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[Horror Queers] The Delicious Homoeroticism Of ‘The Covenant’ And ‘The Brotherhood’

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Synopsis for The Brotherhood: The fraternity “Doma (House of) Tau Omega” has found a key to eternal youth without having to become blood-drinking vampires. Will they be able to recruit Chris (Sam Page), an innocent and perfect newcomer?

Queer Aspect: Both films feature homoeroticism for days.

Joe

I feel like I’ve been apologizing to you for this filmic combination for the better part of a month, but the time has finally come to discuss The Covenant and The Brotherhood and I will apologize no further!

Oh my gosh, these films are…not good. And yet, what struck me was the reaction on social media each time we mentioned them: suddenly our feeds would be flooded with people mentioning “the swim meet” or “the locker room scene” or the coveted output of prolific auteur David DeCoteau (“Leeches!”) While there is a strange collective consensus that these films are hot garbage, they were synonymous with homoerotic horror. That’s when I knew we were on to something.

One of the reasons that I selected this pair of films is because of the memories that I have from my first viewing experience. Growing up with horror from my early teens, I never struggled to read between the lines to see the subliminal text within the genre. Like science-fiction, horror films can get away with a lot more because they are fantastic, so political, social, cultural considerations are codified and hidden away in ghosts, demons, killers and Final Girls. Our first two entries in this series have both explored themes of power, sexual identity and abuse (one more successfully than another).

The Covenant and The Brotherhood are both far, far more slight films, but their power lies in subverting the traditional male gaze associated with horror films and, as a result, objectifying the male bodies for the audience’s viewing pleasure. In this way, both films are quietly revolutionary; they open up a dialogue with the audience not only about the conventions (read: expectations) of the genre and who the “intended” audience is, but also what bodies are and are not “appropriate” for consumption.

Lest anyone accuse me of reading too deeply into this, I began with an acknowledgement that neither film is quote/unquote “good.” I’m not fooling myself into thinking that these films are successful horror films; they are either too dumb (The Covenant) or campy (The Brotherhood) to be scary, the plots are derivative and the acting is sometimes astonishingly bad. But, with all of those negatives, there is something endearing about these messy, ill-conceived films that sparks something in the imagination. And that response on social media from queer audiences suggests that an alternative gay reading has become the dominant historical discourse around each film. Both films have been appropriated by queer audiences as eye candy trifles to be savoured and gently mocked.

What’s interesting is how a homosexual reading is entirely dependant on the audience member. There are no gay characters in either film so there’s no deliberate cue that these are “gay” films. So tell me Trace, what tipped you off that there was something a little bit fey about The Covenant and The Brotherhood?

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The Covenant and The Brotherhood are both available to stream on Amazon Instant Video for $3.99.

Next month’s Horror Queers film: A deep dive into the Gothic beauty of Tony Scott’s1983 vampire film, The Hunger.

And don’t forget to catch up on our previous Horror Queers articles:

• Insidious: Chapter 2

• The Skin I Live In

RELATED TOPICSCHACE CRAWFORDHORROR QUEERSQUEER HORRORRENNY HARLINSAM PAGESEBASTIAN STANSTEVEN STRAITTAYLOR KITSCHTHE BROTHERHOODTHE COVENANTTOBY HEMINGWAY