The boogie-man of your dreams

Rating: 7/10 (19 February 2011)

I'd never seen the first Nightmare on Elm Street until a couple of nights ago, though I have seen some of the others. Parts 2 and 3 were my first introduction to Freddy, back when I was 12. Can any kid born in the 80s and beyond truly say that they haven't had a nightmare about Freddy? Wes Craven really has no idea how much he stuck fear in the public subconscious with this character.
You all know the story at this point, so I'm guessing there's no point in summarizing it, but with a small cast and limited locations/budget, Craven proves just how much you can do with a good script and lots of determination. If only all horror wannabes realized this before saturating their movies with ugly CGI.
Depp had the most successful career of all the actors, but special mention must be made of Robert Englund, who played the character of Freddy for 21 years after this movie. He's probably one of the most iconic horror villains of all time, and make-up or not, it's ALL Robert Englund.
The mythology of Freddy certainly does lend itself well to numerous sequels. ANOES sets up so much potential that I have never really found the series and spin-offs to be stale or repetitive. The film itself hasn't really dated that much either, which is a common flaw of older horror movies.
I'm not really sure why I put off watching it until now, I feel like I'm a 'little bit' late to the party. It may be kind of tame by today's standards, but it's a great low-budget horror with plenty of imagination.