Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Brutal is an extremely ruthless or cruel. Brutality is the quality of being brutal, cruelty, and savagery. Brutality is one of the factors that are used to increase the terror; the other terror factors are violence, sadism, and graphic blood. Brutality is the part of cruelty. Cruelty is one of the danger signals of personality sickness. A “sick” personality is one in which there is a breakdown in the personality structure which results in poor personal and social adjustment, just as in physical illness, the person does not behave as he normally does Hurlock, 1979: 389-403. Brutality in A Nightmare on Elm Street Movie is reflected by the main characters, namely Krueger. He kills many teenagers through their dreams, it is called “A Nightmare” and this phenomenon happens on Elm Street. So, it is the reason why this film is entitled “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 2010 American slasher film directed by Samuel Bayer, and written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer, based on a story by Mr. Strick and characters created by Wes Craven; director of photography, Jeff Cutter; edited by Glen Scantlebury; music by Steve Jablonsky; production designer, Patrick Lumb; costumes by Mari-An Ceo; produced by Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller; released by New Line Cinema, Warner Brothers Pictures and Platinum Dunes. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. The film stars Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker and Kellan Lutz. It is a remake of Wes Cravens 1984 film of the same name and the ninth Nightmare film in total, it is designed to reboot the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. It is the first in a series of films centered around teenagers being murdered by a dream- controlling monster known as Freddy Krueger. A contemporary re-imagining of the seminal horror classic, starring Academy Award® nominee Jackie Earle Haley Little Children, Watchmen as Freddy Krueger. The film is directed by award-winning music video and commercial director Samuel Bayer Nirvanas Smells Like Teen Spirit, Green Days Boulevard of Broken Dreams, marking his feature film directorial debut. A talented ensemble of young actors play the teenagers now taking on Freddy Krueger, led by Rooney Mara Urban Legend: Bloody Mary as Nancy, Kyle Gallner The Haunting in Connecticut as Quentin, Katie Cassidy Taken, TVs Supernatural Melrose Place as Kris, Thomas Dekker Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as Jesse, and Kellan Lutz Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon as Dean. Bayer directed A Nightmare on Elm Street from a screenplay by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer, story by Strick. That film went on to become one of the horror genres longest-running, most successful and innovative film series. The film is produced by Platinum Dunes Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, whose company has enjoyed tremendous success with a host of re-imagined horror franchises, including Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Amityville Horror. The executive producers are Mike Drake, Robert Shaye, Michael Lynne, Richard Brener, Walter Hamada and Dave Neustadter, with John Rickard serving as co-producer. The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Jeff Cutter Orphan, production designer Patrick Lumb Valkyrie, The Omen, editor Glen Scantlebury Transformers, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, costume designer Mari-An Ceo Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, visual effects supervisor Sean Faden The Amityville Horror, special makeup effects artist Andrew Clement Star Trek, Cloverfield, and special effects coordinator John Milinac Friday the 13th, The Amityville Horror. The music is by Steve Jablonsky the Transformers movies, Friday the 13th.”A Nightmare on Elm Street is being distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film has been rated R by the MPAA for strong bloody horror violence, disturbing images, terror and language. A Nightmare on Elm Street was officially released on April 30, 2010 in the U.S, North America, New Zealand and May 13th in Australia and Europe in cinemas, later released in foreign markets on May 8, 2010. Regardless, A Nightmare on Elm Street broke the record for midnight openings for a horror film. The film has brought in over 63 million at the domestic box office and over 115 million worldwide. A Nightmare on Elm Street was primarily filmed in Illinois because of the positive experience the producers of Platinum Dunes had when filming other films in the same area, Friday the 13th, with the writers taking what they thought were the best elements from each of the films and creating a single storyline with them. Eventually, they decided to use Cravens original storyline, and try to create a scarier film. That being, they decided to remove the one-line quipping Freddy, who had become less scary and more comical over the years, and bring him back to a darker nature; this included developing the character