William Friedkin’s ‘Cruising’ on Blu-ray: ‘A problematic but fascinating entry in the queer film canon’

Words by Simon Button

Released in 1980, Cruising remains a problematic but fascinating entry in the queer film canon.

Problematic because many people in the gay community deemed its depiction of the New York leather scene to be negative and judgy, with the fact the story centred on a serial killer targeting gay men causing even more concern.

And fascinating because, viewed nearly four decades later, it offers a remarkably frank time-capsule view of a scene that has long since gone – its world of leather chaps, jockstraps, poppers, even fisting, as matter-of-fact-now as it must have been shocking back then.

Arrow Video’s Blu-ray re-release of the film acknowledges the controversy with a new essay that salutes the film’s “crazy bravery” and features archive interviews with many of its cast and crew (though not, unfortunately, leading man Al Pacino).

Director William Friedkin notes “It was never meant to be emblematic of anyone’s lifestyle but it [the leather scene] did exist” and points out that the fetishism was meticulously researched and the plot was based on a true story.

Friedkin, previously best known as the helmer of the terrifying The Exorcist, also admits he was out to make a chilling murder mystery and he sure succeeded. As seemingly straight Pacino’s cop Steve Burns goes undercover to investigate a series of stabbings in the West Village, he’s drawn into a dark and dangerous world that messes with his head and puts him at risk of being a victim himself.

The result is edge-of-the-seat scary, psychologically complex and artfully filmed. Arrow’s 4K restoration makes the leathers glisten, brings out every bead of sweat of hot summer New York nights and deepens the reds of the bloodshed.

Much of the dialogue has a weird, disembodied quality but that’s because the hundreds of protestors who gatecrashed the locations made so much noise that the actors had to re-dub their dialogue in post-production.

Were they right to be protesting? See the film and decide for yourself, but there’s no denying its brilliance as a piece of filmmaking.

Rating: 4*

Cruising is out now on Blu-ray from Arrow Video