Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
Director: Wes Craven
Synopsis: One of the great horror films of the 80's
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Wes Craven had been threatening to break through once or twice, and in fact had made quite a name for himself within horror and cult circles due to his ultra notorious Last House on the Left as well as The Hills Have Eyes, which had become fairly popular among horror hounds. No one was quite prepared for what he had up his sleeve with The Nightmare Film.

By the mid 80's horror was on the wane after a boom of about 5 years - ideas had dried up completely and everything seemed to be yet another Halloween rip off. Nightmare totally revitalised the genre sending shockwaves through hardened horror audiences the world over. There had been nothing remotely like it before and audiences were sent into throes of delight being shocked and terrified just when they thought they had seen it all.

The ingenious merging of reality and dreams had audiences quite stunned, and in Freddy Krueger, the screen had its newest celebrated monster - bound for the Horror Hall of Fame. The plot is infamous…the kids on Elm Street are having nightmares in which they are somehow sucked in and "killed" by the nightmare! Huge credit to Wes Craven for conceiving of and successfully executing an insane but brilliant idea.

Credit also to the leading teen couple Heather Langenkamp and Johnny Depp. Finally, credit to Robert England for making Freddy Krueger one of the most loathsome of screen monsters. Ingenious and exhilarating horror from Craven, a modern classic.