Welcome to the Second Union 31 Days of Horror event! Every day leading up to Tuesday, October 31st, (starting Sunday, October 1st) we will post a review of one horror film.
Today’s Film: A Nightmare On Elm Street. Enjoy!
A Nightmare on Elm Street is directed by Wes Craven, the Master of Horror. It follows a group of teenagers who are haunted and slaughtered in their dreams by a mysterious figure with a clawed glove on one hand. Thus begins the investigation of why these murders are occurring, and how to stop the mysterious killer. It’s a great premise, and this is a great film. Wes Craven’s iconic slasher flick still holds up to this very day and it proves to still be scary, even if outnumbered by the massively engrossing special effects we have today.
I haven’t seen any of the other Nightmare films, but I’ve heard they went downhill after this one. So it’s no surprise people tend to focus on this film when one brings up the subject of movies that had terrible follow-ups. While it can be placed in that category by people, it’s a great film by itself, and for many reasons.
Freddy himself is perfectly portrayed by Robert Englund. I mean, this dude is not only scary, but he’s a really hilarious fella, too. He slices off his hand, and normally people would be disturbed, but it’s his facial expressions that make him one of the best villains in horror history. My personal favorite is the “I’m your boyfriend now, Nancy”, where his tongue flicks out through the phone.
The problems with this film are that at many points, the writing and acting can get on my nerves. Both can be really atrocious at times. The actors just seem to really be phoning it in, except for Johnny Depp. I’m sure nobody knew how big of a star he’d become, but he’s the only actor in this film who can support his part. The others just make the film look like a long, TV-MA Goosebumps episode. Pay attention and you’ll see where I’m coming from.
THE VERDICT
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a fun film but isn’t much more than your typical slasher flick. It has comedy, it has blood, and it has an awesome villain. However, its script and acting just don’t succeed as much as the other categories do. I’m going to give it a B+.
A Nightmare on Elm Street stars John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Nick Corri, Johnny Depp, and Robert Englund. Directed by Wes Craven.
