Horrorfest film #12: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Do I even really need to talk about this one? Its the first in the then ridiculously popular series. Freddy was huge and that actually was his downfall. People loved his wisecracks of which there are very few in the initial entries thus hes actually a scary presence. It also helps that they relegate him to the shadows and very rarely do we get a clearly lit view of him. Theres more time spent discussing him as a threat than actually seeing him be so whenever hes not on screen his danger lingers. I have to admit it was a little freaky going to bed right after it last night. I mean, the concept is absolutely genius and perfect for the slasher genre. Their villains are usually inescapable and the dream world is a perfect playground for that. Its creepy to be unwillingly part of someones trap and very little here is played for laughs. The low budget means theres not much dream exploring beyond the suburban backdrop weve already seen but thats a plus to me. You can easily picture Freddy chasing you in your home town, school, or house with what were given. Sure the ending gets caught up in its muddled dream logic and parts feel like a silly precursor to Home Alone but it does little to weaken the overall film. A horror film with imagination to spare is a rarity and its one thing Ive got to give the Elm Street series. Most of the time youre looking for good kills and Freddy never disappoints. Wrap that up with a fast tight structure with an interesting enough main protagonist (that we almost never break away from whereas regular horror splits up the time between a group or other) and youve got a film deserving of its high status.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 08:33:56 +0000
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