Minor horror classic with some genuinely scary bits

Rating: 8/10 (5 September 2016)

Wes Craven's 1980s horror classic delivers a memorable villain in the shape of Freddy Krueger, who's been burnt alive and looks a lot like a half-regenerated Uncle Frank from HELLRAISER, only with less blood. Robert Englund is suitably loathsome as he rips apart his victims with his knifed glove. Heather Langenkamp is a typical scream queen as Nancy Thompson, the girl who watches her friends die at the hand of the dream demon, helpless as her parents (her father, a police lieutenant, is played by John Saxon) refuse to believe her. Johnny Depp has an early role as her boyfriend whose life ends in literally gallons of blood.
Krueger is killing in revenge for his burning by the teenagers' parents. He only appears and kills in dreams, which makes it hard to catch him, as although he is the stuff of dreams, when he kills it happens in real life. There are some suitably scary moments, especially the part where Nancy is beckoned by one of her dead friends in a body bag. Some nice gore adds to the film, one effect where a girl is slashed by invisible knives standing out. The film has some violent, frightening moments and the use of the "is this happening or isn't it?" is put to good effect. An effective film by Wes Craven, although I fail to see why it spawned numerous sequels as the formula is quite restrictive (although the same can be said for HALLOWEEN and Friday the 13th). However, it does deserve status as a minor classic, as it summons up a few genuinely scary moments which terrified me as a child.