Nightmare

Flipping through the channels, I came upon what is known as a "mockbuster" (a movie designed to capitalize on the success of a higher budget film, in this case Paranormal Activity) called Paranormal Entity on ChillerTV. The premise of the movie is surveillance videos documenting the downward spiral and eventual supernatural rape and murder of a woman named Samantha Finley, all presented as fact.

Throughout the movie as the alleged activity escalates, the family is constantly trying to contact a self-professed paranormal expert named Edgar Lauren to rid them of their problem. The guy finally shows up towards the end of the movie and gives them the answers they have been looking for. On a previous night, the mother, supposedly possessed or in her sleep, wrote a word on a sheet of paper: MARON. The expert explains the word MARON is Old Germanic for "nightmare" and goes on to say the entity is fairly similar to the "incubus" in the way it attacks and rapes women. This made me wonder if there was any truth to their story of "maron". Turns out there is.

We know the word "nightmare" as meaning a dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the sleeper, typically fear and/or horror. Its etymology derives from several different languages including the Proto-Germanic word of marōn. It was believed to be a spirit or goblin in Germanic folklore which rides on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on bad dreams and most likely inspired by the medical condition called sleep paralysis. It's also linked to the mythical creatures succubus and incubus. Nightmare was used to describe 'a bad dream caused by an incubus' in the 16th century. After several centuries, the meaning watered down even further to describe a bad dream.

Paranormal Entity not only attempted to capitalize on Paranormal Activity's fame but also went to lengths for a Blair Witch type marketing strategy. The Asylum attempted to convince viewers the film footage is all 100% legit. There isn't any filmmaking credits or even a title card and the various production credits on their own website are billed as "n/a". However, what does the viewer see after the movie's conclusion? "All events, characters, and firms depicted in this photoplay are purely fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental." I say their strategy was a failure. The movie isn't the worst of all time but it's not the best either.