A Nightmare to Remember

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2007)

Everybody knows Freddy Kreuger, the hideously burnt serial killer with knives attached to his fingers. He is a horror icon, ranking with Leatherface, Michael Myers, Jason, Michael Jackson, and all the rest of the famous bad guys. Whether you've seen this horror gem or not.
I didn't give "A Nightmare on Elm Street" a fair chance the first time I saw it, and I generally disregarded it and didn't think much on it. But a while later something told me to watch it again and it immediately appealed to me all of a sudden. I was creeped out and there was a great, descriptive story, something missing from most modern slashers. Krueger is genuinely scary and the plot aids that scariness tremendously. Murdered by a mob of angry parents, Krueger was a former child serial killer. Now, the descendant children of the parents on Elm Street are being stalked by Freddy in their dreams, where he can physically kill them in a dark boiler room. Very dark stuff, but with its thick layer of black humor and comic moments, it never truly achieves serious, tense scares, for when they're coming, director Wes Craven throws some silliness into the pot.
You'll laugh and jump, and you'll remember Freddy forever. This is an instant classic, made back in the eighties by an ambitious and eager director Wes Craven, who went on to be particularly famous for the "Scream" trilogy. Robert England is perfect as Freddy and he would go on to play the maniacal dream demon in I believe six sequels, only a few of which were decent but none of which actually live up to the suspenseful first.
Freddy's coming for you. *** out of ****