Quintessential and defining horror

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2013)

Murdered serial killer Freddy Krueger appears in the teenagers of Elm Street dreams to exact revenge for their parents unlawful actions.
Made in 1984, it's inevitably dated slightly - only loosing it's edge due to imitations and sequels, nevertheless, it still retains much of its eerie factor and many of the effects still hold up today. (That said, Freddy's long arms segment are just as tacky and odd as they were back then.)
Heather Langenkamp's Nancy goes against the stereotype and look of usual damsels in distress lead and to director/writer Wes Craven's credit he's uses the Psycho (1963) casting ploy with Amanda Wyss as Tina. An unknown (at the time) Johnny Depp appears and veteran John Saxon give some weight to the film in an extended cameo, the rest of cast are above par for the stigmatized genre. Notable is Ronee Blakley as Marge Thompson Nancy's alcoholic mother.
There are many standout moments - the hand between Nancy's legs in the bath scene, the body bag in the corridor, the bloody ceiling and bed deaths, the shock ending and more, actually too many to mention. This coupled with Charles Bernstein's excellent and memorable score, sound design and creepy makeup effects is enough to deliver chills.
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a quintessential and defining horror that made a star of Robert England sowed the seeds for Freddy's pop icon status. Craven delivered a novel concept and villain which has been imitated many times since.
With an assortment of slasher, fantasy and horror - nightmare mixed with reality has never been quite equalled since.