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| Something vicious lurks in the shadows of sleep on this neat, painted poster for Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street |
I really love this film and definitely consider it better than the just reviewed American Graffiti.
Teenager Nancy and her friends find themselves in mortal danger due to the deceased neighborhood child molester Freddy Krueger, who steals them away in their nightmares.
The original Elm Street is the 7th theatrical feature from great Ohioan writer/director Wes Craven (The Last House on the Left (1972)). It has ultra-cool practical effects, Robert Englund's (I Want to Be a Soldier (2010)) charismatic, diabolical performance as Krueger, sweet girl Heather Langenkamp (The Demolitionist (1995)) as iconic final girl Nancy, Ronee Blakley's (She Came to the Valley (1979)) memorable turn as her souped-up mother, the always competent John Saxon (Killing Obsession (1994)) as her father and a very young, very delectable Johnny Depp (Lucky Them (2013)) as an ill-fated youth in his movie debut.
The central idea of getting offed by your nightmares is very scary and evocative, and Craven made this film an outstanding and marvelously entertaining classic for every fan of horror.
Related posts:
Wes Craven: 2011 in films - according to Film Excess Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistible slasher treat
My Soul to Take (2010) - Craven returns with a subpar teen slasher
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) or, Your Kids and the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs
Remake: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - Another terrible remake of a horror classic
Watch a short TV ad for the movie here
Cost: 1.8 mil. $
Box office: 25.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Mega-hit (returned at least 14.16 times the cost)
[A Nightmare on Elm Street premiered in October (West Germany) and runs 91 minutes. Craven based his idea on reports about male South East Asian refugees in America in the 1970s, who were dying in their sleep from extreme nightmares, while basing Freddy Krueger on his childhood bully. The prospect was rejected by major studios except for fledgling distributor New Line Cinema, who went into production with Nightmare, which solidified the company immensely. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from June - July 1984. 500 gallons of fake blood were used. Jsu Garcia (Traffic (2000)), who plays Rod Lane (as Nick Corri), had recently been homeless and took heroine during filming. Craven and New Line leader Robert Shaye disagreed on the ending, which made Craven reject making the first sequel. The film opened #10 to an 1.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it later peaked at #2 in its only week in the top 5, behind holdover hit Beverly Hills Cop. The foreign grosses are not made public, but the film must have made at least 30-35 mil. $ in total. Craven returned with Chiller (1985, TV movie) and an episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1986) and theatrically with Deadly Friend (1986). Langenkamp returned in Nickel Mountain (1984), Englund in V (1984-85), Hollywood Beat (1985, TV-series) and theatrically in the first Nightmare sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985). A Nightmare on Elm Street is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of A Nightmare on Elm Street?
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