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''Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 2019 American
documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
directed by Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen. It examines the legacy of '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'', the second installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series, and the life of the film's lead actor,
Mark Patton Mark Patton (born September 22, 1959) is an American interior designer and actor. Beginning his professional acting career in 1982, Patton is perhaps best known for his feature film roles as Joe Qualley in the dramatic film '' Come Back to the ...
. In particular, ''Freddy's Revenge'' has garnered a reputation for its
homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...
themes and subject material, which affected Patton, who was
closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other (LGBTQ+) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and human ...
at the time of the film's production.


Release

''Scream, Queen!'' premiered at the
Cleveland International Film Festival The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) is an annual film festival based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the largest film festival in Ohio. It was first held in 1977, showing eight films over a period of eight weeks at the Cedar Lee Theatre. It ...
in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio, on April 5, 2019. It later screened at
Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of ''The Iron Gi ...
on September 22, 2019, where it was followed by a screening of ''Freddy's Revenge'' in
35 mm 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
. It had a limited theatrical run on February 27, 2020, and was released digitally and on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
on March 3.


Critical reception

On the
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The consensus reads: "''Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street'' compassionately draws on an actor's personal journey to offer a compelling and illuminating reexamination of the franchise's first sequel." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
of 64 out of 100 based on five critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Deirdre Crimmins of '' Rue Morgue'' called the film "a tight, straightforward documentary about one corner of the horror world that has been under appreciated for so long, and it is a love letter to those who have always loved it." Trace Thurman of
Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...
called it "a touching, poignant film that's less about the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and more about how one man took control of his narrative and used it to empower not only himself, but millions of
queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
horror fans around the world." Jude Dry of
IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
gave it a grade of "A−", and wrote that "''Scream, Queen!'' reaches into the fabulous recesses of queer horror fans, filmmakers, and academics to offer a well-rounded and humorous accounting of the queer
cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
."
Frank Scheck Frank Scheck is an American film critic. He is best known for his reviews in the ''New York Post'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter''. He formerly edited ''STAGES Magazine'' and worked as a theater critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor Ch ...
of ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote that "''Scream, Queen!'' feels a bit self-indulgent at times, exploring so many tangents that it tends to lose focus. Nonetheless, it's a fascinating sociological examination of the circumstances surrounding a film that inadvertently became a
camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
classic." Michael Ordoña of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote that "Perhaps the slickly made documentary overstates the cultural impact of a little-seen and widely disliked film. However, it earns points for scraping at the surface of something rarely discussed in film fandom — homosexuality in horror." Blake Goble of ''
Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
'' gave the film a "B+", and called it "a stirring Hollywood history lesson, and a convincing plea for inclusion as one of fandom's better sides. ..This is the silver lining along Freddy Krueger's nasty claws." ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''s Dennis Harvey gave a more critical review of the film, writing: "Whiny, still-resentful and at times contradictory in his perspective, Patton can't help but view this story as 'all about me,' even when (eventually) others call him on that tunnel vision. His somewhat garbled sense of victimization gets in the way of addressing other interesting issues about ''Freddy's Revenge'', leaving this just-adequately crafted doc middling at best as a sort of glorified DVD-extra inquiry."


Accolades

''Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street'' was nominated for the 2021
GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary is an annual award that honors documentaries for excellence in the treatment of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals, history, and themes. It is one of several categories of ...
.


References


External links

* ''Scream, Queen!'' Blu-Ray release b
Vinegar Syndrome
an
Enjoy the Ride Records
* * * * {{A Nightmare on Elm Street Documentary films about LGBT film Documentary films about HIV/AIDS Documentary films about films Documentary films about horror 2019 documentary films 2019 films 2019 LGBT-related films 2010s English-language films HIV/AIDS in American films 2010s American films American LGBT-related documentary films