Retro Review: A Nightmare on Elm St. (1984)

Apr 292010

In preparing for this review, I watched this movie for what should be around the 5th or 6th time. ¬†I’m a pretty big fan of the Kruger franchise but have only seen this first part of the franchise a handful of times. ¬†As far as the remaining films, I’ve only been through those about once each and with the exception of Dream Warriors and New Nightmare, I don’t have much in the way of intentions for the rest. ¬†I’ve promised that I would never revisit the second one since it just punched me in the face with a bizarre amount of stupidity. ¬†Hell, it’s been over 10 years and I still think that’s one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. ¬†But I’m not here to specifically talk about any of those more so than I am to cash in with a review of the original film, which has a remake releasing tomorrow.

It feels superfluous to rehash the plot of this film but given that someone hitting this page may have never seen Nightmare or, more likely, has a skewed idea of what it’s actually about given the over exposure the series had in the 80s and 90s, I’ll go ahead and spit it out. ¬†Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) discovers that she and her friends are beginning to have the same nightmare each night- a man named Fred Krueger (Robert Englund), complete with a five bladed glove, chases them and in extremely vivid details. ¬†Then Nancy’s friend Tina has an exceptionally horrible nightmare that results in her untimely death at the hands of Freddy. ¬†Nancy learns that the dreams she shares with her friends are not just coincidental and this motivates her to uncover the truth about Freddy.

I remember the first time a friend showed me this film and he described it as director Wes Craven’s “masterpiece.” ¬†Given that Craven wrote and directed the film, I find this to be an obvious statement. ¬†The very idea was a rather original one at the time of it’s release and it’s no surprise that it spawned a full eight films plus an imminent remake. ¬†This might be a stretch but I think you could also have films like The Matrix give credit to¬†Nightmare given it established this idea of being able to die in your dreams (or in the case of The Matrix, cryostasis). ¬†It at least made this concept acceptable to a mainstream audience. ¬†A lot of people may not realize this but the whole idea was borne out of a few newspaper articles Craven found where a group of men refused to sleep due to the absolutely horrific nightmares they were having. ¬†I recall from some of the supplements on the DVD that Craven even referenced an individual hiding a coffee maker in their closet much like Nancy does in the film. ¬†When the men did eventually sleep, they were found dead. ¬†I can’t recall how public that source material was made at the time of it’s release, but if it was I’m sure it added to the legend surrounding the film. ¬†Not only that, but the very fact that Freddy can kill people only in their dreams, a time that is somewhat safe otherwise, creates an original and relatable danger for the audience.

And of course that’s just the first half really since the main thing you’re likely aware of with this film is Krueger himself. ¬†To call him iconic is something of an understatement. ¬†I’d wager that he’s the most recognizable monster from film since Dracula, Wolf Man, and Frankenstein. ¬†Hell, even my mom, who has not seen a single frame of the Nightmare films, emulates the dude when she’s totally dorking out. ¬†What’s interesting though is how different the Freddy in this film is from the character that headlines the sequels which followed. ¬†If you’re only slightly familiar with him, you probably think he’s a bit of a jokester first and a killer second. ¬†It’s very apparent that it was not always the intention, especially of the films with Craven’s involvement, to make Krueger a monster to root for. ¬†I don’t know if that decision originated from Englund or the production team on the latter films but here in the original film, while he does make a few jokes, he’s all about the killing/revenge. ¬†To put it bluntly, he’s pure evil incarnate and a huge threat to anyone involved. ¬†In the later films, not only is he a joke but at times you can almost believe that characters can reason with the guy, at least to make you chuckle, before he dispatches them accordingly.

I know this isn’t a review as much as it is me giving a proverbially hand job to one of my favorite horror films but here’s a few things I’ll critique from my latest viewing. ¬†For one, the music sounds horribly dated. ¬†Synthesized music was all the rage back in the mid-80s, with a lot of producers arguing that it would completely replace your standard orchestrated material entirely. ¬†Of course we know this never came to be but now we’re left with this Casio Keyboard sounding garbage. ¬†The theme itself is recognizable but at times it went into “porno-bad” levels.

Another thing that was a little off putting was Langenkamp’s portrayal of Nancy. ¬†No one particular scene comes to mind but there are instances in this film that call for various levels of melodrama. ¬†I understand that Nancy is supposed to show signs of being broken, especially given that she stops sleeping for several days. ¬†My concern is that while the performance may have been acceptable at the time of release, modern audiences may dismiss her as the strong female character she actually becomes. ¬†I mean, it’s a horror film so we’re kind of used to this sort of thing but still, I didn’t remember some of the line deliveries being that stilted. ¬†All of the acting is overshadowed by Englund’s performance anyways so it’s not that big of a deal.

So there you have it- I really love this film. ¬†I haven’t made a list, but I’m sure this film would be in my top 10 horror films of all time. ¬†The version I watched was a DVD release from around four years ago (labeled Infinifilm or some form of marketing from New Line). ¬†The video and audio were great considering it’s standard def and there are hordes of special features I didn’t get to. ¬†That said, New Line/Warner has released a Blu-ray version of the film, which I can only imagine is superior. ¬†Bottom line- any way possible, if you’re a horror fan you should check this flick out.