Horror Genre Gets a Queer GlowUp: Michael Varrati

What gay Halloween season would be complete without a chat with horror guru Michael Varrati? Don’t let his boyish, innocent looks deceive you. He is a mastermind of all things horror as a filmmaker, screenwriter, columnist, podcaster, and actor. He’s rubbed elbows with horror cinema’s elite and enjoys a close partnership with Peaches Christ (the queen of horror and camp) and has had a hand in the success of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula as a writer and director, now in its sixth season.

His love of cinema, from queer to Christmas movies to horror, is as varied as his growing up.

My formative years were relatively migratory, and during that time, my parents were educators in a rural town in Arizona and the closest hospital just happened to be in the next state.  I think about that repeated line from SHOWGIRLS where Nomi Malone says she’s from “different places,” because I kind of relate. My early years were in the Southwest, I went to elementary school in Colorado, junior high and high school in Western Pennsylvania, and college in Ohio. To that end, I feel connected to all of those places, while also occasionally belonging to none. But I don’t mean that in a negative way. I value getting to see so many different places and ways of life while I was growing up, because that informed so much of my own outlook. If I learned anything, it’s that there’s no single, correct path…but a collective of learned and lived experiences that you carry with you. To me, that’s what makes the world interesting.

While other kids were watching cartoons, Varrati had different tastes. Tastes that propel him on a lucrative career filled with blood and guts, camp, and monsters.

My obsession with horror unquestionably began with a show called USA UP ALL NIGHT, which was relatively popular in the late 80s/early 90s. UP ALL NIGHT would air on Friday and Saturday nights and was alternatively hosted by Rhonda Shear and Gilbert Gottfried. They would show double features of horror movies, exploitation films, and teen sex comedies. I distinctly remember one week the TV Guide advertising that they were showing a double feature of ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES and RETURN OF THE KILLER TOMATOES…and for some reason, I fixated on those titles and simply had to watch. I begged my mom, and she let me stay up. I was transfixed. I always say that was my “baptism into cult,” because from that point on I became obsessed with weird cinema.

Using the KILLER TOMATOES example, I think what immediately drew me to them was that they felt different in some way. These were not the movies the kids at school were talking about or that were showing at the local multiplex. They were other. They were strange, off-beat, and in many ways felt like something that someone somewhere didn’t want you to see. I was obsessed with that notion. I didn’t have the words for it at the time, but I would later come to realize that part of the draw was that I implicitly understood that otherness, because in many ways that was me.

Queer representation in horror films is becoming more mainstream. With mainstream studios like Blumhouse releasing films with explicitly queer characters, Varrati is part of that trailblazing with his own independent film horror film projects, adding his own queer sensibility.

As I’ve alluded to, horror is ultimately a genre of otherness and queer people deeply understand what it means to be othered. When you’re outside of certain aspects of society, you sometimes, for better or worse, see things in a different way. Often, these are things the mainstream does not want to hear or confront head on. Horror allows us to take those issues and present them through a monster or some other heightened situation. I often use horror to express my frustration, but also notions of queerness that I’m not seeing discussed elsewhere. I think when utilized in this way, horror can not only be fun, but powerful and cathartic.

As Varrati has shared during his appearances at San Diego Comic-Con, his podcast Dead for Filth, and contributions to The Huffington Post, Vice, and more, there has always been a queer presence in the horror genre.

If you look at the whole of motion picture history, the intersection of queer identity and the horror genre has always been present, it’s just that creators in the past had to rely more heavily on subtext. To that end, I’ve always loved that the Universal monster movies are steeped in queerness… sometimes intentional, sometimes not. Both Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein were directed by a gay man [James Whale] and Bride specifically seems to end on a note of queer autonomy -just because society says you’re made for someone doesn’t mean you have to accept that fact.

1936’s Dracula’s Daughter is expressly about a lesbian vampire. The Wolf Man is about struggling with a truth that lives inside you. The Creature From The Black Lagoon is about society infringing upon the peace of an outsider. I mean, let’s face it – all of our foundational monsters are a little bit queer!

In producing horror content, Varrati has said yes to doing just about everything needed to make a movie. Writing? Producing? Directing? Check. As an actor, Michael networked with the cinematic community which led to his first ambitious project, Dreams as part of the Tales of Poe anthology. That has led to a long list of projects including Crash Site (about gay aliens), horror comedy The Sins of Dracula, Flesh for the Inferno (about demon nuns), The Office Is Mine, queer slasher A Halloween Trick, and the isolation horror film What’s Left Inside.  With taking on so many different production roles, what aspect does he love about each?

I think in all aspects, it ultimately comes down to finding the story. From a writing perspective, I love cracking the plot and learning the character’s voices. When I can conceptualize what that world is going to be, I get very excited. Similarly, when I’m directing, it’s an extension of that idea. I get to work with a team of creatives to see what was on the page come to life, and also hear how they interpreted the work through their own artistic lens. That sense of collaboration can be exhilarating because it shows we all may have read the same story, but each walked away with different ideas. Then you get to try and bring the best of everyone’s response together into the strange quilt that is a movie.

Strangely enough, Varrati has also had a voice in the Christmas movie genre. He co-wrote the Denise Richards-led film A Christmas Reunion, A Christmas in Vermont starring Chevy Chase, and a handful of subsequent holiday films. How does a horror film junkie earn a place in the Christmas circuit?

