13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2009: Night #11 A Nightmare on Elm Street

Anyone who knows me had to know when I did favourites and classics that this movie would be near to the top of the list. In fact it would be second if I didn't have a more topical movie for the night before Halloween. Freddy Krueger is the man, the most iconic figure of all horror movies, known around the entire world. There is a reason for that, and this movie is the genesis of all of it. What makes A Nightmare on Elm Street such a great movie? Well aside from Freddy brought to amazing unlife by Robert Englund there is also the supremely deft hand of director Wes Craven guided here and there by Robert Shaye head of New Line Cinema. The story is very well done weaving its local mythos. The script is also very thematic and literate. Everything is just done right.

The success of A Nightmare on Elm is both critical and financial. New Line Cinema has earned the nickname of The House that Freddy Built. There is so much that can be done, and to a degree has, with Freddy Krueger. Lurking in nightmares, able to kill in dreams, but beyond that able to take control of the dreams and do as he wishes. It gives the filmmakers great latitude. There is an endless parade of ideas. A Nightmare on Elm Street also stands as one of the film franchises where the villain's foil is female and should to his reckoning be as easy pickings as the rest--starting of course with Heather Langenkamp's Nancy. This never seems particularly vexing to Freddy even though Robert Englund sees Freddy, and portrays him, with a sort of cowboy ethos right down to the gunslingers stance he adopts.

Mood: excited.

Music: Welcome to My Nightmare by Alice Cooper off of Welcome to My Nightmare.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2009: Night #2 Hellraiser

For the second night of the thirteen I've chosen a classic, and

favourite of many, the original Hellraiser. I remember when I first rented it, though I do not know how long ago that was after it was released on VHS at the video store. Used to be quite some time between film release and video release, plus the rental stores always had a certain amount of time before movies would be sold to individuals. I was quite uncertain about seeing the film. A lot of talk circulated around that (blasphemously) considered Pinhead to be better than Freddy Krueger. Shocking I know, and hardly anything more than a personal preference--go Freddy! Hellraiser certainly did not fail to live up to the rest of the hype surrounding it. It was very edge of the seat stuff, a great testament to Clive Barker as director.

It's not very often that an author will direct the movie made based on

one of their books. Least of all are those films such smash hits. Pinhead of course is an incredibly iconic horror figure and stands easily alongside Freddy, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers. Pinhead also has some of the coolest antagonist lines in any movies. There are numerous lines of his in this movie that are eminently quotable. At the same time, they are not your typical one-liners, instead opting for the serious and not deadpan, but straight lines. Doug Bradley's voice and demeanour as Pinhead make the film almost as much as the scripts adherence to Barker's "The Hellbound Heart". Not that it follows everything for indeed Pinhead is much cooler than the novella's lead cenobite.

Mood: sardonic.

Music: Hellraiser by Ozzy Osbourne off of No More Tears.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #11 Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

It’s hard to say where to start with the movie for tonight,
“Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon”. Getting into who the actors are and the director and writers is so much fun, but let’s try to be quick about that. There are small parts played by Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) and Zelda Rubinstein (from Poltergeist). Great things need to be said about horror newcomers Nathan Baesel and Angela Goethals. They absolutely make the film--they’re in most of the scenes. Writer/director Scott Glosserman has no other credits for those two job titles previous to this film, which makes him immediately awe inspiring. The other writer, David J. Stieve, is in the same boat. This movie really makes it true that some films are better and better every time you see it.

“Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon” is a full-on horror mockumentary. It has an amazing balance of comedy and horror. It’s the good kind of comedy too, all deadpan satirisation in a smart and funny way without resorting to being lame or stupid. This movie is serious fun. At one point some will wonder if it is going to become the movie it was presented as, then it reaches a tipping point, where just like a roller coaster some good drops are past, and then around the corner is the monster rise and fall for which everyone was waiting. Keep an eye on everything in this movie. There are a number of references that are less obvious than others. There are also several horror in-jokes, one of which is incredibly cool and funny. Sit back and enjoy the birth of a new legend.

Mood: extravagant.
Music: Halloween in Heaven by Type O Negative off of Dead Again.

13 Nights of Halloween: Night #9: 976-EVIL

Just a reminder, the full list of movies is available at Wraithstop so you can watch along.

Woo boy! Do I have a treat for you tonight with the movie "976-EVIL".
The first reason I have to be so excited about this one is because of Robert Englund. You know him, the man of your nightmares, the one and only man behind the makeup and glove of Freddy Krueger. Wait though, there's more, in a huge twist, Mr. Englund is the director of this movie and is the man behind the camera instead of in front of it. So what does Mr. Englund have in store for us--not to knock the scriptwriters, but who are they? Well one scriptwriter, Brian Helgeland was a writer for "Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master " that came out the year before. The other scriptwriter, Rhet Topham, wrote on "Trick or Treat"

So, back to the movie, just to get it out of your system, I saw some strong parallels between parts of it and parts of "Carrie", but it's only one element so never fear, I didn't think it held any kind of rip-off factor. This was one of those movies that I desperately wanted on DVD and thankfully didn't have to wait too long for it to be released. It's also the kind of movie that makes you think, think about how it is that these actors can step from in front of the camera to behind it, and rock just as hard when they make the millions of directorial decisions as they do when they just take direction and focus on a single character. I don’t know but I'm glad they can do it, and I think Robert Englund did an excellent job.

Mood: even.
Music: This Is Halloween by Danny Elfman