NOES2: The Man Of Your Dreams
Hey. Rob Dean here.
Remember the ‘90s? Specifically 1993? Even more specifically the music from 1993? Yet even more specifically the song “Dreams” by Gabrielle released in June 1993? Well I sure do. Drink in this tall glass of melodic perfection.
That song was my everything when I was eleven in June 1993. I owned the cassingle. You know, like a cool. Then I got the album. That was a mistake and my torrid love affair with Gabrielle suddenly ended with the same intense speed as it began. Yet the song remained in my mind, hiding in the synaptic gap between my neurons, popping up when least expected to haunt me and get me shimmying somewhat in the most awkward of ways.
And yet I wouldn’t do anything with it until September 18, 2021. For those that aren’t aware, I enjoy making odd edits of movie clips and songs that kind of have a point but mostly seem like fun filler for a large screen at some sort of genre convention.
As if often the way, I was struck by the idea of taking this genuinely infectious pop song about dreams and romance and applying it to A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE.
The 1985 sequel has been up for lots of debate and discussion due to its homoerotic themes that were barely hidden though also missed by many. This aspect of the film is best approached in the astounding 2019 documentary SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET that focuses on star Mark Patton dealing with all sorts of stereotypes and prejudices while the film itself was routinely reappraised and reconsidered by horror fans, Queer film writers, and more in the intervening 34 years.
I took the unsubtle throughline of the young protagonist’s dalliance with his inner demon and the seductive nature of the socially Othered and made it even more blatant with the use of the dulcet notes of “Dreams.” What’s the point of emotional complexity and cultural introspection if you can’t also dance to it? Hence the 2021 music video blending clips from FREDDY’S REVENGE with Gabrielle’s siren song in “The Man Of Your Dreams.” Enjoy!
(The title was taken from a tag line used on one of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2’s posters)