Movies
The Covenant: A Queer-Coded Paradox
When looking for queer representation in film, we’re usually looking for ones that are unabashedly queer in their storytelling, movies that are prideful of their queer identity. Today, we’re not discussing one of those films. Instead, I want to look at a film that was trying so hard not to be queer that it became even more queer. A film that’s been reclaimed by the community it didn’t want to be a part of. Am I losing you already? This may not make sense at the moment, but The Covenant is quite the conundrum with lots to talk about.
The Covenant: A Supernatural Teen Drama
For those unaware, The Covenant is a 2006 film directed by Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Deep Blue Sea) following a coven of 4 teenage boys with supernatural witch powers. When insidious events occur following the arrival of a mysterious new student, the Sons of Ipswich (not a boy band) must unravel the secrets of their New England town and their dangerous powers before the friend group is destroyed. Well, that’s the straight synopsis.
Reading with a queer lens, the film is about a hyper-masculine guy battling to keep his queerness (powers) in check, only to be tempted by the unabashedly queer who wants to bone and steal his powers. By objective film standards, it’s not a good movie suffering from a fan-fiction caliber screenplay and an over-reliance on CGI. But I’m not here to review the film critically, but rather to pose analytical questions about the intentions behind this film being created, and if my queer theories make the film worthy of discussion at all.
A Movie With Foggy Intentions
Just by reading the synopsis and looking at a few screengrabs, the inspirations behind The Covenant are quite obvious. The film presents itself as the love child of The Craft and The Lost Boys, which can already lead to assumptions about the film. Aside from the light horror elements and sleek aesthetic, The Craft and The Lost Boys share DNA in another major category: queer subtext. The biggest question behind The Covenant getting made is who saw those 2 films as inspiration and thought, “Let’s make that, but straight and cool”.
Targeting a Misaligned Audience
Rather than target the established audiences of those films (women and the queer community), The Covenant insists on being a badass witch movie that Chris and the boys will chest bump over, as evident by the aggressive metal music and womanizing. There’s an argument that the film, based on the cast of muscular men, was aimed toward the young girls demographic. Aside from the brief swim team practice scenes and a paper-thin love story, nothing about the film would seem appealing to female audiences. Instead, The Covenant squanders a golden opportunity to make a film for the community of queer boys who wished they were witches and will lust over the smooth, shiny cast of hunks. Rather than make the subtext of The Lost Boys actual text, the film takes away the text altogether. Well, it tries to anyway.
Can’t Hide What’s Inside
Despite admitting the film is not good and being annoyed by its inception, there’s something about The Covenant I can’t help but love. The magic of camp is that it comes in two different flavors: intentional camp that tends to be over-the-top and camp that is blissfully unaware of itself. The Covenant falls firmly in the latter category, as this film is 100% trying to be serious while failing spectacularly. The stakes are hollow, the dialogue is awful, and Sebastian Stan is a whole different movie. All of the calculated missteps culminate in a delicious campy stew of hilarity, but its campiness only scratches the surface of the queerness brewing underneath.
The Power as a Queer Allegory
The Covenant is a fascinating entry to the queer horror canon in its insistence on not being queer, despite the very obvious queer metaphors presented throughout the film. Referred to simply as The Power, the magical abilities of the sexy covenant boys can easily be read as a general queer identity. The film establishes The Power has been around for centuries, but sworn to secrecy. Hiding queer feelings would make sense for these old-money families to maintain their status. Then the film takes it a step further, linking the magic abilities to the characters’ health stating that using the powers takes years off their lives and becomes more addictive the more they use it.
So not only do we have the social implications of being queer, but now we have the standard AIDS allegory to demonize queers and addicts. And of course, the main villain is portrayed as the flamboyant queer with a crush on the protagonist, willing to kill for the Gay Agenda.
By the points listed above, the queer theory of this film would be anti-queer as the film ends with the villain being slain and the Sons of Ipswich presumably keeping their queer secrets until another threat comes along. This puts me in a moral dilemma. Do we condemn Harlin & writer J.S. Cardone for recognizing the queer tropes, but choosing to ignore them, resulting in a queer-baiting effect? Or do we give them the benefit of the doubt that they were blissfully unaware in their pursuit of making a badass witch movie? It’s hard to say when the film uses distinct language like “it’s seductive” and “lust for power” when describing the magical abilities while having an absurd amount of homoerotic tension between Caleb and Chase.
