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.

Anatomy of a Horror Setting #9: Waking Nightmares

For the psychic that wants to torment someone in a long-standing manner there are a number of avenues to be explored. The subjects to be tortured can be evil people who deserves everything they get, either because of the severity of their crimes, or because of the inability of conventional law efforts to deal with them safely, securely, and long term enough to cover their sentenced disciplinary action--without them breaking free--ensuring that justice is met. Likewise, the subjects of these indignities can be regular and good people who are actually the victim of a psychic, whether for sport, out of anger, or for blackmail purposes. Either way the methodologies are the same, as are the psychic abilities used to impose these afflictions. There are two classes into which these miseries fall.

The first class of these infirmities--a perfect word for these torments--is physical. This category's lesser method is to cause the loss of one or more senses; sight is the most common, the next is hearing. The sense could be altered instead of blocked as well; such as everything the victim eats tastes like ashes. The loss of a sense is a loss of freedom. Taking this further the psychic can induce a permanent paralysis of a limb or the entire body, including the ability to move the head and speak. Full paralysis caused by a psychic might preclude breathing trouble. This means the timeframe of the punishment won't be shortened due to that complication. This makes for an effective affliction because the subject is fully aware of every thing around them but unable to interact in any way.

The second class of waking nightmares is of a mental kind. These afflictions can be purely psychological or physiologically rooted. Primary to this category are hallucinations of different types. They can be transitory such as persistent suddenly appearing apparitions and monsters, or a constant phantom figure that nags, mocks and cajoles, as well as makes lewd or self-destructive suggestions. This figure need only be a voice, not a full-blown visual hallucination. The victim could also see everyone around them appearing as if they were dead, usually of gruesome demises. Or they may see shadows moving everywhere as if alive. These unreal visions can lead to insanity, or the psychic may just begin with implanting insane states like schizophrenia, phobias, or acute paranoia.

Mood: antsy.
Music: Bleak by Opeth and Coma by Guns 'N' Roses.

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