October 28, 2017 | Arts / Entertainment

Gay actor explains how "Nightmare on Elm Street 2" ruined his life

In 1985, Mark Patton starred in what would later be considered "the gayest horror movie ever made," A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.

In the movie, bad guy Freddy Krueger returns to kill some more teens. Jesse (played by Mark Patton) is a young cutie battling both his own demons and Krueger.

The movie never outs Patton's character, but the gay subtext can be seen throughout: he accidentally walks into an S&M leather bar; his best friend accuses Jesse of wanting to sleep with him; and there's the shower scene where the gym teacher gets tied up naked, whipped by wet towels, and attacked by Freddy.

The movie was huge and Freddy Krueger solidified his place in pop culture. Patton, however, disappeared from the Hollywood scene.

Now, after 30 years of living in near obscurity, Patton is back to talk about how his American dream became a nightmare during the homophobic AIDS crisis in Hollywood and why he had to give it all up. 

“I was a golden child. I was going to be a movie star,” Patton explained. “[Then] I wake up in the middle of the first movie that I’m the lead actor in, and realise there’s a gay subtext in it. I wasn’t an out gay actor, I was a gay person and I was living in terror -- my lover was dying, people went through our trash, and my agents are waiting to see if I can play straight.”

There is no release date set for the documentary, but after watching the trailer below we are super excited to see it.