Embracing Chase’s Queer Chaos
However, this ambiguity allowed the film to take on an identity of its own apart from the creators’ intention. The Covenant is as confused as the queer audience looking to see themselves in a film. The only way the film takes on a positive queer reading is if you’re rooting for the villain, and I’m not going to lie to you: I’m totally on Team Chase. The man is a bisexual menace who creates tension with the Sons of Ipswich while trying to steal their girlfriends, which is queer chaos at its finest.
And perhaps the most poignant thing the film has to offer is the way Chase’s backstory is presented, discovering his powers without close friends around him for support. With all the silliness within The Covenant, the film gives surprising empathy to Chase with the line, “do you know what it felt like growing up not knowing what this is?”. From then on, I’m rooting for Chase to take everyone’s powers. Even though Chase isn’t the most positive queer representation, he’s the only character in the film that embraces who he truly is.
Boys Will Be Witchy Boys
Once again, The Covenant is not a good film. Ignoring the oddly serious tone, wooden acting, lackluster plot, and many other factors, I believe the main fault of this film is not embracing its identity as a campy queer send-up of the films it’s trying to defy. Yet, The Covenant, still feeling queer despite everything about it trying not to be, ends up being the most queer aspect of the film. In addition to the sexy speedos, homoerotic games of foosball, and all the boys having conversations way too close to each other’s faces. All this to say, there is a lot of fun in this silly witch movie if you’re willing to embrace its true identity. The queer community reclaiming The Covenant out of spite would be the most badass aspect of a film that is trying oh so hard to be straight.
Halloween season is over, and many streamers have forgotten about us horror kids. While they take their 11-month hiatus from the genre, we can be grateful that we still have an app that cares. We are so lucky that Shudder remains that girl year-round. Whether you’re finishing their new original show Guts & Glory, catching up on The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, or running at some of their deep cuts like I am, Shudder has your best interests at heart. As usual, she has quite a few titles fighting for our attention. Which is why I am here with five titles I think should be at the top of all of our watch lists this November. So, cancel your holiday plans and pick up your remote because we have got horrifying things to watch.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
Habit (1995)
An alcoholic unwittingly enters into a relationship with a succubus in New York City. If you ever wondered what Larry Fessenden was getting up to in his youth, you need to see this ’90s gem. I lucked out and caught it at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival last year, and I lived my best life. While watching it on the small screen will not be the same, I plan to hit play anyway. Mostly because I love to see 1990s succubi leaving their mark on men…and also the horror genre. Shudder is also adding The Last Winter and Depraved, so we can spend a whole day with Uncle Larry’s work.
Sew Torn (2024)
A seamstress happens upon a failed drug deal and steals a briefcase. She soon finds herself caught in a deadly situation where all roads lead to death. I caught Sew Torn at SXSW last year and have been wondering what happened to it. So, I am very happy this odd little bird has found her way to Shudder. I cannot wait to make my friends who are looking for something cute and deadly watch. I knew nothing when I hit play on this, and I encourage you to know as little as possible, too. I fear I have already written too much in this blurb to be completely honest.
You can watch Sew Torn on November 1st.
The Retreat (2021)
A couple goes on a pre-wedding retreat and unwittingly becomes targets of a group of serial killers. We have seen too many movies about retreats, and I thought this one would be more of the same. This title does not completely reinvent the wheel, but it does set itself apart within this oversaturated subgenre. The Retreat is a surprisingly fun and tense little thriller that feels made for the winter watches. Come for the lesbian characters leading the film, and stay for the violence. I also encourage you to check it out while it is on Shudder, because it is usually on apps with ads.
You can watch The Retreat on November 1st.
The Creep Tapes (Season 2)
Peachfuzz returns with more tapes, chaos, kills, and WTF moments. Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice have reentered the TV arena and are making things weird again. If award shows were real, this duo would be leading the Emmys charge. I saw the first three episodes, and Josef/Peachfuzz is still the serial killer after our own hearts. Our Wolfie is still cutting up (literally and figuratively) in the most amazing ways. Guest stars in danger this season include David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil), Katie Aselton (The League), and Robert Longstreet (The Haunting of Hill House).
You can watch The Creep Tapes (Season 2) on November 14th.
Krampus (2015)
A kid accidentally summons demons during the holidays in this horror comedy. Krampus remains one of the top-tier Christmas horror titles for me. It is also my favorite Michael Dougherty film. Not only because it has the star power of Adam Scott and Toni Collette, either. This movie is wicked, and even the kids are in danger. I do not have many holiday horror movies I revisit every year, but Krampus is one of the very few. It still holds up, and I cannot wait to rewatch it with a festively boozy beverage.
