5 movies that...

...are nightmares; not in the sense of being bad, but rather that the overall themes and feel of the movies are nightmarish. Inevitably, most of these movies are horrors:

5: π: A trip into the paranoid world of a maths genius who may or may not be able to predict the activity of the stock market. He is stalked by others; by businesses, and by cult leaders, and his grasp of reality is fading by the second. Furthermore, like the film at number 1, it is all shot in black and white, just to make it look a little more weird. Still, there's nothing in the film that quite compares to the unique - and definitely not recommended - solution to genius that this film provides.

4: Inception: Yep, it is about dreams, so it is an obvious choice in some ways. Except that it is a strikingly good film about dreams. This isn't about dreaming, it is about being lost in a dream. About a world where everything is disjointed and weird; where you can float and fight and cheat death but never quite attain reality. And, for me, it contains hints - especially at the end - of the dream from which you cannot escape... and even if you think you have, how can you be sure? It is like one of those dreams where you think you've woken up, but you never quite have got back to reality.

3: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: It isn't just that Leatherface is a mighty, monstrous figure who just cannot be stopped, even after he slices his own leg with a chainsaw. And it isn't just about the fact that no matter who you meet you tend to end up back in the arms of that murderous lunatic. No, it is the little touches to the film. Like the intro sequence, that involves carcasses, bones, and a chicken stuffed into a bird cage. Those little signals that show a messed-up mind. That's what moves this film from being a scary horror into a nightmare movie.

2: Videodrome: In which David Cronenberg takes the concept of reality, and - through the world of Max Renn - fucks with it so much that it becomes a nonsensical concept. Reality? Forget reality. If you ever knew what reality was, then you'll be hard placed to find the moment at which you parted company with it. Your world, right now, is most probably the result of a brain tumour caused by the actions of a puritanical cult keen to make society pure again. Or it might be down to the prophecies of a possibly deluded tele-evangelist coming true. Whatever, that kinky porn you've been trying to sell hasn't been that good for you. Oh, and that itch in your stomach, it's not an itch. It's a lethal, gun-spewing vagina growing right in your belly. The best thing you can go is join the new flesh. Which involves suicide.

And you thought life as a pornographer would be fun.

1: Eraserhead: When I first watched this film, I thought it would just be a standard horror film. I could not have been more wrong. The world of Eraserhead is a world mired in absolute, unremitting stress. It is the movie of an awkward, maladjusted yet well-meaning man who just doesn't understand the social conventions of the world in which he has to live. It isn't a horror; it is quite literally a nightmare, and a nightmare that moves up a gear in its ability when the freakish baby puts in an appearance. This is a great, a brilliant piece of film-making. It is also the nightmare movie. The first time I watched it, I ended up with a stress headache. But if you haven't watched it, don't let this put you off. It really is one of those films that you have to watch.

"In heaven, everything is fine" the song says. Given how stressful the world of Eraserhead is, that makes sense even to an atheist like me.

Agreement, criticisms, vacant assertions; allow me to recommend the comments section of this post to you.