In his early '80s horror classic, Wes Craven created a suburban universe invaded by a seemingly unstoppable killer who stalks the children of Springfield in their dreams. When the film was released back in 1984, the horror scene was rife with stalker killers who slashed and slaughtered teens with elaborate expediency, seeking them out when they were most vulnerable, being bad and having fun. Films such as Black Christmas, Prom Night and Friday the 13th had defined the scene, but the onset of tedious predictability had begun. There was a need for something with more flair, more imagination – and along came the creative concept killer of Freddy Kruger. Not a lurking or lumbering slasher, but an evil and wickedly clever character with sly wit and an affinity for showmanship.
Wes Craven's Freddy Kruger Was the Perfect Antidote to the Onslaught of Dull Horror Film Killers
A Nightmare on Elm Street took classic urban legend material and fashioned a sinister and seemingly unstoppable madman who stalked the kids of Springfield parents while they slept. The story has Freddy Kruger, an accused child killer, getting away with his murderous deeds on a technicality. He was free and clear until a band of parents torched his house and him inside, and then covered up what they had done. But Kruger is now hunting the children of the murderous parents in the place they should be the safest--their dreams.
The Horror Genre Gets A New Lease on Life (and Death)
This clever killer flick film was in instant success. Heather Langenkamp played the lead, Nancy, a young teen who is one of the first to dream of the badly burned killer in his red and green striped sweater, fedora hat and knives for fingers. She’s really quite goof here. The strength of her character and fight she gives were clearly cut from the cloth that made Jamie Lee Curtis a darling of the horror genre, vulnerable but never afraid to out think the pursuer and fight hard to survive.
Johnny Depp also stars and has perhaps the best death scene of any victim in this film or its six sequels when his bedroom becomes a roaring blood bath. The horror of A Nightmare on Elm Street is simple; once you fall asleep, you die. Never mind the brutality of the slayings once you enter dream land, the mere idea that you have to stay awake to stay alive is great genre fodder. Robert Englund’s iconic performance as the burned supernatural killer was a welcome antidote to the slew of dull psychos parading in and out of small town America offing people left and right without so much as a witty quip or sickening grin. His taunting and terrorizing style helped A Nightmare on Elm Street stand out from the crowd.
Bad Sequels Aside, Kruger Remains A Horror Icon
The Freddy Kruger character may have descended into little more that a ‘one-liner spewing’ entertainer through the string of ever more fantastical sequels, but in the original, his mythology and fearsome and sinister ruses were top notch.
You can certainly find a few fun moments in the sequels, but nothing beats the inaugural outing of the iconic & creepy "child killer’. With a remake on the horizon, it will be interesting to see how Kruger is redefined for today’s audiences with their dulled sensitivities to violence. But as long as his maniacal brutality and witty cruelty is remains, a remake has a chance to make a new set of bad dreams come true.
