“Whatever you do… Don’t. Fall. Asleep.“
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Johnny Depp in his film debut. The film’s plot concerns a group of teenagers who are targeted by Krueger, an undead child killer who can murder people through their dreams, as retribution against their parents who burned him alive.
The original film was released in 1984. A series of sequels produced by the independent film company New Line Cinema followed. New Line often attributes the growth of their company to the success of the Nightmare series. The film series as a whole has received mixed reviews by critics, but has been a financial success at the box office. When comparing the United States box office grosses of other American horror film series, A Nightmare on Elm Street is the third highest grossing series in adjusted US dollars. In 1988, a television series was produced with Freddy as the host. The pilot episode focused on the night Freddy was burned alive by the angry parents of the children he had killed, though the rest of the series featured episodes with independent plots. Twelve novels, separate from the adaptations of the films, and multiple comic book series were published featuring Freddy Krueger, as well as a crossover film featuring fellow horror icon Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise. A remake of the 1984 film was released in 2010, while a reboot is in development.
Favorite Character
This time I have to say I have two favorite characters in the movie: Freddy Krueger himself and the final girl of this movie, Nancy Thompson.
Freddy is just iconic as a slasher villain. He has a unique look and manner of stalking his prey. Also as the series goes on, he tends to get a weird sense of humor, making him a little more entertaining than most other 80’s slashers.
Nancy on the other hand is a perfect foil for Freddy, as after she was able to find out there was a weakness to Freddy, she was immediately ready to set a trap to get back at him for what he’s done to her and her friends.
Favorite Scene
This scene is the one that perfectly explains Freddy Krueger’s supernatural powers, and also a visual explanation as to why he scared me so much while I was growing up. He haunts your dreams!