A Nightmare on Elm Street

Rating: 9/10 (12 August 2008)

"Whatever you do, don't fall asleep." A Word of Warning:This user comment is for those who have seen the film.
You know, I often take away the memorable frightening images when watching this film, but this particular viewing had me focusing on something else..the ending. If you think about it, the entire film until that baffling final scene is one long nightmare. I was trying to wrap my head around it, because it seems we often overlook this very story arc. I always just told myself, that these four teenagers were being stalked by a nightmare slayer, whose perhaps targeting the children of those who burned him alive. But, it's all(supposedly) a scary concoction in the realm of Nancy's(Heather Langenkamp)sleep. I'm not sure if I just woke up from being under a rock or what, but it was something that startled me. Then the ending comes(..from what I understand, this confusing conclusion was set up by Craven as a favor to producer Shaye who was hoping to benefit from a sequel, and boy was rewarded!)and I was once again, as I always am, left with my jaw swinging open. I'll never truly make sense of that final scene, but Craven leaves enough lasting nightmarish images to take away that I'm completely satisfied each time I watch it. The shocking murder of Tina, sliced across the stomach, blood all over the place, dragged up the wall and across the ceiling. Then later, Tina in a body bag(yikes!)calling Nancy's name, later seeing her body, in bag, being drug across the school hallway leaving a blood trail. The invisible hanging of Tina's thuggish beau Rod(Nick Corri)in his jail cell, locked up as the one responsible for what Fred Kreuger did to her. The monumental death scene of Johnny Depp's Glen, pulled into a void in his bed(..television in tow)with a gushing water fall of blood erupting like a geyser throughout the ceiling and room. The imaginative occurrences which terrorize Nancy(..the telephone-tongue gag, the quicksand steps, the bladed glove slowly creeping from between her legs as she lies in her bath tub nearly asleep). Maybe Craven's overall product has flaws which seep through, but he provides so much to make your skin crawl. What playful ground Craven has to operate his ghoulish tricks..the nightmare world provides such freedom to kill innocent teens anyway you wish, as they run for their very lives with nowhere, it seems, to escape. A "filthy child murderer" who would brings kids to a boiler room to kill..certainly not the hero many would cheer down the road. Interesting, isn't it, that we often forget the evil fiend he really is. Craven gives this psycho free reign to torment and terrorize, the idea is certainly scary if you think about it. And, as far as Nancy, I was doting on the idea that this film is almost entirely(..if not entirely, depending on your opinion with that crazy finale)inside her nightmare, regarding her parents. Interesting that her mom is an oddball drunk and her dad is always gone. They rarely have anything nice to say to each other, and one can sense that this is in the nightmare for Nancy to deal with..a daughter bothered by the separation of her parents and how her mother deals with it through downing alcohol. And, it's always nice to see Freddy before he was the jokey psycho-clown. You rarely ever get a full glimpse of his face, he's the epitome of a prowler in the shadows who is always near yet hard to find..until it's too late, and you are caught in his grip. While I think the Shoulder's "Freddy's Revenge" has the scariest incarnation of Freddy, he's certainly given moments in Craven's film..such as that one scene where his arms stretch wide as he comes towards Tina, or when he "stretches" through a wall spying on Nancy. And, the smashing sequence where he elastically stretches from the center of a bed after "carrying away" Nancy's mom into some sort of abyss, ripping open the sheet from behind his arch nemesis who has seemingly figured out his ultimate weakness..he preys, like many a predator, on the quarry's fears. If one doesn't fear him, then he's vulnerable. Anyway, the film is always a roller coaster ride I hate to get off of..maybe it doesn't scare the hell out of me as it did when I was a kid, but I appreciate and admire the creativity and imagination Craven's supernatural slasher has.