A NIGHTMARE
ON ELM STREET
CAST
Heather Langenkamp, John
Saxon, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
DIRECTOR
Wes Craven
YEAR OF
RELEASE
1984
The claw.
The sweater. The menacing voice. These
familiar eerie nouns all had their start in
this, the first, the classic, and by far the
best Nightmare on Elm Street. It's origin has
been told in many ways- Wes Craven has said
that he was inspired by a story of a boy who
cut off his eyelids to stay awake, because he
was so afraid of his nightmares featuring a
boogey man. This horror was amongst the first
to present the villian as the main character,
and in this case, that would be the truly
sadistic post-mortem child killer Freddy
Krueger, whom was named after a weird
hobo-type that hung around Wes Craven's
hometown. Freddy can be as humorous as he is
horrifying, and in this one a lot more the
latter. The plot itself revolves around Elm
Street and it's second generation teenage
inhabitants, mainly Nancy (Langenkamp) who
find out that the man stalking and killing
them in their dreams is the child murderer
who their parents set ablaze in vigilante
style after a corrupt trial let him off.
Nancy's bofriend is Johnny Depp in his first
role, as the doubting yet trusting neighbor
boy (you bet he gets it!). Englund's actual
acting plays second fiddle to ambiance, which
is dark and drealike and very terrifying.
John Saxon is Nancy's cop dad who is none the
wiser, and of course Nancy has a liquored up
mom who puts bars on the doors when teens
start getting hacked. Nightmare enters in
aspects of real nightmares- displaced
objects, unpreportion, and a sense of
frustration (oatmeal stairs) that makes it
real. And of course, being chased by the guy
out to kill you. An original, dark movie that
makes it's own rules (it is dreamland, after
all) Nightmare is a must see. Don't miss the
sequels. And I strongly recommend the
digitally remastered version- something I'm
not often enthusiastic about, but this time
it translated excellently.
SHOCK/SUSPENSE
5
GORE
3
CAMP
2
OVERALL
5
