Horror Theory: Lesson One

By Nick Peron

Welcome to Horror Theory, something that I hope to be a regular feature that I will write here at Micro-Shock, wherein I make some postulating theories about the horror movie genre. While I do not claim to have any sort of formal education on the subject of making theories, I can say that I use the best scientific method one can use while watching horror films and making half assed correlations between one movie and another. Usually while drunk and eating pizza on my couch in my underwear (Women, please try to contain yourselves, I know how sexy that sounds) For our first edition, I would like to addresses the first of many horror movie theories that I have come up with over the years. This one in particular I have mentioned a few times on the site, and so I present to you the shocking and thrilling (And admittedly a little sexy) evidence proving that this theory has some merit and should be commonly accepted as part of your lexicon of terms and phrases. I now present to you my first theory:

Nightmare 2 Syndrome - [nahyt-mair too sin-drohm]

Causality:

The basic causality of the Nightmare 2 Syndrome is a simple theory to explain. Simply put, it is the theory that once a series of horror films (otherwise known as a franchise) continues on for any length, there is at least one sequel that just doesn't fit right with the rest of the series. In that, while the other films adhere to a series of set rules and mythos behind the series that are followed strictly. The Nightmare 2 Syndrome creates a film which is considered part of the franchise however, it disregards pre-established ideas and concepts in favor of ideas that don't really fit overly well when compared to the other sequels.

Symptoms:

The root cause of the Nightmare 2 syndrome is conducive of the writer tasked with coming up with a new film in this franchise. They either have not previously been exposed to the franchise, don't really care, or want to "do something different." Further, Nightmare 2 Syndrome can strike at any point in a franchises sequel releases. So far experts in the field have no way of determining when an instance of Nightmare 2 Syndrome may occur. Further, what sort of effect Nightmare 2 Syndrome may have on the film itself cannot be determined until after the damage has been done. However, it is usually unanimously agreed that following the aftermath of the Nightmare 2 Syndrome that one can easily identify it from the content of the film.

Origins of the Term:

The term "Nightmare 2 Syndrome" has it's origins from the The Nightmare on Elm St. franchise . The phrase "Nightmare 2" is in reference to A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 - Freddy's Revenge . Insiders at New Line Cinema, and die hard fans usually shorten up the name of each Nightmare on Elm St film by simply calling it "Nightmare" followed by the sequel number. To fully understand the scope of Nightmare 2 Syndrome, one has to understand the relationship between A Nightmare on Elm St Part 2: Freddy's Revenge and the rest of the Nightmare on Elm St. franchise, especially the first film, A Nightmare on Elm St...

Synthesis of a Theory (Or how to make a sequel to a movie and show the audience you have no fucking clue what you're doing):

As many of you know, the original A Nightmare on Elm Street , was a film by Wes Craven, it was the movie that put him on the map as the king of horror, and it eventually became the driving franchise for the budding New Line Cinema to go from pissant independent film company, to major motion picture movie house. The story was about Fred Kruger, a child killer that got freed on a technicality. The towns people of course, are not very impressed by this and torch him to death. This is not the end of Fred Kruger however. He would come back, horribly burnt, haunting the dreams of the children of Elm St, who's parents burned Kruger alive years earlier. Young Nancy Thompson would eventually beat Fred Kruger, but not until he had killed all her friends and her own mother. She would realize that the only way to stop the man in your dreams was to take control of the dream itself, take away all his powers. Lack of belief that Fred Kruger could cause the damage that he did was the ultimate cause of his downfall.

The first film set some very specific rules about Fred Kruger and the world that he lived in:

1.) That he attacked and killed people in dreams, that if he killed you in your dream you would die in real life.

2.) In the dream world, Freddy could shape reality to his will and do just about anything he wanted.

3.) Freddy could be brought into the real world if you held onto him while you awoke.

4.) His power over you was based on your fear of him, and your ability to control your dreams.

