Another Craven Classic

Rating: 9/10 (31 May 2003)

SPOILERS AHEAD ... Once Wes Craven accepted the fact that in the horror arena was where his career belonged, he made his first true blockbuster. Less commercial than his later Scream trilogy, but more professional than his earlier Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street was his most original and imaginative work to date. More successful than the actual film was its hero', who in this case was the film's wisecracking villain: Freddy Krueger. Basically a monster crafted from other past Craven characters: the vile Krug Stillo', child-molesting sleaze-ball, Fred Podawski' and the subhuman mutant cannibals, Pluto' and Mars'. The basis of Craven's story eminated from a selection of newspaper articles detailing the deaths of certain youths who were afraid to sleep. Then, one night when they were unable to stay awake, they fell asleep and died.
On first viewing one must forget all about Freddy and the franchise, then you'll find that A Nightmare on Elm Street is a well-mounted mystery/fantasy/horror. I'm sure there's no need for me to delve into the plot, but for those who were sleeping and haven't seen the original, or only saw the sequels, none of which came anywhere near as eerie and dark as the original, here you go All of Nancy's friends are dying in their sleep. She discovers that they were all suffering from realistic nightmares in which they were stalked by a shadowy figure in a red and green sweatshirt and a dirty old fedora. Nancy is now threatened by the same man in her dreams and knows she must solve the mystery if she wants to survive.

She discovers his identity as the notorious Fred Krueger, a child murderer that the Elm street parents hunted down and burned alive in retribution. Now, not only does he play cat and mouse with their children in their dreams, if he kills or harms in that realm, the same happens in reality. The story by Craven is ingenious, the music by Charles Berstein is memorably chilling and the photography by Jacques Haitkin is beautiful.
Six sequels followed & Freddy became a superstar, alongside other seemingly invincible maniacs who stalked the cinema at the period, in particular Michael Myers and Jason Vorheesetc. replacing the monsters of yesteryear; Dracula, The Mummy and Frankestein. Saxon and Langenkamp returned in parts 3 and Craven's attempt to put Freddy to bed, New Nightmare.
This best added features on the DVD are an interesting commentary by Wes, Langenkamp, Saxon and Jacques Haitkin and a theatrical trailer. This DVD is also the first part of the series in five-disk box set. A must for all Freddy fans.