Classic horror

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2005)

If you are not a horror fan but have to name one horror-film most people will come up with 'A Nightmare On Elm Street'. Other possible pictures they might mention are 'Halloween' or 'Scream', in my opinion more thrillers with horror-elements. The scariest of them all, 'The Exorcist', could be a real contender as well. Still, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' is so well-known, at least the title, I could not believe the actual film could live up to the promise. I have to admit most of the time it does.
The idea director Wes Craven exploits here is as simple as it is brilliant. Teenagers are chased by killer Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) in their dreams. The nightmare becomes reality because Freddy is able to actually kill these kids in the dreams, causing their death in the real world as well. Instead of misleading us with a scary moment that ends with the "only a dream"-scene, we know when the characters are dreaming and we know that it is as dangerous as facing a killer outside a dream. The first victim is Tina (Amanda Wyss). This is a little surprising since she is introduced as the hero, the way Janet Leigh seems to be the hero but is killed in Hitchcock's 'Psycho'. After Tina a couple of possible victims are introduced. Tina's best friend Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), Tina's boyfriend Rod (Nick Corri) and Nancy's boyfriend Glen, played by first-timer Johnny Depp.
The film follows some of the usual paths, but Wes Craven shows he is the kind of filmmaker that has little surprises for you on the way. We think we can guess who will live and who will die but even in that area there are more surprises than you might think. The scenes where it is sort of certain someone will die are directed in a way there is lots of suspense anyway. Craven showed this again with the parody on itself, 'Scream'. It is too bad the sequels, except for the last one, were without involvement of Craven. I am not saying 'Scream 2' and 'Scream 3' are terrific films, but they are entertaining, something you can not really say for the first five 'A Nightmare On Elm Street'-sequels. Fortunately Craven returned with 'New Nightmare', unfortunately you have to sit through part 2 to 6 to fully appreciate that one. A good reason to simply start with the original and best 'A Nightmare On Elm Street', after that you might think about the others.