Deadly, queer half-pints
Young homos you don't want to cross
By Michael Bronski

Dead Yalies

A close runner-up [to the 2007 horror film Joshua] is T.S. Slaughter's Skull and Bones -- a cut-rate, creepy gay slasher film that the cover copy notes is "a tale of homo-cidal mania." A pair of gay college-student lovers decide to sexually assault, torture, and then kill the Yale men who've dissed them at a bar. The film glories in political incorrectness and savors every gory moment; its protagonists are serial killers who rape and murder cute guys. The film's decidedly bloody plot is offset with humor -- Skull and Bones has none of the annoying and portentous seriousness of Hostel or the other recent torture porn films -- and it's always, um, enjoyable to watch. Filmed on the cheap, Skull and Bones's production values are a cut above poverty level. One is reminded of Edgar Ulmer's classic Hollywood noirs, such as Detour, that rise far above their budgets.