Since Film & TV Now started these ‘I’ve Never Seen…’ reviews, it’s given us all great opportunities to sit down and watch those films we’ve always meant to get around to. There was no better time than Halloween to finally watch A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET!
Freddy Krueger is one of the most iconic and instantly recognisable on-screen villains in cinematic history. Knowing this before you’ve even seen the film that started him is makes it an interesting watch. When watching it, I couldn’t help but think of Freddy’s current reputation (more on this later). The film itself is a straight-forward slasher film with an interesting fantasy aspect to it. Some of the dream sequences are shot really well and everyone who has ever had a nightmare can relate to them. One particular shot which was great was a scene where Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is running away from Freddy and finds herself sinking into the stairs.
For a slasher film, there’s really only four deaths – one of which isn’t even on-screen. The film develops terror through aspects such as atmosphere and its creepy soundtrack! You can argue that, like many horror films, A Nightmare on Elm Street should be considered as violent nonsense, but it is clear that the people who made this took the time to try to make it genuinely creepy. There was a lot of effort put into this film, more so than you could argue is put into most modern horrors. The blood, the violence, and the disturbing background of the killer, all contribute to both the film’s video-nasty and it’s modern classic reputations.
There’s a lot of fun aspects to this film too; the dream sequences are great and it’s quite fun seeing the opening titles ‘introduce’ Johnny Depp. The only slight disappointment is the ending, it is clear that there were conflicting opinions about what the ending should be. It’s a little bit confusing, but they have tried to make the last five minutes as entertaining as possible, and there are a few really cool shots that will either freak you out or leave you laughing.
Overall, if you consider yourself to be a horror fan, you really should watch A Nightmare on Elm Street, it is simply one of those horrors you have to see. It’s an enjoyable enough film with some disturbing scenery and a really great debut performance from Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger.
While watching this for the first time, I couldn’t help but think of Freddy’s reputation today; an almost camp parody slasher who cackles as he slices teenagers, a popular marketing tool, an almost cuddly nostalgic throw-back reference with cameos in everything from music videos to Mortal Kombat! I thought about this whilst watching it, and I had to discuss it after my review!
You can tell from the first film that this was not director Wes Craven’s plan. As mentioned earlier, the climax was clearly the result of some sort of disagreement about how Freddy should come to an end. Wes initially intended the ending to be a happier one, with Nancy defeating Freddy and realising the whole thing was a dream. This ending suggests that Wes did not ever plan for there to be a sequel. However, the ending was changed to an admittedly creepier and downbeat ending, but it left the possibility of more Elm Street films open. You can tell Wes was slightly irked by the sequels, he even referred to them in Scream, where a character exclaims ‘Nightmare on Elm Street was good, but the rest sucked!’
With his character so prominent in popular culture, it’s easy to forget Freddy’s disturbing background; a child serial killer who is burned alive by the parents of the neighbourhood he terrorised, he now haunts the dreams of young people and kills them in their sleep. His severely burned face and razor-tipped gloves were supposed to horrify audiences. After several sequels, remakes, and even a spin-off TV show, the character’s terrifying traits have now worn off. Freddy Krueger is seen as a novelty character today, safe enough for kids to dress up as him for Halloween.
I remember seeing Robert Englund and this year’s Film & Comic Con in Glasgow, a boy in the audience timidly asked him to do Freddy’s voice – Robert then belted out something along the lines of ‘I’m gonna get you!’ and cackled, he was brilliant with the crowd. This apparently made the boy absolutely delighted, though it shows how the character is apparently loved enough that young children adore him too! In the queue to get his autograph, were several children perhaps about 12-14 years old.
You can argue that this has happened to most slasher icons; there have been a ridiculous amount of Friday the 13th sequels and several remakes and reboots of the Halloween franchise – certainly enough for audiences to be desensitised to both killers by now. The difference is that Jason and Michael Myers don’t really speak, it’s not part of their horror persona. Freddy Krueger maniacally laughs and taunts his victims before slaughtering them, this makes it easier for him to become a novelty. It’s quite easy to make him appear in a music video for Fat Boys’ ‘Are You Ready for Freddy?’ and make him say lines such as ‘don’t fall asleep or you’ll wake up dead!’
Robert Englund has accommodated to these strange appearances though. It is surprising that he still considers the character to be a terrifying one. He has stated on many occasions that Freddy is still scary and insists on reminding people that he is a child serial killer. So, how does a fictional child serial killer become a pop culture icon? You could argue it is down to Robert Englund’s great portrayal of him. Since he hung up his hat and razor-tipped gloves, the love for Freddy has gone downhill; the 2010 remake was greeted with little more than a shrug by audiences, despite its attempt to make the character even darker, and there appears to be very little appetite for the up-coming remake which hasn’t even been given a release date yet.
You could also argue that people love to hate Freddy, characters like Jason and Michael Myers are able to hold onto their initial terrifying appearances because they don’t talk. If you don’t know what someone’s voice sounds like, or what they are thinking about, it leaves you fearing what you don’t know about them. We know enough about Freddy; we know he likes to kill kids, he got burned alive, he was conceived after his mother was raped in an asylum, and that he enjoys a good cackle every now and then. As soon as you make it possible for someone to easily impersonate Freddy, you’ve made him an icon. His laugh and his costume are very recognisable, so it makes it easier for him to be assimilated into mainstream popularity.
I had not seen one Nightmare on Elm Street film in my life until last week, and yet I already knew what he looked like, what he sounded like, what weapon he used, and who he preyed on. All of this shows how his initial and intended terror in A Nightmare on Elm Street has more or less worn off for new viewers.
