Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street

Director(s) - Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen (Th3m)

Starring - Mark Patton (A Nightmare on Elm St. 2: Freddy's Revenge, Amityville Clownhouse), Cecil Baldwin (Dark Dice, Dreamboy), and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm St., Galaxy of Terror)

Release Date - 2019

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "The claws are out"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     The horror bug bit me when I was in elementary school and sometime during the summer between my last year in middle school and my freshman year in high school I found myself introduced to the slasher legend Freddy Krueger.  I fucking loved the original A Nightmare on Elm Street but it would be years before I would be able to watch the sequels.  A friend of mine introduced me to the entire series the year Freddy vs. Jason was released.  I remember loving all the sequels just as much as the original film.  Some of my friends had their favorites but I had a hard time picking which one I liked the most.  When I was in high school I joined Upcoming Horror Movies and made a lot of friends in the forums there but I quickly realized that many genre fans hated A Nightmare on Elm St : Freddy's Revenge.  Many had a lot of homophobic things to say about the film and often bashed it for the hidden "gay" story line.  Aside from the infamous gay club scene I never picked up on the a lot of the references many others picked up in the film.  Regardless, I always enjoyed the film and it's a damn shame that the response to it forced an aspiring actor to turn his back on his life long aspirations.  In 2019 filmmakers Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen set out to document actor Mark Patton's return to the limelight as the film that ended his career was celebrating its anniversary.  The film, Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street was released on Shudder before receiving a physical release.  The film received a blu release from one of Vin Syn's partner labels and I went ahead to snag a copy to check out.  

     The documentary follows actor Mark Patton who returns to conventions and the public eye after turning his back on the film industry after the release of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge.  We get a look into his life, his appearances at conventions and festivals, and how the film has changed his life forever.

     I've heard good and bad things about this doc.  Those that enjoyed it are also fans of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge and are interested in star Mark Patton.  However, the other side seems to be from general horror fans who claimed the film was just an hour and a half of someone holding a grudge.  I can see that but I actually enjoyed the doc.  It was cool to see how the film is being embraced by more genre fans all these years after its initial release.  The interviews in this one are what one sided.  We get a lot of screen time with Patton, which is understandable, but we only have a small section of the film dedicated to the man that pinned the film and blames Patton for "turning it gay."  I would have loved to hear more of his side explored as to understand how he thinks a movie he wrote and was translated to the screen was turned gay because the actor just happened to be gay.  The topics discussed fit the film perfectly.  We move through them in a chronological order which makes it easier to follow and a lot of fun.  It was actually pretty intriguing for fans of Patton to get a quick look into his career prior to Freddy's Revenge along with what he has been up to after turning his back to acting.  Finally, the editing, transitions, and overall polish of the doc is decent.  It's clear it was filmed mostly around cons and festivals with some of the interviews done in the back of vans and so forth.  Understandable considering they had to get done what they could when Patton had a free moment between Q and A, filming indie productions, and meet and greets.  Overall, Scream, Queen is a fairly solid horror doc that takes a look at one of the most infamous sequels in horror history.  I love the film and this is a great follow up to a movie with so much history behind it.  Check it out.