Behold! A bevy of queer-as-fawk video picks for your viewing pleasure!
Daughters of Darkness (1971, dir. Harry Kumel)–Grand seductress Delphine
Seyrig takes the vampiric Elizabeth Bathory legend into the swinging ’70s. The
great baroness and her assistant/lover Illora descend upon an out of the way
resort where they make “friends” with a lovely young couple. D of D is almost
all nuance and mood, which is what makes it so engaging. We only actually see
blood once or twice, but the feeling of no escape is the real trigger for the
immense tension created within the confines of this fine film.
Urbania (2000, dir. Jon Shear)–Charlie (Judging Amy’s Dan Futterman)
wants to get over his ex-lover, oh so yummy Matt Keeslar (Last Days of Disco,
Sci/Fi Channel’s Dune), but is having a hard time doing so. You see, Charlie
is a little odd; he’s been seeing things and having trouble with his memory.
Think of it as the gay Memento. Edgy, weird, funny, and haunting, this low budget
thriller is worth your video dollars.
The Killing of Sister George (1968, dir. Robert Aldrich)–George (Beryl
Reid) is an actress on a popular British soap opera and lives with Childie (Susannah
York), a cute Goldie Hawn lookalike. They fight, they make up, George drinks,
they fight again, they dress up like Laurel and Hardy… you get the picture.
Rent it for the camp-a-licious acting, some really far out all-girl ’60s rock
club scenes, and the ultra stylish opening sequence.
Killer Condom (1996, German, dir. Martin Walz)–This smart, funny,
and (yes) sensitive release from Troma (Toxic Avenger) tells the tale of dumpy,
but well endowed Police Detective Mackeroni (Udo Samel) as he hunts down some
killer condoms in NYC. Along the way, Detective Mackeroni falls in love with
a beautiful call boy, dodges the affections of a dowdy drag queen, and loses
one of his testicles to the title creature. The film is based on the comic book
by Ralf Konig, and the condoms where created with help from H.R. Giger (designer
of the Alien films).
And finally a few honorable mentions: Beautiful Thing (1996)–Sweet sweaty
soccer boys! Go Fish (1994)–Low budget lezzie sex talk! Beau Travail (1999)–Sweet
sweaty military boys! High Art (1998)–Sexy sad photo drama with Ally Sheedy!