A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Directed by Wes Craven [Other horror films: The Last House on the Left (1972), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Stranger in Our House (1978), Deadly Blessing (1981), Swamp Thing (1982), Invitation to Hell (1984), The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984), Chiller (1985), Deadly Friend (1986), The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Shocker (1989), The People Under the Stairs (1991), New Nightmare (1994), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000), Cursed (2005), My Soul to Take (2010), Scream 4 (2011)]

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a classic – that’s something you don’t need Uncle Jiggy to tell you. It’s a movie that I’ve seen many, many times, and though I have no problem admitting that the film has its problems, I can’t deny that I still find it quite a great movie.

Also, it’s fair to say that it’s a very difficult movie to talk about – this is the horror film I’ve seen the most, and I first saw it at a young age (while hiding behind a couch for the finale, as I was terrified), so it’s very much ingrained in me. Truth be told, I probably didn’t need to watch the movie again to write this review, but believe you me, it’s no hardship to revisit this.

It’s not perfect, though. I’ve never thought that it was, because – the silly, incomprehensible ending aside – there’s one sequence that I’ve never, as often as I’ve seen the movie, been able to understand.

After Tina’s death and Rod’s arrest, Nancy has a plan – she wants Glen to watch over her while she sleeps, and wake her up should it appear that she’s having a bad dream. Certainly this is sensible – if it looks like she’s struggling with someone, waking her up would save her life.

The problem is that once Nancy falls asleep and goes exploring the dreamy suburban neighborhood, she hisses behind her for Glen, to make sure that he’s still watching her, and he pops up from behind a tree to indicate that he is.

Now, this is a dream. Nancy knows it’s a dream. And yet Glen is here? Glen’s purpose was specifically to not fall asleep, so even if someone could propose the idea of a shared dream, that doesn’t fly. The only way this makes sense to me is that Nancy’s sleeping, but also partially awake, and is calling to Glen in reality, and he’s, in reality, replying that he’s there, and her mind is interpreting an image of Glen in the dream, despite him not actually being there.

It still doesn’t make much sense to me – given how exhausted Nancy was, how could she guarantee she’d stay partially awake despite being asleep (which is already incredulous, on a side-note) – but that’s the only way that I can make even partial sense of that scene. This has been a question I’ve had for over 15 years, and I’ve never seen a real satisfactory answer for it.

Of course, there are other confusing scenes (again, ignoring the finale), such as how Freddy is able to taunt Nancy near the end with the phone call if Nancy was awake. It’s possible, of course, she nodded off while waiting for Glen, but I’ve always got the sense that she was awake at the time.

I’m not here to harp on the film, but I do think it’s worth taking the time to point out the problems I have with it. Like Hellbound: Hellraiser II, this is a great movie, but it doesn’t always make much sense, which I think many people, even deep fans of the franchise, would be able to admit.

It is a movie of some rather memorable quotes, though. Nancy shouting ‘MOTHER!’ after finding bars on her homes’ windows has never failed to crack me up, and Rod’s unique ‘Up yours with a twirling lawnmower,’ definitely brings an image to mind. Marge’s drunk ‘Locked, locked, locked,’ which I quote often IRL, has a good ring to it, and though it’s from Shakespeare, the quote from Halmet (“O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space – were it not that I have bad dreams”) was used hauntingly here.

Oh, and let’s not forget the ever-classic line “This is God,” said by Freddy, referring to his clawed glove. A simple line, no doubt, but damn effective.

Few of the performances are perfect, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less memorable. It’s just some odd pieces of dialogue, or intonation, small things like that, which pop up throughout the film (and it’s possible I notice only because I’ve seen this one as often as I have). Heather Langenkamp (Home) still made for a great and proactive lead, of course, and stood out wonderfully. Honestly, I’ve never loved Johnny Depp (Sleepy Hollow) here, and I wish that we saw a bit more of Jsu Garcia and Amanda Wyss (Shakma), but again, still very memorable characters.

Naturally, Robert Englund (Galaxy of Terror, Eaten Alive, Kantemir) is a legend here, as is John Saxon (The Night Caller, Tenebre, My Mom’s a Werewolf, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Hellmaster, The Scorpion with Two Tails, Queen of Blood, Beyond Evil, Black Christmas, Cannibal Apocalypse), despite the annoyances I feel toward his character. Like, you could tell that Nancy had no real faith that he’d be there to arrest Freddy, should she pull him from the dream, and his character could have used a bit more exploring. Ronee Blakley’s role is another example that could have had a bit of depth added, but I think that they did a better job with her than they did Saxon, especially during her monologue of Freddy’s backstory.

I don’t think I can say anything about the special effects that haven’t already been said. I absolutely adore the scene in which Freddy’s pushing himself out of the wall toward Nancy. That blood geyser was gnarly. Tina’s death is the stuff of legends, of course. Nancy running up the stairs, which soon turn to some sludgy material, was quality too.

Hell, this may be controversial, but even one of Freddy’s first full appearances – the one where his arms are elongated with perhaps silly effects – is damn effective. This movie naturally had a lot going for it, and multiple viewings haven’t dampened that at all.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a classic, but it’s also a flawed movie. I’ve known that for years. Sometimes that’s not enough reason to justify giving a film a below perfect rating, because few films are actually perfect, but in all the years I’ve seen this one, I’ve never given it a straight 10/10. I just don’t think it quite gets there. There’s no doubt the film is a great movie, though, and a classic very much worth watching, flaws and all.

9/10

This classic was covered on episode #27 of Fight Evil’s podcast, so listen to Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this one.