The expectations of the horror genre and how a Nightmare on Elm Street fits in.

Rating: 7/10 (6 December 2015)

In all Horror films the killer immediately seems to be a blood-thirsty, grotesque, un- relatable monster that preys on the weaknesses and fears of the characters. Horror is defined as "an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear." As the bounty of Horror movies grow, we see clichés, and poorly casted films that we could produce better ourselves. Looking deeper we find movies that are cinematic successes; movies estimated to be a "blip on the radar" and end up being Historic.
Similar to "Psycho" the killer causes extreme confusion at at the start of the movie slaughtering the main character. Unable to predict what will happen next you are pulled into the obis. What stands out about this movie is the difficulty to tell the difference from the dream world and reality. The main character seems to change, after Tina's untimely death her friend Nancy takes the position as main character. We experience the realistic dream world during school with no way of knowing if Nancy has fallen asleep or not. When Nancy takes a bath her mother reminds her not to fall asleep, scoffing flippantly she minds her own business nodding off a few minutes later. Freddy's glove of knives slowly emerges from the water, a creative closeness to the shower scene in Psycho.
Not only does this movie define the horror genre with its frightfully shocking scenes, we find A Nightmare on Elm Street to be a movie that is suspenseful and pulls your fears to the exterior. The suspenseful music sets every scene with a dark, sinister mood; anticipating Freddy's appearance. Wes Craven added countless astonishing surprises, as the viewers experience the unforeseen actions of Freddy. We become attached to the characters, reminiscing on the reoccurring nightmare we all have; fearing the unforeseeable outcome. We are given information on Freddy close to the end of the movie, as Nancy's mother Marge explains to her that Freddy was a "filthy child murderer" caught but set free. Marge with intention to ease Nancy's mind shares with her that a group of people including her found Freddy's hideout in an abandoned boiler room. Setting it on fire riding Freddy of ever murdering again, Nancy racks her brain of how Freddy is able to haunt her if he is "dead".
The horror genre persuades its audience to resurface their deepest fear and relate it to the movie. A Nightmare on Elm Street is recognizably a top movie in the genre of Horror, Freddy becoming one of the greatest villains in cinema history. As the ending locks in the inability to define the dream world from reality you are left wanting more understanding. A movie that could never be forgotten, and will be a Horror classic for generations to come.