies have given us some ridiculous monsters.
Who knows what these filmmakers were thinking. Maybe they dreamed bigger than their budget should have let them. Or maybe the mushrooms hit a little too hard. Whatever the case, here are 10 of the most ridiculous movie monsters in history.
Killer Bunny Rabbits: “Night of the Lepus” (1972)
Three years before “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” did it as a joke, this movie made rabbits into killing machines . . . and asked us to take it seriously. But did I mention they’re GIANT rabbits, made massive by hormone experiments intended to make them stop breeding?
Did I also mention that DeForest Kelley . . . Dr. McCoy from “Star Trek” . . . and Janet Leigh from “Psycho” are in it?
Vampire Turkey Man: “Blood Freak” (1972)
When Something Weird Video rescued “Blood Freak” from obscurity years ago, they promoted it as “The World’s Only Turkey-Monster Anti-Drug Pro-Jesus Gore Film.” And unless another one’s come along since, this statement is completely accurate.
Herschell is a Vietnam Veteran who becomes a turkey from the neck up thanks to a combination of bad weed and tainted poultry. He’s also a vampire, who must feed on the blood of other addicts. I mean, you try taking a hit off a joint with a turkey beak!
This is a terrible, terrible movie, and if that’s your bag, it’s a must-see.
Bad Movie Bonus: Co-director Brad F. Ginter appears intermittently as a narrator, warning us of the dangers of drugs and chemically altered food . . . while smoking a cigarette that at one point sends him into a coughing fit. I guess the budget didn’t allow for second takes.
The Were-Cicada: “The Beast Within” (1982)
1981 was a landmark year for werewolves, thanks to the release of both “The Howling” and “An American Werewolf in London”. But 1982 belonged to the Were-Cicada. And I am not kidding.
17-year-old Michael MacCleary hasn’t been feeling so hot. Turns out he was conceived when his mother was raped by a strange creature in the woods off a rural Mississippi backroad. The assailant was a man who used Native American magic to turn himself into a cicada-like creature, then impregnated a woman so that his offspring would emerge 17 years later, as cicadas do, and exact revenge against his enemies.
“The Beast Within” is a darn good movie with one exception: The monster. Thanks to budget and technological limitations, it looks NOTHING like a cicada. Or any other insect for that matter. It actually looks kind of like E.T., if he pumped himself with steroids but didn’t lift.
In 1986, David Cronenberg would insectify the crap out of Jeff Goldblum in “The Fly”, so maybe they should have just waited a few years for the technology to catch up.
The Demon Bed: “Death Bed: The Bed that Eats” (1977)
This movie is so ridiculous, it’s kind of genius. Yes, it’s a bed that eats people, but it’s so much more. First of all, the bed doesn’t have a mouth, or teeth. People who lay on it just sink into it. You can even see its stomach acid as it dissolves the people and things it devours.
This flick is so cheaply made I think the director’s mother paid the cast and crew in grilled cheese sandwiches. But it’s a lot of fun, and it’s got some really interesting lore involving a demon crying tears of blood and a young artist watching everything from his prison behind a painting, which the bed long ago banished him to.
This one’s about as weird as they come, but I promise you’ll remember it.
The Space Herpe: “The Ice Pirates” (1984)
A criminally forgotten sci-fi comedy swashbuckler starring the late Robert Urich, Anjelica Houston, and Ron Perlman, “Ice Pirates” is a funny, exciting, and sure, sometimes politically incorrect romp. It was the ’80s, people.
In a universe where water is scarce and controlled by the evil Templars, Urich and his band of misfits cruise around the galaxy stealing giant blocks of ice from the Templars’ ships to make a living.
But one of their raids yields more than just frozen H20. After falling out of a crate they’ve pilfered, the fast-moving slug-like SPACE HERPE hatches from a pod and runs rampant through the ship. It’s eventually caught, but not before biting a crew member and ruining what looked like it was going to be a delicious turkey dinner.
Annoying Giant Teenagers: “Village of the Giants” (1965)
A precocious little kid called Genius invents a substance he dubs “Goo”, which makes animals grow to incredible size. Some annoying teenagers, including Beau Bridges in an early role, get their hands on it, ingest it, and become SUPER-annoying, 30-foot-tall teenagers who take over the whole town.
Ultimately, Genius . . . played by Ron Howard, I’ll have you know . . . develops an antidote. But delivering it to these post-pubescent monsters requires a distraction, which comes in the form of a seductive go-go dance by a normal-sized Toni Basil. Yes, THAT Toni Basil, 16 years before her “Hey Mickey” fame.
Perhaps you’ve seen the film’s most infamous image, of a guy hanging off a gigantic Amazon chick’s cleavage. They even used it on the poster.
