In the early Aughts, two filmmakers from the South made the groundbreaking, campy queer films, FRATERNITY MASSACRE AT HELL ISLAND and HELLBENT. These films subverted how gay men and their relationships were portrayed at the time, exploring their identities, friendships, coming out and finding love. From a pledge night event on a cursed island in Memphis to a wild Halloween night out in West Hollywood, these friends and lovers fight to survive until morning as they battle homophobia and crazed, masked murderers.

Fraternity Massacre was filmed 20 years ago by Memphis-based filmmaker Mark Jones. He previously wrote the screwball comedy ELI PARKER IS GETTING MARRIED? (2000) and later directed TENNESSEE QUEER (2014), plus a series of short films from 2016-2025. Two of the shorts will screen before the main attraction which hasn’t been screened in New York since 2007.

HELLBENT celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Originally from Fort Worth, Paul Etheredge filmed this over a two-year period in West Hollywood and marked his directorial debut. It was one of the first queer slasher films, and influenced a wave of stylistic, queer horror films in the 2000s. Etheredge went on to release THE OTHER in 2025.

FRATERNITY MASSACRE AT HELL ISLAND
Dir. Mark Jones, 2007.
United States. 80 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, JULY 3 – 10:00 PM
THURSDAY, JULY 9 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, JULY 14 – 10:00 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 31 – MIDNIGHT

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Coming out is hard enough, especially when there is a maniacal killer clown on the loose! New pledge Jack Jones and his secret boyfriend struggle with coming out to their fraternity brothers. Before dawn, he realizes he is not alone and seeks acceptance in the harsh environment of a southern fraternity in the early 2000s. Meanwhile, students start being brutally murdered and everyone seems to have a motive. As the pledges are locked on a cursed island overnight, can Jack survive the homophobia and deranged killer running rampant on Hell Island?

Preceded by a screening of:

HENRY
Dir. Mark Jones, 2018.
United States. 7 min.
In English.

A grieving man in the deep south is told by a sibling that he cannot bring a loved one to his father’s funeral.

THE COACH, THE PRINCIPAL AND THE COMPROMISE
Dir. Mark Jones, 2018.
United States. 6 min.
In English.

In order to stem increased homophobic violence at a high school, a Principal presents an unusual solution to the heads of the theater and football departments.

HELLBENT
Dir. Paul Etheredge, 2004.
United States. 85 min.
In English.

SUNDAY, JUNE 28 –  5:30 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 3 –  MIDNIGHT
MONDAY, JULY 13 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 31 – 10 PM

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It’s Halloween night in West Hollywood and everyone is dressed to kill hoping to take home costume prizes and more. A group of twenty-something friends plan a big night out as they pursue their crushes, until a brooding maniac clad in leather stalks the gay bars and hook-up spots on Santa Monica Boulevard. Who will go home alone…or even worse, who will never make it home again?

FROM THE DEAD OF NIGHT
Dir. Paul Wendkos, 1989.
United States, 172 min.
In English.

SATURDAY, MAY 9 – 10:00PM
SUNDAY, MAY 24 – 7:30PM

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Joanna (Lindsay Wagner) is a fashion designer whose life is turned upside down when she has a near-death experience and enters a dark tunnel on the other side. As she attempts to move on with her career and relationship, deadly freak accidents start occurring around her. She believes that the shadowy entities who watched her during her brief “death” are not willing to let her go on living and want her back in their world. With the help of her boss (Diahann Carroll), a skeptical boyfriend, a past lover, and a clairvoyant, she tries to unravel these mysterious deaths before death comes for her. She is in a race against time to escape the angry spirits who will take on any form in order to bring her back to her final destination.

This originally aired as a TV movie in 1989 and is based on the book WALKERS by Gary Brandner, author of THE HOWLING.