For 40 years now, A Nightmare On Elm Street has been the film of horror fans’ dreams. Or, more appropriately, nightmares. First unleashed on the big screen in 1984, Wes Craven’s somnambulist slasher dove deep into the subconscious to deliver stellar scares, bloody kills – and, in Freddy Krueger and Nancy Thompson, one of the all-time-great horror villain and final girl combos. Across those four decades, Nightmare’s impact has never dulled, remaining one of the greatest and most iconic horror films of all time – and now, for the very first time, it’s available in 4K to mark that all-important 40th anniversary. One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…
Across his career, Wes Craven reinvented the slasher subgenre multiple times over – and even now, A Nightmare On Elm Street remains one of his greatest creations. It all hinges on that killer conceit: the murderous, finger-knived Freddy Krueger menaces his teen victims in their dreams, bending the laws of reality to toy with them before wreaking bloody carnage. And if he bumps you off while you sleep? You’re never waking up. That premise doesn’t just offer up a playground for all kind of inventive kills – with Nancy’s friends literally being pulled out of their beds, writhing in the air as Freddy takes them down – but delivers plenty of thrilling narrative twists too; throughout the film, characters move in and out of the real world and their dream states to thrillingly unpredictable effect. There’s terror, too, in the sheer inevitability of eventually dropping off. Nobody can stay awake for ever, so you can’t outlast Freddy – once your eyes start to go, he’ll be there waiting for you. Instead, to survive, you have to outsmart him.
It's no wonder Krueger (here credited simply as ‘Fred Kreuger’ – named after one of Craven’s own high school bullies) became an instant horror icon. There’s that pitch-perfect look: the red-and-green striped jumper, a colour combination chosen specifically by Craven because it’s so stressful on the eye; the silhouette provided by those knife-laden gloves, always scratching and scraping across surfaces; the creepy hat; and, of course, that charred, melted face, always waiting in the darkness. While later Elm Street sequels would dial up the cartoonishness of Freddy’s kills, the original keeps him largely terrifying, though the legendary Robert Englund still imbues him with plenty of personality too – taunting and teasing his victims right until the end.
The impeccable ‘80s vibe of A Nightmare On Elm Street remains as popular as ever today – the look and feel of the film was a huge inspiration on modern horror classic It Follows, with its ‘80s-inspired design touches and similarly high-concept premise (a murderous force that literally follows you until it inevitably catches up to you). It’s impossible, too, not to see Freddy Kreuger in Stranger Things 4 baddie Vecna, a clear touchpoint for the Duffer Brothers’ scariest season yet in their nostalgic horror-adventure series. The 1980s was a decade that saw the horror genre at an all-time high, with incredible filmmakers – Craven included – working at the peak of their powers, creating brand new icons left and right. From the fashion, to the Charles Bernstein score, to the look and feel of Elm Street itself, Nightmare remains brilliantly ‘80s.
None of it would matter if the film wasn’t scary. But A Nightmare On Elm Street still delivers in that department, whether it’s that jolting jump-scare of Freddy crashing through Nancy’s mirror; the stellar shot of his glove rising through the surface of the bath; or that geyser of blood as Glen (a young Johnny Depp) is pulled right through the middle of his own bed. It all raises the stakes for Heather Langenkamp’s beloved Nancy to stage the ultimate showdown with Freddy in the final act – taking control of her own dreams to try and free herself and end his rein. It’s a finale packed with ideas that exhilarate as much as the frights, blurring the boundaries between dreams and reality.
So, with Halloween coming up and A Nightmare On Elm Street getting the 4K treatment for the very first time, now is the perfect moment to revisit the film – an all-time Craven classic that reinvented the slasher genre, changed horror forever, and still stands as a proper Friday night thrill-ride. Just, whatever you do, don’t you dare fall asleep.
