Classic, creepy, and original.

Rating: Null/10 (27 August 2004)

First there was Micheal Myers with his Kitchen Knife, then Jason Vorhees with his machete, now there's the creepy Fred Kruegar with his glove with "knives for fingers"
Before all the hype of Freddy being an icon for young teens, Freddy was actually scary. Wes Craven directs this creepy slasher with a new twist. Four teens living on Elm street are having the same dream about some creepy looking weirdo with knives for fingers who stalks them in a very disgusting boiler room, they all think it's unlikely that they could be dreaming about the same guy until one by one they all began to get killed in real life (one girl gets sliced and dragged up her ceiling, another guy gets hung in a jail cell, the best is a dude getting pulled in his blood and blood GUSHES all over the room)It's up to scream queen NANCY to get the parents to listen and help her before she dies to. Too bad the parents all ready know of him, because they were the ones to burn him in real life because he was a filthy child murderer who killed at least 20 kids. The acting is excellent from the tight ensemble, sure all the teens look too old for 15 year olds, but they all seem likable and the John Saxon and Ronee Blakely are top notch as Nancy's parents (in particular Ronee). The whole film has a very dark presence that sequels 3-6 all lack, there's just something real creepy going on here. Whether it's the weird Freddy imagery (the alley scene is one for the books) or the very effective score, I really dug it. Some effects seem a little cheesy to today's standards but I easily let those slide. Some complaints are the ambiguous ending...What exactly does it mean? I just like to think the ending was a trick to Nancy and everything all ready did happen. You just can't go wrong with this flick, When TINA was in the body bag standing outside NANCY's Classroom was very morbid and is a perfect example why this is a classic in the tradition of HALLOWEEN, Friday THE 13TH, THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and the EXORCIST.
***1/3 out of ****