Attack of the Killer B Movies! 5 Must See Camp Cult Classics!

There’s something so deliciously campy about bad horror movies. They have been a source of laughs, chills, and entertainment forever. However, there are a select few that seem to last the test of time.

Let’s have a look at a few must-see B movies that every gay should know and love:

Barbarella (1968)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3-E3xuQtqI

Before she was winning Oscars, doing workout videos, and being a badass political activist, Jane Fonda played the title character in this bazaar science fiction epic. She plays a brave adventurer who goes on a space wide search for the ultimate orgasm. Ok, which of us hasn’t had this exact same fantasy?!

Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxBvn_-WIo4

After making another horror cult classic, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, arch rivals Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were going to re-team for this thriller about an aging southern woman who is gaslit to think she murdered her young lover many years earlier. The relationship between Davis and Crawford got so bad that Crawford actually left the project and was replaced with another Hollywood Diva, Olivia De Havilland.

Showgirls (1995)

It swept the Razzie Awards and is a favorite of many a gay. The story of Vegas strippers fucking their way to the top is about as bad as it gets, but it’s also full of some impressive dancing, flashy costumes, and hot sex scenes. We even got a spoof of one with a scene fr0m Michael Lucas starring Dakota Payne and Andry Vic.

Valley of the Dolls (1967)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9FrOSARKeo

It’s a musical, it’s a fashion show, it’s a Hollywood expose. It’s pretty much everything any gay could want in a movie. Based on Jacquline Susann’s best-selling novel about three young actresses who must deal with fame, men, and drugs, the film is stock full of bad dialogue, exaggerated performances, and fabulous fashion. It inspired an even more ridiculous sequel, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Mommie Dearest (1981)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtwRKtvezd8

It’s called “The Citizen Fucking Kane of Camp” and for good reason. Faye Dunaway gives one of the most over-the-top performances in movie history as screen legend and gay icon, Joan Crawford. Seeing Faye swinging an ax while wearing an evening gown is both terrifying and glamorous. What more could you want?

Movies like these are so bad they’re good. Better yet, they’re so good they’re GAY! They have entered the world of parody and are referenced in all kinds of theatre, drag, and burlesque.

A perfect example is the new play Attack of the Killer B’s. This fast-paced comedy by LGBTQ+ filmmaker Sean Abley spoofs just about every horror and bad movie cliche you can imagine: zombies, pod people, reefer fiends, women in prison, a dream-state burnt maniac, a hockey mask-wearing Shape at a summer camp and his mother, a psychotic motel manager and his mother, and a fifty-foot woman. 

A new production is currently running at the Broom Street Theatre in Madison, WI through April 16th! If you can't make it to Madison, you can stream the production live online during special broadcast on Saturday night, April 9.