A Nightmare on Elm Street

Inspired by a real condition where people die while having a nightmare, A Nightmare on Elm Street helped define the slasher movie with its innovative use of surreal special effects. The clever spectacles all were done under the constraints of time and budget, yet still made tremendous use of their resources to send shivers down the audience’s spine. Two of the characters’ deaths were filmed inside a revolving set, and it made possible the horrific sight of blood cascading upward from a bed onto the ceiling. There are more visual tricks to explore the possibilities of a killer who can use any means possible to attack his victims in their nightmares by bending reality, be it by turning the stairs into goop or by chopping off his own fingers.
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Yet none of this would have been nearly as impactful without the iconic design of Freddy Krueger, a villain whose appearance was inspired by a scary drunk man Wes Craven ran into as a kid. With his red and green striped sweater that’s meant to hurt the eye, and with his burnt skin made to resemble pepperoni pizza, Freddy Krueger has become one of the greatest horror villains ever. Wes Craven’s career-defining film right here may be just as flawed as any slasher movie, but it sure as heck set the gold standard for what any scary movie must do to make the audience feel a bit queasy!

R (DLSV)
Horror
1 hr. 31 min.

Watch it for FUN.
​Watch it to feel AFRAID.