History NightmareFuel / MaxPayne1

* The whole condition of New York City in the game is pretty nightmarish, going beyond the average WretchedHive or CrapsackWorld and into the realm of just being some sort of [[EldritchLocation surreal hellscape]]. Max even comments himself: "I could see how somebody impressionable might get it into their head that we were at the end of time."
** The city is completely infested with sleazy corruption, government conspiracy and violent criminals.

** TheMafia is so brazen and vicious that they gleefully massacre transit officers at a subway maintenance station during the former's ongoing bank robbery, and later kill an entire team of SWAT operatives who were working at a crime scene to retake Lupino's Hotel, casually leaving their vans burning ''in the middle of the street''.

* The nightmare/hallucination sequences which include such gems as: the terrified, pleading and weeping voice of Max's late wife Michelle; the baby crying (and ''screaming'' at one point if you fall during the second sequence); creepy music box music; the door from the bathroom being boarded up violently; and lots of creepy imagery, including a cradle on a red floor surrounded by candles like a demonic altar.

* On top of Ragna Rock and Lupino both being super-creepy, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdIha5Dz07U the boss fight itself]] is [[WakeUpCallBoss a nightmare]]. Unlike the rest of the games bosses, the Finito Brothers, Rico Muerte, the Trio or the Russian gun runner, [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant Jack Lupino]] doesn't have a realistic level of health. The reason? He's hopped up to his eyeballs with Valkyr, and can't even feel pain anymore. Even after the boss fight, Max empties his gun into Lupino's corpse during the cutscene, just to make sure he won't get back up again. This makes a lot of sense once you find out that Valkyr is really [[spoiler:a military SuperSerum prototype that was never finished]]. The run-of-the-mill addicts you've fought so far in the game just haven't had access to enough of the stuff to get the effect Lupino got.
--> '''Lupino''': Death is coming, and hell follows with her... this is the Twilight Winter! I am ready to be her son! Her time is now and all who stand in her way MUST DIE! [[LaughingMad AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!]] '''[[SuddenlyShouting DIIIIIEEEEE!!!!]] [[LaughingMad AHAHAHAHA!!!]] [[MadnessMantra YOU'LL DIE!]] [[LaughingMad YOU'LL... HAHAHA... DIE! ]]''' '''''[[MadnessMantra NOW... ALL... DIE! AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!]] [[SanitySlippage THE WOLF!!!]]'''''

** While unused from the game's soundtrack, the eponymous "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2q5705OVi8 The Flesh of Fallen Angels]]" is ''complete panic fuel'', which was supposed to be heard when fighting Jack Lupino and his henchmen while sending you on the edge.
*** The sounds heard throughout the track (which is an audio sample named "Insect Infestation" by Zero-G) are also used in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Majl8PbzpXU citadel_ambient_scream_loop1]], which is very disturbing.

* [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/maxpayne/images/7/73/MaxPayne_2011-05-06_16-40-19-89.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110506144637 The loading screen]] for the Prologue of ''A Bit Closer to Heaven'' features a screaming man with [[BlackEyesOfEvil hollow eyes]]. It sticks around in the quit screen as well.

--> '''Lupino''': Death is coming, and hell follows with her... This is the Twilight Winter! I am ready to be her son! Her time is now and all who stand in her way MUST DIE! [[LaughingMad AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!]] '''[[SuddenlyShouting DIIIIIEEEEE!!!!]] [[LaughingMad AHAHAHAHA!!!]] [[MadnessMantra YOU'LL DIE!]] [[LaughingMad YOU'LL...HAHAHA...DIE! ]]''' '''''[[MadnessMantra NOW...ALL...DIE!]] [[HowlingToTheNight AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!]] [[SanitySlippage THE WOLF!!!]]'''''

