Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street

I remember watching A Nightmare On Elm Street 2 as a nine year old. I had a gay uncle, so I was very familiar with homosexuality, and to me, it was no big deal. When I saw NOES2, I remember seeing the gayness in the movie. I wasn’t offended by it or put off; I was just surprised it was so out there. It wasn’t until decades later did I find out that it was supposed to be subtext, and that the lead actor, Mark Patton was gay. And that this movie’s handling of the homosexual “subtext” (there’s nothing sub about it) ruined his career. This documentary brings all this to light, in a way even the 2010 Never Sleep Again documentary didn’t. It shows how this was supposed to be Patton’s big break; how gay magazines and newspapers caught onto the homosexual themes in the movie; how this converged with the rising AIDS epidemic, which was being called a “gay cancer” at the time; and how it all led to Patton having to walk away from a career he’d chased because he’d been painted as incapable of playing straight. Then the doc shifts focus onto how, after decades in obscurity (running a curio shop in Puerto Vallarta), he re-emerged as the LGBTQ community re-evaluated and embraced the movie ... even as the writer and director downplayed the homosexual aspects of it in the press, and threw Patton under the bus. The latter half of the doc chronicles him coming out of hiding to embrace the movie and his position in the horror community, and confront the demons of the past. That means confrontations with the director and writer, neither of which go the way you expect. If there are any glaring faults in the movie, it’s holes in the narrative it weaves. After NOES2’s run is over and Patton’s boyfriend dies, the doc says “for decades, he disappeared from the public eye”. Okay ... and did what? I know he was running the shop RECENTLY, but other than getting ill for a couple years, what else did he do? And while this doc is about Mark Patton, I would’ve liked to hear a little bit more from his co-stars on their reflections of NOES2. After all, this is probably the most controversial and divisive entry in the franchise; the additional perspective would’ve been interesting. One other flaw is the pacing of the movie; the latter half has Return Of The King Syndrome, where there are several moments where you go “okay, it’s ending”, and it doesn’t. It’s fine that there’s more story to tell, but something about the structure of the movie makes you think you’re wrapping up, and instead, there’s 35 minutes to go. Still, this is a fascinating and important documentary of horror history. More important, it is well-done examination of one man’s journey to reclaim his life and legacy and heal a broken heart done to him by a series of events out of his hands. In the end, he captures and controls the narrative of his life. He is able to stand proud, NOES2 no longer a black mark in his past. It doesn’t change the quality of NOES2 (you either love it or you don’t), but this documentary wasn’t about re-litigating NOES2’s quality; it is about a man’s journey to heal and stand proud of his work. About him being able to stand tall in the horror community alongside scream queens like Jamie Lee Curtis and Heather Langenkamp. And in that regard, it’s a huge success, and it’s a pleasure to watch Mark Patton’s journey in this documentary.