One of the greatest horror films of all time... An iconic, refreshing classic

Rating: 8/10 (22 March 2009)

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Top 20 - Horror Films of All Time
Wes Craven has given us Scream, the most enjoyable and probably the best horror film of the 1990s - but before that he came up with 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', a film inspired by a newspaper article reporting the deaths of two people after horrific nightmares. There goes the idea.
The story of Freddy Krueger, a maniac who killed 20-30 children on Elm Street and was not imprisoned due to a technicality, only to be burned to hell by angry parents... However Freddy doesn't go away that easily! He comes back and haunts teenagers of Elm Street in their dreams, and if he kills them in their dreams, that's it! Bam, they are dead and gone another kill from the man with the razor blades...
Elm Street was made on an unbearably low budget ($1,800,000) and this is evident in a lot of the make-up, set design and special effects. However one should not see this as a negative. The film is fiendishly inventive, original and at times tense and disturbing. A Nightmare on Elm Street is part of a number of horror films that are actually good, effective and disturbing. Modern horror films are vacuous films filled with sex, gore and the same dull premises.
One, two Freddy is coming for you... three, four better lock your door... five, six better grab your crucifix, seven, eight better stay up late, nine, ten never sleep again...
A modern horror classic.
8/10