Quickie Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2016)

Like all classic movies that spawned countless interchangeable sequels, what can be said about A Nightmare on Elm Street that hasn't been said already? The concept alone is mesmerizing – a man haunts the dreams of children, and as their fear and awareness of him grows so does his power. Any pain that is inflicted on them in their dreams also affects them in real life, and if they die in their dreams yup you guessed it, they die in real life. Not only is it a unique idea but a clever one – try not to think about Kruger's iconic pizza face, jumper and clawed glove before you go to sleep and chances are you'll end up dreaming about it anyway. I know I did on many occasions. And how do you avoid sleep, to stop him from coming? That's the challenge our protagonists face in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Freddy Kruger's own story, in which he, being a child murderer, was burned alive by the parents of Elm Street after the Law failed to put him being bars, makes for some ponderous thinking about vigilante justice vs official regulation. Either way, the teenage children are now paying for their parents' sin.
Nightmare has an unrelenting raw energy that was missing from Craven's later films, like Scream. It feels angry, feels vicious, like it wants to punish you as well as entertain you. Kruger is in complete control during the dream sequences – every time a character's eyelids close we are in his terrifying world, in which anything can happen. In fact, a lot of the film's tension stems from not even knowing whether a character is currently dreaming or not. A lot of the nightmare scenes play out just like a regular nightmare would. That, and the fact that the film's protagonist are normal teenagers (frustrated that no one will believe their wild tales), adds to the immersion.
Even today the movie stands up pretty well (as long as you can stand an 80's disco track accompanying your chase scenes). The only part I remember not liking was the weird ending, which cheapens the film slightly.
Best Scene: There are a number of stand outs but my top pick goes to the insane death scene where Tina is dragged up to the ceiling and mercilessly butchered, right in front of her boyfriend (who ends up getting the blame, too).