Skeletons in the Closet

Ian McKellen in Apt Pupil (1998) and The Keep (1983)

Back before Ian McKellen was Gandalf and Magneto and all other such impressive pop-culture personages, he dabbled in some decidedly dark material.

In gay director Bryan Singer's Apt Pupil (the follow-up to his debut smash, The Usual Suspects [1995]), McKellen played a Nazi war criminal hiding out in suburban America whose dormant appetites are awakened by a sociopathic teenaged boy (Brad Renfro). In one scene McKellen takes in a homeless vagrant (Elias Koteas), who during dinner offers him sex in return for money. McKellen refuses and kills him instead. Manners, Sir Ian!

In Michael Mann's eerie The Keep (which also had Nazi elements, oddly), McKellen played Jewish intellectual Dr. Cuza, a crippled man who is drawn to the supernaturally-charged structure of the title and is tempted by its evil forces. The film is visually arresting and atmospheric, but doesn't entirely make sense — and it's not exactly McKellen's best work (starting with his fake American accent, unfortunately). Still, as far as horror for grown-ups goes, it's worth a look.

Alexis Arquette in Bride of Chucky (1998) and Jack Be Nimble (1993)

Alexis Arquette turned in a fine performance as a tormented psychic orphan in the wonderfully creepy 1993 New Zealand fairy-tale Jack Be Nimble. It's one of the few films where Alexis "played it straight," so to say, and his tightly wound performance is a testament to his versatility as an actor. The film itself is a rarely seen gem for fans of classic supernatural horror storytelling — very "dark and stormy night" stuff, with moments of genuine bravado.

Later, Arquette would play the Marilyn Manson-esque goth boyfriend of Jennifer Tilly in campfest Bride of Chucky, which also starred newly-minted gay fave Katherine Heigl.

Richard Chamberlain in Murder By Phone (1982)

That's right, even newly-out Dr. Kildare himself got in on the horror trend back in the 80's with this bizarre thriller, which boasts some of the most hilarious death scenes in movie history. A killer is using tones over the telephone to kill people (seriously), which usually send the victim flying across the room in a sort of mini-lightning storm. Chamberlain is dashing-yet-bland as the hero (and has a rather impressive towel scene), but the highlights are really the riotously overdone kill scenes, including one where John Houseman is sent flying backward through a set of French doors.