“One, two, Freddy’s coming for you….”
I revisited 1984’s A Nightmare On Elm Street over the weekend. It’s been quite a long time since I last saw it and decided to see just how well the film has stood up over time. Aside from a few aged special effects, it holds up surprisingly well. The review below features spoilers, so beware.
For anyone unfamiliar with the film, here’s a quick plot rundown for you: A group of teenagers are terrorized by a creepy villain with a bladed glove. He’s severely burned and tends to hang out in a boiler room. He picks off the teens one by one but one of the potential victims, Nancy Thompson, begins to study the villain and discovers a way to put an end to his reign of terror. She then actively pursues the villain. Oh, did I forget to mention that the baddie, whose name is Fred Krueger, attacks the teens in their dreams? Yep, that’s exactly what he does and it’s up to Nancy to stop him.
The film stars Heather Langenkamp as Nancy and John Saxon and Ronee Blakley as her divorced parents. Her boyfriend, Glen, is portrayed by Johnny Depp is his first film role. Her best friend, Tina, is played by Amanda Wyss and Tina’s boyfriend, Rod, is played by Nick Corri. Fred Krueger (best known as Freddy Krueger) is portrayed by Robert Englund and would continue to be portrayed by Englund until the 2010 reboot when Jackie Earle Haley would slip on the glove.
The film is probably best known for many of its kill scenes and the fact that Nancy doesn’t cower to Freddy but instead actively seeks him out. This is one of the earliest slasher films to feature an intelligent “final girl” who isn’t saved by someone else or makes a bunch of mistakes throughout the film. The movie spawned seven sequels including one “real world” sequel where Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, and writer/director Wes Craven portray themselves being pursued by a real Freddy Krueger. As already stated, a reboot was released in 2010.
Tina and Glen were lucky (or perhaps unlucky) enough to have been the victims in two of the most iconic kill scenes in cinematic history. In her dream Tina is battling Freddy. In the real world, Rod is watching helplessly as Tina battles an unseen villain under the sheets. He then sees her lifted out of the bed with blood spilling from her stomach and watches as she is smeared across the walls and ceiling of the room. Glen is literally sucked into his bed. A massive shower of blood then emits from the hole and covers the entire ceiling. Both of these kills were visually amazing and done with practical effects alone.
Other moments weren’t quite as iconic nor have they held up over time. At one point in the film Nancy answers a call from Freddy. He says, “I’m your boyfriend now, Nancy,” and the receiver of the phone turns into a tongue that licks Nancy’s face. Perhaps the worst effect in the film is at the end when an obvious dummy of Nancy’s mom is pulled through the glass on a door. Moments like this are a harbinger of what’s to come in the franchise as many of the kills become progressively sillier with each sequel until Wes Craven’s New Nightmare makes Freddy a more serious villain.
Freddy is a pop culture icon that is right up there with Jason, Michael Myers, and Ghostface. You don’t have to be a horror fan to know who he is and that shows you just how popular the character has become over the years. A Nightmare On Elm Street isn’t perfect, but it is a perfect introduction for Freddy and the character of Nancy has spawned plenty of copycat final girls who aren’t afraid of the bad guy and will do anything to end him. I really loved how Nancy’s hair actually gains grey streaks as she tries to stay awake, fights with everyone who believes that she’s going crazy, and eventually successfully squares off with Freddy…..or does she?
Check this movie out. It really scared me as a child but has lost all of its bite as I’ve matured. Langenkamp, Wyss, Depp, and Corri all give solid performances. Saxon is excellent as Nancy’s helpless father who is attempting to discover the real murderer. Blakley is great as Nancy’s alcoholic mother. Robert Englund IS Freddy Krueger. Craven kept the pace moving nicely and the film never gets boring. I definitely recommend it.
Thanks for reading my post. I’ll be visiting more classic horror films soon!
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