Robert the Car Tire: “Rubber” (2010)
Nothing to see here, just a rubber tire that suddenly comes to life, stands up and starts rollin’ down the highway. Oh, it also has telekinetic powers, and can make people . . . and small animals . . . explode.
This one is intentionally absurd, and to paraphrase Quint from “Jaws”, it’s either very smart or very dumb. Online opinions vary widely. But “Rubber” lets you know what you’re getting into from the jump, thanks to a character breaking the fourth wall to tell us that film, just like life, is full of things that happen for no reason. And it just keeps getting weirder.
A Volkswagen Dressed Up as a Giant Spider: “The Giant Spider Invasion” (1975)
Sometimes a simple premise and a little gusto is all you need, and that describes “The Giant Spider Invasion” perfectly. Spiders from outer space crash land in a small town inside meteors, grow to enormous size, and start doing what movie monsters do.
This one occupies a sacred spot in the so-bad-it’s-good bin, largely thanks to the awful, low-budget spiders. One of the bigger ones is actually a Volkswagen Beetle in a spider costume!
Bonus: The sheriff is played by Alan Hale Jr., a.k.a. The Skipper on “Gilligan’s Island” . . . and early in the film, he calls another character “Little Buddy”.
The Vagina Dentata: “Teeth” (2007)
Every feminist’s dream, every man’s nightmare: The Vagina Dentata. If you’ve heard this term before, there’s a good chance it’s because of this movie. If you’ve never heard it, you can probably guess what it is just from the name, plus the title of the movie.
Dawn O’Keefe is a teenage spokesperson for a Christian abstinence group, and somehow, she keeps finding herself in the company of sexual predators who want to take advantage of her. She discovers her “gift” by accident, but by the end of the flick, she’s using it very deliberately . . . only on guys who deserve it, of course.
Hermaphrodite Gene Simmons: “Never Too Young to Die” (1986)
This film poses, but ultimately does not answer, an important question: Can one be a drag queen, or king for that matter, when one possesses both male and female sex organs?
If you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, Gene Simmons isn’t a monster,” then you’ve never faced him in a trademark infringement case, or seen him chew the scenery in “Never Too Young to Die”. Here, Gene plays Velvet Von Ragnar, who’s the psychopathic leader of a gang he must have stolen from a “Mad Max” casting pool, a god-awful nightclub singer with unfettered access to Cher’s wardrobe, and an evil supervillain plotting to poison the water supply of a major U.S. city and hold it for ransom.
When he’s not busy trying to coax superstar gymnast-turned-spy Lance Stargrove, played by John Stamos’s hair, into bed, that is.
Has Gene, or his acting, ever been this horrific? Are we lucky that this film failed to launch John Stamos to action movie stardom? And did the Chinese-American actor who played Stamos’s nerdy friend who builds cool electronic gadgets ever apologize to the Asian community?
The answers to these questions are NOT in “Never Too Young to Die”. But Prince’s one-time muse Vanity is, and that alone is worth checking out.
We all have that one movie we’ll defend with our whole heart, no matter how much critics tear it apart.
Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s the soundtrack, or maybe we just like bad movies. Either way, the people of Reddit have spoken, sharing their favorite films that scored 20% or less on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s a surprisingly relatable list.
According to the thread, cult favorites like “Out Cold” (8%), “Jingle All the Way” (20%), and “White Chicks” (15%) are some of the most-loved “bad” movies out there. Each one might have bombed with critics, but fans can quote every line, and that’s what really matters.
Here are some of the top mentions:
“Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” (2011) — 18%. Nicolas Cage on a flaming motorcycle. Enough said.
“The One” (2001) — 13%. Jet Li fighting alternate versions of himself. Is it high art? No. Is it awesome? Yes.
“Kung Pow! Enter the Fist” (2002) — 13%. An absurd martial arts parody that’s either genius or madness.
“Grandma’s Boy” (2006) — 15%. Stoner humor and video games … the ultimate early-2000s combo.
“Encino Man” (1992) — 17%. A thawed-out caveman in modern-day California? Brendan Fraser made it work.
“Christmas with the Kranks” (2004) — 5%. It’s aggressively cheesy, but somehow still a holiday staple.
“The Master of Disguise” (2002) — 1%. “Am I not turtley enough for the Turtle Club?” lives on forever.
“Troll 2” (1990) — 13%. Universally considered one of the worst movies ever made, and that’s the point.
Even rom-coms got some love, like “A Cinderella Story” (11%) and “Couples Retreat” (10%). Sure, the dialogue might be rough, but if it makes you feel good, who cares what the tomato meter says?
