Kevin Bacon to star in ’empowering’ LGBT+ conversion therapy horror film
Kevin Bacon is joining the cast of an untitled LGBT+ conversion camp horror film by renowned scary film producer Blumhouse.
Bacon has been known occasionally to dip his toes into the horror genre with such films as Friday the 13th, Tremors, Flatliners and The Hollow Man.
According to Deadline, he’s signed up to star in and executive produce three-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan’s untitled horror project.
The film is described as an “LGBTQIA+ empowerment tale” set in a conversion therapy camp, where abusive pseudo-scientific tactics are used to try and change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBT+ people.
Theo Germaine, best known for their role in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series The Politician, will also star in the film alongside Bacon, according to Deadline.
Germaine said on Twitter that they “dreamed of getting to work in this genre since I was a kid”.
“This is for 12-year-old me, who was obsessed with horror films, and was the only kid in my school who read @FANGORIA,” Germaine wrote. “This is also for my late uncle, who collected Friday the 13th merch and also loved horror.”
I’ve dreamed of getting to work in this genre since I was a kid. This is for 12-year-old me, who was obsessed with horror films, and was the only kid in my school who read @FANGORIA. This is also for my late uncle, who collected Friday the 13th merch and also loved horror. https://t.co/smAvBbxS3F
— Theo Germaine 🖖🏻🏳️⚧️👽🤖 (@TheoGermaine) September 20, 2021
In a later tweet, Germaine added that “adult me” is still “pretty obsessed with the horror genre” in case any fans were wondering.
Bacon wrote on Twitter that he is “thrilled to be joining this incredible project” alongside Germaine.
However, any further plot details – including the characters Bacon and Germaine are playing or what their roles will be in the conversion camp – are being kept under wraps.
The movie will mark Logan’s directorial debut. As a screenwriter, he’s been responsible for hits including Skyfall and Gladiator.
Logan previously told Slate that his love for monsters partly came from his identity as a gay man. As he grew older, he said he realised what attracted him to monster was the “very deep kinship I felt that has to do with growing up as a gay man”.
Logan recalled how he would travel to New York City and realised it was “where I belonged” because he was “different” from his friends and family.
“It was a frightening thing, but my process of coming out was a process of accepting that the thing that made me alien and different and monstrous to some people is also the thing that empowered me and gave me a sense of confidence and uniqueness and a drive toward individuality that I think is important for any writer,” Logan said.
Conversion therapy has been a popular topic for queer films including the cult-classic But I’m a Cheerleader, Boy Erased and The Miseducation of Cameron Post.