Follow this up with Nightmare on Elm St 2: Freddy's Revenge. Now Fred Kruger is being referred to as Freddy, and that's not the only thing that sticks out. "Freddy's Revenge"? Against who? I thought the whole point of his crusade of killing the children of Elm St. was for revenge. But that's only the beginning:

In the second installment, a new family moves in the old Thompson house, and their son Jessie ends up getting possessed by Freddy Kruger. Whenever Jesse falls asleep, Freddy takes possession of his body and goes out and murders people at night. This causes Jessie to think he's losing his mind, and his girlfriend Lisa tries to save him. She ultimately saves him by showing Freddy love, causing Freddy to burst into flames and free Jessie from his control.

This movie is stranger than it's predecessor, because of it's male lead being the victim of Freddy's torments. Freddy using the boys body to do his bidding is also in stark contradiction to how Freddy operated in the first movie and subsequent sequels. Further, the movie has a stunning amount of homoerotic situations, and it's debatable if they are intended or not. To dancing to Madonna, to a leather bar, to a shower scene where a guy gets whipped to death by towels. "Something is trying to get inside of me. " I could go on for hours. And even stranger still, Freddy's glove mysteriously disappears and is replaced by a burnt hand with razor fingers (The truth behind this story is that the original Freddy glove went missing during production and so they made this as a substitution to complete the film.) But there's still more about this movie that makes it stand out compared to all the others. Like how it's supposed to take place in Springwood, Ohio, yet there are palm trees and desert all over the place. Exploding budgies, Freddy not killing anyone in the dream world. All this, and Clu Gulager. Clu freakin' Gulager.

And that my friends is Nightmare 2 Syndrome. I can't put it to words properly, but if you've seen Nightmare on Elm St Part 2 along with every other Freddy movie, and you know exactly what I'm talking about. So with that said, lets take a look at some other horror movie franchises that suffer from Nightmare 2 Syndrome.

Halloween:

Case Subject:

Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch

And it's Effect on:

Halloween, Halloween II , Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later, Halloween: Resurrection , Halloween (Remake)

The Nightmare 2 Syndrome:

Halloween originally followed the story of Michael Myers, a knife wielding psycho who escapes from a mental institute and goes on a bloody killer rampage. John Carpenter's original story went from a tale about how evil is more or is an unstoppable force, although we can easily recognize it (say, because you dressed it up in a spray painted William Shatner Halloween mask), it is still a mysterious commodity that can destroy for little explanation and can act for unknown reasons. This eventually mutated into a franchise about a buy in a Shatner mask stabbing people. However, before Halloween entered into the land of the outlandish remake, it suffered Nightmare 2 Syndrome in it's third installment: Season of the Witch.

Three words: Killer Halloween masks. That's the gist of the plot. Essentially these guys who own the Silver Shamrock Novelties are using Halloween masks that have a lil' bit of Stonehenge on 'em and with a little bit of witchcraft. The whole point was to bring back ancient Celtic aspects by creating another Samhain. Apparently this would be facilitated by making kids wearing these masks watch a really annoying commercial with a repetitive song (that you know will get stuck in your head for DAYS) which would ultimately kill them and cause them to barf up insects.

So in possibly the largest case of Nightmare 2 Syndrome, Halloween 3 takes the cake going from a movie about a killer in a Halloween mask, to a movie with literally killer Halloween masks. Oh, and not only that, but instead of getting stabbed to death by said killer, you're head is going to cave in and you're going to barf up grasshoppers. CHEERS!

Friday the 13th:

Case Subject:

Friday the 13th, Part VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan

And it's Effect On:

Friday the 13th , Friday the 13th, Part 2 , Friday the 13th, Part 3 , Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter , Friday the 13th, Part V - A New Beginning , Friday the 13th, Part VI - Jason Lives , Friday the 13th, Part VII - The New Blood , Jason Goes to Hell , Jason X , Freddy vs. Jason , Friday the 13th (Remake)

Nightmare 2 Syndrome:

The key to any Friday the 13th movie is this: Jason Vorhees drowned, his mom went nuts started killing people, is killed herself, Jason comes back from a watery grave and terrorizes the people of Crystal Lake, killing people to get revenge for his mothers death. Jason Voorhees is so single minded, that he doesn't take vacations. Ever.

