A Nightmare on Elm Street - 1984

A Nightmare on Elm Street – 1984

1984 gave us the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the release of the hit movie, "Ghostbusters", the sale of the first Apple Macintosh computer, and the first commercial CD players. We were also introduced to the man/monster that would haunt our dreams for the next 26 years, and for some of us right up to this very day. That monster was the demon in the red and green sweater with razor fingers and a creepy fedora. His name? Freddy Krueger.

"Nightmare" was the brainchild of Horror Legend Wes Craven. Unlike Michael and Jason who were are a part of the “waking world”. Freddy lurks where you are most vulnerable, your dreams. There was an interview with Craven that said he had gotten the idea for "Nightmare" after he had seen the news stories about the “Asian Death Syndrome”, A group of refugees had come to America to escape the reign of Pol Pot, and within a year of arriving, three men had died, with the situation the same in each case; the young, otherwise healthy, man would have a nightmare, then refuse to sleep for as long as possible. Upon finally falling asleep from exhaustion, the man awoke screaming, then died. Autopsy results revealed that they had not died because of heart failure, they had simply died. That was attributed to night terrors from the trauma they suffered. But, what if something was creeping around your dreams, waiting for just the right moment. Have you ever awoken in the morning to find bruises or scratches on your body that you just could not account for?

This film is violent and delightfully gory. It is rumored that over 500 gallons of fake blood were used during the filming of this movie. Though some of the special effects are campy by the CGI standards of today they were amazing and cutting edge “back in the day”. The makeup department did a spectacular job of making Freddy something to haunt your dreams as well as the red and green paneled sweater that has become associated with our favorite dream demon.

This movie does not start off slowly. You are introduced to Freddy pretty early on, though we are not given his name until much later. We get the feeling from the atmosphere at the beginning of this film that this is not “Happy Rainbow Fun Time”. It is very dark and ominous with a wonderful soundtrack to delight your ears as much as the sets will delight your eyes. This has always been my favorite film in the series for a couple of reasons. Aside from Wes Craven's New Nightmare in 1994, this is the only other Freddy film that Wes Craven directed, he was credited as a writer for Dream Warriors as well. The other reason is that the rest of the series has a much lighter tone when it comes to Freddy. He ends being more of a wise-cracking villain, as opposed to the monster that he is in the first film. Even though he only has less than 7 minutes of screen time, in that time, he solidifies his place as one of the scariest Horror demons in history.

The cast in this film is a great collection of established actors that have impressive resumes, some actors that were unknown at the time but would become household names for horror fans everywhere, and one very special young man who would go on to become a megastar. Let's talk about our cast. First up is a personal favorite of mine. The very talented John Saxon. He was already a well-established veteran actor by the time the role of Lt. Donald Thompson came to be. He plays Nancy's father, who is divorced from Nancy's mother but he still is a part of her life and becomes increasingly protective of his little girl as things play out in his sleepy little town. John is known for playing cops and villains. He is also, no stranger to the horror genre, having roles in “Blood Beast from Outer Space” (1965), “Queen of Blood” (1966), to an episode in “Night Gallery” (1972). He became our favorite Lt. In 1984 and then reprised the role again in 1987 for Nightmare part 3 “Dream Warriors”. His career continues to this day where you can most recently see him in the 2009 film “The Mercy Man”. John usually plays gruff but caring characters, and this time it is no different. He can see what is going on around him but has a secret that he would rather take to the grave then let his daughter know. Though that secret could be what saves them all.

Next up is our heroine Nancy, played by Heather Langenkamp. Heather was relatively new to acting when she landed the role that would make her a household name to horror fans worldwide. Nancy has always been one of my favorite heroines in the horror genre. She looks like a normal teenage girl, she is not too skinny, not too thick, she just looks average. She also has smarts, she can see what is going on and that the answers she is getting from the adults don't flow with what she is seeing. So she can push her fears to the side long enough to be able to work through and come up with an answer for everything that is going on. Heather would become Nancy again in the third film in the franchise “Dream Warriors” as well as go on to play “herself” in the widely popular “Wes Craven's New Nightmare.” She also had recurring roles in such well-known TV series as “Just the Ten of Us” and “Growing Pains”. She has most recently signed on to join the cast of the newest installment of the Hellraiser franchise, “Hellraiser: Judgement “ due out in 2017.

Onto an actor who was a virtual nobody and has since become a megastar. I am talking about, of course, Johnny Depp. The role of sweet boyfriend Glen was Johnny's first role. There is actually a funny story about this role and how he ended up with it. It seems that Johnny went to the audition with his friend Jackie Earle Haley and instead of Jackie being chosen for a part, Wes asked Johnny if he would like to read and was given the part of Glen. It all worked out in the end though. Johnny was Glen and that launched his career and Jackie went on to play Freddy 26 years later in the 2010 remake of the film. When you watch this early role of his, you can see the charisma and genuine acting ability that would carry him on to become a household name. Because of this role and his talent, he later went on to become the widely popular characters of Edward Scissorhands, Captain Jack Sparrow, Sweeney Todd, and even a slightly creepy version of Willy Wonka. But Glen is a bit different from all of those roles. He was the typical All-American boyfriend, sweet, caring, conveniently located right across the street, and knew how to climb trellis' so that he didn't have to use the front door. Though not the smartest of all the characters, his heart was in the right place and he just wanted to help Nancy get to the bottom of what was going on.

It's time to talk about the demon who haunts our dreams and the man who brought him to life. Robert Englund was already an established veteran television actor by the time the role of Fred Krueger came into his life. This was the role that would propel him into the hearts and nightmares of horror fans worldwide. It also led to roles in the 1993 film “Night Terrors”, 1998's “Urban Legend” and two of my favorites the 2014 “Sanitarium” and the 2015 horror gem “ Fear Clinic”. But we are here to talk about the role that made him the man/monster we all love to fear. We don't know much about Freddy Krueger when we first see him, we don't even know his name. We just see a man, horribly disfigured, with a glove of razor knives on his hand and a very dirty, creepy-looking red and green sweater. It is pretty clear though that he is up to no good and does not have “sunshiny happy plans”, should he get his hands on the young woman he is chasing. Elm Street has always been a favorite of mine, because like Jason and Michael before him, there is no real sympathy for the villains. They are meant to scare the hell out of you. And Robert does a great job of this. Even when later in the series he is more of a wise-cracking killer than the ominous monster that he is in the first one. There is still enough there to fear. Robert is able to do so much with his 7 minutes of screen time in this first film. He paints a lasting impression and even though he is not visible in all the scenes, you can feel his presence and know he is somewhere lurking just beyond the shadows.

This film is another horror movie collection staple. It seems pretty tame by today's standards but stands the test of time well. It is the start of what because a blockbuster franchise, a though short-lived, pretty cool TV series, more merchandise than you could shake a stick at, as well as a character that has become one of the most recognizable faces in horror film history. If you have not had a chance to see this, or you want to rinse the sludge from your eyes left by the 2010 disaster of a remake, grab some popcorn, turn down the lights and get to know the real monster that is Freddy.

Ratings:

2 of 5 – there are a sex scene and a few braless underwear shots, and I think a brief side boob shot. Though nothing really graphic in nature.

3 of 5 – again this is a film with a small cast, so the bodies pile up pretty well.

4 of 5 – There is A LOT of blood in this film, it is rumored to have used over 500 gallons of fake blood, as well as great makeup for the death scenes, this movie is pretty gory.

3 of 5 – The premise of this film, Freddy himself and the great special effects and makeup team make this a scary film for those who are not used to or don't really care for scary movies.