John’s Horror Corner: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Wes Craven’s creation of Freddy Krueger remains creepy even today
MY CALL: Not as scary as it used to be but every bit as fun, Wes Craven’s original Nightmare is a creation that no horror fan should be without. A little hokey by today’s standards, but also still creepy. MOVIES LIKE A Nightmare on Elm Street: Other classics everyone should see include Poltergeist (1982; discussed at length in our podcast #16) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), The Hills Have Eyes series (1977). For more recent horror with a similar sense of humor try Wishmaster (1997) and Hatchet (2006).
Now over 30 years old, I think it’s safe to say this is a horror classic…and it’s a classic I still enjoy and revere. However, like many “classics,” there are aspects of this film that will disappoint horror fans reared by films of the last 10-20 years. The effects are dated (although I love these practical effects still much as I do those in The Thing and The Fly), the plot and characters are a bit hokey at times (but that’s forgivable in the horror genre), and it feels more campy by today’s standards when it felt drop dead serious at the time of its release. So I contend that it is my duty to defend the importance of the classics to our younger readers and assign some homework to those who have not yet seen the pre-remake/reboot Freddy Krueger.
This film opens with a nightmare, and an inherently creepy one at that. We are taken to a shadowy, steam-spewing boiler room where a mysterious stalker rakes his “claws” across old pipes as he slowly advances upon his prey, his dreaming victim Tina. The evil assailant swipes his claws at her and she awakens with her nightgown shredded four-fold. Rattled by the experience, Tina shares her horrible dream with her friends Rod, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp; Star Trek Into Darkness) and Glen (Johnny Depp; Tusk, Dark Shadows), who have all eerily had similar dreams about the same “clawed” killer.
Written and directed by Wes Craven (Cursed, Deadly Friend, Deadly Blessing), we are introduced to the terrifying notion that someone (or something) can hunt and kill us in our dreams…and you really die! Our killer is Fred Krueger (Robert Englund; Wishmaster, Hatchet), a demonic power with an ugly red and green sweater, a single clawed glove, and a face still-moistly burned beyond recognition. As a villain, Freddy is iconic and has graced the screen for 9 films!
This film may not have the emotional power of Poltergeist (1982; discussed at length in our podcast #16) or the blunt-force trauma holy shit factor of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), but is instead its own entirely different animal. Freddy gives us hints of a twisted sense of humor as he cuts off his fingers and slices open his own maggot and pus-filled chest or licks Nancy and laughs through a possessed phone, but (unlike many of the sequels) there is nothing slapstick or comedic about it really. He is a twisted and pure evil. It’s intended to be sick and disturbing, not funny (to anyone but Freddy, that is)—although fans laugh at it today. We find these kinds of scenes delivered with a deliberate humor in Hatchet (2006), Wishmaster (1997) and so many more releases of the past 20 years…and also blatantly more deliberate in later installments of the Nightmare on Elm Street or Leprechaun franchises.
Simply meant to be terrifying back in 1984, Freddy looks a little hokey today—in a fun way. He runs down alleys like a crab with a limp waving his glove hand in the air, he jumps atop Nancy and rolls around instead of wisely slicing at her, laughs after mutilating himself. My movie companion actually said the movie, at times, felt a little dorky. And I couldn’t agree more.
Starkly contrasting these “dorky” scenes are dream sequences with a bodybagged Tina calling for help and being dragged away through the school hallway, the boiler room scenes, the harrowingly weird death scene of Nancy’s mother towards the end, Tina’s gravity defying death scene, and Freddy’s twisted laughter in the boiler room. These scenes remain “effective” to me, but they lack the right kind of production to remain sufficiently creepy or scary today (even with all the lights off as I watch). Of course, I’m a bit numbed by the hundreds of horror films I’ve seen. Perhaps these scenes will make you all quiver a bit. If not those, then at least the little girls jumping rope while reciting Freddy’s dark nursery rhyme.
Whoa! A cool death scene in any decade.
Timelessly creepy.
Look for John Saxon (Blood Beach, Enter the Dragon) and Lin Shaye (Insidious Chapter 3, The Signal) as we watch Nancy and her friends discover what drives Fred Krueger, learn his origin, and figure out how to defeat him through a combination of booby traps and bringing Freddy from the dream world into reality. Just try to ignore the lamely written controlling nature, denial and alcoholism of Nancy’s mother. It should also be noted that as Nancy, Langenkamp (not Robert Englund) carries the film. Freddy is done well with creepy execution, but he has almost no lines and little screen presence until the end. It’s Nancy who validates our fears, rallies awareness despite her parents’ disbelief, and battles Freddy.
Without going into detail, I should add that I still enjoy ALL of the practical effects in this film. Sometimes the simplicity makes it more gross, weird, off-putting, or even a bit funny.
