Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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is done, as I describe in my own contemporary film review, “through narrative
voice-overs, which sound more like the soliloquies of an even more demented and
much less intelligent Hamlet.” (2003) Freddy tells the viewer from the outset that
the children gave him his power, that he killed them, and that he was killed by the
parents of Springwood out of vengeance. This is told over a staged sequence
depicting pre-death Freddy menacing a young girl, looking at children’s photographs
and newspaper clippings of the murders, and ending with shots of the parents setting
him on fire. There is then a cut to a black screen, panning left to right, and emerging
from the right of the frame is Freddy’s t-zone, his eyes the primary focus, in extreme
close up, moving past the left edge of the frame, and apparently moving his mouth
along with this voice over. This is significant, because though it is still an
acousmêtre, it is implied that it is not solely Freddy’s disembodied voice, by looking
closely directly into the camera while his cheeks appear to form the words that are
heard, the viewer is aware that Freddy is speaking directly to the viewer. This is
followed by a series of film clips from the earlier A Nightmare on Elm Street films,
demonstrating the extent of Freddy’s powers as he explains that he comes to his
victims in dreams, and that his powers come not from being alive, but from being
remembered and feared, which allows him to return repeatedly.
Freddy explains that the people of Springwood have forgotten him, and he
has no way to take revenge. At this point, the film cuts to an extreme close up of
Freddy’s mouth, centred in the frame, again speaking directly to the viewer. He
says, “But I found someone. Someone who’ll make them remember.” There is then
a cut to Jason’s hockey mask lying on the muddy ground, a visual which is
accompanied by the Friday the 13 th theme music. The camera pushes in to its right
eye hole, as Freddy is heard to say “He may get the blood, but I’ll get the glory,” and