--> '''Lupino''': Death is coming, and hell follows with her... This is the Twilight Winter! I am ready to be her son! Her time is now and all who stand in her way MUST DIE! [[LaughingMad AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!]] '''[[SuddenlyShouting DIIIIIEEEEE!!!!]] [[LaughingMad AHAHAHAHA!!!]] [[MadnessMantra YOU'LL DIE!]] [[LaughingMad YOU'LL...HAHAHA...DIE! ]]''' '''''[[MadnessMantra NOW...ALL...DIE!]] [[HowlingToTheNight AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!]]'''''

--> '''Lupino''': Death is coming, and hell follows with her... This is the Twilight Winter! I am ready to be her son! Her time is now and all who stand in her way MUST DIE! [[LaughingMad AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!]] '''[[SuddenlyShouting DIIIIIEEEEE!!!!]] [[LaughingMad AHAHAHAHAHA!!!]] [[MadnessMantra DIE! YOU'LL DIE!]] [[LaughingMad AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!]]''' '''''[[MadnessMantra YOU'LL ALL DIE!!!]] [[HowlingToTheNight AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!]]'''''

--> '''Lupino''': Death is coming, and hell follows with her... This is the Twilight Winter! I am ready to be her son! Her time is now and '''ALL WHO STAND IN HER WAY MUST DIIIIEE!!'''

* The whole condition of New York City in the game is pretty nightmarish, going beyond the average WretchedHive or CrapsackWorld and into the realm of just being some sort of [[EldritchLocation surreal hellscape]]. Max even comments himself: "I could see how someone impressionable could get the idea that the end of the world was here."

** TheMafia is so brazen and vicious that they gleefully massacre transit officers at a subway maintenance station during the former's ongoing bank robbery, and later kill an entire SWAT operatives who were working at a crime scene to retake Lupino's Hotel, while casually leaving their vans burning ''in the middle of the street''.

-->'''Max''': Somewhere, the baby was crying...

** The ''Twin Peaks'' parody itself is pretty disturbing, cutting out the kooky and funny bits of that show and keeping the horror elements. The TV is just sat in the middle of a completely dilapidated flat (where two mobsters are watching the show). The main character recounts a split personality experience in a wavering, shaky voice and more creepily still, the dialogue references Max's own suffering. The TV states that the "flamingo" says: [[IronicEcho "The flesh of fallen angels."]] and the protagonist says [[CreepyMonotone "I have no idea what that means."]] Of course, that exact phrase is what the Valkyr junkies said when killing Max's family and [[IronicEcho he is familiar with it]], which makes it all the more surreal. Right after this sentence on the TV we hear a [[HellIsThatNoise baby screaming]] and the whole sequence ends with the narrator [[CreepyMonotone mentioning]] that he always wakes up...[[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness "strapped to his bed"]].

* There are also [[MindScrew minor but significant changes to Max's house]] that are disturbing too. The picture on the wall in the baby's room changes from a teddy bear with "HUG ME!" in the real scene to "CUDDLES", "HUGGIES" and other such slightly "off" phrases, as if Max's PTSD and/or Valkyr use is changing what he remembers. And in one dream the [[MindScrew child's letter blocks spell out "DEAD"]].

* On top of Ragna Rock and Lupino both being super-creepy, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdIha5Dz07U the boss fight itself]] is [[WakeUpCallBoss a nightmare]]. Unlike the rest of the games bosses, the Finito Brothers, Rico Muerte, the Trio or the Russian gun runner, [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant Jack Lupino]] doesn't have a realistic level of health. The reason? He's hopped up to his eyeballs with Valkyr, and can't even feel pain anymore. Even after the boss fight, Max empties his gun into Lupino's corpse during the cutscene, just to make sure he won't get back up again. This makes a lot of sense once you find out that Valkyr is really [[spoiler: a goverment Super Soldier Serum prototype that was never finished]]. The run-of-the-mill addicts you've fought so far in the game just haven't had access to enough of the stuff to get the effect Lupino got.

