One of Craven's best

Rating: 10/10 (21 May 2005)

Wes Craven is one of the best known names in the horror genre, and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" is one of his best! In the wake of his success with Nightmare, Craven was able to get movies made - even if nearly all of them were horror films (he was typecast as a director). During the late '80s and early '90s, he made a string of forgettable motion pictures. Following the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, he largely turned his back on the series (although he did executive produce the second sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors). However, in 1994, he used a new and radical concept to take control of the Nightmares for one final outing, Wes Craven's A New Nightmare, which brought things full circle, once again blurring the line between reality and fantasy. In the wake of A New Nightmare (which was largely praised by critics, but was given a lukewarm greeting by horror fans), Craven turned his attention to Scream, the success of which advanced his reputation further.
A Nightmare on Elm Street is tailor made for those who like their gore leavened with thought-provoking ideas - something that is a rarity in this genre. Sequels dumbed down the series to a regrettable degree, but the first movie still stands on its own as an intriguing and chilling example of how horror works best when the characters and the audience don't have to be lobotomized. Those who appreciate scary movies can do no better than a double feature of Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Taken in tandem, those two films epitomize all that was good about '70s and '80s horror films.