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Critics Consensus: Wes Craven's intelligent premise, combined with the horrifying visual appearance of Freddy Krueger, still causes nightmares to this day.
Critic Consensus: Wes Craven's intelligent premise, combined with the horrifying visual appearance of Freddy Krueger, still causes nightmares to this day.
All Critics (50) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (3) | DVD (14)
The script is consistently witty, the camera work (by cinematographer Jacques Haitkin) crisp and expressive.
A highly imaginative horror film that provides the requisite shocks to keep fans of the genre happy.
Craven vitalizes the nightmare sequences with assorted surrealist novelties.
It's all good scary fun.
A Nightmare on Elm Street... puts more emphasis on bizarre special effects, which aren't at all bad.
Still stands on its own as an intriguing and chilling example of how horror works best when the characters and the audience don't have to be lobotomized.
Great build-up, the suspense and apprehension, getting you invested in a sequence...this movie has that.
What makes the movie work is so simple and economical-you snooze, you die. I've always admired its simplicity.
Not since the shower scene in Psycho did one director discover our most intimate vulnerabilities: in bed, while we're asleep, in a state of consciousness where absolutely no one could help us.
A smart, streamlined slasher with plenty under the bonnet.
A top-flight terror classic that spawned seven sequels and a TV series.
Craven knows which big, red Freudian buttons to push, turning Freddy into a true monster from the Id.
One of the most criative horror movies I ever saw!
Super Reviewer
Really like this one - classic 80's horror. Acting is a bit hammy, but it works. Nancy is a likeable lead and Freddie Krueger is just horrible and still quite scary even now. Just bought the box set of 6 movies, so will be working my way through them this long weekend. (Happier about this than I probably should be!).
Nancy: Whatever you do don't fall asleep. "If Nancy Doesn't Wake Up Screaming She Won't Wake Up At All..." A Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror classic and deserves every bit of praise it has gotten. This is one of Wes Craven's best movies, probably only behind Scream. An iconic villain is created here in Freddy Krueger, and is effect would be felt through countless sequels and even a remake. None of the sequels or the remake can touch this one though. It's a great mixture of gore and atmosphere. There's always that ominous feeling in the air. A former child murderer comes back to life and kills by taking kids when they are asleep. As kids continue to die, Nancy must find a way to bring an end to it all. The story is one that was pretty groundbreaking for the time and also extremely smart. This is a story that can truly keep people up at night, because if you fall asleep; Freddy might get you. Wes Craven has always been hit or miss for me, but this one lands squarely in the hit section. The atmosphere he creates is absorbing to say the least. There's also always a cool appeal to the film. It's just one of those classic horror movies that I can watch many, many times; like Halloween or Scream. A Nightmare on Elm Street is required viewing for the horror fanatic in us all. It spins a web of crazy dream sequences, blood, and intelligence. It isn't the same old, same old slasher, but one with something to spice up the normal formula. Some scenes are among some of the coolest the genre has ever seen, and there's something about Freddy that makes him more than the average villain. It's almost as if, he were truly alive.
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Wes Craven's benchmark creature of terror: Freddy Kreuger. Combined with the brilliantly intelligent premise has strongly helped make this deservedly remain one of the greatest suspense horror's of all time. It's an incredibly smart slasher movie that never loses it's ability to bring forth a unique enigmatic and eery sense of isolation among it's victims. The victims? Us.
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