* The hallucination level where Max has to follow the trail of his own child's blood to the room where said baby was brutally murdered. What makes the first hallucination sequence even worse for this troper is the fact that they occasionally cut to Max tied to a chair in a Mafia hideout, and allusions to baseball bats are made. A few levels earlier, we were shown the handiwork of a mob executioner who favored baseball bats...

** The ''Twin Peaks'' parody itself is pretty disturbing, cutting out the kooky and funny bits of that show and keeping the horror elements. The TV is just sat in the middle of a completely dilapidated flat (where two mobsters live and are watching the show). The main character recounts a split personality experience in a wavering, shaky voice and more creepily still, the dialogue references Max's own suffering. The TV states that the "flamingo" says: [[IronicEcho "The flesh of fallen angels."]] and the protagonist says [[CreepyMonotone "I have no idea what that means."]] Of course, that exact phrase is what the Valkyr junkies said when killing Max's family and [[IronicEcho he is familiar with it]], which makes it all the more surreal. Right after this sentence on the TV we hear a [[HellIsThatNoise baby screaming]] and the whole sequence ends with the narrator [[CreepyMonotone mentioning]] that he always wakes up...[[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness "strapped to his bed"]].

** The ''Twin Peaks'' parody itself is pretty disturbing, cutting out the kooky and funny bits of that show and keeping the horror elements. The TV is just sat in the middle of a completely dilapidated flat (where three mobsters live and are watching the show). The main character recounts a split personality experience in a wavering, shaky voice and more creepily still, the dialogue references Max's own suffering. The TV states that the "flamingo" says: [[IronicEcho "The flesh of fallen angels."]] and the protagonist says [[CreepyMonotone "I have no idea what that means."]] Of course, that exact phrase is what the Valkyr junkies said when killing Max's family and [[IronicEcho he is familiar with it]], which makes it all the more surreal. Right after this sentence on the TV we hear a [[HellIsThatNoise baby screaming]] and the whole sequence ends with the narrator [[CreepyMonotone mentioning]] that he always wakes up...[[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness "strapped to his bed"]].

** The ''Twin Peaks'' parody itself is pretty disturbing, cutting out the kooky and funny bits of that show and keeping the horror elements. The TV is just sat in the middle of a completely dilapidated flat. The main character recounts a split personality experience in a wavering, shaky voice and more creepily still, the dialogue references Max's own suffering. The TV states that the "flamingo" says: [[IronicEcho "The flesh of fallen angels."]] and the protagonist says [[CreepyMonotone "I have no idea what that means."]] Of course, that exact phrase is what the Valkyr junkies said when killing Max's family and [[IronicEcho he is familiar with it]], which makes it all the more surreal. Right after this sentence on the TV we hear a [[HellIsThatNoise baby screaming]] and the whole sequence ends with the narrator [[CreepyMonotone mentioning]] that he always wakes up...[[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness "strapped to his bed"]].

** TheMafia is so brazen and vicious that they gleefully massacre everyone at a subway maintenance station and kill an entire police team who were working at a crime scene, casually leaving their vans burning ''in the middle of the street''.

** The Mafia is so brazen and vicious that they gleefully massacre everyone at a subway maintenance station and kill an entire police team who were working at a crime scene, casually leaving their vans burning ''in the middle of the street''.

* Also, the personality and motivations of [[BigBad Nicole Horne]]. She is intelligent, powerful and hard-working. She's also completely soulless and [[TheSociopath happily does absolutely anything]] to acquire more money and power, which is all she seems to live for. By the time the plot ''starts'' she has already crossed ''dozens upon dozens'' of [[MoralEventHorizon Moral Event Horizons]] and she continues to do so throughout the game, doing the most heinous things again and again with absolutely no guilt or conscience whatsoever. [[ParanoiaFuel She would quite literally kill your entire family and not lose a wink of sleep over it]] - '''[[OhCrap and people like this actually exist]]!'''