New Line Cinema/1984/Directed by Wes
Craven
Available on DVD/Blu-Ray
Years before Peter Jackson’s
excellent Lord Of The Rings trilogy
made New Line Cinema a household name, the company was best known for its other “cash cow” franchise- the Nightmare On Elm Street series. The
first entry in the series, A Nightmare On
Elm Street, came along in 1984, laying the foundation and setting the
standard for cinematic “slasher” films for years to come.
Written and directed by Wes Craven
(the same man responsible for bringing us The
Hills Have Eyes, Last House On The Left, Swamp Thing, and the Scream franchise, to name a few), A Nightmare On Elm Street may seem like
a typical boogeyman tale on the surface, but dig deeper and you’ll find more
meaning in this seminal horror classic. Subversive and scary, the film speaks
volumes about the nature of dreams, individual inner strength, vigilante
justice, and conquering one’s fears. It’s certainly a horror film, to be sure,
but it’s a smart horror film, and
that may be the main reason why it’s still talked about and referenced today.
A
Nightmare On Elm Street centers around teenager Nancy Thompson, who, along
with her group of friends, is plagued by nightmares of a horribly-burned,
razor-fingered boogeyman named Freddy Krueger. One by one, Nancy’s friends are
hunted, tormented, and killed in their dreams by Freddy, which causes them to
die horrible deaths in their sleep. Ultimately, the film climaxes in a duel to
the death between Nancy and Freddy, where she must make the choice to give in
to her fears or turn her back on them.
A great film with a stellar young
cast- the excellent (and fan-favorite) Heather Langenkamp plays Nancy, leading
the cast of teenagers (which also included Johnny Depp in his first film role,
as Nancy’s boyfriend Glen). A Nightmare On Elm Street introduced us
to the immortal film monster in the form of Freddy Krueger, the role that actor
Robert Englund is best known for. Englund played the maniacal Freddy for six Nightmare sequels, a television series
(the short-lived Freddy’s Nightmares),
and one crossover (the fan-favorite Freddy
Vs. Jason), truly making the role his own. Writer/director Wes Craven is
known as the “Father of Freddy”, and this is the film that started it all. He
returned to contribute his delightfully deranged talents to two more films in
the series, A Nightmare On Elm Street,
Part 3- The Dream Warriors and Wes
Craven’s New Nightmare, and his three entries are widely considered to be
the best of the franchise.
A
Nightmare On Elm Street is still worth revisiting today. Like all films
from the eighties, it has aged, but endearingly well. The same cannot be said
for the film’s sequels, however, but we’ll save that for another review. A Nightmare On Elm Street was remade in
2010 (with a follow-up currently in production) and although it was a noble
effort and is a good film in its own right, for my money it lacks the charm and
scares of the original version, which is a great film to watch during the
Halloween season and a worthy addition to your horror film collection. Freddy Forever!
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