Review of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) by Spangle — 03 Oct 2016

All-time I have rated very few films a perfect 10. This is not a rating I take lightly. It has to be a film that is somehow immediately going to be among my favorite films of all-time. It has to be a film that not only has an immediate impact upon me while viewing, but is one that sticks with me. As such, it is rare for a film to be initially given a perfect 10. It is something that gets built up to over time when it dawns on me just how perfect the film truly was. A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of those films that I knew about halfway in, there was going to be some internal discussion about whether or not this was a perfect 10. With about 20 minutes left, there was no doubt in my mind whatsoever. A Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror behemoth. Few horror movies exist that are better than this film thanks to a thoroughly creepy atmosphere, otherwordly and inventive premise, horrifying score, and a knack for proving to be absolutely petrifying.

Quintessentially 1980s suburbia, A Nightmare on Elm Street's first achievement is creating likable characters and then dropping them in this supernatural world. Immediately, the audience identifies with these people and is equally confused by what is transpiring in the film. Never truly showing its cards as to the limits of this dream world that director Wes Craven has crafted, A Nightmare on Elm Street keeps you guessing even as you believe that you have begun to figure how things work. This is best showcased at the end where (I'M SET TO RUIN THE ENDING HERE) Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) declares that Freddy Kreuger (Robert Englund) is merely a dream and has no power over her in the real world. This logic is based upon her being told by boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) that there is a culture in which the entirety of their art and literature is created through dreams. For bad dreams, they turn their back to the monster and do not give it power, so they survive and the monster dies. A Nightmare on Elm Street sets you up with this element and provides what would have been a deeply unsatisfying ending in which Freddy dies and Nancy leaves unscathed. I want her to live, but not in some hocus pocus nonsense matter. Craven then brilliantly pulls the rug out from under you and you realize that this nightmare is not over, rather it is just beginning.

This dreamworld created by Wes Craven proves to be one of the most interesting worlds I have seen in a film as it is truly expansive and seems to defy all logic (in a good way). This world proves to make the entirety of the proceedings that much scarier, as you realize that Krueger is always lying in wait for his victims and just waiting for them to sleep in order to catch them. There is no escaping his creepy claw hands or his raspy warnings of your imminent demise. The fear instilled by the thought of Krueger is bolstered significantly by Charles Bernstein. Supplying A Nightmare on Elm Street with a truly tremendous score, Bernstein outdoes himself in assisting Craven to set the right mood with the right downright scary tones played during tense moments. If the events on the screen did not place you on pins and needles, then the ambiance supplied by Bernstein will do the job. Scary in its own right, the score of a horror film is usually the make-or-break element for me when it comes to judging its success. A Nightmare on Elm Street gets full marks.

Often times, a film can lose scariness over time just because it gets a bit cheesy at moments. Admittedly, John Carpenter's Halloween features some of these age spots. I loved it all the same, but it did hold it back from being even better (notice too the cheeky reference to Halloween when Krueger holds up a lifeless white mask that used to the face of Christina, his first victim). In A Nightmare on Elm Street, there are no age spots. No moment played comically, rather each punch thrown by Wes Craven lands with the force offered up by a heavyweight boxer. The end result is a film that leaves you feeling numb, on edge, and thoroughly unwilling to ever sleep again. It is a film that has aged gloriously and not just captures the feeling of 1980s suburbia perfectly, but also dumps you into this world to experience the events alongside the characters.

It is honestly weird. I love horror movies, obviously. However, I would not call horror my favorite genre. Yet, many of my favorite films (The Silence of the Lambs, Psycho, The Shining, and It Follows, for example) are horror films. Adding in A Nightmare on Elm Street, there seems to be a trend at the very top of my favorite films. All the same, when watching a film, I want to be impacted. I want to feel something. A Nightmare on Elm Street delivers on this as it sure as hell made me feel something. Watching this horror behemoth felt unlike any other viewing I have ever undertaken. It is an experience that will not let go and will undoubtedly haunt me in my dreams.