Review of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) by Ben B — 11 May 2012
The original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" wins points for it's original premise and willingness to not comply with all the standards of the genre that had been used up until that point. The main villain Freddy Kruger doesn't get a whole lot of attention in this one, more serving as an effective background evil that permeates the picture.
There is plenty of creepy and uncomfortable moments, and it's fun to see a young Johnny Depp in his first role. I felt the silly ending hurt the movie, but obviously it was done to set up a sequel.
The climax just became a little too over-the-top for my tastes. "A Nightmare on Elm Street" is well-made but cannot compare to the expert direction of "Halloween", missing some of the suspense and tension of that picture.
However, the main lead in this one does thankfully use some smarts that horror characters seldom demonstrate. Some cheesy 80's horror moments aside, it is a solid picture that fits right in with the other big franchise-starters of its time.
This review of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) was written by Ben B on 11 May 2012.
A Nightmare on Elm Street has generally received very positive reviews.
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