A Classic that rewards with repeated viewings

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2009)

I rate Nightmare as my third favourite horror, only behind The Omen and The Exorcist. Freddy Kreuger is one of the all-time great characters in movie history and he is played with the right amount of gusto and unnerving dread by the underrated Robert Englund. He embodies this character so well that there is no way anyone else could play it. Testament to the fact that they got him back for Freddy Vs Jason.
Some people knock the sequels and it is true they don't have the horror of the first but they have that one staple ingredient that never leaves. Freddy.
I can remember the film coming out in the mid eighties but being young I never had the nerve to rent it. I had had been scared s..tless by a viewing of The Exorcist and didn't plan to go through another few sleepless nights like that. After number three (Dream Warriors) had been out on video for a while, curiosity got the better of me and I rented it. A decision I'll never regret.
People who know me know the story of when I was living in London and a friend of my cousin told of a great new film that was out. It was called An Angel at My Table and he said I should go see it. Standing outside the Prince Charles Theatre in Leicester Square I was standing there looking at two posters advertising the films playing. One was Angel the other was Nightmare on Elm Street 5. Needless to say I went to see Freddy. My cousins friend was disgusted. I upheld my decision which was the right one because I went and seen The Piano three years later and that is two hours I can never get back.
It is a tribute to Freddy and his creator Wes Craven that I still enjoy the odd scare, although there hasn't been a horror film since Nightmare that has come close to that feeling of exhilaration and fear.
Thanks.