A Nightmare On Elm Street (Original)
More than anybody else, Wes Cravenâs overall contributions to the horror genre are easily the greatest and most encompassing, going all the way back to the 1970s and consisting of several milestone achievements. His most impressive piece of work though, is this 1984 Grand Masterpiece that took the world by storm and introduced us to the most legendary of horror villains: Freddy Krueger, a burnt-face maniac and child killer who was roasted alive by vengeful parents and now comes back in the dreams of their children, stalking and killing them so that they die in real life. As played by Robert Englund (best known at that time for playing the friendly alien Willie on V), Freddy also has a perverse sort of swagger about him, taking his time playing mind games with you because he has such absolute confidence that no matter what you try to do to escape or outsmart him, in the end he IS going to kill you. Englund thus blew up big at the time becoming the ultimate horror superstar of his generation, mainly because of the fact (which was emphasized by the recent remake) that unlike the silent killers of horror like Jason, Michael, and Leatherface, that it was only HE who could ever play Freddy and do him justice, even as the sequels brought him more out of the shadows and acknowledged his iconic pop culture status by having him crack jokes and be more funny and cool rather than scary (not that that approach wasnât very entertaining in and of itself). Here in the original though, Krueger is the ultimate figure of darkness, the perfect boogeyman, made moreso by the fact that he is kept offscreen for much of the film even though the whole story is about him. With that said, the film is carried by Heather Langenkamp as the teenage heroine Nancy Thompson, and what can be said other than she goes right to the top as the all time greatest âScream Queenâ, plus quite simply the greatest female performance ever in a horror film to this day, one that definitely deserved awards consideration at that time. Playing Nancy at first as an innocent, nice teenage girl who realizes that an ungodly monster is after both her and her friends, we come to relate, admire, and very deeply care about her as she accepts the fact that it is up to her and her alone to confront this creature and try to figure out a way to stop him. Langenkampâs acting is so affecting that one wonders if she may have actually suffered from a recent real life trauma at the time of shooting in order to have reached the depths of her amazing performance. In other roles we have the unheralded b-movie legend John Saxon as the local police lieutenant and Nancyâs dad who realizes exactly what is going on when his daughter tells him about Krueger along with country singer Ronee Blakely as his ex-wife and Nancyâs mom who has drowned herself in a sea of alcohol to escape the reality that Freddy has returned from the dead and is after her daughter; Amanda Wyss (an actress whose career was hot at the time but soon fizzled out) as Nancyâs best friend and Kruegerâs doomed initial target; Nick Corri as Wyssâ tough guy boyfriend who is in for a surprise after a bout of sex; Roger Rabbit actor Charles Fleischer as a goofy dream specialist who tries to run some tests on Nancy with surprising results; and most famously of all none other than Johnny Depp (in his first ever role) as Nancyâs boyfriend whom she tries to get to help her with stopping Freddy even though he seems indifferent to the whole ordeal sheâs going through and doesnât even acknowledge having any bad dreams himself until his own demise which is one of the most gruesome in movie history (and certainly in the series). Unlike the later films, Craven strictly maintains a dark tone throughout which only adds to the scariness of the whole endeavor, and Charles Bernsteinâs creepy, iconic score increases the tension tenfold. The makeup and gore effects are just as they should be, with Freddyâs look certainly being unsettling and the blood definitely coming in buckets (as with Deppâs death scene) and the special effects in an 80s low budget film especially with so much of it taking place in dream sequences is done in a smart, practical manner that belies a lack of CGI and has just the right style brought to it (again, with Deppâs death scene). As a result, Craven succeeded in concocting the recipe for one of the most perfect horror movies of any era, ever, and Robert Englund forever proved that thereâs only one man who can play Fred Krueger, and his name is NOT Jackie Earl HaleyâŚ
10/10