Starring: Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Johnny Depp, Ronee Barkley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Joe Unger, Charles Fleischer.
Year Of Release: 1984
Certificate: 18 (UK)
Runtime: 91 Minutes
Director: Wes Craven
Synopsis: "In the dreams of his victims, a spectral child murderer stalks the children of the members of the lynch mob that killed him." IMDB
Freddy was the first true "boogeyman" in my life, I remember watching this film about 15 years ago, he was the monster that made me fall in love with this beautiful genre. Since that day I have been watching Horror films religiously I would not like to even speculate on the number I have seen. Since that first time I have watched it every Halloween since and countless times throughout the year, this year is no exception seen it twice already and will be viewing again on the 31st.
The film opens up with a very ominous scene of what we can presume is a man creating what can only be described as disturbing, the scene really sets the tone for what is to come dark, evil, monstrous and death. Cut to the next scene we see Tina Gray (Wyss) finds herself walking down a dark, creepy hallway hearing eerie laughter then out of nowhere a goat, yes a goat. Tina now finds herself in a boiler room the constant dripping of water, the laughter the sense that she is not alone. Then it begins you hear the claws scratching the metal, a glimpse of a hat, face and a man in the distance, the sound of goats, she's backed into a corner then boom he strikes we get our first glimpse of the scariest slasher I have ever known. I can pretty much play this scene in my brain from memory now.
I don't want to talk to much about the story, it just has to be seen to be appreciated, Wes Cravens directing in the two opening scenes in which I mentioned are so on point you will watch them and know what the film is going to be like.
People will argue that majority of the success for "A Nightmare On Elm Street" comes for the performance given by Robert Englund as Fred, which is not entirely wrong a lot does come from that but also from Cravens writing and directing. Englund plays a very subtle but still menacing presence as the demonic antagonist. Englund is not the only one to shine in their role though, Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson she adds a vulnerable yet intelligence that really shows when her character develops throughout the film. The main shame comes from the displays from the majority of the supporting cast who do nothing but read their lines they are not stand out in any way.
Cravens baby shall we say will forever live on as the absolute pinnacle of the Slasher genre at a time when people and even studios were giving up on the sub-genre. Craven has even spoken recently on his Instagram about how there was nearly no Elm Street. The film is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and it is still loved across the many generations who have seen it, and me personally I will continue to tell people how perfect a film it truly is so I will help keep it alive for whatever time I am on this planet hoping you guys and girls will also.
Overall, the film is a masterpiece in its genre and for me personally a triumph in what a man can do when he puts his whole heart into a project. There is some problems with the acting but that happens in EVERY Horror film, the effects, the story, the acting of Englund and Langenkamp, the directing, the music, just everything makes up for that. The greatest slasher in history, I'll say it the best monster/villain performance since Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster in "Frankenstein" 1931, there I said it.
10/10
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