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Enemies of Dorothy are Making the Queer Horror Parodies We Didn’t Know We Needed!

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This morning as I sat contemplating my day, a Facebook video from a page called Enemies of Dorothy popped up with a title that commanded my attention: Social Justice Strangers.

I haven’t been so happy to have watched a Facebook video in a long time and I was immediately on the hunt to track down the men behind the satire.

Their names are Christopher Smith Bryant and Ryan Leslie Fisher, a real life couple with a flare, if I do say so myself, for poking just the right amount of fun at the world around them. Not surprisingly, they had a story to tell and a real reason behind their video projects.

“After Trump [was elected] and all the political changes we were seeing,” Christopher says. “both of us felt like we had a lot to say, and we both deal with our emotions through humor and comedy which is why we started Enemies of Dorothy.”

For those who don’t know, Enemies of Dorothy is a play on “Friends of Dorothy” a mid-twentieth century code phrase for being gay that simultaneously paying tribute to gay icon, Judy Garland and her iconic role in The Wizard of Oz. It was a time when being gay was still punishable with jail time and worse, and “Are you a friend of Dorothy?” was just one of the many ways gay men could identify themselves without drawing unwanted attention.

One of the most hilarious and bumbling stories from our nation’s military history involved this very phrase. The leaders of the U.S. Navy were trying to crack down on the “gay problem” they were having, and upon hearing the phrase “friend of Dorothy” repeatedly, they assumed that a woman named Dorothy was at the center of a “massive homosexual conspiracy” in the Navy.

They spent months trying to track her down! But, I digress.

Christopher, a stand-up comedian in the Los Angeles area who has been listed on Pride.com as one of the top 10 LGBT comedians you need to know, and Ryan, an actor with credits on “The Mentalist” as well as his original series “Openly Jake,” dropped their first horror parody some time ago with a video in which Pennywise the Clown and the Babadook announced their engagement.

The video, directed by Michael Varrati, came in the wake of the Babadook grabbing queer iconic status after a mix-up over at Netflix. It was a viral hit and the couple never looked back.

Since then, there have been a host of new videos including Gay Hell and Gay Beast Friends, each with its own satirically funny flare with a dose of social commentary thrown in for good measure.

But where and how did Social Justice Strangers come to be?

“Our friend Zack Ogle came over for one of our monthly “Werewolf” (the board game) nights, and immediately spat out this idea,” Ryan says. “It just clicked. We sat down and wrote it together. Then we got Michael Varrati on board to direct and it was a recipe for success!”

In their version, the three terrifying killers from the popular film The Strangers show up to murder the two men only to be flummoxed when its discovered that the men are gay, and hilarious worry sets in that they might be committing a hate crime.

One thing is certain: we have not heard the last of these two.

The Enemies of Dorothy, or as I like to call them “The Ambitiously Gay Duo”, have a lot more tricks up their sleeves, and I for one can’t wait to see them come to fruition.

Check out Social Justice Strangers below, and if you like what you see subscribe to their Facebook Page and their YouTube channel!

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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