A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Wes Craven

Writer:

Wes Craven (written by)

Release Date:

16 November 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

She is the only one who can stop it... if she fails, no one survives.

Plot:

In the dreams of his victims, a specteral child murderer stalks the children of the members of the lynch mob that killed him.

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Nightmare | Freddy Krueger | Psychopath | Death

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

John Saxon	...	Lt. Thompson
Ronee Blakley	...	Marge Thompson
Heather Langenkamp	...	Nancy Thompson
Amanda Wyss	...	Tina Gray
Jsu Garcia	...	Rod Lane (as Nick Corri)
Johnny Depp	...	Glen Lantz
Charles Fleischer	...	Dr. King
Joseph Whipp	...	Sgt. Parker
Robert Englund	...	Fred Krueger
Lin Shaye	...	Teacher
Joe Unger	...	Sgt. Garcia
Mimi Craven	...	Nurse (as Mimi Meyer-Craven)
Jack Shea	...	Minister
Ed Call	...	Mr. Lantz
Sandy Lipton	...	Mrs. Lantz

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA (2005 re-rating) | Portugal:M/18 | Iceland:16 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2007) | West Germany:18 (original rating) (1984) | Singapore:PG (heavily cut) | New Zealand:R16 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 | Italy:VM18 (original rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R (original rating) | Canada:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) | Mexico:C | Peru:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Norway:18 (video premiere) (1987) (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

1419 N. Genesee Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

For the famous blood geyser sequence, the film makers used the same revolving room set that was used for Tina's death. They put the set so that it was upside down and attached the camera so that it looked like the room was right side up, then they poured gallons of red water into the room. (The normal movie blood wasn't able to create the right effect for the geyser.)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After bringing Freddy into the real world, Nancy runs down to the front door and breaks the window. You can already see the cracks in the window that were probably made so it would break easier.

Quotes:

Nancy: What I learned in the dream clinic. That's what I'm trying to prove mother. Rod didn't kill Tina and he didn't hang himself. There's this guy. He's after us in our dreams.
Marge: But that's just not reality Nancy.
Nancy: [Pulling Krueger's hat out of a drawer] It's real momma, feel it.
Marge: Give me that damn thing!
Nancy: It even has his name written in it. Fred Krueger mom. Fred Krueger.
[Realizing her mother knows about him]
Nancy: Do you know who that is mother? Because if you do you better tell me cause he's after me now.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Great Outdoors (1988)

Soundtrack:

Nightmare

A real horror classic and among the best of all time.

This movie might very well be one of the best horror movies of all time, together with movies like "Poltergeist", "Dawn of the Dead (1978)" "The Exorcist" and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)".

I didn't expected it to be but this movie was just brilliant. Certainly the best slasher movie ever made. There are several things that make this movie a good horror classic. Of course the classic 'killer' Freddy Kruger is one of them. Another thing is the concept. Yes, the story of course is just simply ridiculous at times but it's the perfect concept to fill a movie with, with some scary scene's and brutal killings with tons of blood.

The movie has the same scary gritty atmosphere like a horror movie from the 70's, when the horror genre was at an all-time high.

The actors are giving their best but some of the dialog is just plain cheesy. Still I think that the actors should deserve more credit then they are getting right now, especially Johnny Depp made a impressive movie debut. The talent was already showing, back then. His role in this movie was way bigger than I expected it to be by the way.

Really entertaining horror classic. Some things might look cheesy, especially the ending (I really laughed my butt off!) and the story in general but the atmosphere, gore and Kruger make up everything! Guess you have to be a fan of the genre to fully appreciate it though.

10/10