A Nightmare On Elm Street Review

By: Michael Lee

Starring: Nick Corri, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
Year:1984

Week 3 of our 2 months of Halloween review special! I found out the I-mockery.com, which we at Nerdism feel is the father of mockery/geeky sites, is also doing a 2-months of Halloween special, only theirs effects their whole site, including a new spooky themed layout, Halloween based articles, and some scary blogs. They're worth checking out once you get the chance.

"A Nightmare on Elm Street" is a horror classic, and a staple in any proper "the best of the 80's" list, article, show, etc. Recently, while shopping at a Target retailer, I came upon a few quadruple feature DVD 4-packs. For ten dollars, you could have bought the 3 "Matrix" movies and "The Ani-matrix", the four original "Superman" films, or the first four "A Nightmare on Elm Street" DVDs. Knowing a great deal when I see one, I purchased the "Supes" and the "Nightmare" 4-packs, plus a $5 "Ferris Bueller" DVD, and walked away with 9 movies for a tad over $25.

Looking back, I believe one of the worst things about my childhood movie-wise was that I never really like Freddy Krueger. I liked the nostalgia factor when talking about horror movies with my brother (who grew up in the 80's and is my go-to guy for horror films and He-Man trivia) but the movies never really impressed me. However, it occurred to me upon purchasing this set is that I've only seen 3 Kruger movies: The fifth one, Freddy vs. Jason, and another sequel, though I can't remember which one. Granted it has been a long time since I've seen any of those, I wasn't favorable of any of them. Jason was always my favorite slasher, based simply on the fact he looked badass in the hockey mask, and even though Freddy could turn into worms or doctors, or well f*ck it, Freddy could do just about anything seeing how he killed you in dreams, but he could never outdo that freaking hockey mask! Until now...

It's safe to say "A Nightmare on Elm Street" is my favorite horror movie. Just everything about it was pure teen slasher awesomeness. Like every movie, there is pros and cons, but the pros way out number the cons. The first thing I liked was just the concept of this movie. Homeboy killed you in your dreams, where anything is possible. Everybody knows this about the Freddy movies though, but I guess this concept's potential didn't really hit me until I watched it. It's so whimsical yet creepy, and completely original for it's time. Bravo, Wes Craven, bravo!

Another pro would probably be the acting. For a horror movie from the 80's, there are some really strong performances here. Nancy, our heroine, is a pretty, smart, and strong-willed girl, where as Johnny Depp's character is a sarcastic yet likable guy. This is one of the few movies where the kid actors seem to act better than the adults, as whoever portrayed Nancy's Mom was clearly unfocused.

Something else I enjoyed was the "Home Alone"-esque final battle. Nancy had just brought Freddy from her nightmares to the real world, where she has set up traps to kill the sonovagun. Trip wires with hinged sledge hammers above doorways, rigged explosions, this girl had it all. It was slightly distracting to see a badass like Freddy Kruger get sledge hammered in the stomach in such a comical way, but he did have it coming.

Finally, the last thing I really loved about this film was the effects. While surely the upcoming "Nightmare" remake will feature mucho CGI, Freddy didn't have this in the 80's, so he had to make with the true blue handmade special effects. While CGI opens up tons of possibilities (such as "Jurassic Park and most superhero films) I miss the good ol' fashion DIY effects. I'm sure all you Freddy aficionado's out there no how these effects are made, but some really stumped me. They were just that good. Like when Johnny Depp gets sucked into his water bed and blood squirts out and floods the ceiling upside down, that was amazing. Or when Freddy was set ablaze at the end of the film. Whoever the stunt man was actually in the Freddy suit, which was covered in fire. Not just a little fire either, nor was it in one scene, but for practically the rest of the movie. That's real effects, and effects I miss. I know I'm going off subject but movies like "The Gremlins" always seemed to look more realistic than say... The "Scooby-Doo" or "Hulk" movies, even when I was a kid. If there is one thing good to say about Troma films (and there is only one good thing to say about Troma films) it's that they don't use CGI effects in their horror movies. It's all hand-made, and I think that that needs a come back.

So, "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Good movie. It's an 8 for sure. Check it out, I'm sure some television channel will being playing Freddy marathons as Halloween approaches

 

8 out of 10 Super Scary Serial Killer's Hockey Mask.