The ending is deliberately sort of silly and illogical. But that was and remains a fun staple of horror—twists, even if stupid, that make us smile. If there was a deliberately funny moment, it had to be the last scene with the car and Nancy’s mother being cartoon-yanked through a tiny window on the front door.
Is that prop a blow-up doll?
This is a truly fun movie experience and worth the ride, even if you laugh today in 2015 whereas others screamed back in 1984.
If you need another trusted opinion, check out this review from Rivers of Grue.
Trackbacks
- The Best Horror Came from the 80s: Horror movies that stand the Test of Time and their more modern counterparts, Part 1 | Movies, Films & Flix
- Dawn of the Dead (1978), if Romero is an artist, the zombie is his brush | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner INDEX: a list of all my horror reviews by movie release date | Movies, Films & Flix
- Examining the State of Horror Cinema in 2015: A Look at the Current Trends, Auteurs and Squishy Noises | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), a sequel with a very different story to tell. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), perhaps the most rewatchable of the series and loaded with creative and fun kills. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: The Final Girls (2015), an excellent horror satire and a clever slasher metamovie. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Last Shift (2015), the story of a rookie cop in a haunted police station. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Lights Out (2016), Mama meets the Babadook as we watch Wan’s new vengeful ghost. | Movies, Films & Flix
- The Best Moments of one of the Worst Years in Horror: looking back 20 years to 1996 | Movies, Films & Flix
- The Best Transformation Scenes of Horror, Part 2: A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), Late Phases (2014) and The Company of Wolves (1984) | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master (1988), continuing the evolution of Freddy Krueger’s influence. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Phantasm (1979), the Tall Man and the seven evil dwarves. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Phantasm II (1988), the return of our favorite evil mortician the Tall Man, his evil dwarves, and his deadly balls. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994), and more of our other-worldly mortician the Tall Man, his evil dwarves, and his deadly balls. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Fright Night (1985), a favorite 80s vampire movie with comedy, gooey gore and monstrous fanged mouths. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Stephen King’s It (1990), reflecting on the TV-PG original before seeing the R-rated 2017 remake. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Stephen King’s It (2017), a worthy re-adaptation and R-rated remake of 1990’s TV-PG Pennywise. | Movies, Films & Flix
- The Best Moments of one of the Worst Decades in Horror: looking back 20 years to 1997 | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Friday the 13th (1980), before the days of Jason Voorhees. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Jason Voorhees avenges his mother’s death and brokers a slasher franchise. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Friday the 13th Part III (1982), making Jason more boring, 3D and campy than ever. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984), the best in the franchise so far, and introducing zombie Jason. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985), more boobs, body count and masked killer shenanigans advance the Tommy Jarvis story arc. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), introducing zombie Jason to more camp counselors and some of the most fun death scenes of the franchise so far. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), where psychotherapy meets telekinesis and Kane Hodder’s zombie Jason. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Hatchet II (2010), an intestine-strangling, curb-stomping, head-smashing good time…after a devastatingly slow start. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: Demon Wind (1990), a raunchy, cheesy, gory B-movie about lots of ugly mushy-faced monsters. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: The Editor (2014), a wonderfully gory and raunchy yet awkwardly written ultra-cheesy horror comedy. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984), Wes Craven’s surprisingly tame cannibal cult classic sequel. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: The Phantom of the Opera (1989), Robert Englund’s gory reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s fictitious classic composer. | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: The Curse of La Llorona (2019), watering down the Conjuring Universe with ill-executed the Mexican folklore of the Weeping Woman. | Movies, Films & Flix
- The Best Horror Workouts, Part 2: The Editor (2014), A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 4: The Dream Master (1988) and AHS: 1984 (2019) | Movies, Films & Flix
- Bad Movie Tuesday: Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990), squandering the strong final girl and slapstick bonkers violent legacy of part 2 (1986). | Movies, Films & Flix
- John’s Horror Corner: The Grudge (2020), not a reboot at all, but a jumpy popcorn sidequel with a great cast and dire atmosphere. | Movies, Films & Flix
Love the review! I too thought Freddy seemed dorky when I watched it on the big screen ten years ago. However, I think the nine films have watered down what was an incredible idea. It was simple, scary and sorta perfect. I love the practical effects and the feeling of hopelessness. Will you review the entire series?
Thanks. I probably will do the entire series and document the shift from horror to hilarity as so many fine reviewers have before me. “Watered down” feels like a very…ummm…polite description of what happened to Freddy over time. LOL. Although, at least this shift was deliberate. I enjoy the comedic aspect and Freddy’s villainous laughs and jokes in the later installments. Maybe the franchise wouldn’t have worked if they didn’t do that. We got a serious Freddy, and then we went the “fun” path taken later by the Final Destination franchise.
Imagine if Leatherface became a jester type like Freddy. He cuts a dude in half and mutters “time to split.” haha
Sounds like the NOES recipe for success. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre stopped at part 3 before going overboard in the 90s with its Next Generation mess.