A Nightmare on Elm Street Review

For a man that fights his way into people’s dreams to kill them whilst they sleep, Freddy Krueger isn’t that imposing of a monster. His Dennis the Menace jumper, tatty 50s detective fedora and burns that make my close encounter with hot water in January look like child’s play, they all come together to make an iconic Halloween costume. Something you can slap together rather quickly, by all accounts that’s how the later films in the series apparently feel. But, as horrific as those seem to be, the film that started it all, A Nightmare on Elm Street is still as terrifying as I expect it was upon its initial release.

A slasher at heart, rumbling along with a few common tropes tucked neatly behind vivid dream sequences. These sequences are by far the best aspect of the movie, an innovative take on conventional kills coupled with some genuinely impressive direction and set design. Wes Craven’s direction here compliments the film nicely, his fleshing out of characters and focus on red herrings for our protagonist and her friends are very well rounded and rather interesting. It goes down similar routes to be found in his later work, Scream, a wrongly convicted character, but this time presented as a genuine setting, rather than a scathing, post-modernist pop at films of the previous generation.

My persistent issue of dealing with flat characters who have no real drive in life outside of getting rid of the bad guy are nowhere to be found throughout A Nightmare on Elm Street. Young adults who are generally likeable, who we can actively root for, rather than generic, one-note characters offed in bland, random, or entirely infantile and boring methods. It’s nice to see that there is indeed a general sense of depth to the terrified teens plagued by Krueger, adding a layer of connection to the characters with simple quirks or brief scenes between the group.

Krueger himself is, well, rather scary at times. He’s one of those horror icons where the more you see him in pop culture, references and other mediums, the less terrifying he becomes. As a kid, you could mention the name Freddy Krueger to me and I’d be pretty scared, even though I hadn’t seen the film. Maybe I’m just desensitized to him now, but A Nightmare on Elm Street isn’t as scary as I’d first expected it to be. One moment towards the end of the film made me jump, which is far more than anything modern horror has managed to coax out of me so far, but there’s still much to be desired. You won’t be hiding behind the sofa watching this one, I wasn’t, but that’s mainly because I watched this at my desk, and even if I wanted to hide behind the sofa it’s pushed back against the wall, so it’s unfathomable to say the least.

Craven crafts a great bit of horror here, with A Nightmare on Elm Street relying on the strengths of its world-building and generally enjoyable performances. An early role from Johnny Depp sees him support the capable performances of Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund. Kreuger is an icon of the genre, but the real horror of his role is questionable, with a popular demeanour Craven has built through ominous-sounding nursery rhymes, bumps in the dark and full-blown nightmare fuel. It’s an interesting mix that I can’t quite put my finger on, but it makes for a thoroughly entertaining film.