A superior film in the genre

Rating: 10/10 (27 August 2009)

I think that the massive exposure the public has had to Freddy, along with the numerous (and mostly terrible) sequels have destroyed the credibility of the first film.
It's easy to say "it's a slasher film" because teenagers die, and teenagers always die in Freddy and Jason movies, but I don't think this movie was ever intended to be viewed in the same way as those other films and other Freddy sequels have since been viewed -- by a bloodthirsty audience that "rated" the kills for their "awesomeness". This is of course, is the exact vein upon which the remake is being built in this, our era of horror-porn. The problem I have with this is that you're not really supposed to be in "awe of the coolness" when Tina is dragged across the ceiling -- you're supposed to be terrified of the enormous power wielded by an unknown figure through dreams and you are supposed to relate with the utter hopelessness that these characters face. Wes Craven went to great lengths to personify this in the first film obviously, through his writing and character development.
Unlike the other films, this movie is completely somber and practically joyless. In the sequels, the writers are constantly hinting at the possibility of beating Freddy while gearing them up for the next "spectacular!" kill scene, and always comforting the audience that there will be a happy resolution (until they screw you over with the last second reveal that will guarantee another sequel).
There is all this long and supportive dialog between the characters in the sequels "We can fight him! We can beat him!", where in the first film, all of these characters (and especially Nancy) are pretty much on their own. Glenn will help comfort Tina, but only up to the point that it interferes with his lustful feelings for Nancy or his patience. Glenn supports Nancy, but abandons her by falling asleep on her the first time (dismissing her sincerity, not with his words but with his actions) and then falling asleep and dying before he was to come to her rescue as they'd planned. Nancy distrusts Rod and abandons him mid-conversation in the jail and is unsure of his motivations until just before the moment he dies. Rod and Tina are connected mostly by physical attraction and show little else (though they briefly show a somewhat deeper connection in there post-coital moments). Lt. Thompson just wants his "baby girl to get some sleep" and get out of his hair while he does his police work. Marge maintains appearances, but is more dedicated to a bottle of Vodka then her family, in addition to hiding ugly details about her past. Even Tina's mother is short with her in the first scene, annoyed that she was awakened or interrupted and then summoned by something as silly as a nightmare.
There is such a feeling of distrust and disconnectedness between these characters even before the killing starts -- they are already doomed by their vague sadness and broken connections. They are all adrift and without a friend in a cruel world of which there is no hope of escaping or possibility of someone reaching out to them.
In my mind, this is what makes it far superior to any of the other films. New Nightmare is a good film, but in a completely different way then the first film, and it certainly does not compare as a piece of surrealist horror. The third sequel possess some of the qualities of the first film (making attempts at emulating the tone of the first film) but it unravels due to them breaking rules set by the first film in order to cheat the audience and also by imbibing Freddy with this jokester-smarminess that would get out of control in the subsequent sequels.
I always preferred the term "fantasy terror" to slasher film for this picture. It certainly has elements of a slasher, but it has SO much more and putting it on level with Friday the 13th or even Halloween (which IS a slasher movie, but it's one of the first and the most well-done one) is doing it a disservice in my opinion.