Welcome back to my Dark Corner of this Sick World.
‘That is one weird dude’
1982’s The Slayer was caught up the Video Nasty panic,
banned here, footage cut there, and perhaps that’s why the film has so many fans and defenders,
or possibly they just like the film.
‘Yeah, you’re right’
Either way, I feel like I’m about to anger some people, cos I thought it was awful.
‘You ain’t the first I’ve heard say that, and you won’t be the last’
Artist Kay has been having horrifying nightmares...
to the extent that her art has suffered.
‘You paint what you dream’
Her husband, her brother and his wife take her for an island holiday.
‘It’s the next best thing to paradise’
We must be thinking of different places.
'If this is a joke it's not funny.'
But at least she can relax.
‘I came back to warn you’
Despite intimations from the standard creepy caretaker type, that this place ain’t right.
‘Things aren’t always what they appear to be’
The dreams continue, and that night...
and in the morning.
Just a dream, but husband David is gone.
‘I dreamed it, I saw it all in a dream’
Her brother is loath to believe any of this as Kay has had bad dreams all her life.
'When we were kids she got a kitten for christmas and she put it the meat freezer, it was frozen to death.'
'And Kay said something in her dreams did it.'
But David cannot be found.
'David!'
‘Kay, there’s nothing to worry about’
He may not have been killed by a dream monster but there is clearly something to worry about.
Kay is convinced the killer comes from her dreams and so tries to stay awake.
‘She wants more coffee’
‘Well what’s wrong’
‘I don’t feel right about what we’ve done’
Making coffee in a teapot, what was I thinking?
Eric and Brooke drug Kay, and…
Okay, it seems like a lot is happening but that’s cos I’ve rushed through it.
‘I’m telling you, nothing has happened’
It takes half an hour for David to die and another after that for Eric and Brooke get offed in quick succession.
There’s a fisherman earlier.
Body never found. Never mentioned again.
‘Don’t start this shit kay’
But it’s what happens in between.
There’s a difference between building tension and nothing happening.
Even if you use music to fake it.
#dramatic music cue#
He cut himself shaving, it’s not significant.
And once the others are dead we’ve twenty minutes of Kay being scared
before the creepy caretaker makes a brief return visit.
He had to move a freezer to get through the door.
During which Kay stabs his hand…
and yet he still didn’t say ‘Hey, it’s me, the weirdo from earlier’
Damn, that is a flammable house. And now, finally…
But then…
'Are you going to lay in bed all day?‘
I had a bad dream’
I’m having one now.
'Merry Christmas Kay'
According to the internet, this ending was tacked on,
which makes me wonder if that, reference to the kitten earlier was added at the same time.
Either way I don’t know why she’s scared, it was never suggested that the cat was behind it.
‘You know what your problem is?’
Ignoring the weird coda, Kay has been having these dreams all her life.
‘The same dream over and over again. It started when we lived in the old house’
‘Oh that was years ago’
But people only just started dying every time she takes a nap.
What sort of unambitious demon kills a cat 20 years ago then goes on a belated murder spree just cos she took a holiday?
‘It’s this place – it makes my skin crawl’
That would tie in with the weirdo.
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you’
But it’s a hell of a coincidence if the dreams she’s been having all her life can only manifest in a place where a friend of hers owns a summer house.
‘I think there’s more to it than that’
Why are the dreams only affecting her art now?
What is the slayer? Why is he doing this? What does he want?
‘It’s just one of those demons that surface every once in a while’
Some people think this film inspired Nightmare on Elm Street
‘It’s a little obvious wouldn’t you say?’
I like the idea Wes Craven saw this, had the same questions as me
and then made a better movie to answer them.
‘I know what I’m talking about’
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'I was having that nightmare again'