Nightmare on Elm Street(Blu-ray) (1984)

"...smarter than your average teen horror movie.  Classic-Horror
"...a worthy successor to the classic monsters of yesteryear.  Steve Biodrowski, Hollywood Gothiqu
"...a highly imaginative horror film...  Variety

Editor's Note A hellish, razor-fingered monster enters the dreams of the teenage residents of a bucolic town and systematically slaughters them in their sleep--until one courageous young woman does battle with the predatory fiend. An excellent, surprisingly surrealistic genre entry from the master, Wes Craven.

	Ronee Blakley
	John Saxon
	Heather Langenkamp
	Robert Englund
	Johnny Depp
	Amanda Wyss
	Jsu Garcia
	Charles Fleisher
	Joseph Whipp
	Lin Shaye
	Jack Shea
	Joe Unger
	Mimi Craven
	Ed Call
	Jacques Haitkin - Director of Photography
	Charles Bernstein - Composer
	David B. Miller - Special Makeup Effects
	Wes Craven - Director

A replusive, decaying figure with razor-sharp appendages (and an even sharper sense of humor!) suddenly appears in the dreams of four Los Angeles teenagers. It is the ghost of Freddy Krueger, a suspected child murderer killed long ago by the neighborhood parents. Now he's able to exact his bloody vengeance by killing the teens off, one by one, as they sleep.| Finally just one girl remains. Desperately, she tries to stay awake by every means possible, but even pills and massive amounts of coffee wear off sometime -- and when they do, she'll have to battle Freddy for her very life.| It's her worst nightmare ... and it's coming true. Variety
"...A highly imaginative horror film that provides the requisite shocks to keep fans of the genre happy....Wes Craven tantalizingly merges dreams with the ensuing wakeup reality..." 11/07/1984

Premiere
"Freddy became a mythic figure." 04/01/2004 p.62

Ultimate DVD
5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his is one of the few truly nightmarish horror movies ever made." 10/01/2006 p.108

Entertainment Weekly
"[S]ome of the effects remain nicely repulsive; Freddy himself comes across as a genuinely nasty piece of work..." -- Grade: B- 10/27/2006 p.58

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "Craven knows which big, red Freudian buttons to push, turning Freddy into a true monster from the Id." 11/01/2010

DVDBeaver.com 7 of 10
A Nightmare on Elm Street is the first installment in the dragged-on Nightmare series. A few characters are introduced and then, often, hacked to bits. The plot involves former Child Molester Fred Krueger, previously killed burned to death by neighborhood children's parents. He returns in their dreams killing off more kids in individual gruesome fashion. The appeals to those keen on these particular "slash thriller" movies. personally I prefer the more "traditional" and refined horror cinema of the black and white variety. - Gary W. Tooze

ReelViews 9 of 10
The dream - or nightmare - is a staple of the modern horror movie. After all, even as manipulative as the device is, it's still a proven way to jolt an audience. Filmmaker Wes Craven understood this bit of cinematic psychology when he concocted the central idea behind A Nightmare on Elm Street, a title intended to be an exploration of surreal horror as opposed to just another slice-and-dice slasher movie...The primary element that elevates A Nightmare on Elm Street above many of its contemporaries is that the storyline invites intellectual participation. In addition to offering the visceral thrills that are necessary in a genre entry, Craven's screenplay works on another level. - James Berardinelli