A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

 

Horrorlegacies, they are very much a thing. Nothing new, because even from the 1930s studios loved them some sequels if the profit was good. But in the early 80s a new type of scary story began to emerge, meshing the supernatural with the slasher. You all know the cliché by now: a group of teens gets offed by a near unstoppable killer. But back then, this was new and fresh and especially director Wes Craven gave a whole new spin on this idea by merging the real world and the dream world until you can't really tell what's imagined or not anymore.

Nowadays everyone knows the character of Freddy Krueger thanks to the iconic portrayal by Robert Englund, but it is sometimes forgotten how effectively creepy and disturbing this first film actually is.

Along the unassuming Elm Street, the teenagers are all having a rough night because all of them are having recurring nightmares where they are stalked by a strange man with a killer glove.

Props to the design team for developing possibly the most iconic weapon ever, by the way.

If an overabundance of nightmares isn't enough to ruin the day, soon the kids are being killed one by one. Of course, none of the adults believe the kids when they say a ghoulish apparition from their dreams is actually responsible, but it does eventually transpire that the parents themselves have things to hide. One girl named Nancy does hatch a plan to trick this surreal entity and bring him into the real world where he can be harmed and possible even defeated, but maybe this isn't as straightforward as she might hope...

One of the reasons this film works so well, is because Wes Craven has always been a master in crafting a sinister atmosphere. The camerawork is suggestive and the killer is usually either hidden or in shadows, so the mystery remains. This is helped enormously by Robert Englund's portrayal, as he gives Freddy Krueger a wisecracking personality, which they would expand on in later films. Contrast that to the two other best known killers at the time (Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees) who are both silent. 

But the rest of the cast is pretty solid as well, especially Heather Langenkamp, who has to carry the film after a Hitchcockian switcheroo (remember 'Psycho'?). Granted, some of the other younger actors don't add much. One of those is Johnny Depp, who is just there but isn't engaging at all. 

Cool death scene, though.

The most unnerving part of this one is that you can't tell what is real and what is hallucinated and that adds to both the creepy atmosphere and the surreal experience. And sure, the swerve ending might be a little much, but apparently the studio thought they would have a hit on their hands and wanted things to be left open for possible sequels. They were right, but according to reports Wes Craven wasn't the biggest fan of the final shots and they do stand out a bit as they clash a little with what came before. But that is a minor gripe in the bigger picture.

'A Nightmare on Elm Street' is rightfully hailed as a classic and as the utterly horrendous remake proved, quite unique in its portrayal and execution and near impossible to imitate.