"Don't Fall Asleep"- A look back at the first Nightmare on Elm Street

Rating: 8/10 (28 June 2011)

The first Nightmare on Elm Street was released in 1984, was written and directed by Wes Craven. Craven already had 2 successful horror movies under his belt, The Last House on the Left and The Hill's Have Eyes. The idea for "nightmare" came from a newspaper article that Craven had read where a young boy was actually found dead from suffering a terrifying nightmare. He then wrote the script to nightmare and showed it to New Line Cinema which back then was only a small film company that wasn't doing much business.
The plot of the movie involves 4 teenagers who are stalked and killed one by one in their dreams by a man named Fred Krueger or better known as Freddy Krueger played by Robert Englund. What's scary about Freddy is that he is horribly burnt from head to toe and he wears a menacing glove with razors or knives for fingers. He also wears a brown and beaten fedora hat and a dirty red and green sweater.
The basic story behind Freddy's character is that when he was alive, he was a child murderer in the town of Springwood. When the parents of Springwood found out, they decided to band together and hunt him down out of justice and revenge. They found him in his boiler room and so they set fire to it and burned it down killing Freddy in the process. That's the reason why he comes back and kills their kids in their dreams: out of revenge. What sets Freddy apart from other horror villains like Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Leatherface is that he has a personality and a very sick sense of humour. The fun in watching the Nightmare on Elm Street movies comes from the special effects and Freddy's sick sense of humour. Freddy can do pretty much anything in the dream world and that's part of what makes him and the movie scary, the fact that you're more vulnerable when you're asleep.
The main character is a teenage girl named Nancy. Throughout the movie she's afraid to go to sleep after her best friend was killed by Freddy and because every time she falls asleep Freddy attempts to kill her. In the end, she decides face Freddy and defeat him by literally bringing him into the real world. What I like about her is that she actually uses her brain and defends herself against Freddy. In one scene she sets an alarm clock to wake herself up and near the end of the movie she rigs her house with traps.
Johnny Depp plays Nancy's boyfriend, Glen. Like some of the other characters in the film such as, the parents, he is sceptical towards the existence of the paranormal which in my opinion is a big mistake because the characters who say that a particular thing or person doesn't exist usually die horribly and believe me; his death scene is pretty memorable. It's interesting to note that the first movie Johnny Depp starred in was the first Nightmare on Elm Street.
One of the things that I like about the movie is the colour contrast between the real world and the dream world. During the day, the suburb of Springwood looks like a friendly place. The houses are white, the grass is green, but in the dream world it has a dark, misty and spooky atmosphere. Also, in the dream world is Freddy's boiler room which is dark, red and has a hellish atmosphere. Whenever Nancy walks down into the boiler room it's almost like she's descending into Hell itself.
The music in a Nightmare on Elm Street is another key element that I like. The theme music is slow and sounds really spooky. Speaking of theme music, Freddy actually has his own nursery rhyme sung by these creepy kids playing jump rope. Freddy's nursery rhyme is another one of Freddy's trademarks which appears throughout the series and is usually heard before he appears.
At times the movie can be a bit confusing for example; there are some moments where you're not sure whether a character is asleep or awake and the very end is the most confusing part because you're not sure whose dream it is. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because it suggests that the nightmare isn't over at all. Wes Craven had actually decided against having a teaser ending, but they ended up making three.
One of my favourite scenes in the entire movie is the opening scene before the film's title appears. It's shown on a small screen and it just shows Freddy's hands actually constructing his infamous glove. Freddy's breathing can be heard in the scene and just before the title appears his hand is shown wearing the glove. It's a scene that gives me goosebumps and lets you know that you're in for a good fun scare. If you're a fan of horror be sure to check it out, because it's a lot of fun.