Nightmare on Elm Street and Premonition Using Todorov's and Propps Theory

Nightmare on Elm Street 2010

I have chosen the film ‘Nightmare on Elm Street,’ as a thriller of my choice to illustrate both Todorov’s five stage model and Propp’s theory based upon character roles, also known as spheres of action. I picked this particular film, as it relates to my own group pitch which we are hoping to create and film as our own thriller opening sequence.

Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror, mystery and thriller movie which highlights how death stalks the dreams of many teenagers to claim its revenge on the killing of a man known as ‘Freddie Kruger.’ They are chased and tortured by this finger – bladed devil, as they begin to experience old memories and the denials of a past of revenge which brings this hellish vision of a nightmare by allowing death to become a part of their reality.

Applying Propp’s Theory to ‘Nightmare on Elm Street:

‘The hero’ is usually the main protagonist who is at the centre of the story, or sometimes on a quest, a search or a mission   = in the film there are two main characters Nancy and Quentin who in my opinion are the hero’s in the film since they are able to survive the dreams and find out what events are really taking place in ‘Elm Street.’

‘The Villain’ competes with and tries to destroy the hero = ‘Freddie Kruger’ is the villain in the film as he stalks the teenagers in their dreams and attempts to murder them with his finger bladed hands.

‘The donor’ provides a magic ingredient to move the story on = Nancy’s mum is the donor in the film as she provides information such as old photographs from when her daughter was in pre school. Through Nancy seeing the photographs she realises that everyone she thought she only met when she started high school, she now realises she was with them in her old pre school and that clearly there’s a link between them and the dream which they are all having.

‘The Princess’ is often the hero’s reward or prize at the end of the story =

Nancy is the princess in the film as she is largely considered as being the

main character in the film and the one who tries to solve the story and destroy

the villain.

‘The princess father/authority figure’ is usually someone who rewards the hero

= In my opinion, Quentin’s father is portrayed as the ‘authority figure’ in the

film as he was the character who found out that “Freddie Kruger” was a

paedophile and he was hurting the children at the pre-school, including his

own. He attempted to take action alongside the other parents but

unfortunately the plan backfired on them.

‘The helper’ is someone who provides guidance and support to the hero = I

believe that whilst Quentin is also a main character in the film, the movie

focuses on Nancy that little bit more compared to him. Therefore, Quentin is

portrayed as being the helper in the film as he tries to comfort Nancy and help

her to find out who “Freddie Kruger” is and why he is torturing them in their

dreams.

‘The dispatcher’ sends the hero off on his/her task or quest = In the film there

is not a significant character that plays the role of a ‘dispatcher.’ However, the

photograph of the teenagers when they were at pre-school motivates Nancy

and Quentin to find out what really happened years before. It encourages

those to go and visit the old pre-school and find any important evidence which

may be the answer to finding out why “Freddie Kruger” is torturing them in

their nightmares.

Todorov’s theory:

Todorov argues that “narrative involves a transformation. The characters or

situations are transformed through the progress of the disruption.”

Equilibrium: The equilibrium in the film was when the children attended a pre-school in ‘Elm Street' where they were happy and enjoyed sharing new learning experiences with their friends. It also highlighted that they came from happy families

Disruption: The disruption in the film was when a gardener who goes by the name of “Freddie Kruger” got a job at the pre-school. He slowly began to play games with the children and attempt to get closer to them.

Recognition of disruption: The realisation that there was a disruption in the

film was when the children began to tell their parents that whilst they were at

school the gardener always took them to his secret place, known as the

“magic cave.” Once there he would sometimes touch them and scratch their

clothes. 

Attempt to repair disruption: The attempt to repair the disruption became clear

to us when the children who are now teenagers slowly began to have

recurring dreams of the gardener “Freddie Kruger” who they once knew when

they were younger. The dreams end up as nightmares as they are chased

and tortured by this finger – bladed devil, as they begin to experience old

memories from their past. The two main characters, Nancy and Quentin

realise that one of them must stay awake whilst the other must fall asleep in

an attempt to end this nightmare once and for all, by killing “Freddie Kruger”

and beating him at his own games.

A return of new equilibrium: The ending of the film takes a peculiar twist as

“Freddie Kruger” decides that instead of killing the students by becoming a

visage in their dreams and murdering them in hellish situations. He now

comes to a decision that he will target the relatives closest to the students and

kill them violently and brutally one by one.

Todorov and Propp’s Theory for my own thriller opening sequence – Premonition.

 Applying Propp’s Theory to Premonition:

‘The hero’ is usually the main protagonist who is at the centre of the story, or sometimes on a quest, a search or a mission   = in the film Premonition there are two main characters Yasmin and Nimesh. However only one of which is the hero, this is the Yasmin as she attempts to survive her premonition and find out why it is that her boyfriend is trying to murder her.

‘The Villain’ competes with and tries to destroy the hero = Nimesh is the villain in the film as he attempts to murder his own girlfriend.

‘The Princess’ is often the hero’s reward or prize at the end of the story = Yasmin is the princess in the film as she is largely considered as being the main character of the film and the one who tries to solve the story, prevent herself from being killed and destroys the villain.

‘The dispatcher’ sends the hero off on his/her task or quest = In the opening sequence there is not a significant character that plays the role of a ‘dispatcher.’ However, the text that the female character receives from her boyfriend could have been the point in the story which motivated Yasmin to notice her boyfriend’s strange behaviour and weirdness towards her when she saw him in her Premonition.

Applying Todorov’s Theory to Premonition:

Equilibrium: The equilibrium in the film was when Yasmin was sleeping and received a lovely text from her boyfriend explaining how he enjoyed spending time with her. This was a happy moment in the film.

Disruption: The disruption in the film was when Nimesh appeared in Yasmin’s premonition acting differently around her and awkward. He slowly began to play mind games with her by not acting himself.

Recognition of Disruption: The realisation that there was a disruption in the film was when Yasmin began to notice that her boyfriend wasn’t acting himself and he was acting cold towards her. She realised that something was on his mind but she wasn’t sure what that was.

Attempt to repair the disruption: The attempt to repair the disruption became clear when Yasmin woke up from her Premonition where she saw herself being suffocated and murdered by her boyfriend, Nimesh. Yasmin realises that the premonition that she is currently having will become a part of her reality soon if she doesn’t try to prevent this from happening. Yasmin realises that she needs to find a way to work out why it is that her boyfriend wants to murder her once and for all so that she can beat him at his own games.

A return of new equilibrium: We haven’t decided upon a new equilibrium yet but what could happen in the ending of our film is that instead of Nimesh attempting to murder Yasmin in her premonition. He could appear in different ways to her such as when she is day dreaming or when she looks into mirrors.