Intelligent Start to one of the Dumbest Horror Series of all Time

Rating: 8/10 (14 January 2004)

The horror genre is a tricky thing for those of us who consider ourselves Cinema buffs. For some reason, I can enjoy a horror movie much more than I can enjoy another film with similar production values, acting, script quality etc... There is something about horror movies that speak to my inner fifteen year old, even ones that aren't that great. When the subject comes up in conversation with my cinema snob peers I get a lot of blank looks, and rolled eyes. I mean could you imagine the look on a peer's face when I start extolling the virtues of this movie while they are discussing when exactly Fellini lost "it"? Nevertheless, the genre has brought about a few masterpieces. Rosemary's Baby, Repulsion, Psycho, some Cronenberg and a few of the Universal and Hammer movies come to mind. This movie is not a masterpiece but it is an intelligent examination of the relationship between our dreams and reality. Some of the acting is typically hammy, but it's hard to call it cliched when this movie helped invent those cliches. The only movie where Freddy didn't mistake his role of revenge-seeking psychotic for that of a stand up comic. Craven's insistence on using cheap shocks rather than true psychological terror at times prevents this from being a masterpiece but it comes pretty close. This movie spawned several horrible sequels (that still can be entertaining as camp), and one decent one. It wouldn't be until Craven directed an entry in the series again that it would be truly worth our time. An excellent movie overall. 4/5