Sunday, July 08, 2007

A Nightmare on Elm Street

1984
Staring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, John Saxon, Johnny Depp.
Director: Wes Craven


It has been a little bit since I wrote a review – I’ve been busy and have not had a lot of free time lately to do one. I also went down to Norfolk to see my old apartment one last time before my old roommates move out of it. I’ll miss the place for the most part as I’ve had many memories – some pleasant (my good friend Jonathan yelling out the window spouting Maury-esque lines to bypassers at 3am) and some not so pleasant.

So I bring to you the very first film in the Nightmare on Elm Street series, A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Nancy (Langenkamp) is having an absolutely terrible time trying to sleep. She’s constantly having the same terrible dreams, all involving a man who is scarred with a glove that is made up of razor-sharp knives. The most peculiar part of it all is that all her friends keep having the same dreams as well. Woops, you're all screwed kids!

The film is surprisingly well made, especially for the time-period that was attempting to make films “bigger” than they actually were – without the help of CGI. I don’t mean “bigger” in the sense of “Epic” which is entirely plausible and easy to achieve (insofar as long as you have the budget, space, and ability to cast enough people). There are a few instances of “cheese” but come on –80s horror film here.

Again, for a cast of a Horror film – of which, lets be honest, don’t normally have the “best” script to act from – do a fantastic job.

Because of this film, the Freddy Krueger character becomes a massive hit, spawning many sequels and even his own TV show on MTV (so much for Music Television, huh?).

This is, obviously, the best film in this horror series. Original, serious (for the most part) and doesn't devolve into parody (at least not poor parody – that’s all reserved for that trash heap called “Freddy’s Dead”). It's chilling, the music is fantastic, and all around is one horror film that everyone (even non-horror fans) should see, especially one of the most memorable finales in a horror film.

Hey, plus you get to see a young Jack Sparrow.

****/*****

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