If you’ve ever found yourself saying “hear me out,” you’re in good company. Some movies aren’t meant to win awards; they’re meant to live rent-free in our hearts and on our streaming queues forever.
So, what’s your “so bad it’s good” favorite? Bonus points if you can quote it from memory.
Apple TV is rolling out a five-part docuseries about one of Hollywood’s greatest directors, Martin Scorsese. The project, simply titled Mr. Scorsese, dives deep into the filmmaker’s life and career, featuring interviews with some of the biggest names in entertainment.
But one major name is missing: Joe Pesci.
Director Rebecca Miller revealed that Pesci was the only person who said no to being interviewed for the series. Which, considering his role in so many of Scorsese’s best films — Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman — feels like a cinematic tragedy. Pesci even took home an Oscar for Goodfellas, so it’s not like his absence goes unnoticed.
According to Miller, though, Pesci’s decision wasn’t about ego or scheduling conflicts. It was personal. She explained that Joe “just doesn’t want to talk about the experiences that made him so perfect for this kind of role.” Apparently, those experiences hit a little too close to home.
Miller hinted that Pesci’s childhood in Newark, New Jersey, surrounded by real-life criminals, shaped his ability to play Scorsese’s volatile underworld characters so convincingly. “Joe was marked far worse than Marty was by those people,” she said. “I don’t think he wants to go over all that.”
One of the most famous scenes in “Goodfellas” was based on something Joe actually witnessed:
It’s a reminder that for some actors, art really does imitate life — and sometimes that life is better left off-camera.
So while Mr. Scorsese promises plenty of star power and behind-the-scenes insight, don’t expect any of that signature Pesci fire. The man who gave us “Funny how? Am I funny like a clown?” is sitting this one out, and for reasons only he can truly understand.
Disclaimer: From my earliest childhood memories until the moment I sat down to type this, I have never been romantically interested in another man. So while one never knows what tomorrow will bring, at this moment I can confidently say I am, and have always been, a straight white male.
I do consider myself an ally, though, so before we dive into bizarre examples of LGBTQ representation in pre-woke horror, I want to assure all members of the community that my goal is NOT to offend you. And thus, if I should fail, it is with my deepest apologies. And now, on with the show:
Positive portrayals of queer characters in horror movies were a lot harder to come by in the pre-woke era, and often had to be hidden, or “coded” in order to go relatively unnoticed by a public that was deemed not ready for them.
Some famous examples include “Bride of Frankenstein” and “Dracula’s Daughter” in the 1930s, and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” in the ’80s. (The “subtext” in that one couldn’t have been more obvious, but my clueless teenage ass missed it completely when I saw it in the theater.)
But every once in a while in those Before Times, queer characters weren’t hidden or hinted at. And the results varied widely. Here are some famous and infamous examples:
Tammy and the T-Rex (1994)
Theo Forsett plays Byron, best friend of Tammy, played by a young Denise Richards. Tammy’s going through some stuff, because her boyfriend Michael (Paul Walker) has been killed, and his brain stolen by a mad scientist and placed in the head of an animatronic dinosaur.
It happens.
Byron is out, loud and proud. And nobody seems to care. Even Michael, a high school jock, doesn’t flinch when they’re introduced at the beginning of the movie. And even after he becomes a rampaging (fake) dinosaur, Michael shows Theo kindness, sparing him while tearing apart several of his classmates.
Byron’s sexuality is only mocked by two dumb comic-relief cops, and their little jabs fall flat and feel out of place, because Theo is treated so respectfully by the film.
1994 may not be ancient history, but remember, this was three years before Ellen DeGeneres came out… and faced some serious career setbacks for doing so.
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
This one’s weird. Like, really weird. ’70s teen idol Jimmy McNichol plays Billy, a high school senior being raised by his clingy aunt (the legendary Susan Tyrrell), who very much wants to have sex with him. She’s also prone to committing murder.
Enter Bo Svenson, playing a homophobic cop who’s determined to pin the murders on Billy’s gay basketball coach, Tom Landers, played by Steve Eastin. Tom is portrayed as just a regular guy who happens to be gay, which was really progressive for 1981.
He’s also one of the most sympathetic and heroic characters in the film, and the ending leaves no question about whose side you should be on.
Interesting Note: Four years later, Landers would appear in “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge,” one of the most thinly disguised gay horror movies of all time.
Killer Condom (1996)
A condom with teeth that bites off male genitalia, presented by the guys who made “The Toxic Avenger”? If this piques your interest, be warned: this is not a typical Troma movie. In fact, they didn’t make it. It’s a German film that they picked up for distribution.
At its heart, it’s a gay love story between a cop and the male prostitute he meets in the seedy underbelly of New York City while investigating the castrating prophylactics. The film is peopled with LGBTQ characters we actually care about and root for… unlike the real villain, who’s unveiled in the final act.
