Slasher Films can be Done Well Too

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2014)

The most terrifying situations that most people experience are nightmares. They can happen even if you are in the safety of your home and since the rules of reality do not apply to them, they can take any turn. And since they are in your own head, there is no escape. What can be worse than such a nightmare coming true? This movie adopts this premise literally. A group of parents murder a serial child killer, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). He exerts revenge on them by haunting their children in their dreams. What these kids experience in their dreams is parallely happening to them in reality...
Freddy Krueger is an iconic villain today and he has spawned numerous sequels and cross-overs, all for good reason. He has a plausible back- story which is frightening even in real life. His mode of operation in unique. His weapon is a clawed glove, simple yet so scary. He steals the show and possibly even the audience's night-time visions with a mere seven minutes of screen time.
The film does not rely much on jump scares though there are a few. It creates a tension-heavy atmosphere and plays more on psychological fear. The narrative is simple and coherent. For those who want to see gore, there is some of that too.
The film suffers from two major drawbacks. First, most of the acting is hammy especially by Langenkamp. But, this could be due to the fact that it is a slasher film, a genre not well-respected and it is of low budget. They could probably not afford the right kind of actors, though they roped in the then unknown Johnny Depp. Second, the ending looks like a cheap trick to exact one last scare from us and/or pave way for a sequel. I read that the director, Wes Craven wanted to have a different ending and was persuaded to alter it by the producer, Shaye. Craven's idea sounds much better and he should have stuck to that. A memorable film none-the-less.