A Nightmare on Elm Street

Wes Craven, USA, 1984, 91 minutes

Somewhere in the surplus of mostly-mundane sequels and TV tie-ins, razor-gloved fiend Freddy Krueger lost every shred of credibility that this film ever gave him. The central, essentially terrifying theme that writer/director Wes Craven focused on was never properly exploited after this original. Craven presented characters trying to stay awake indefinitely because to sleep faced them with a terrifying and probably terminal ordeal. Freddy, though a memorable character, could have been any nasty piece of work and the blood-soaked special effects are merely the garnish. The real horror lies in the ultimately hopeless battle against sleep. (Anyone who has ever stayed up all night attended a 9am lecture may have something of an insight here.)

Freddy is nevertheless a classic character when seen in the movie's fluid dreamworld, captured convincingly as scared teenys stumble around. His knives-on-pipe screech and dark sense of humour all contribute to the atmosphere, and the scene in which his origin emerges is worth many an uneasy shiver. It's very difficult to believe that actor Robert Englund, previously seen as little-boy-lost Willie from the sci-fi TV series V, is the face behind that twisted, melted mask. Heather Langenkamp is also worth a mention as Nancy, the resourceful and independent heroine who keeps her head while the boys are losing theirs (among other things).

Nightmare is not without its disappointments, particularly the messy glued-on final scene and the parents' dogged refusal to believe their terrified children. But viewed as a one-off film, it's a good scare and worthy of respect.

Review by Gavin Inglis
Taken from EUFS Programme 1992-93