I wanna be.... your sledgehammer!

Rating: Null/10 (30 August 2002)

This film is easily on my top three scariest films of all time. Sure, Freddy kinda got overexposed, what with Halloween costumes, toys, fifteen exceedingly bad sequels with another one on the way, talk show appearances, his own t.v. show, his own lingerie line, cookbook, website, board games, video games, condoms, etc., etc. available to the public. It's too bad because what made the first Elm Street work was the fact that you barely saw the guy at all. There isn't one scene in the movie where you get a real good look at this guy and to me, that's what makes the film scary even to this day. Even though the film contains many of the things that buried the slasher genre (the person investigating the strange noises for example), the movie still contains one of the more original stories seen in the horror genre. It's been imitated who knows how many times and while a little dated by the all too familiar '80s wardrobe, it's still pretty timeless. I don't know what's up with some of the music in this, it sounds like it was done with a really bad synthesizer. Heather Lagenkamp gives a great performance as the heroine and is the precursor for most of the slasher movie heroines that take a stand. Watch as she sets up a booby trap for Freddy with a door tripped sledgehammer to the chest! Watch for Johnny Depp in an early role. Definitely worth seeing or owning. Wes Craven at his best folks. Or would he be his best with Scream? Rating: **** out of *****.