Category: Horror

Ten men deliver ten different ‘Confessions’ in this intimate, genre-hopping anthology film

What secrets are to be found beneath the surface of the average gay man? Taking a peak behind numerous curtains, writer-director Mark Bessenger’s Confessions, aims to answer that very question.

An anthology film, featuring ten different disclosures from ten different men, Confessions goes deep inside the recesses of the gay male psyche.

We meet a young man who has to find the bravery to tell his parents that he’s a puppet, despite the fact they think that puppets are disgusting and abnormal. We meet another man who slowly undresses while revealing that he may have kidnapped someone and is holding him hostage in his basement.

In another segment, a hot young guy talks about what he’s really looking for as he lies in the arms of another man. And in perhaps the most interesting of all the vignettes, a man slowly shaves off his beard, changing his appearance and finding a new persona that allows him to explore the fact that, despite being with a woman, he has strong desires for men.

Spanning themes that are dark, sexy, intense, funny, romantic and shocking, Confessions turns a spotlight on characters you don’t often get to see – but will not want to turn away from.

Watch the trailer for Confessions below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

An ancient creature spurs a young man’s sexual awakening in the stylish thriller ‘Carnal Sins’

After experiencing relentless bullying at school, Nino (Nicolás Díaz) and his family decide to spend the summer in a remote country house in Argentina.

This temporary home is situated in a conservative Catholic town and surrounded by a mysterious forest, supposedly haunted by ‘the Almamula,’ a monster that takes those who commit carnal sins and impure acts.

Unable to escape blatant homophobia and the suffocating grip of Catholic traditions, Nino wanders around the area and begins to see visions of the titular mythic monster.

With temptation and curiosity around every corner, he wonders how long it will take before this creature pushes his desires to their breaking point.

In Carnal Sins, promising first-time feature director Juan Sebastián Torales captures the turmoil of adolescence with a dark sense of humor and unflinching honesty, creating a truly beguiling narrative that takes hold of your imagination and never lets go.

Watch the trailer for Carnal Sins below. The film is now streaming exclusively on Dekkoo.

Short Film Spotlight: Slashr

Every Grindr user’s worst fears are brought thrillingly to life in writer-director Amir Moini’s Slashr.

Nathan Mohebbi stars in this 12-minute horror short as Ashkan, an attractive young man taking a solo trip to the mountains of Big Bear. Looking to clear his head in the aftermath of a breakup, he rents an isolated cabin with lots of opportunity for snowy sightseeing.

Encouraged by his best friend Ricky to engage in some frisky rebound sex, he also downloads a Grindr-inspired gay hookup app called Torso.

Though he’s not emotionally ready to throw caution to the wind and hop into bed with a stranger, he cruises the app and starts a conversation with a faceless admirer… whose persistence becomes alarming and whose physical distance, as listed on the app, keeps getting closer… and closer… and closer.

Heavy on suspense and spooky atmosphere, Slashr marks Moini as a director to watch. You could easily imagine him using this film as the opening of a feature-length horror flick – something in the vein of Scream, but with a decidedly queer point of view.

Watch a short trailer for Slashr below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

A weekend of mischief becomes a battle for survival in the stylish British thriller ‘B&B’

A gay couple pays a price for exercising their rights in this award-winning thriller from writer-director Joe Ahearne.

Sean Teale and Tom Bateman star in B&B as partners Fred and Marc. A year before the main events of the film, they were denied a room at St. Jude bed and breakfast by its fundamentalist Christian owner Josh (Paul McGann). They took the matter to court, won a discrimination suit and have now returned.

Though Fred would happily take the victory and move on, Marc is excited to rub some salt in Josh’s wound – insisting on sleeping as a married couple in the home of a man who has made his resentment known.

Events take a deadly turn when another guest, with far more sinister intentions, arrives. Marc and Fred’s weekend of fun turns into a suspenseful battle for survival.

With plenty of twists and turns, this clever Hitchcock homage will keep you guessing to the bitter end.

