BLOOD WORK: HALLOWEEN HORROR DAYS ~ DAY 25: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)

Wes Craven was, without a doubt, one of the modern horror cinema masters. Very few directors have pushed the horror boundaries as far as he did. With films like THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, which left me and my friend sick to our stomachs afterwards, and THE HILLS HAVE EYES Craven showcased some of humanity's worst nightmares and greatest fears. The depths of darkness he mined with his films can only be described as pure horror. For many of his earlier horror efforts he explored horror from a realistic view, the horrors that could really happen to people. But it would be through an exploration of nightmares themselves that would be his greatest success.

Once in a great while an idea comes along radically different from any others. All the right elements come together and an icon is born. Wes Craven, Robert Englund, and the rest of the crew did exactly that with the film A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. It was unlike anything Wes Craven had ever done before and unlike anything the world had ever seen. Fred Krueger is nothing short of the stuff of nightmares. A demonic court jester. An inner demon hellbent on our self-destruction. And sleep. We all need to sleep. We can't escape it. Sleep is as inevitable as death and in this film sleep means death.

No horror film before and no horror movie since has been as creative and terrifying as A Nightmare On Elm Street.

THE PLOT

Nancy is having nightmares. Vivid and lifelike dreams with a dark figure inside terrorizing her. What's even more frightening is that her friends are also having nightmares, the same fiendish figure frightening them. Suddenly one of her friends dies. Then another friend dies. And another. And Nancy's nightmares are getting worse and feeling real. The tormentor in her dreams is getting closer and she's sure he's the one who killed her friends. Somehow, she doesn't know how, their dreams are killing them. She has to do something if she is going to survive. But all she has is a name: Fred Krueger. And a secret she must uncover before it's too late.

THE GOOD

The Concept. Wes Craven once read an article about a boy having horrid nightmares. The boy was convinced the nightmares would kill him... and they did. Craven took this strange story and it became A Nightmare On Elm Street. Everyone has dreams whether we remember them or not. Some of these dreams are so vivid we lose ourselves in the reality of them. Some dreams are fantasies we wish we'd never wake from. And others we wake from in a cold sweat with our heart racing, relieved that it was only a dream. Or was it? This phenomenon is universal. Everyone can relate to the experience. That's one of the reasons why this film is so incredibly potent. Wes Craven tapped into a primal fear that's been with humanity since the dawn of time. And what's even more frightening is the question of how one begins to fight their own dreams.

Infinite Possibility. Anything can happen in our dreams. The wildest of fantasies come to life. When it comes to horror movies a majority of them result in people being murdered with guns or edged weapons. Murders grounded in reality (mostly). In Elm Street the deaths are anything but ordinary. Sliced open while floating on the ceiling. Pulled down into an ocean below the bathtub. And being eaten by one's own bed and liquefied. These are only some of the nightmares in Elm Street. This film gives audiences sights they've never seen before, waking nightmares on the screen. The possibilities are endless, limited only by the filmmakers imaginations.

Fred Krueger. Perhaps the most frightening character cinema has ever produced. Nothing is beyond Krueger's reach nor are we able to escape him. We all have to sleep sometime. His character design too is horrific along with the ghastly things he can do. And his intelligence. He's not a single-minded brute in a mask but a monster that knows our deepest secrets and worst fears. But what really brings the character to life is the performance of actor Robert Englund. Channeling incredible depths of human darkness and infusing that depravity with a sinister glee, Robert Englund, Wes Craven, and the make-up effects team created an icon. Fred Krueger has become a modern Dracula.

THE BAD

Limitations of the era. With endless possibilities and wild scenarios requires impressive special effects. And while some of these special effects are quite convincing others show their age. The technology of 1984 couldn't match the filmmakers' imaginations at times. But even so, all one needs to do is suspend their disbelief at times and let themselves be immersed in the story. It's only a few shots too that don't quite convince. The majority of the effects are brilliantly realized and ahead of their time. In reality there is very little about this film that fails to impress.

THE VERDICT

For modern horror cinema and horror films in general, A Nightmare On Elm Street is one of the best examples of the genre. The concept is one that every person in existence can relate to. And the character of Fred Krueger is the embodiment of fear itself. The men and women who brought this film to life managed to capture perhaps humanity's oldest and most enduring fear. And they brought something new to the screen. Endless possibilities inhabit this film as well as the inevitable fear that after watching it we too must go to sleep eventually.