A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: Wes Craven

Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Johnny Depp, John Saxon

Rated: R (bloody horror violence, terror, some sexual content, brief nudity, language)

Alright, alright, so I didn’t pick this one at random. But come on, it’s Halloween. And the title does start with an N…

A Nightmare on Elm Street, otherwise known as my favorite classic horror film and the movie that scared the crap out of me as a kid. A Nightmare on Elm Street tells us the story of several teenage friends who are haunted in their dreams by a man with knives for fingers, a burned face and who wears a red and green torn sweater. His name? Freddy Krueger. (Even if you haven’t seen the movie, I guarantee you know the name).

After one of her friends, Tina, dies, Nancy becomes determined to find out what exactly happened to her. The boy she had been with when it happened begs Nancy to believe him when he says he had nothing to do with it and it’s only until Nancy is haunted in her dreams that she believes him. The more investigating she does, the more Nancy starts to understand that Tina was murdered by none other than Fred Krueger in her dreams and that the two of them weren’t the only ones dreaming of him.

That really is all you need to know. I mean it’s a slasher movie how much plot are you expecting there to be? Basically the entire movie is Nancy discovering that her and her friends are all dreaming of the same thing and that in order to save her friends from dying, she must figure out a way to defeat Krueger.

Now you may watch this movie and think it’s completely ridiculous, and I understand that. The effects aren’t the best and the plot is a bit out there, but I personally have always thought of A Nightmare on Elm Street as a fantastic horror movie, the main reason being that it’s original. If you think about it, slasher/horror movies today (or at least the popular ones) are pretty much all the same. They’ve got your stereotypical characters you’ve seen way too many times, the gratuitous sex scenes, the stupid and annoying jump scares and painfully predictable plots. While Nightmare does have a sex scene here and there and some fairly bland characters, the plot is very different and frankly quite creepy. What scared me most about it as a kid was how it introduced the idea that I could potentially be murdered in my most vulnerable state. Or even worse, the fact that in my dreams – a place in which I feel most at peace – I could be destroyed by a murderous lunatic. Even as an adult that’s pretty scary.

Aside from the story, there are other things I just can’t help but love about this movie. For one, the music is great. I mean it sets the mood perfectly; it’s creepy and even kind of catchy. Also great for scaring your best friend who just happens to hate the fact that you made her watch the movie. (One, two Freddy’s coming for you…) I suck.

The acting is also enjoyable. I’m not saying it’s Oscar worthy (on no), but it’s just really energetic. Like everyone in it went just the right amount of over the top which makes watching it way more enjoyable, what with the screams and totally dramatic writhing around in bed. It’s great. This leads me to the last thing I love about this movie, which is the overall energy level. It’s got suspense, drama, comedy and lots of scares. Wes Craven was smart in not taking this movie completely seriously and it’s clear that he was able to poke a little fun at the whole idea.

I guarantee that if you’re a fan of scary movies that you’ll enjoy this one. If you’ve got popcorn and a few friends it’s a lot of fun. I know it’s technically November now (woops) but keep it in mind for next year!