At Outfest: a scare and a ‘50s romp

Paul Etheredge-Ouzts’ high-octane “HellBent,” which screens tonight as part of Outfest, takes the slasher movie and gives it a clever and sexy gay twist.

It’s Halloween eve in West Hollywood, where a stalker, a scythe-wielding muscleman (Luke Weaver), zeroes in on four young roommates (Dylan Fergus, Hank Harris, Andrew Levitas and Matt Phillips) as they enjoy the revels. On one level it’s a dynamic, hard-charging horror picture; on another, it posits the homophobia of the satanic slasher, who may be the devil incarnate, as the ultimate evil.

On Sunday, writer-director Richard Day, whose first feature was the hilarious drag comedy “Girls Will Be Girls,” returns with “Straight-Jacket” (at the Ford after the Outfest awards presentation). The campy satire looks at ‘50s Hollywood, when the motion picture industry was besieged by blacklisting, and gay stars had to lead double lives.

Matt Letscher stars as superstar Guy Stone, whose ego is greater than his talent and leads to indiscretions that require him to marry a naive studio secretary (Carrie Preston) to shore up his straight image. When his next movie, in which he plays a coal miner who organizes a labor union, requires rewrites from the novelist (Adam Greer) to make it seem less leftist and more patriotic, Guy is taken with him. What Guy did not anticipate is falling in love with someone other than himself for the first time in his life. Day makes the most of Guy’s dilemma, and delirious comedy gives way to unexpected seriousness.

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Outfest

Selected screenings

* “HellBent,” 8:30 tonight

* “Straight-Jacket,” 7:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood

Contact: (213) 480-7065