You can watch Krampus on November 15th.
Those are a few reasons I am grateful for Shudder this holiday season. While the rest of you are fighting with your family and friends, I will be parked in front of my TV. You can have your turkey because I would rather gorge myself on episodes of The Creep Tapes anyway.
Let me know what Shudder shenanigans you have got your little eye on. I am nosy and want to make sure I am not missing anything on my favorite streamer.
The year is winding down, and I don’t know about you, but I am trying to pack in as many 2025 horror movies as I can. Is this because I love making end-of-the-year lists? Yes. Is it because I am an unhealed overachiever? Also, yes. So, I am assuming some of you are also cruising the streamers to see what you may have missed. While Netflix has had my favorite new slasher Heart Eyes for a bit, and I have mentioned that in previous streaming guides, they also have other new horror titles to show you.
I do not talk about them as much because I did not have a good time with them. However, that does not mean you won’t enjoy some of these titles. That’s why I am taking the high road and finding something to be grateful for about each of them. That way, you will know there is a silver lining if you do watch them. Allow me to help you figure out what to prioritize this month and what to skip. Check out this chaotic Netflix hitlist below!
The Best Movies to Stream on Netflix This Month
28 Years Later (2025)
A group of survivors on a small island has built a fortress to protect them from the rage virus. However, a young boy discovers what is really outside the walls of their community and sets off to find a cure for his sick mother. We all loved 28 Days Later, and some of us liked 28 Weeks Later. So, 28 Years Later was never going to live up to the hype with almost thirty years of anticipation. While I didn’t love it, I did enjoy seeing Danny Boyle helm another zombie installment. What he does in the subgenre is top-tier, and we are welcome (even if the script left me wanting more). That might have gotten buried in all the talk about the dicks seen in the movie, though.
Fear Street: Prom Queen (2025)
A group of girls competing for prom queen starts disappearing, leaving the underdog to figure out what is happening to her competition. I had a lot of thoughts about this lackluster installment in Netflix’s Fear Street adaptations. As someone who grew up reading Fear Street books and wanting to adapt them myself, I do not understand how this movie came out so badly. Which made it hard to find something nice to say about this title. However, the soundtrack slaps, and it is not the soundtrack’s fault that it was wasted on a low-energy bottom-tier slasher. So, if you hit play on this, you can at least look forward to hearing some retro bangers selected by music supervisor Nora Felder. If you are familiar with her work on Yellowjackets and Stranger Things, you know Felder does not miss.
Maa (2025)
To battle a demon’s curse, a mother transforms into the legendary goddess Kali. As usual, Netflix did not advertise an international horror movie that seemed to have some potential. If they had told us Maa was an Indian Hindi-language mythological horror movie, most people who yell for intersectionality and originality would have run at it. Instead, we had to find out about it months later while looking for something we hadn’t already seen on the app. This movie is too long, and I cannot say it is good by any stretch of the imagination. However, it also made me realize how little I know about the goddess of destruction. If you are a nerd like me, this might lead you down a cool rabbit hole. You can also say you gave a view to a horror movie starring Brown people. Who knows, maybe you could be one of the few who enjoy this chaotic film.
Until Dawn (2025)
A group of friends find themselves trapped in a time loop where they keep getting killed in gruesome ways. I love the video game and was so bummed this adaptation was so bad. However, the practical effects are very cool and should be celebrated more. I think the stuff that the SFX team pulled off might be the only reason to watch the movie personally. I’m happy the actors whose work I enjoy got paid, and that’s another positive thing I can say. However, if we want to see young people in deadly time loops, we have so many movies that do it better. Excuse me as I look right at Happy Death Day and all of the movies that have tried to copy her.
Ziam (2025)
A Muay Thai fighter battles through a zombie apocalypse to save the woman he loves. Netflix fumbled the advertising for this one too, because who doesn’t want to see a Thai zombie film? So, I was excited to watch it, but then sad I did not like it. However, I think this one is on me. It is an action-horror with a lot of heartfelt moments, and that’s not my bag. I wanted more violence and zombie action because I am a broken and heartless ghoul. So, Ziam might be the only movie on this list that does not deserve my bombastic side eye. I am waiting for other people to watch it and let me know if they have a better time with it, though.
While I was not the audience for these movies, I am assuming some of you will dig them. Worst-case scenario, you cross off a few more 2025 horror movies and have something to talk about at Friendsgiving. Happy Horrordays! I will see myself out now…
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