The Brotherhood (2001 Video)
5/10
Teen horror for girls
11 December 2004
It is nonsense to say this is a "gay" horror film. We see these same shots of women in conventional horror films and don't think about the director's sexual orientation. Would this be considered gay if the director was a woman? I think not. This film is meant to be a beefcake horror film for the ladies. And while it delivers some handsome faces and a few fleeting shots of boys in their

underwear, it's strictly G-rated stuff. Indeed, I've seen more nudity in G-rated films from the 1960s where bare butt shots of men and boys can be seen in

"Planet of the Apes" or "Maya" where 15-year-old Jay North appears nude from the back side. The "Brotherhood" series films are surprisingly bloodless and nudity-free, which bucks the trend for horror films and teen sex comedies and may be why so many people feel a bit "cheated." One wonders why on direct- to-video releases David can't push the envelope a bit and show more explicit nudity of either sex. Probably because the video rental chain which finances these films through pre-production distribution agreements would decline to participate. Or it may be that the young actors who appear in these films draw the line at showing their gear or bare butts. But if you're going to have a scene where nudity is the logical costume, as in a shower scene, it doesn't make much sense to show guys showering in their underwear -- something we have seen in more recent DeCoteau films. There is a similar problem in "The Brotherhood," with the frat initiation ("make- out") scene being more logical as a nude scene.

On another point, since so many have commented on why the protagonist wears black boxer briefs, this is an obvious nod to Alfred Hitchock's use of a black bra on Janet Leigh in "Psycho" after she turns "bad." (Before she turns bad she is seen in a white bra). Or more classically, the boy in the black briefs is akin to the outlaw in the black hat.
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