- Direction: James Somerton
- Production: James Somerton
- Script: James Somerton
- Genre: Documentary, Horror, Queer, LGBT+
- Release Date: 21 October, 2018
- Running Time: 57 minutes
I'm going to be honest, I knew the LGBT+ community, and maybe gay men more than others, have a long history with horror and the Gothic, but I had my own ideas and theories on the matter. I was severely unfamiliar with critical thoughts on the matter, until I saw this.
Somerton is an amazing story teller and analyst. It surprised me a little bit when I saw he's the man behind the Harry Potter video I shared yesterday, and it saddens me a bit more to see there's hardly more content on his Youtube channel, because of the quality and deep research on the matter. Seriously, the result is marvelous.
We get to discover how this relationship, this link between Queer characers and horror themes, got started in the Victorian era, how it settled the bases for the best horror movies and why they address significant social issues for the Queer community of the time they were made in. Somerton makes it easy to understand and follow the many layers on the matter.
I really liked the informal, yet educative tone of the whole project. There are jokes, humor and a good dose of irony now and then that I doubt we would see in the mainstream market, making this a good example of independent talent. Even more, I liked how clean and profesional it looks and sounds.
It is easy to feel identified with the monster, with the demon, the vampire, the profanity, the mentally unstable, the villain, when you live in a society that perceives, understands and treats you as such. An example was the subject of Frankenstein, a novel that has always been very gay to me, but that James explored further, indicating in more detail the queerest elements in the book and some of the movies it inspired.
The theme of queer horror is one of the things that most grabs me for just that reason, due to the parallels between the LGBT + community and the monsters, almost always described with characteristics that society assigns or perceives in us. We may be the monsters and the villains, but that also makes us the calling card of the society where we live. It is a spirit that Monsters in the Closet explains very well.
PS: Dear Mr. Somerton, if you ever read this, please, consider making more videos on the matter, or maybe a blog, or something.
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