Interesting Fact: H.R. Giger – the Swiss artist who created the xenomorph in “Alien” – served as a creative consultant on this one.
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
The granddaddy of gender-dysphoric killer flicks. Or is it the grandmommy? All these years later, I’m still confused. By now, anybody interested enough to have read this far should know the plot, and its infamous twist ending.
A series of murders at a summer camp are revealed to be the work of Angela, a girl who was secretly a boy all along! At a very young age, Angela’s aunt decided to raise him as a girl, following the deaths of his sister and their father in a boating accident.
Oh, and just to pile on, Angela’s father was gay, and as a young child she/he witnessed Pops in bed with another guy; the implication being that this screwed her/him up even more.
I seriously doubt the filmmakers were trying to make a social or political statement; it’s all just shock value. But still, it sends the message that if your gender doesn’t match your genitals, people die.
Interesting Fact: Kenan Thompson of “Saturday Night Live” fame is producing a remake with the original writer-director. It’ll be interesting to see if they keep the same ending. My guess is no, but mainly because audiences will be expecting it.
Fatal Games (1984)
Students training at an elite athletics academy are being picked off by somebody who chucks a mean javelin.
The killer turns out to be a nurse named Diane, played by Sally Kirkland, who you may remember from “The Sting,”“Best of the Best,”“JFK” and a bunch of other stuff.
But the real reveal is that Diane used to be a man. She had gender reassignment surgery to become a woman so she could be a champion at javelining… which, I discovered while writing this, is an actual word! But Diane was disqualified from competition after tests showed she had too many male hormones.
In the film’s most absurd moment, once the final girl discovers Diane’s secret, she starts speaking in a male voice.
She tells her intended victim, “Don’t you understand? I have sacrificed everything. I have risked everything just to win. I even became a woman just to win!”
Yes, it’s transphobic as shit. But as with “Sleepaway Camp,” I really don’t think any statement was being made here other than, “Yo, dig this crazy twist!”
Still, I’m shocked this flick hasn’t been picked up by the anti-trans movement. I could see Riley Gaines screening it before her (hate) speeches and saying, “See? They’ve been doing it for decades!”
If you’re in the mood for a little black magic, cauldrons, and broomstick chaos, this list of the 15 best witch movies ever made has you covered.
It runs the full spellbook, from funny and campy to dark enough that you’ll want to sleep with the lights on. Witch movies never really go out of style, and this lineup proves that point, mixing timeless classics with modern horror favorites.
At the top of the list sits The Wizard of Oz (1939). Between Glinda’s glitter and the Wicked Witch of the West’s green face, it’s basically the blueprint for every witchy trope we still love today. Then there’s The Witches of Eastwick (1987), which gave us Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer conjuring chaos—and somehow still made devilish Jack Nicholson look like he was having the time of his life.
Of course, Hocus Pocus (1993) is still the Halloween season’s MVP, with the Sanderson sisters proving that campy magic never dies.
And fans of cozy covens will never get tired of Practical Magic (1998), the holy grail of midnight margaritas, while Bell, Book and Candle (1958) delivers vintage witchy glam with Kim Novak at her most bewitching opposite Jimmy Stewart.
Newer witch tales take things to much darker places. The Witch (2015) and Hereditary (2018) remind us that witchcraft isn’t all sparkly wands—it’s goats whispering in your ear and family dinners that go horribly wrong. The Blair Witch Project (1999) turned found footage into a cultural phenomenon, and The Conjuring (2013) brought demonic possession back to the big screen with a vengeance.
Even the fairytale witches made the cut.
Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) prove Disney’s been warning us about wicked stepmothers and cursed apples for decades. And tucked among these timeless classics is a new addition: Weapons (2025), already getting buzz for its eerie, witchy undertones that feel straight out of a nightmare.
So whether you want a broomstick comedy, a spellbound romance, or a horror flick that’ll make you swear off forests forever, these 15 witch movies cast a spell that never wears off.
(Now if only someone would teach us that “light as a feather” trick for real.)
![Dawn of the Dead (1978) | Original Trailer [HD] | Coolidge Corner Theatre](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y_EviQj5tvA/hqdefault.jpg)
![The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/o3Mc0mgorZc/hqdefault.jpg)
![Tammy and the T-Rex (1993) [Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Promo Trailer]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NlW0EAhXJbE/hqdefault.jpg)
![Killer Condom (1996) [Vinegar Syndrome 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Promo Trailer]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lDUcmCuwMdA/hqdefault.jpg)
![Fatal Games (1984) [Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Promo Trailer]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EN5foKBQGGw/hqdefault.jpg)
