Mark Patton is not ashamed of being a scream queen—and he shouldn’t be

Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival continues through Sunday at Chicago Filmmakers (5720 N. Ridge Ave.).

Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen’s SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET screens at Chicago Filmmakers (5720 N. Ridge Ave.) on Sunday at 6pm.

Mark Patton and co-directors Tyler Jensen and Roman Chimienti are scheduled to attend the screening.

By Cody Corrall

If you ask a horror fan how they feel about A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2: FREDDY'S REVENGE, the response isn’t likely to be all-too positive. The highly anticipated sequel in the iconic film series was largely met with criticism—most of which was directed at actor Mark Patton for his performance as the vulnerable and queer-coded protagonist Jesse Walsh.

The spotlight on Patton—including questions of his sexuality and being dubbed a “scream queen”—forced him to come out to an unaccepting world and ultimately compromised his career as an actor when he was at his prime.

In SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, Patton tells his story in attempts to change the narrative. More than 30 years after the release of FREDDY'S REVENGE, Patton chronicles how he was treated by the media and the horror community at large, opens up about being HIV positive, and tries to find closure with the cards he was dealt with in a deep and honest way .

Spliced with Patton’s own story are insights from queer media scholars on the legacy of FREDDY'S REVENGE as well as queer horror fans who found parts of themselves in Jesse Walsh—so much so that they pay tribute to the film’s camp sensibilities through drag and other forms of queer self expression.

SCREAM, QUEEN! shines a light on an integral moment not just in Patton’s life, but also in the horror genre as it continues to reinvent the shared experience of what it means to be afraid in a terrifying world.

Cody Corrall: What was it like to revisit this time in your life? Do you feel like you ever really got away from it?

Mark Patton: I'm very at peace with what happened. You know, I've been making this documentary for over 3 years, almost 4 years. So, I've had a lot of time to process it. Now I'm out on the road—it's emotional to have your life story up on the screen every night. It's cathartic, fun. I'm meeting a lot of people. The movie is touching a lot of people which really...that makes me feel really good. People relate to it.

The movie didn't start out being about me...but over the course of maybe a year it became clearer and clearer what the story actually was. I'm a very open person and when I had talked about HIV that really was probably the most kind of fulfilling thing I did. When I put that glove on and I was on the cover of magazines and it was on CNN in minutes, it was, you know, there's nothing left to hide.

It's weird. Once in a while when my dad comes up on screen or something like that, I might get a little teary or overwhelmed. You know, I have my little breakdowns but I put it away and we sign some autographs and have fun.

CC: Do you think the horror community views you differently now that time has passed and social norms have changed?

MP: I only came back to go to Comic Con and all of those things because I was a little pissed off at the way Jesse was treated and the way [FREDDY'S REVENGE] was treated.

I realized that maybe it's a right of passage that people are gonna say nasty things. It's all cool for me now because I took those lemons and turned them into lemonade.

But people now have been super kind to me. Whereas, it used to be kind of nasty on the internet where you'd see horrible things [about me] now you see Mark Patton is a horror icon and he works with the community. They call me the “scream queen.”

CC: I was curious about that. In the film, you and Jesse are largely referenced to as a “scream queen” or the “final girl” or “final boy.” Do you identify with those labels or do they feel like mischaracterizations?

MP: I can own that [label] and accept it and be happy with it. If I die and they say Mark Patton: “Nightmare on Elm Street Scream Queen”—I'd probably be OK with that.

I sort of created “scream queen.” In the industry, you see a lot of people don't wanna say “scream queen.” They say “scream king,” they're very into that gender thing. I'm not. You can't offend me by calling me a woman or a girl, that's not offensive to me. I'm the “final boy” in the movie, back then there was no such thing. And then they would say “final girl” and I just picked it up and owned it.

I don't think [FREDDY'S REVENGE] is about homosexuality. It's about gender. People were just not ready to see a boy be the victim. And also the way that Freddy Krueger was in love with me, basically. He treated me like his lover—and he didn't kill me, of course. I'm still alive running around somewhere.

CC: Do you think FREDDY'S REVENGE in some way opened the door for gay representation in horror or a growing community of gay horror fans?

MP: I think it was a doorway for a lot of filmmakers and a lot of people. They saw themselves in that film. Whether it was homophobic or whatever, they glomed onto seeing a boy like that. So, it became a cool thing.

I don't ever think Jesse hated himself—and I was Jesse so I get to say that. There was no self-hate there. Just coming to terms with whatever horror that was, like coming out.

CC: You’ve done a lot in your career as an actor and an activist, what do you hope your legacy to be?

MP: You know when you're at church, when they say peace be with you? I try to say that to people all the time in different ways. And I love it when they say it back to me. So I just hope that I'm remembered as a person who tried to bring some peace to the world and tried to make a bad situation into a good thing. And I succeeded.

I want to be remembered as a kind person more than anything else.