A Nightmare on Elm Street 2

Until this evening, I had not seen this movie since it came out on VHS in the 80s. I always remembered it as not having been a good movie, but I think the problem was simply that it wasn't as good as the first one and they abandoned the whole "being killed in your dreams" plot for a possession/shapeshifting plot. I will admit that the movie doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I'm used to that shit from watching Italian horror.

Here's the 64 dollar question: is it as gay as everyone says? Well, everyone is more concerned about Jesse (Mark Patton) getting with Lisa (Kim Myers) than he is. His mother is real happy a girl comes over to see him. He's not the most masculine guy, as evidenced by all the screaming and well, flaming. He also doesn't mind having a crappy car which doesn't fit in with high school machismo. Then there's a the tighty whities, the dancing (he's a pretty good dancer for the time), the part where he runs off from making out with Lisa to sleep at Grady's house.

Oh, Grady. Robert Rusler was super hot. And he turns down a party invite from Lisa's "bad girl" friend Kerry (Sydney Walsh) because "he's grounded for pushing his grandmother down the stairs." A likely story, especially considering he was just asking Jesse to go to a movie before the girls walked up to the lunchroom table. And how about that "fight" between Jesse and Grady which is just some rolling around on the ground (gay) but then Jesse gets up with a black eye although no punches were thrown.

I don't know what to say about the gym coach (Marshall Bell) except that he was gay and Freddy was a homophobe who tied him up, stripped him, whipped him with a towel, and killed him.

Then at the end, it is the love of Lisa who makes Jesse come out of Freddy's body? Well, I certainly have loved some gay guys, in a platonic way of course (I'm no hag) more than some of their guys of the moment who were no good for them. But I don't cockblock. Maybe Jesse is bisexual?

Verdict: less homoerotic than a David DeCoteau film, but still suspect. Not a great movie, but enjoyable. And I LOVED Lisa's friend's 80s deluxe wardrobe!