A Nightmare On Elm St. (1984) Directed by Wes Craven. Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund. IMDB says: “In the dreams of his victims, a spectral child murderer stalks the children of the members of the lynch mob that killed him.”
If Psycho made us afraid to take showers and Jaws made us afraid to go to the beach, then A Nightmare On Elm St. made us afraid to go to bed. ANOESfollows a group of teenagers who are all experiencing similar nightmares with the same monstrous figure. Their nightmares become reality when this figure starts killing the teens off one by one in their sleep.
So many things work in favor for ANOES, first of which is a great premise. By 1984, when ANOES was released, movie goers are already very familiar with the Slasher genre; at that time movies like Prom Night, My Bloody Valentine, and sequels to major hits like Friday the 13th, and Halloween have been around for years, there wasn’t anything really new to add to it. But here comes Wes Craven with this crazy idea of this killer who murders you where you feel most safe, inside your home tucked in your bed. Genius. The concept hadn’t been done before and it was something everyone related to. As a child Jason didn’t scare me because I didn’t go camping, and I wasn’t concerned about Michael Myers because I had no idea where Haddonfield was, but I damn sure went to bed every night so ANOES scared me.
While on the subject of scares, ANOES gave the world one of the most iconic characters in horror movie history, Freddy Kruger, played wonderfully by Robert Englund. From his signature sweater and fedora to his gruesome face and killer glove, Freddy was created to be Horror Royalty. What really set him apart from other Slashers was that Freddy had style. Monsters like Jason and Michael M. were just mindless killing machines, just hacking at anything that stood in their way, Freddy on the other hand toyed with his victims before killing them. As the film series goes on Freddy even develops a sense of humor and you find yourself rooting for him.
When mentioning Freddy you have to address the other side of the coin, the heroine of the film, Nancy. Just as Kruger is unique among his contemporaries, so is Nancy, played by Heather Langenkamp. Nancy is not the helpless flailing scream queen that somehow makes it to the end of the movie alive, she’s a gutsy girl who doesn’t let her fear take over her and brings the fight right to Freddy’s doorstep.
Set design played a big part in ANOES, some of the scenes and the techniques used to shoot them were ahead of their time. ANOESis full of iconic images, like a bloody teenager being dragged across the ceiling by an invisible assailant, Freddy Kruger’s arms extending to the entire width of an alley, and of course a fountain of blood gushing from a bed and pooling on the ceiling. Did I mention not one bit of CGI was used, because you know, it was 1984? DIY, bitches.
So this review begs the question, after 30 yrs. does A Nightmare On Elm St. hold up? And the answer is yes and no. I am a HUGE fan of this movie and the sequels that came after (except part 2, no one likes part 2) so I watch ANOESwith a strong sense of nostalgia, it takes me back to when I was 5 yrs. old watching a copy my brother dubbed off of basic cable. With that said, people like will enjoy this movie and will continue to do so for another 30 -if not more -years to come. Now those with eyes that are unobstructed with the rosy glasses nostalgia provides may see a movie that is predictable and doesn’t break new ground. That view is definitely valid but I would like to challenge you. I want you to look at this movie like it was your first time seeing it in 1984. ANOES is a modern horror classic that has undoubtedly left it’s mark on the genre, if what you’re seeing seems predictable and “done before” because this movie did it first. Tropes weren’t always tropes; they were once novel ideas that people loved enough to repeat. A Nightmare On Elm St. has earned its place in the horror Hall of Fame, and is a film that everyone should see.