So along comes Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan, or more appropriately it should have been titled "Jason's Magic Boat Ride" because really, that is a more accurate description of the film. Writer/Director Rod Hedden had a lot of ideas that would place most of the movie in New York. However, flagging box office sales, Paramount told him -- while the movie is supposed to take place in New York, you're going to film it in Vancouver... Mostly on a boat. So yes, let's film a movie that's supposed to be in New York, in a place that is on the opposite coast, and in a different country. Brilliant. Thank you Hollywood. So the movie isn't so much Jason taking Manhattan, so much as it is Jason riding a boat.

But the fact that he goes to New York to begin with is the key. I'm sorry, Muppets take Manhattan, not single minded killers that hang out in one spot all the time. The concept of taking Jason out of his setting -- Crystal Lake -- and planting him in in New York kind of defeats the purpose of why he's killing people. In theory, yes, Jason could just go around killing teenagers and travel all over the world making big body counts, but without the setting you kind of lose the reason. He's never been known to leave Crystal Lake before, why start now? It's been implied that he's tied to the location somehow, why all of a sudden send him off to New York even if it's "unintended" due to a lame plot device (hitching a ride on a boat anchor)

I know it's not the only one that sent Jason away from Camp Crystal Lake, Jason X, was my first choice... But that cinematic abortion with IBS is so wretchedly awful... That it has a category all it's own.

Ghoulies:

Case Subject:

Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College

And it's Effect On:

Ghoulies, Ghoulies 2 , Ghoulies IV

Nightmare 2 Syndrome:

Ghoulies is a movie about Satanic demons who are brought to life with black magic. They don't talk, they are temperamental, violent, and usually very hungry. They will bite you on the ass while you're taking a crap on the toilet, not because they think it's funny, but because they are evil mother fuckers. Ghoulies was never really clear with the mythos. In the first movie it was this evil Satanic cult leader magician guy who would summon them, the next movie a drunken haunted house operator accidentally summoned them. In the fourth film the hero of the first film is a cop who has a run in with the Ghoulies again. So where's the Nightmare 2 Syndrome with this franchise? Ghoulies 3.

If you missed it, the sub-title to this one is called Ghoulies Go To College. Do I have to explain this one any further? Do I really?... *sigh*, so essentially the Ghoulies have gone from unstoppable and mostly silent killing machines to becoming wise cracking idiots. Picture the Three Stooges if they were small, ugly rodents. It's loaded with sight-gags and bad one-liners. One of the Ghoulies is hard of hearing, in fact at one point he mistakes the phrase "Prank Week" with "Pancake." This my friends, is Ghoulies 3. When you see the scene where the kill the busty blond taking a shower with a toilet plunger, you will know why this movie qualifies for Nightmare 2 Syndrome.

Hellraiser:

Case Subject:

Hellraiser - Deader & Hellraiser - Hellworld

And it's Effect On:

Hellraiser , Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 , Hellraiser III - Hell on Earth , Hellraiser - Bloodline , Hellraiser - Inferno , Hellraiser VI - Hellseeker ,

Nightmare 2 Syndrome:

Both of these installments of the Hellraiser franchise, the last two before the upcoming remake "reboot" that is due out in 2011, stand out as strong cases of Nightmare 2 Syndrome. This is because the writers of these films essentially wrote non-Hellraiser movies and the rights holder (Dimension Films) decided that they should put Hellraiser into what was an already self-contained movie. So in one film, Deader the primary focus is on a death cult and a reporter that is trying to track them down, and Hell World it's about a killer computer program. Pinhead doesn't even show up until the final scenes in both films for the most part, and has a handful of speaking lines. Which is on par with the original Hellraiser film, however the situations that are presented in these two films are so disjointed and awkward because they were not originally Hellraiser films, and had the Hellraiser characters injected to them almost as an afterthought in a vein attempt to get people to buy the movie (namely me) because the movie would have netted more money.

I think that's enough examples for this lesson class, we shall conclude for today. Check back soon, our next class will explore the theory about sending your movie monster into space. I expect last weeks essays on the determent fake breasts have to horror films to be on my desk by the end of the week. Class dismissed.