Watch the trailer for B&B below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

The clever short film ‘Beast’ tells an unusual, genre-twisting story of forbidden gay love

A 24-minute short film from Swedish writer-director Valentina Chamorro Westergårdh, Beast begins as a romantic drama and turns into something else entirely.

The film follows Vincent (Andreas La Chenardière), a reclusive young man who lives in a remote lakeside town that only attracts visitors during the warmer months. When he attends a bonfire and meets the strikingly handsome Gustav (Robert Noack), an instant attraction is sparked.

Gustav visits Vincent again later on, hoping to bring his seemingly shy newfound acquaintance out of his shell and act on their clear desire for one another.

Attracted to Gustav, Vincent soon gives in to temptation, and the two men begin a passionate affair. But Vincent has a good reason for keeping most people at a distance – and his secret may just destroy Gustav and their burgeoning romance if the pair aren’t careful.

Clever and beautifully constructed, Beast straddles two specific genres to tell an unusual tale of forbidden gay love.

Watch the trailer for Beast below. The film is now available on Dekkoo.

Zachary Quinto stars in director Sam Max’s chilling short thriller ‘Chaperone’

Starring Zachary Quinto and Russell Kahn, the provocative 16-minute short film Chaperone is a genre-bending queer thriller that will keep you guessing to the bitter end – and linger with you long after the credits roll.

Without giving too much away, the film follows an unnamed figure (Quinto) who picks up a young man (Kahn) in his car. As the two drive away together and settle into an austere rental house in the country, the details of their arrangement become disturbingly clear.

The first filmmaking project of promising writer-director Sam Max, Chaperone had its world premiere in-competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, playing in the Midnight Shorts category to great acclaim from critics and audiences alike. The film was also shortlisted for the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Haunting, formally assured and chillingly acted by Kahn and Quinto, this film marks Sam Max as a director to watch.

Watch the trailer for Chaperone below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Acclaimed director Rodrigo Bellott returns with the phantasmagorical horror film ‘Blood-Red Ox’

Two lovers find themselves descending into a mysterious form of madness in the eerie new psychological thriller Blood-Red Ox.

Boyfriends Amir and Amat (played by Mazin Akar and Kaolin Bass) are invited on a trip into the South American rain forest, but their initially pleasant visit to Bolivia quickly takes a bizarre turn.

Amat starts having strange visions and loses his mind over the ghostly presence of a giant red ox. Amir finds that he must save his boyfriend from this dangerous paranoia, but he quickly realizes that he can’t trust anything or anyone around them – as he might be losing his mind too.

From Rodrigo Bellott, the writer-director behind the critically-acclaimed 2020 drama Tu Me Manques, Blood-Red Ox is a visionary, phantasmagorical gay horror film that aims to make your head spin.

Watch the trailer for Blood-Red Ox below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.

The gay thriller ‘The Latent Image’ arrives on Dekkoo just in time for Halloween

The new gay thriller The Latent Image follows novelist Ben (Joshua Tonks) as he retreats to an isolated cabin to start work on his latest novel and to escape the growing tension with his boyfriend Jamie (William Tippery).

Late into the night, Ben wakes to find someone else in his cabin, a wounded man (Jay Clift) claiming to be a hunter whose car had broken down nearby.

Intrigued by this handsome and mysterious intruder, Ben decides uses him as inspiration for his new book… about a savage murder believed to have taken place in the very cabin he has rented.

As the man begins to help him enact increasingly dangerous and detailed scenarios for the story’s captive protagonist, Ben becomes aroused by all the creative ways this scenario might play out. What quickly develops, however, is a lethal game of cat and mouse where his dark, erotic fantasy becomes a stark, inescapable reality.

A tense, sexually-charged gay thriller from writer-director Alexander McGregor Birrell, The Latent Image tells a chilling story wherein the lines between reality and fiction become increasingly blurred.

Watch the trailer for The Latent Image below. The film is now available on Dekkoo – just in time for Halloween!