8 Queer Slasher Movies to Watch this Halloween

It's spooky season, and you know what that means: There's no better time to watch scary movies! Finding horror movies with a distinctly queer angle can be a bit of a challenge. Thankfully, we've got you covered with recommendations for some of the scariest, silliest, most ridiculous, and most importantly, queerest slasher movies around!

Yann Gonzalez's "Knife + Heart" is a thrilling neon-drenched nightmare. The film casts a sharp eye on the adult entertainment industry, starring Vannesa Paradis as Anne, a gay porn producer in the late '70s. She's ditched by her lover (and editor), which leads her to try to make a more ambitious film to win her back, but her lead actor winds up murdered, and things aren't going to stop there. It's trashy, fearlessly queer, relentlessly campy, and features a booming synth score for M83. Queer slashers don't get more exhilarating than "Knife + Heart."

"Kinfe + Heart" is now streaming on Kanopy, Shudder, AMC+ and more.

An underappreciated Canadian thriller, "The Retreat" finds lesbian couple Renee (Tommie-Amber Pirie) and Valerie (Sarah Allen) headed off to a charming weekend getaway with a good old-fashioned cabin in the woods. As you can likely imagine, this romantic escape turns into something far more sinister as they find themselves hunted by a nasty killer – one who livestreams his ritual killings of queer people for money. Directed by out filmmaker and writer Pat Mills, "The Retreat" is a lean (at 82-minutes), mean slasher flick that turns the trope of queer characters dying in horror movies on its head, and you better believe these ladies are going to give it everything they can to try and outwit and outlast their hunter.

"The Retreat" is now streaming on Showtime Anytime and more.

Alright, we'll admit it: "Killer Unicorn" is extremely silly stuff. The acting is over-the-top, the scenario is absurd, and the scariest parts never feel especially frightening. What "Killer Unicorn" does have is enough camp to fill the Grand Canyon. This wickedly fun slasher is full of drag queens, hunky shirtless men, and a nonsensical premise – a man wearing a unicorn mask is hellbent on killing every drag queen in Brooklyn, and won't rest until they're all dead. What more could you want from a film that starts with its protagonist attending the "Brooklyn Annual Enema Party?"

"Killer Unicorn" is available to rent from Apple, Amazon, and YouTube.

Probably the most subdued film on this list, "Stranger by the Lake" prefers minimalism to excess, and nudity to clothing. The sexy, sleek French thriller takes place entirely at a gay nude beach, where men cruise the day away, though someone is there for a completely different reason – bloodlust. The film is a compelling exploration of passion and desire and the ways those very things can prevent us from seeing things that are right in front of us. "Stranger by the Lake" isn't quite the slasher you'd expect it to be – it's a bit too arthouse for that – but there's a palpable sense of dread throughout, there are some beautiful men, and Alain Giuraudie's film will keep you tantalized.

"Stranger By the Lake" is currently streaming on Kanopy.

A lot of the films on this list are explicitly queer, full of gay romance, lesbian lust, and themes that feel relevant to the LGBTQ+ community. Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge" may not be your first thought of a queer slasher, but you better believe that the film is chock-full of glorious queer subtext. Jesse (Mark Patton) is being tormented by Freddy and feels that there's a demon within him, a sort of evil trying to come free. Jesse does everything in his power to keep the evil at bay, but he's struggling in all aspects of his life, including sexually, as he can't sleep with his girlfriend because his tongue transforms into something monstrous each time. See where we're going with this? If that's not enough to convince you, there's lots of male nudity, leather bars, and good old-fashioned camp.

"Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge" is currently streaming on HBO Max

Extremely controversial when it was first released, William Friedkin's 1980 film "Cruising" follows Detective Steve Burns (Al Pacino) as he investigates a series of murders affecting the New York City gay community. Someone out there is going to gay clubs, picking up men, and killing them, and Burns is hellbent on stopping him. In order to accomplish his mission, he goes undercover as a gay man, immersing himself in club culture to try and find the killer. "Cruising" is as fascinating as it is gruesome, offering an extremely rare look into queer culture in a Hollywood film, while also exposing the rampant homophobia in the police force. It's not perfect, relying on the occasional cheap stereotype, but it's fascinating, frightening, and a must-see film for those interested in queer history on film, and slasher movies. The film was truly ahead of its time.

"Cruising" is currently streaming on Cinemax and is available to rent from Apple, Amazon and YouTube.

It's Halloween night in West Hollywood, and a group of handsome gays are ready to celebrate! But there's a big problem: There's a devil on the loose! Well, not quite a literal devil, but someone wearing a devil mask, determined to carve up and kill the gays of West Hollywood (that's an awful lot of killing to do, just FYI). Taking place largely at a massive Halloween Carnival, "Hellbent" wears its queerness with pride, delivering an unapologetically gay slasher movie, filled with plenty of gruesome kills. "Hellbent" may feel super low-budget and a bit dull at times (even at a lean 85 minutes), but it's a hugely important movie that helped ignite interest in gay slasher movies.

"Hellbent" is currently streaming on Here TV and is available to rent from Amazon.

If you like your slashers lo-fi and thoroughly ridiculous, there are few that fit the bill better than "Make A Wish." The film (released as "Psycho Lesbian" in the United Kingdom) is based around what should be a lovely trip full of lesbian camaraderie, as Susan (Monyan King) is celebrating her birthday with an annual camping trip. Everyone is here, and everyone's a lesbian – from old friends to ex-lovers. Things start to turn south when the women start disappearing one by one. The film is extremely low-budget and the killer is obvious from the first millisecond you see them, but "Make A Wish" is chock-full of glorious lesbian content and it's a heck of a ride.