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The Movie:
When it comes to horror legends, Freddy Kruger still remains high on the list for many. Freddy made his introduction in Wes Craven's 1984 horror flick, "Nightmare on Elm Street", which spawned countless sequels (including the recent "Freddy Vs. Jason"), cemented New Line's place in the horror genre (see the featurette included on the second disc, "The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror") and still stands up fairly well today.
The film opens with Freddy (Robert Englund) sharpening the blades attached to the fingers at the end of his glove. We soon find that Tina (Amanda Wyss) is Freddy's target, and just when it seems like she can't run anymore, she snaps awake. Despite being utterly and unusually terrified by her nightmare, her friends: Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), Rod (Nick Corri) and Glen (an early Johnny Depp) don't seem the slightest bit concerned.
However, at a sleepover soon after, Freddy comes for Tina in her sleep, and this time, she doesn't get away - she's brutally attacked by Freddy while she's in her sleep. Her boyfriend, Rod (Nick Corri), is accused of the crime, but Nancy soon realizes that the same killer is after all of them in their dreams and that she has to figure out how to stop him.
"Nightmare" succeeds largely because of Englund's performance (although Freddy isn't in that much of the film, the character's infrequent scenes are memorable) and the enjoyably creepy plot that has the characters attempting to stay awake - or else. The fact that "Nightmare" also features a strong and resourceful female heroine (one of the first horror films to do so) is also a refreshing aspect of the film. The other performances aren't exactly great, but they're sufficent enough to carry the interest. The film's cinematography is wonderfully shadowy and moody, but the film's score now certainly seems pretty dated.
Overall, "Nightmare" still stands out as a prime horror film. While it may not be as scary as when it first came out, the picture still works pretty well and offers some solid chills.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Nightmare on Elm Street" is once again presented by New Line Home Entertainment in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation quality is terrific, as the level of detail is surprisingly good for a movie from this era. A few scenes here-and-there seem a tad soft, but most of the film looked consistently crisp.
The film looked exceptionally clean here, with no print flaws - no dirt, no marks, no nothing - found here. While the picture appeared slightly grainy at times, that was barely noticable. Very slight edge enhancement was present in a couple of scenes, but no artifacting or other concerns were spotted. Colors appeared somewhat on the low-key side here, but still looked pleasing.
SOUND: The DVD includes the original mono soundtrack, as well as new Dolby Digital 5.1-EX and DTS 6.1-ES (Discrete) audio options. Overall, the sound is perfectly fine for a film from this era; while much of the sound is front-heavy, surrounds do kick in at sometimes to provide some creepy sound effects and ambience. Audio quality is satisfactory, with clear dialogue and effects. The Dolby Digital and DTS presentations sound quite similar.
EXTRAS: Commentary one comes from: Craven, Langenkamp, producer Robert Shaye, Haitkin, co-producer Sara Risher, associate producer John Burrows, composer Charles Bernstein, editor Rick Shaine, co-editor Patrick McMahon, actors Robert Englund, Amanda Wyss, and Ronee Blakley, mechanical special effects technician Jim Doyle, film historian David Del Valle and special makeup effects artist David B. Miller. The second commentary was available on the prior DVD and includes: director Wes Craven, actors Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon, and director of photography Jacques Haitkin.
The new commentary is nothing short of terrific, as the comments together give a complete overview of both the making of its film and its impact on fans and the horror genre. With so many people, thankfully the participants are introduced each time they start speaking (they were all recorded separately.) The track goes over a lot of great stories about how the film struggled to get financing after the horror genre had started to cool off, as well as how the film caught on with audiences. We also hear about casting, effects, filming, inspirations and more. This is an informative and entertaining track that remained engaging and fun throughout.
The second disc opens with "The House that Freddy Built", which is a 22-minute documentary that discusses how "Nightmare" built up New Line cinema and how the studio approached the many sequels to the film. It's an interesting documentary, as it really goes into how the studio handled the huge franchise (including the development process for "Freddy Vs. Jason", which took ten years.) The piece is honest in how it discusses where things have gone right and where they've gone wrong.
"Night Terrors" takes a look at thoughts about different cultures have looked at dreams and some thoughts behind what causes dreams. Finally, "Never Sleep Again" is a 50-minute overview of the film's production, going through Craven's introduction to filmmaking and horror through the film's sometimes difficult production and finally, reaction to the film and its success.
Finally, the DVD also offers three alternate endings (which are only slight variations from the final), the film's trailer, a trivia challenge, a fact track to go along with the movie and the optional Infinifilm option, which gives users the ability to access featurettes about the scene while watching the movie before coming back to the film.
Final Thoughts: "Nightmare" still engages, thanks to a creepy plot, memorable villain and some inspired scenes. This new DVD edition provides a lot of nice supplements, solid video quality and fine audio quality. Recommended.
Film Grade
The Film B+
DVD Grades
Video 89/B+
Audio: 88/B
Extras: 91/A-
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