A modern classic

Rating: 9/10 (9 February 2005)

Tim Lucas commented in a recent edition of "Video Watchdog" that the movie world would've been a lot better off if there had been no sequels to "Halloween", "Friday the 13th", or "A Nightmare on Elm Street". While the "Halloween" sequels ran out of steam and "Friday the 13th" was such a lousy movie that the sequels really didn't damage it, the movie monster that suffered the most was Freddy Krueger. With each sequel even more witless than the last, Krueger was changed from the nightmare demon of the original to a combination of bogeyman and stand-up comedian that has just become boring and tiresome. To wash that bad taste from your movie taste buds, you need to return to the source  the original "Nightmare". Craven, supposedly working from his own nightmares, created a bloody and atmospheric shocker that intriguingly mixes in themes of vigilantism, its' effects on a family unit, and inherited guilt. The story is pretty basic  four teenagers are being menaced by a shadowy killer, but the kicker is that this killer only appears in their dreams, dreams that become so realistic and frightening that by the end of the movie the sole survivor can't tell the difference anymore between what's real and what's not. It's interesting to note that the kids attacked in their dreams have NEVER done anything to deserve their fates  their bloody demises are the direct result of their parents' revenge against a child murderer who was caught and released only to kill again. By that act of mob justice, they've marked themselves and their children for destruction both physical and moral. Of the four main kids, one is a juvenile delinquent, two live with their alcoholic mothers, and the fourth's parents are so busy they don't even notice that their son regularly sneaks out every night to spend time with his girlfriend. But let's not forget Freddy. In the original, he's a shadowy and menacing dream-presence who has a personality, but isn't in the least bit funny. He bursts into their dreams and viciously mutilates them before killing them in their dreams (and thus killing them in real-life). There's a lot of shocking and bloody visuals in this one  if you really want to trip yourself out, watch it alone and at nightand then see what dreams you have.