In the 40 years since its release, 1985s A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddys Revenge has cemented its legacy as one of the most overtly queer entries in the horror canon, an accidental gay classic whose subtext has become the subject of countless blogs, essays, and queer-studies college papers.For four decades, the popular belief was that director Jack Sholder was oblivious to the themes of repressed homosexuality and sexual panic swirling around A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 protagonist Jesse Walsh, played by actor Mark Patton.Now, in an exclusive Q&A with Out, Sholder sets the record straight, explaining that while he was acutely aware of the underlying sexual anxiety in the script, he never considered it specifically gay, nor did he ever realize the star of his film, Patton, was gay.Sholder, who spent formative years living in New Yorks West Village from before the Stonewall uprising until the height of the AIDS crisis was no stranger to the landscape of gay life. Just to put it into context, I read the script, Shoulder firmly replied when asked if he was aware of the scripts queer subtext. I was living in the West Village. I moved to the West Village right before Stonewall happened. And I moved out in the height of the AIDS period. So I lived through that whole arc. But there was a period when gay life was out on the street. So I kind of knew what it looked like on the surface. And so there were those elements that were in the script." Still from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 Freddy's Revenge'New Line CinemaWhen he received the script, his interpretation was centered on a broader emotional struggle common to many young people. I got the script six weeks before we started shooting and I had to get it done. I always think about the subtext. You know, what's the film really about? Sholder reflected. And I thought it was about teen sexual anxiety.Sholder understood the social dynamics of the 80s era, which informed his approach to the narrative's tension. And if you were a teen and you thought you might be gay in 1985, it wasn't a good thing, he said, explaining his mindset at the time. It meant you were going to have at that point a tough life: You could get arrested, you could get beat up, or you have to hide who you really are and all the rest of that stuff.For Sholder, the elements of what is now celebrated as queer coding were simply part of the stew of the story. But the distinction is crucial: He was seeing a generalized fear of difference, not the specific gay allegory that was intentionally written in by screenwriter David Chaskin. The idea that his protagonists anxiety was rooted in repressed homosexuality, or that the actor playing him was himself gay, was completely outside the conversation.The idea that Mark was gay never occurred to anybody. You know, it wasn't even a conversation, Sholder admitted. He recounted the common sentiment among the female production staff at New Line Cinema: The girls at New Line all said, Oh, he's so cute. He's like another Johnny Depp, you know?The public and critical re-evaluation of the film didn't happen overnight. Sholder recalls that when the film initially opened to great box-office success, none of the major critics mentioned the subtext. It wasnt until a weekly publications review that the conversation really began. Then on Wednesday when the Village Voice came out, you know, then it said, Oh, this is the gayest horror film of all time or something like that. And we thought, oh, come on. Because, you know, nobody ever thought that.The director said it took a cast reunion 10 years ago (the films 30th anniversary, to be precise) to fully grasp the films newfound life and how highly regarded it was within the gay community. There was a reunion. Mark Patton was there, and Robert Englund, Robert Ressler and Marshall Bell. And that's when I kind of found out about the reinterpretation, shared Sholder. Mark started to talk to me about it. And I started to say, 'Oh, well, OK, it's kind of interesting.' It took me a few years and Mark and I would sometimes have debates about it. Still from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 Freddy's Revenge'New Line CinemaUltimately, Shoulder embraced the audience's appreciation of the film and recognized how young queer fans looked up to Patton. He had an audience who would come, who were younger gay kids that really just embraced him, Sholder recalled. I mean, even physically, the film meant so much to them. To have that sort of representation.Sholder has also realized that his and Pattons connection transcends their specific identities. He recalled reading a Fangoria article about Patton where the actor referenced a key scene in the films opening, where his character is ostracized on a school bus. Theres this key scene in Elm Street 2, which is in the beginning and he's this queer kid who doesn't belong and he's sitting in the back of the bus. The girls are laughing at him and all that," recalls Sholder. After I read the article, I said [to Mark], You know, for me, I was the kid in the back of the bus. And we kind of realized that we had this sort of if you're gay or you're not gay or whatever this common humanity of somebody who doesn't quite fit in.While A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 continued to be an academic talking point, and is now famously being taught in queer studies classes something Sholder finds hes delighted by its impact on Pattons life was immediate and devastating. Still from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 Freddy's Revenge'New Line CinemaDuring the making of Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street, a documentary about Pattons career struggles after A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Shoulder, who is a key presence in the film, got a really eye-opening look at the seismic negative impact the film had on its stars life. Sholder contrasted his own experience with Pattons. I realized that my life had changed, and then I just went on from there. For Mark, the clock stopped.Patton, who had dreamed of movie stardom, quit the business shortly after the films release and eventually retreated to Mexico. Sholder also talked about the reasons he knows led to Pattons departure from the spotlight, including a cruel moment of industry rejection: Mark had always wanted to be a movie star. And his agent said, 'You're never going to be a movie star because everybody can tell that you're gay. And he quit the business.Worse still, as chronicled in Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street, Patton was privately navigating a personal crisis. You know, his lover was dying of AIDS, which nobody knew, recalled Sholder. Still from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 Freddy's Revenge'New Line CinemaPatton eventually returned to the spotlight, fighting tirelessly for the films acknowledgment, but, He got a lot of shit and a lot of bad stuff, Sholder noted. Mark really stuck his neck out because he got a lot of negative response when he came back on the scene Eventually, people started to come around.Now, on the eve of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2s official 40th anniversary which is November 1 Sholder is a witness to the films second life and is grateful for its new audience, who can now see the film in pristine 4K a new ultra-high-definition transfer he personally supervised. The director who once thought he was making a film about generalized teen anxiety now sees its true power: Its not only a revolutionary piece of gay cinema, its also a solid entry in the Freddy Krueger saga that stands perfectly fine on its own two legs and all fans of the franchise, gay or straight, are finally embracing it. Eventually, people started to come around. People started to see that it was its own film, said Sholder. The film is being taught in queer studies classes, and it has this whole new audience, and I'm delighted.