Review by Stuart O'Connor
Stars John Saxon, Ronee Blakely, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Nick Corri,
Johnny Depp, Charles Fleischer, Lin Shaye, Robert Englund | Written by Wes Craven
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £17.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 91 minutes | Directed by Wes Craven
Forget that crappy, pointless remake – here we have the real deal. Finally, the Wes Craven original from 1984 gets the spit-and-polish treatment for a Blu-ray release. And damn, doesn't Freddy look good.
This tale of the ghost of a child-killer tormenting teenagers in their dreams terrified audiences back in the 80s, and is hands down one of the best horror films to come out of that period. Hell, I'd go so far as to say it's one of the best horror films ever. I remember the first time I watched it – and yes, it was on videotape – and it certainly gave me the heebie-jeebies. Sadly, Freddy Krueger (Englund) became a joke figure as the sequels rolled along, ending up vaguely reminiscent of James Bond as played by Roger Moore: all raised eyebrows and cheesey one-liners. Although, of course, Freddy's eyebrows got kinda singed when he was burnt to death by an avenging mob of parents pissed off at him for killing their kids. As you would be.
There's so much to like about this original outing for Freddy: we often never know what is a dream and what is real; the classic scene of Nancy (Langenkamp) being stalked in the bath by Freddy's famous knife-fingered glove; the blood-geyser death of Johnny Depp (in his first movie role); the creepy score; and that killer twist ending. Freddy Krueger sits alongside Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers as one of the great modern film monsters. Craven created a memorable villain that is not only iconic, but also very, very scary. Ignore the remake, and and ignore the sequels. Here you have Freddy at his very best – looking, and sounding, fantastic in this hi-def Blu-ray presentation. Just be sure to watch it with the lights on ... and don't fall asleep.
EXTRAS ★★★ There's nothing new here for the Blu-ray release, just a collection from what's come before on DVD. To start, we have two commentary tracks: the first with writer/director Craven, co-stars Langenkamp and Saxon, and cinematographer Jacques Haitkin the second is with Craven, co-stars Englund, Langenkamp and Ronee Blakley, producer Robert Shaye, and co-producer Sara Risher. There are also some alternate endings, and three featurettes: The House That Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror, Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares. Plus a feature called Ready Freddy Focus Points, where you can see alternate takes and learn filmmaking secrets behind the nightmare by jumping to video highlights while watching the movie.