I hate the really weird dreams...

I really do. Woke up at just before six this morning, because I'd ridden out a TRULY weird one; I'd dreamed that I'd just watched the sequel to the 1984 cult classic Red Dawn, entitled Red Twilight. (Yes, I know that there's no such thing. It was a dream, remember?) In this one, the Spetznaz officer dispatched to Calumet, Colorado to ferret out the Wolverines had not died after being shot be Patrick Swayze's character, but survived to be a true pain in the ass to not only the people of the area, but to the sympathizers and collarborators within the Red Army and assisting forces' ranks, as well.

There was a sequence in the film (dream) where a Russian general was sympathetic to the resistance; the Hunter (that's how he referred to himself in the first film) laid a vicious trap for him and his friends that - man, I didn't know you could shoot so many people so many ways... remarkably, the General and his aide were still alive (even more amazing, the aide was only slightly wounded). In order to keep the General from being tortured and forced to give up information, the aide followed the General's orders and shot him just as the Hunter got to him; he then turned the gun on himself, but found that he'd used the last round on the General. The Hunter was pissed like you wouldn't believe; he shot up the General's body, then turned to the aide and said, "But you won't die anywhere near as easily..."

The way he said it made me almost lose control of my bladder functions. This guy was 'Anthony-class' scary - Perkins in Psycho, or Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs... you take your pick.

The next scene opened with the aide being forced to run his left arm through this wall-mounted device that was a combination of grinding wheels that crushed down on and stung the victim's arm. The aide (poor man) had on his face a look of someone who only wants to be allowed to die, so the pain and humiliation will finally be over, as the Hunter stood next to him and - simply by speaking to him - forced him to run his arm through the evil device over, and over, and over. Did I forget to mention that, about fifteen seconds into that scene, the titles on-screen read 'Five months later...?'

The way the Hunter carried himself through the scene was in a manner similar to the way Hopkins talked to Jodie Foster... if he wanted, he could have had her do anything he wanted to - or with - her. It was scary to watch, on a level of psychological horror delving into depths beyond the failed propaganda of the first film and into a more mature level of terror akin to Laurence Olivier's performance in Marathon Man. I mean, this guy was playing the role with a calmness and an absolute certainty in that what he was doing was so right for his cause - and the way he inspired others into that, as well - that anything could be done to anyone... as long as it advanced the State's goals.

The scene continued; he finally left the room, but not before telling the guy that no matter what happened, no matter who came in the room, that he had better not take his arm out of the machine - let alone try to escape - until he returned. The Hunter exits, leaving a pair of guards outside the door, and about five minutes or so later - the aide hears the sound of gunfire! He looks outside to see ragged American youth - obviously, teens inspired by the 'Wolverines' - cutting down Soviet soldiers and guards; less than a minute later, he ducks as bullets tear through the wall and the death screams of the guards are heard, and several of the American resistance fighters come into the room! Almost pitiful in his state, tears of relief flow down the aide's face as the resistance fighters quickly get him out of the machine and take him to the door... where the Hunter is waiting, in the outer office, with the other 'resistance members'.

It was all a giant mindfuck. Killing all of those soldiers and guards, the whole thing - just to mess with his mind. They're all young Americans, yes, but so mindblanked and indoctrinated that they're totally into the Hunter's plans... and just to show how into it they are, the Hunter brings an especially pretty little brunette forward who extends her hand, and as the aide watches, the Hunter takes a pair of garden shears and snips off her ring finger, so it will appear that she's been 'tortured' and will be willingly accepted by the true resistance forces. The Hunter, tells him, 'I asked you not to leave that room, didn't I..." He walks away, and the 'resistance fighters' literally tear the man apart with their bare hands, his screams of horror filling the area.

Man. Why can't I have dreams with happier things? Being able to fly... diving into a perfectly blue lage and swimming about, diving deep within and just enjoying myself... blow jobs by a couple of young women who are experts in the procedure? They say that dreams are a reflection of your deepest desires and thoughts... well, what the hell does this say about me?

Besides the fact that I wish that Red Dawn had been a far better film, of course...