' Fred Krueger! He's inside me, and he wants to take me again!'
Jesse Walsh
First two images from Spiridon41 
When I was growing up in the late eighties and nineties, horror movies scared the shit of out me. I mean lasting fear, weeks of night terrors and sliding into my parents bed in the middle of the night. When I got a little older however, that fear was something I was drawn to, especially in October with Halloween on the horizon.
For the most part, there was always a final girl, but rarely a final boy. Sure, we all saw our fair share of teen heartthrobs shirtless in horror flicks, often getting offed by the psychopath, but the kills were different. There was usually a sex, or erotic element to the relationship between the killer, and the final girl.
There was a difference in the vulnerability. The girls were usually really hot, with their clothes ripping off as they fled from the killer. The men, were usually put into the jocks and nerds category. I remember when I watched
Tower of Evil on TCM about a decade ago. (
HERE:) I remember really noticing how the UK based film portrayed both the male and female victims the same way, and I liked it.
EjaculaLooking back, I do see that this was attempted in American films. There were several quick male nude scenes in the Friday the 13th series, and I can't think of a more vulnerable victim than Tom McBride, (HERE:) in a wheelchair before Jason hacked him up.
Contestant 666
One of the most well known horror himbos, or scream kings was
Mark Patton from
Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. The homoerotic installment from the franchise was not initially well received, nor was Mark's portrayal as final boy Jesse Walsh. Mark's experience on the film was documented in the 2019 documentary
Scream Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street. I've featured Mark and the film in several posts on the site
HERE:
It was really only looking back at
Freddy's Revenge, that audiences, especially gay audiences, had appreciation for the film, even if those behind the scenes, are still reluctant to admit it. Since then, producers began to really cater to their LBGTQ horror fans. Films like
Hellbent,
Judas Kiss ,
Midnight Kiss and
Swallowed feature not just gay characters, but shirtless, and sometimes naked hotties, fighting for their lives.
There were also countless gay porn parody's, softcore horror flicks like Dead Boyz Don't Scream and Quinn Jaxon and David Bradbury in Vampire Boys 2: The New Blood. There is also the slew of forgettable David DeCoteau that had various shirtless and undie wearing dudes in distress. I think it's the vulnerablity depicted with half-naked horror himbos that makes my horror hunks series one of my favorites to work on. Just when I think I've found the mall, another hottie running for their lives appears.
Friday the 13th by TR PicsI love the homo flip on the heteronormative narrative, and it's become really one of the core themes I explore on the site. Iconic symbols of female sexuality, are flipped with males in the roles. There's a reason I feature a male witch every year at Halloween. When I was a kid trick or treating, I generally stuck to traditional male, (cowboy/robber) or unisex, (Ghost, Devil) costumes. It's empowering to see masculine elements weaved into these characters once, only safely inhabited by women.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's RevengeToday, horror himbos are everywhere, especially on television. Watch any Ryan Murphy show, not to mention the slew of teen Vampire and Werewolf dramas. Today, it's clear these projects are aimed at both the female, and the gay male audiences.
HellBent
I'll continue to search for new movies with hot male himbos, but if you know any that I've missed, please drop me a line! Although October is still horror film central, we all love a half-naked frightened hottie any time of the year.
Love Me Deadly
Blood of TribadesCreamerie
Dead Boyz Don't Scream
