Barnes & Noble

A Nightmare on Elm Street, director Wes Craven's bloody and bloodcurdling breakthrough hit, spawned a successful series of sequels and launched one of the most popular movie monsters of all time: Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). The imaginative and gripping story finds spunky teen heroine Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) in a protracted battle with Fred, the razor-fingered bogeyman who terrorizes her and her friends in their dreams. Here Krueger is not yet the quipping cartoon of the later, more comedic sequels; in his debut outing he plays a straight-up demonic figure, slaughtering his prey in elaborately gory flourishes. Encompassing both childhood fears of nightmares and adult fears of random serial killers, A Nightmare on Elm Street creates an unrelenting atmosphere of tension and suspense in which our disoriented heroes are as vulnerable to attack in their own imaginations as they are in the real world. Filled with terrifying dream sequences and a deliciously confounding plot, this perennial favorite was one of the smartest and most influential horror movies of the 1980s. Amy Robinson

All Movie Guide

A decade of wisecracking sequels have not diminished the power of this striking horror film from the director of Scream. Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter (Heather Langenkamp) traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger (Robert Englund), who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. The teenaged leads are sympathetic and intelligent, unlike the dumb victims presented in most films of the period, and they are ably backed up by veterans like John Saxon and Ronee Blakley. Director Wes Craven creates moments of real dread by examining the line between nightmares and reality, as well as the "sins of the parents" theme, and although the film is quite gory, it never resorts to cheap bloodletting for its effect. A unique and disturbing experience, this film is highly recommended for horror buffs. Robert Firsching

Product Details

• UPC: 794043466427
• Source: NEW LINE HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1), Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Pan & Scan, Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital, monaural
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:32:00
• Sales Rank: 4,377

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Nightmare on Elm Street
• New Line Cinema's 40th Anniversary Collection
• Nightmare on Elm Street: 4 Film Favorites

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