as a true child molester, something that Craven wanted to do originally in 1984 but changed to a child killer instead. The decision was also made to bring Freddys physical appearance closer to that of an actual burn victim, and the use of computer-generated imagery was used in certain sections of Haleys face to further assist in that vision. On January 29, 2008, Variety reported that Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes production company would be rebooting the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise with a remake of the original 1984 film. In an interview, producer Brad Fuller initially explained that they were following the same line they did with their Friday the 13th remake, by abandoning the things that made the character less scary —the films antagonist, Freddy Krueger, would not be cracking jokes as had become a staple of his character in later films — and focusing more on trying to craft a horrifying movie. Fuller expressed how everyone at the studio loved the concept of being killed if you fell asleep. The producer stated that the film would be a remake of the 1984 film, but clarified that they would be borrowing certain character deaths and dream sequences from the entire Nightmare series. For Bayer, remaking A Nightmare on Elm Street was about bringing that feeling to a new generation, with a new spin on the character and story. Instead, the 2010 film is more of a reimagining. Fuller and Form also explained that A Nightmare on Elm Street would have a different tone than the Friday the 13th remake. Form states, I think a Friday the 13th movie like we made was really fun. You know, sex, drugs, rock and roll, and I think a Nightmare movie is not that. When asked why New Line was rebooting the Nightmare on Elm Street film series, Emmerich explained, The Nightmare films are profoundly disturbing on a deep, human level because theyre about our dreams. Its why we thought that we could reach an especially broad audience with a new film, since the feeling of having your dreams being invaded was something that would translate to any country and any culture. Overall, Bayer wanted to create a darker Nightmare on Elm Street , one he felt would fit into what he describes as a darker world. Bayer said there is subtext within the film, which is designed to get the audience to ask, What makes a monster? Bayer wants the audience to think about whether a monster is something that exists purely from a physical appearance —someone with a scarred face and a clawed glove on their hand— or can a monster be something that is deeper, and within the man himself without a scarred face and bladed glove. Samuel David Bayer born February 17, 1962 is an American commercial, music video and film director, and cinematographer. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York . A graduate of New York City‟s School of Visual Arts in 1987 with a degree in Fine Arts, he moved to Los Angeles in 1991, and became a popular director during the alternative rock era. He has shot and directed videos for The Strokes, Nirvana, Hole and Green Day. Bayer claims that the reason he was chosen to direct Smells Like Teen Spirit was because his test reel was so bad. Bayer won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction in 2005 and 2007. Several of Bayers commercials have won the Clio. Clients include Coca-Cola, Toyota, Intel, Cadillac, Acura, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Pepsi Cola, Lincoln Aviator, Sony, The U.S. Army and Jeep. His Nike spot won an Association of Independent Commercial Producers Award for Best Direction in 1997. New Line Cinema and Platinum Dunes selected Bayer to helm their remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. In March 2010, he announced this will be his only NOES film. He announced his follow-up project will either be the original film Fiasco Heights or an unannounced comic book adaptation. Samuel Bayer has directed and photographed hundreds of music videos and commercials over the last 15 years, firmly establishing himself as one of the industrys most prolific and sought-after talents. A graduate of New York Citys School of Visual Arts, this native of Syracuse, New York was a painter who soon discovered that film and video were the perfect medium to deliver his art to a greater audience. A self- taught cinematographer who lights and shoots all his music videos and commercials, Bayer launched his career with Nirvanas landmark video Smells Like Teen Spirit, which is consistently rated as one of the most influential music videos of all time. Bayers hands-on approach to filmmaking infused the Nirvana video with his distinct style and attitude. Bayers commercials are showcased in the permanent filmvideo collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 2005, he received the Kodak Lifetime Achievement Award for his work and cinematography in music videos. Bayer was honored in 2006 by the Music Video Producers Association with his second Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also won multiple MTV Moon Men for music videos over the years. Bayer made his feature