Humorously enough, the very first Christmas movie I ever wrote was due, in part, to my work in horror. A friend of mine who produces a lot of TV movie projects had reached out because they needed a script done quickly and written with a fixed budget in mind. As it happens, that’s a skill most indie horror filmmakers have, because we rarely have the luxury of time or big budgets.

Prior to his call, I had enjoyed Christmas movies but hadn’t really considered writing one. I loved the idea and the challenge, so I seized the opportunity. And to be honest, that movie opened my career up to a whole new world. In the years since, I’ve written or co-written five or six more holiday films for platforms like Netflix, Lifetime, Ion, and others, and I’ve loved each one. There’s a coziness to those movies that’s such a lovely reset. I’m very proud of my work in that space and I’m happy to say that Christmas movie fans are often very sweet and truly passionate.

Do the two genres have anything in common?

You know, I’m sure some higher-ups gnash their teeth when I say this, but I think the commonality between them is that they both, in their way, are cult movies. Each has a dedicated fanbase who comes to these films with certain expectations and a knowledge of “the rules” of the genre.

It’s funny, when I do conventions, I’ve had people come up to the table to talk about a horror movie, only for their spouse/parent/etc. to chime in to say they are a fan of my Christmas stuff. Here are two people from the same household, attending the same event in celebration of the pop culture they love. Maybe the two genres aren’t as far apart as we think!

Midnight Mass by Cash Danielsen

One of Michael’s power partners has become Peaches Christ. First meeting Peaches through doing an interview for a book, the two became friends and have hit the road in a variety of projects, including the popular Midnight Mass podcast, the audio take on Peaches’ infamous long-running cult movie series in San Francisco. The two share horror and camp sensibilities, but come from different generations, how does their fierce partnership work?

Peaches is one of my dearest friends and collaborators and part of our connection is born out of the fact that we deeply understand one another’s cinematic language. For example, our podcast, Midnight Mass, is a celebration not only of the movies we love but the fandom of the people who worship at their altar. We love filmmakers with a sense of showmanship and a flair for subversion who cultivate both an audience and an experience. We have a shared love for the likes of Russ Meyer, Ted V. Mikels, Herschell Gordon Lewis, John Waters, etc., individuals who are pushing the envelope.

As for our differences, while we’re more alike in our tastes than not, Peaches’ years as a celebrated drag artist give her a unique lens regarding so much of the world we inhabit. Not only has she produced countless shows and been on many of the world’s great stages, she’s also the co-creator of an annual, immersive haunted attraction in San Francisco. She’s got a natural showmanship, and an understanding of the audience’s wants and needs because she’s not just a cult leader, she’s a member of the cult. I love doing live events, but I also know when we’re on stage together, the crowd wants her to say the outrageous and they want me to provide the fact or sarcastic comment that backs it up. And I love that dynamic. We’re a good team because we play to each of our strengths while letting the other one do what they do. I think our audience feels that.

The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula has become the outstanding drag competition show that could. Now a double Emmy Award-nominated show, it celebrates horror, camp, and underground drag. It has gone from being a modest show on YouTube, to Netflix, and now a grand affair on Shudder and AMC+. Drag Race who? It has quickly become a fan favorite, offering a different, and gorier, look at drag. Did Michael think the show would be such a big hit?

All credit for the meteoric rise of Dragula goes to the Boulet Brothers. One of the great things about being on set for the show is seeing firsthand how deeply committed and passionate the Boulets are to bringing it to life. They work incredibly hard. I recall many occasions where something seemed impossible, but through insistence and perseverance, they’d lead the crew into pulling it off. I’m very grateful for the time I’ve had on Dragula and for getting to see its evolution happen in real-time.

Even from the beginning, it was apparent that the show was special because it took fierce creators who maybe weren’t getting a chance in traditional spaces and celebrated what made them different. Everybody wants a place to belong, and the Boulets said, “You’re not too weird, too spooky, too goth, too strange… and even if you are, you can come sit by us.” That’s why the show is so popular because, at Dragula, you belong.

Having accomplished such a long list of credits at an early age, what has been a major, personal accomplishment thus far?

 When you’re an indie artist, so much blood, sweat, and tears go into everything you do, there’s always a little bit of pride regarding each project. Perhaps the best and most recent highlight of that is our movie There’s a Zombie Outside. It’s the story of a man whose identity is tied up with cult cinema and how he starts seeing a monster from one of his movies in the real world. Obviously, there was a personal element to the story, but it was also constructed in a non-traditional way that meant if we wanted to make it, we had to make it ourselves. The film was independently produced and financed, and though I’m the writer and the director, it exists in the world now because a lot of people believed in the project and stepped up to make it happen.

Admittedly, the film is weird on purpose and it’s not for everyone. That’s the point. Niche stories rarely get made by studios who are striving for broader appeal. But specific art is needed too, even if it’s harder to make. This movie was important to me because it was an aspect of the queer experience filtered through a genre lens I rarely see on screen. I wanted that for me and people like me. It wasn’t a quick journey, and it wasn’t easy. But we saw it through and now our deranged little baby is out there, and I couldn’t be prouder.

And looking forward, what does Varrati want most out of his career?

I guess I just want to keep finding ways to push the envelope and tell bold new stories. In many ways, I think the subcategorization of “queer horror” is something of a misnomer because in my mind, horror already IS queer. So, for me, I just want to make it as queer as possible.

And his message to the community this Halloween season?

Be the trick AND treat you want to see in the world, baby. You are enough.

You can follow Michael on IG: @MichaelVarrati