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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1980s
    Movies - 1980s Movies - N 3 Mins Read

    Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)

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    Are you ready for Freddy? In 1984, this one made former English professor Wes Craven into a horror legend, inspired six sequels and a short-lived TV series, and was also responsible for kicking off Johnny Depp’s career.

    But this, the original, stands out from the rest as a perfectly formed horror movie that taps into that most terrifying of places – our own subconscious.

    Using the same set pieces that definedΒ Friday The 13thΒ (1980)Β andΒ HalloweenΒ (1978), this took things to a new level, as Freddy Krueger terrorised a group of LA youths, constantly flipping between the real and unconscious as grisly, blood-spattered mayhem ensues.

    nightmareonelmstreet_013

    The film opens inside a surrealistic basement-cum-workshop, where a hideously scarred man wearing a red-and-green striped sweater and crusty old fedora welds razor-sharp blades to metal fingertips and attaches these to a battered leather glove.

    As events unfold and long-repressed secrets are revealed, we learn that this inhuman dream invader is Fred Krueger (Robert Englund), a former child killer who was burned to death by a mob of furious Elm Street parents after being released from prison on a technicality.

    Years later, Freddy has returned from the grave as evil incarnate, obsessed with taking revenge on the adolescent offspring of those who ended his mortal life. Residing in his young victims’ subconscious, attacking them while they sleep, wisecracking Freddy is virtually omnipotent, capable of rewriting the laws of physics and effecting all manner of grotesque yet creative killings.

    nightmareonelmstreet_004

    Always creepy, with some great squirm moments (including a rather nasty bath-time sequence), this is an imaginative horror movie that kicked off an entire genre of inferiors.

    The special effects wizardry and gallons of fake blood are balanced by an anxiety-inducing score and a gripping narrative, as we feel for the intended victims in their hopeless battle to stay awake.

    Nightmare On Elm StreetΒ probably did wonders for the sale of No-Doz.

    One, two, Freddy’s coming for you
    Three, four, better lock your door
    Five, six, grab a crucifix
    Seven, eight, better stay up late
    Nine, ten, never sleep again
    !

    TRIVIA
    Director Wes Craven got the idea forΒ Nightmare On Elm StreetΒ from press reports of three young male Cambodian refugees who all died in their sleep after suffering nightmares and with no physical symptoms. The cause of death is now known as Sudden Unexplained Death Syndrome.

    The movie was completed in just 32 days and made for less than $2 million. It grossed over $25 million at the box office.

    Fred Krueger
    Robert Englund
    Lt Thompson
    John Saxon
    Marge Thompson
    Ronee Blakley
    Nancy Thompson
    Heather Langenkamp
    Tina Gray
    Amanda Wyss
    Rod Lane
    Nick Corri
    Glen Lantz
    Johnny Depp
    Dr King
    Charles Fleischer
    Sgt Parker
    Joseph Whipp
    Sgt Garcia
    Joe Unger

    Director
    Wes Craven

    Video

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    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

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    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened? 

All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .

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    That is so sad to hear πŸ˜₯ rest in peace πŸ™ πŸ•Š xx

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