Empire UK

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Just another horror film eh?No. The

Nightmare is a documentary. But it may

also be the scariest film of 2015.

How come?It’s about sleep paralysis

a phenomenon in which people become

‘frozen’ unable to move or speak while

falling asleep or waking.

Doesn’t sound so scary.Well

sufferers have reported having terrifying

hallucinations often of dark figures

while they’re paralysed.

Ulp.And Rodney Ascher who directed

Room 237 recreates some hallucinations

in dark disturbing scenes that have

reportedly caused audiences to cry out.

So itisa horror film?Of sorts. But it’s

also a fascinating look at a disorder

more widespread than you might think.

Please don’t have nightmares.

Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.CH

THE NIGHTMARE IS OUT ON OCTOBER 9.

THECHEATSHEET

KIM NEWMAN ON HOW WES

CRAVEN REINVENTED HORROR

HEN THE GREAT

Wes Craven passed

away at the end of

August following a

brief battle with brain

cancer horror lost a

legend. Our own Kim

Newman perhaps summed it up best when

he tweeted “Wes Craven reinvented

horror at least four times — most

directors don’t even manage it once.”

Here the horror expert explains just how

Craven did it again and again and again.

1 THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT(1972)

The rape-and-revenge plot of Ingmar

Bergman’s mediaeval fable The Virgin

Spring redone in a divided America this

is a rough brutal confrontational horror

that’s as hard to forget as it is to watch.

A near-pornographic exploitation movie

(Craven had worked in X-rated films)

it’s among the nastiest of the video

nasties suppressed in Britain in the ’80s

while Krug (David Hess) is one of the

most appalling screen villains of all time.

It’s all-out ruthless disreputable and

TRIBUTE

THE

SCREAM

KING

angry perfectly catching the Manson/

Altamont/Vietnam vibe of its era.

KEY MOMENT:After the horrific abuse

and murder of two teenage girls even

the quartet of psycho villains are

shattered by what they’ve done.

2 THE HILLS HAVE EYES(1977)

Just as Last House passes on a power-

tool and a vision to The Texas Chain Saw

Massacre The Hills Have Eyes restates

the normal family versus mutant family

theme as an updated Western with a

stranded RV replacing a covered wagon

and irradiated cannibals instead of

Apache. It’s as hard-hitting a portrayal

of American violence as Last House but

exhilarating rather than depressing

— with an almost gleeful descent into

savagery as the embattled survivors

bloodily defend themselves. Craven also

edited and his action and shock beats

are timed to razor-edged perfection.

KEY MOMENT:Beast the Lassie-

style heroic dog brings down the

unforgettable-looking cannibal goon

Pluto (Michael Berryman).

#7

THE

NIGHTMARE

3 A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)

Uncredited Craven helped send the

slasher cycle into overdrive by editing

key sequences of Friday The 13th (1980)

but when he eventually came in on the

flagging teen-kill sub-genre in 1984

he completely turned its fortunes

around. With its dream-stalking

mythology archetypal suburban setting

(far removed from the grunge of Last

House and Hills) resilient heroine

and surreally gruesome nightmare

set-pieces it’s a franchise-founding

fairy tale. Freddy Krueger (Robert

Englund) developed into the great

monster of the 1980s: sequels made

him a joke but in his debut he’s darkly

humorous yet utterly terrifying.

KEY MOMENT: “One two — Freddy’s

coming for you!” The monster

appears with elongated arms to

scrape the walls in the dream

of his next victim.

4 SCREAM (1996)

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare in

which Craven plays himself and Freddy

manifests in real life was a postmodern

horror film that didn’t click with

audiences — but Scream scripted by

Kevin Williamson ushered in a new

slasher franchise and style with

self-aware deployment of admitted

clichés and a glossier style that didn’t

preclude genuine nastiness. The flip side

of irony is callousness and the theme of

the Scream films is cruelty — murder for

kicks murder for fame murder for no

reason at all. The multiple-identitied

Ghostface became a new franchise fiend

— with his Munch Scream mask and

mocking telephone trivia quiz of death.

KEY MOMENT: “What’s your favourite

scary movie?” In the famous

opening Drew Barrymore at first

flirts with the cold-calling killer

then is terrified by his horrific game.

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