‘Dating can be like a haunted house full of jump scares, where each moment has the potential to thrill or harm,” observes Ben Rush. “How do you know if you’re falling in love or falling into a trap? This movie shines a light on that trap — dressed in a jockstrap and leather harness and saying all the right, charming things.”
The movie in question is the genre-bending new Raging Stallion release “The Devil You Know,” directed by Rush and frequent collaborator Alter Sin. Starring industry mainstay Sir Peter and newcomer Leander, the film fuses romance, horror and hardcore sex into a slick, spooky-season spectacle, replete with bloodcurdling moans.
The story follows a long-term couple played by Sir Peter and Leander, whose quiet weekend in the Spanish countryside unravels into a demonic nightmare upon the arrival of an uninvited group of friends — who just might be a cult of sex-worshipping devil devotees. Yet at the same time, it also explores queer intimacy in a way likely to resonate with its target audience. Rush, who also wrote the script, sees this as a natural pairing.
“The inspiration for ‘The Devil You Know’ came from the idea that sometimes the things we should fear the most aren’t hiding in the shadows — they’re sitting right next to us, on a couch, holding our hands,” he shares. “I wanted to explore how terrifying intimacy can be in the gay community, and how vulnerability can be exploited.”
Outcasts and Villains
The film’s title riffs on the old saying, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” In this instance, the “devil” is the ginger Leander, whose haunting presence and tarot-deck tattoo of “The Hanged Man” match the feature’s sense of brooding mystery beneath the surface.
“I’m not a tarot reader or practitioner or anything, but I connect with the imagery and symbolism,” Leander says. “The interpretation is different depending on whom you ask, but one theme that comes up a lot is acceptance. Acceptance of change, of death. Things begin and things end. I like that philosophy; it helps me stay adaptable and calm in the face of big changes.”
On screen, he balances that calm with complexity.
“There are moments where my character is a total asshole,” he laughs. “It’s so opposite to how I would normally act — but it’s always fun to play the villain, right?”
That exploration of villainy is central to the horror genre, observes fellow cast member Ross Hurston.
“In horror movies, the villains are often tragic figures who grew up abused or not accepted,” notes Hurston. “You almost feel sorry for them. I think gay men can connect with the idea of being the outcast.”
Rush agrees.
“I think gay men are drawn to horror films because they can identify with both the outsider who has struggled to be seen — the monster — and the person who survives against the odds, the final girl,” he says. “Fear, isolation, transformation and survival are typically the core themes of horror movies, and those same themes are mirrored in gay people’s life experiences. So for many of us, it’s not just entertainment. It’s recognition.”
For Sir Peter, horror connects with the queer experience of being the underdog who is misunderstood by society.
“Villains in these films often reflect that feeling of being marginalized, demonized,” he says. “At the core, they are symbols of those society pushes aside. That is why I have always rooted for the villain.”
The role also carried some personal resonance for Sir Peter.
“I was raised Catholic,” he says. “I used to be the priest’s assistant. I was the tallest so I would carry the cross. I prepared intensely for this one, and it was demanding but also extremely rewarding.”
Of course, any gay horror movie worth its salt naturally needs at least one demon twink, and “The Devil You Know” has several. Jake Matthews, who plays one of Leander’s devilish friends, reflects on the archetype.
“Unfortunately, I think the ‘demon twink’ stereotype is a pretty accurate representation of something that happens in the gay community,” he says. “We are so marginalized from others outside the community, and yet, even within the community, we fail to be nice and accept one another.”
For English performer John Jai, channeling his inner demon twink was easy.
“Research? I just had to reflect on my early years and remember how much of a little devil I was,” he jokes. “Add a few small character details, death stares, no blinking, heavy breathing and an outfit change… and voila! The demon twink is here to play.”
Chemistry, Kink and the Proper Way to Slice Pizza
While “The Devil You Know” explores fear and intimacy, it is also an adult movie, so much of its impact comes from the sexual chemistry between the performers. In the case of Sir Peter and Leander, by all accounts, that chemistry generated heat even off camera.
“They were quite taken with each other, and it shows in their scene,” says Rush. “Watching Leander take all of Sir Peter’s huge dick so effortlessly was quite astonishing.”
Leander acknowledges that the two did indeed enjoy getting to know one another.
“If I ever needed to distract Sir Peter, I would just talk about Britney Spears,” Leander confides. “He can talk about Britney Spears for hours.
“And of course, having him balls-deep inside me was pretty life-changing,” he laughs.
The closest the on-screen couple came to a lover’s quarrel was about… pizza.
“We all had dinner together and, according to Leander, I should not have cut the pizza the way I did,” shares an indignant Sir Peter. “He was very upset and made me eat the whole thing because I’m a bad pizza cutter, apparently!”
Despite the film’s dark subject matter, cast and crew recall the atmosphere on set as anything but grim.
“Everybody became a family,” Rush says. “It was so hard to leave. We all still call and message each other with inside jokes from the production, or just to check in.”
Leander fondly recalls shooting his first scene: a three-way with Hurston and Adam Tyrant.
“I always love a threesome, and I especially like being in the middle,” he enthuses. “The vibe in that scene is all about giving into pleasure and using sexual energy to ‘serve’ something greater, and that was very easy to do with two muscle daddies like Adam and Ross.
“That was actually the first scene we shot, so it was a really hot start to the production!” he adds.
True to Rush and Sin’s signature style, “The Devil You Know” also incorporates kink, including wax play.
“I’m into a wide range of kinks, but this was actually my first time trying wax play,” reveals Tyrant. “The sensation was intense.”
Meanwhile, Brazilian star Samuel Hodecker took on the role of “willing sacrifice” in a double penetration scene.
“I love DP scenes,” attests Hodecker. “I don’t get to do them all the time, but whenever I can, I jump right in because I really enjoy it. I’m a big guy, and I know I can take a lot, so I wanted to push myself and show that side of me, too.”
Facing Our Inner Demons
Beneath both the horror-movie camp and the on-brand Raging Stallion carnality, however, the film’s creators and performers aimed for something more profound: a metaphor for queer shame, desire and resilience.
“In this movie, the devil stands for all the red flags we ignore, all the secrets we uncover too late, and the emotional possession that can occur in a toxic relationship,” says Rush.
It’s a metaphor that evidently resonated with the cast as well.
“For me, the ‘devil’ in my life is more an internal voice that tries to make me doubt myself or blame myself,” Sir Peter reflects. “It is that constant battle in your head between good and bad, and I have learned to tell it to go away.”
Matthews expresses a similar understanding of the symbolism.
“A huge devil in my life for a while was myself: all my insecurities, addictions and anxieties,” he confesses. “Eventually you find your way through it, you find the light in things again. You realize, ‘I am enough, and my devils don’t control me.’”
Rush sees the film’s parallelling of devil worship and gay sex as key.
“Mainstream society has historically frowned upon both, and has framed them as forbidden and deviant,” he says. “‘The Devil You Know’ uses these stigmatizations intentionally as a creative ground for horror and subversion — not to demonize queer sexuality, but to highlight how it’s already been demonized.”
For Leander, in the end, the devil is “always on the inside.”
“The devil is that voice in your head that tells you you can’t, that you’re not good enough, that you don’t belong,” he says. “That’s why I think it’s important that we try to be devil-killers for each other: support one another, give compliments, share people’s work, big each other up and celebrate everyone’s successes.”