film directorial debut in 2010 with the remake, A Nightmare on Elm Street . The main character “Freddy Krueger” is a fictional character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of horror films. He first appears in Wes Cravens A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams, ultimately causing their deaths in the waking world as well. However, whenever he is put into the real world, he has normal human vulnerability. He was created by Wes Craven, and had been consistently portrayed by Robert Englund since his first appearance. In the 2010 remake, however, Freddy is portrayed by Academy Award-nominee Jackie Earle Haley. Freddy is a vengeful spirit who attacks his victims from within their dreams. He is commonly identified by his burned, disfigured face, red and dark green striped sweater, brown fedora, and trademark metal-clawed brown leather glove on his right hand. Wizard magazine rated him the 14th greatest villain, the British television channel Sky2 listed him 8th, and the American Film Institute ranked him 40th on its AFIs 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains list. Freddys first appearance was in A Nightmare on Elm Street. The story focused on Freddy trying to kill Nancy Thompson and her friends in their dreams, successfully killing all but Nancy can‟t. Krueger‟s back-story is revealed by Nancy‟s mother, who explains he was a child murderer whom the parents of Springwood killed after Krueger was acquitted of police charges on a technicality he was discovered torturing a child by a police officer who entered his house after hearing the childs screams, but since the officer didnt have a valid warrant to enter the house all evidence was inadmissible in court. Nancy defeats Krueger by pulling him from the dream world into the real world, and setting up a series of booby traps, finally stripping him of his powers when she stops being afraid of him. Here is the synopsis of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Nancy, Kris, Quentin, Jesse, and Dean all live on Elm Street. At night theyre all having the same dream -- of the same man, wearing a tattered red and green striped sweater, a beaten fedora half-concealing a disfigured face, and a gardeners glove with knives for fingers. And theyre all hearing the same frightening voice. One by one he terrorizes them within the curved walls of their dreams, where the rules are his and the only way out is to wake up. The beginning of the story starts while at the Springwood Diner with his girlfriend, Kris Fowles Katie Cassidy, Dean Russell Kellan Lutz falls asleep at the table and meets a man covered in burn scars, wearing a red and green sweater and a clawed glove on his hand. The burned man cuts Deans throat in the dream, but in reality it appears that Dean is cutting his own throat as friend and waitress Nancy Holbrook Rooney Mara looks on with Kris. At Deans funeral, Kris sees a photograph of her and Dean as children, but cannot recall ever knowing Dean before high school. Kris begins to dream about the burned man herself and refuses to go to sleep for fear that she will die in her dreams. Jesse Braun Thomas Dekker, Kriss ex-boyfriend, shows up at her house to keep her company while she sleeps, but Kris meets the burned man in her dreams and is murdered. Covered in blood, Jesse runs to Nancys house to try to explain what happened and he learns that Nancy has been having dreams about the same man; that mans name is Freddy Jackie Earle Haley. Jesse is apprehended by the police under suspicion of murdering Kris, and is killed by Freddy when he falls asleep in his jail cell. With her friends dying, Nancy begins to question what everyones connection is to each other, given that none of them can remember each other before their teenage years. Eventually, Nancy and her friend Quentin Smith Kyle Gallner discover that all of them, including more children, attended the same preschool together. Nancys mother Gwen Connie Britton reluctantly tells Nancy and Quentin that there was a gardener at the preschool, Fred Krueger, who hurt Nancy and the rest of the kids. Gwen explains that Nancy was his favorite, and came home one day telling her mom about Freddys magic cave and the things that happened down there. Gwen claims Krueger skipped town before he was arrested. Nancy does not believe her and attempts to track down the remaining kids from the school. Nancy eventually discovers that all of the other kids have been killed, most of them in their sleep. Meanwhile, Quentin tries to accept that everything is nothing more than repressed memories, but he falls asleep during swim practice and witnesses what really happened to Krueger. Quentin sees everyones parents hunt down Krueger, and then burn him alive. Quentin and Nancy confront Quentins father, Alan Smith Clancy Brown, about the reality they murdered Krueger with no actual evidence that he had committed any crime. Nancy and Quentin, who both begin sporadically dreaming while they are awake as a result of insomnia, decide to go to the preschool and learn what they can about Krueger. On the way, Nancy falls asleep and is