By the time A Nightmare on Elm Street was released in 1984, the slasher flick phenomenon was already in full swing. Halloween and the Friday the 13th films had already made Michael Meyers and Jason Voorhees leading icons of the horror genre. Director Wes Craven brought something new to the table. With inspiration from several newspaper articles in the LA Times in the 1970s—a group of Cambodian refugees, who, after fleeing to America from Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime, were suffering disturbing nightmares, after which they refused to sleep. Some of the men died in their sleep soon after.
As the story begins, teenager Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and her friends begin having the same strange dreams, about a strange man stalking them through a boiler room. He has razor-sharp knives attached to the fingers on his right hand. Just as he catches her, she wakes up screaming and discovers four razor cuts in her nightdress. Nancy’s mother (Ronee Blakley) explains that the man’s name is Fred Krueger (Robert Englund), a child murderer who killed about twenty kids before a vigilante mob of neighbors tracked him down and incinerated him. Now, Krueger has figured out a way to return and exact vengeance in the dreams of neighborhood teenagers. Waking up is the only way to escape him.
It’s Nancy’s dreams that seem to set off the deaths that happen around her. The first to bite the dust is her friend, Tina (Amanda Wyss), whom Krueger slashes to death after she has sex with her boyfriend, Rod (Jsu Garcia, aka Nick Corri). Since Rod was in the same room with her when it happened, the police lock him up for the murder. Later, Rod is found strangled by his own bed sheets in his cell. Notably, Nancy’s boyfriend Glen is played by Johnny Depp in his film debut. Glen’s job is to stay awake while Nancy sleeps. Unfortunately for him, Glen drifts off to sleep…
A Nightmare on Elm Street sticks to an obvious plot, with no real surprises. Kill the teens and up the gore quotient when necessary. I found the film much scarier the first time I saw it, than in subsequent viewings. However, I will admit that certain scenes still manage to give me chills: when Nancy grabs Freddy’s hat off his head during a dream and wakes up to find it still clutched in her hands. That is freakish stuff!
Made on an estimated budget of just $1.8 million, A Nightmare on Elm Street has a low budget feel to it. The sets are minimal and all the actors who played the teens, had little or no prior film experience. Much like the original Friday the 13th film, much of the acting is forgettable. However, it’s acceptable here, because the real attraction is the actions of the unforgettable Fred Krueger. It should also be noted that the villain wasn’t yet referred to as “Freddy.”
Presented in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Warner Brothers 4K transfer is the definitive way to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street. Clarity and detail are sharper than ever. Grain is intact, giving the proceedings a real filmic look. There are some brief moments of softness, which is expected, given the films low budget origins. Nonetheless, depth is satisfying throughout. Blacks are pleasing too, though not as inky as current films tend to be. Colors are surprisingly vivid. Blood is realistically red. Primaries such as green and blue are vibrant. Flesh tones look appropriately lifelike. The film is free of any real scratches or artifacts.
The Dolby Atmos track is a strong one. The new sound design results in a fuller audio experience. Atmospherics are more intense—every scare and every scream offer a higher level of edge-of-your-seat dread. The synth score adds to the creepy feel of things. Dialogue is clean, clear and concise throughout.
Several legacy extras are available on the included Blu-ray of the film. We get a pair of audio commentary tracks. The first, labeled as a “filmmakers’ commentary,” features Writer/Director Wes Craven, Actors Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon, and Cinematographer Jacques Haitkin. For a track with four participants, it flows nicely and never comes across as unfocused or jumbled. There’s plenty of discussions about the film’s origins and story as well as several conversations revolving around the shoot and look of the film. The actors share more anecdotal stories from the shoot while the crew members cover the more technical elements.
The second track, dubbed the “Cast & Crew Commentary,” features several participants, including Writer/Director Wes Craven; New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye; Actors Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, and Ronee Blakley; Producers Sara Risher and John Burrows; Cinematographer Jacques Haitkin; Composer Charles Bernstein; Editors Rick Shaine and Patrick McMahon; Mechanical Special Effects Designer Jim Doyle; Special Makeup Effects Artist David B. Miller; and Film Historian David Del Valle. The participants were recorded individually and edited together for content and flow, and are introduced audibly by name and title as they speak. This is a must-listen for A Nightmare on Elm Street fans.
Behind the Story is a collection of four larger features grouped under one heading. Focus Points is a feature that allows viewers to, when prompted, click an icon to be taken to various behind-the-scenes segments, some of which are simply culled from other extras found around the disc. Never Sleep Again (1080i, 49:54) is a very good making-of documentary that covers a lot of Nightmare information, looking at the background of Writer/Director Wes Craven and his previous work in the film industry before A Nightmare on Elm Street, the creation and design of Fred “Freddy” Krueger, the process of selling the story to New Line’s Robert Shaye, casting the parts, the challenges of the shoot, the process of creating and applying the Freddy Krueger makeup, prop design, special effects creation, Englund’s performance, the large amount of blood in the film, the extensive stunt work, the various endings, the editing and scoring, and the film’s release and legacy. The House That Freddy Built (1080i, 22:47), is a solid piece that looks at A Nightmare on Elm Street’s impact on both the horror genre and New Line Cinema, along with a solid overview of the various films in the Nightmare franchise, the legacy of the series, and New Line’s horror films that followed. Rounding out the extras from the Behind the Story tab is Night Terrors (1080i, 15:58), a piece that features a host of professionals discussing the world of dreams. Also included are three alternate endings, each presented in 1080p high definition: Scary Ending (1:39), Happy Ending (1:31), and Freddy Ending (1:46).
