Horrorfest 2010: A Nightmare on Elm Street

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is one of those movies I feel like I've seen even though I don't think I ever really sat through the whole thing until earlier tonight. Then again, now that I've sat through it, I'm starting to think maybe I have seen it after all. Oh well, whatever.

Continuing with the dream theme from VAMPYR, NIGHTMARE is the by-now famous story of the kids on Elm Street who are haunted by the ghost (I guess?) of child murderer Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) in their dreams. He can kill them in their dreams. He can follow them out of their dreams and kill them in the real world. Like a dream, he can manifest himself in a bunch of different shapes and sizes and defy the laws of physics.

I imagine if I'd seen this movie as a kid it'd probably be a lot more effective now. These days, it's not really that scary, and although the film isn't intended to be taken totally seriously, there are still a few unintentional laughs to be had. For instance, I know the whole "running but not getting anywhere" thing is a common component of many nightmares, but when you literally see it played out by an actress on screen, it looks kinda silly.

That said, the death scenes are incredibly creative and, unlike most slasher movies, because of the blatantly supernatural element of the film, they're allowed to be as off the wall and over the top as possible. NIGHTMARE succeeds where FRIDAY THE 13th, for one example, fails, because it makes sense that Freddy is basically invincible, whereas you're never quite sure what the deal is with Jason. Also, the imaginative ways Freddy manifests himself and dispatches his victims are a little less morbid than your average slasher film because it's all about nightmare imagery and not so much about thinking of demented ways to literally kill people.

I also like how the kids being haunted by Freddy are the unwitting objects of revenge that should be visited upon their parents -- only, their parents never told them their gruesome secret, so the kids are totally in the dark.

Also, the structure of the first half of the film is pretty cool, pulling a little bit of a narrative twist Hitchcock would have been proud of involving the film's heroine.

Oh yeah, and the film features Johnny Depp's film debut. So there's that.