attacked by Freddy, but when Quentin wakes her up they discover she has pulled a piece of Freddys sweater out of the dream world and into reality. Quentin takes Nancy to the hospital for cuts on her arm; there, he steals some adrenaline and a syringe to help them stay awake. Nancy and Quentin leave the hospital and eventually make it to the preschool. Quentin uncovers Kruegers magic cave and the evidence that proves Krueger was physically and sexually abusing all of the children. Nancy decides the only way to end this is to pull Krueger out of their dreams and kill him in reality. Quentin tries to stay awake long enough to pull Nancy out of her dream when she has Freddy, but he falls asleep and is attacked. Krueger then goes after Nancy, and explains that he intentionally left her for last so she would stay awake long enough that when she finally fell asleep, she would no longer be able to wake back up. While Nancy struggles with Freddy, Quentin wakes and uses the adrenaline to bring Nancy up and pull Freddy into reality. With Krueger distracted by Quentin, Nancy uses a broken paper cutter blade to cut Freddys gloved hand off, and then slice his throat. Afterward, Nancy torches the secret room, with Kruegers body left inside, while she and Quentin leave. Nancy and her mother return home from the hospital, with Nancy being told she should get some sleep. Krueger suddenly appears in a mirrors reflection and kills Nancys mother before pulling her body through the mirror while Nancy screams. A Night Mare on Elm Street is the interesting movie; there are four aspects that make this movie really interesting. The first is from the uncommon story of a night mare that happens on Elm Street. Nancy, Kris, Quentin, Jesse, and Dean all live on Elm Street. At night theyre all having the same dream -- of the same man, wearing a tattered red and green striped sweater, a beaten fedora half-concealing a disfigured face, and a gardeners glove with knives for fingers. And theyre all hearing the same frightening voice. One by one he terrorizes them within the curved walls of their dreams, where the rules are his and the only way out is to wake up. But when one of their numbers dies a violent death, they soon realize that what happens in their dreams happens for real, and the only way to stay alive is to stay awake. Turning to each other, the four surviving friends try to uncover how they became part of this dark fairy tale, hunted by this dark man. Functioning on little to no sleep, they struggle to understand why them, why now, and what their parents arent telling them. The second aspect is the brutally action which is done by Krueger in killing the teenagers. A re-imagining of the horror icon Freddy Krueger, a serial-killer who wields a glove with four blades embedded in the fingers and kills people in their dreams, resulting in their real death in reality. Firstly, Dean Russell Kellan Lutz falls asleep at the table and meets a man covered in burn scars, wearing a red and green sweater and a clawed glove on his hand that is Freddy Krueger. Krueger cuts Deans throat in the dream, but in reality it appears that Dean is cutting his own throat. Then, Kris meets the burned man in her dreams too. She is murdered and covered in blood. Jesse is apprehended by the police under suspicion of murdering Kris, and is killed by Freddy when he falls asleep in his jail cell. Freddy also tries to kills Nancy and Quentin in their dreams but he failed. The third aspect is from history that happens in Preschool Badham which becomes the early of the nightmare phenomena. Preschool Badham is the school where Dean, Kris, Nancy, Jesse, Quentin have studied on there. Freddy Krueger is a gardener at the preschool. Nancy was his favorite, and came home one day telling her mom about Freddys magic cave and the things that happened down there. Fred Krueger hurts Nancy and the rest of the kids. But, Quentin falls asleep during swim practice and witnesses what really happened to Krueger. Finally, Quentin sees everyones parents hunt down Krueger, and then burn him alive. Quentin uncovers Kruegers magic cave and the evidence that proves Krueger was physically and sexually abusing all of the children. The last reason is A Nightmare on Elm Street broke the record for midnight openings for a horror film. The film has brought in over 63 million at the domestic box office and over 115 million worldwide. A Nightmare on Elm Street was primarily filmed in Illinois because of the positive experience the producers of Platinum Dunes had when filming other films in the same area, Friday the 13th, with the writers taking what they thought were the best elements from each of the films and creating a single storyline with them. Based on phenomena above, the writer is interested to choose A Nightmare on Elm Street movie as the object of study. Considering the thing above, the researcher wants to conduct a further research entitled THE BRUTALITY OF KRUEGER IN SAMUEL B AYER’S A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET MOVIE 2010: A PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE.

B. Literature Review