Wes Craven is a great director especially when it comes to horror movies. He created one of the most famous characters of all time, Freddy Krueger. “Nightmare on Elm Streets” plot is simple: Long ago the parents of Springwood burned child killer Fred Krueger alive. However the children of those who killed him have started seeing him in their dreams and Nancy Thomas being the last of her friends has to fight for her life.
“Nightmare on Elm Street” is definitely one of my favorite horror movies and franchise. All the actors are great in their parts. At first the movie makes it seem like Tina Grey will be the protagonist of the film. However Craven kills her off in the beginning and now we have Nancy. Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is your typical sit in the back of the class room type of girl. However she grows throughout the film becoming stronger so that she can beat Freddy. John Saxon and Johnny Depp also do a good job in their parts. We also cannot forget Robert Englund who plays Freddy. Englund is down right creepy and maniacal. Although Freddy is more creepy then scary, the things he does to some of the kids are scary and soul wrenching. I think it’s also interesting that his face is mostly hidden in the dark through most of the film and is shown clearly only a few times. I think Craven does this so that the audience has to guess what Krueger really looks like. Probably the scariest scene in the film is when Tina dies. She first flies out of bed and onto the wall crying for her boyfriend (which is the most chilling part because there’s nothing the guy can do and I myself hate that feeling) and eventually gets dragged to the ceiling and then she gets cut and falls to the bed. Of course we cant forget Johnny Depps death scene which had me saying “What the hell.”
The special effects in Nightmare are fantastic. No CGI what so ever just creativity. Like the blood gushing out of the bed, Tina’s death, Freddy walking through bars… well you know the others. It helps the horror when everything looks real.
Another chilling part of the movie is the music itself and that haunting rhyme that is sung by the jump roping children. The music is very simple and haunting, I believe Craven came up with it himself. The piano thing just always send a chill down your spine and the rhyme even more so.
Wes Craven did a great job with this movie and created a character that will be remembered long after I’m gone. Still to this day “Nightmare on Elm Street” will send chills down your back and make girls clench their boyfriends.
I give “A Nightmare on Elm Street” a solid A
Here is the link to part 2: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/fancentral/news/?a=18873