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| Roadshow (Australia). Region 4, PAL. 1.85:1 (16:9 enhanced). English DD 5.1m English DD 2.0. English Subtitles. 88 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Wes Craven
Starring:Heather Langenkamp,
John Saxon, Robert Englund, Ronee Blakley, Amanda
Wyss
Jsu Garcia, Johnny Depp, Charles Fleischer
Screenplay: Wes Craven
Country: USA |
During the eighties, horror was all about the
big three. Everybody waited impatiently for the
next episode in the saga of three characters that
have become horror icons: Jason Vorhees, Michael
Myers and Freddy Krueger. Freddy Krueger (Robert
Englund) rose above the others and stood out from
the crowd, why? Because Freddy had personality.
Originally conceived by writer/ director Wes Craven
as a silent psycho to be played by either a large
stuntman or a 60-70 year old, Freddy's dark
sense of humor gave him the personality of a media
darling with toys (Maxx FX Dolls), rap music (The
Fat Boys), comics (Marvel) and even a TV show (Freddy's
Nightmares) helping his rising star.
Not bad for a child murderer.
A Nightmare on Elm Street begins
with Tina (Amanda Wyss), who one night has a very
disturbing nightmare. The following night, while
her mother is away, she invites her best friend
Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) who brings her boyfriend
Glen (Johnny Depp, in his first movie role) with
her for a sleepover. Tina's boyfriend, the
ne'er do well Rod (Nick Corri) drops in
unannounced and the three spend the night keeping
her company. Tina has another dream like the night
before, but not before she learns that all her
friends shared the same monster in their dreams,
the terrifying Freddy Krueger. In this dream she
is killed, her body in real life showing all the
wounds that were committed upon her whilst asleep.
Eventually the kids are picked off one by one,
and Nancy cannot convince her parents (John Saxon
and Ronee Blakley) that this dream killer is real,
until her mother reveals the horrible secret that
all the parents of the Elm Street children have
been keeping…
Wes Craven shopped the script for A Nightmare
on Elm Street around until it landed
in the lap of New Line Cinema, who was saved from
bankruptcy by this films success, and given the
nickname 'the house that Freddy built'.
In 1985, it won the Critics Award at the Avoriaz
Fantastic Film Festival and was nominated for
Saturn Awards for both Best Horror Film and Best
Performance by a Younger Actor (Nick Corri) by
the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
Films, USA. |
| Video |
| The 1.85:1 transfer is pretty good, although I
did find that on occasion the shadows lost some
of their texture and looked a little flat. |
| Audio |
| A Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack that sounds great. |
| Extra Features |
| There is an audio commentary with Wes Craven
(Director), Heather Langenkamp (Nancy), John Saxon
(Nancy's Dad) and the Director of Photography,
Jacques Haitkin. This is a pretty informative
talk-though, discussing casting choices and themes
of the film and many other topics, both technical
and script related.
There are three documentary vignettes, which
are actually NOT listed on the DVD packaging:
Welcome To Prime Time (46 minutes 30 seconds)
a really interesting documentary about everything
Freddy with interviews with many people who have
had reason to be associated with him: Wes Craven,
Robert Englund, Rachael Talalay, and many others.
This is a great film documentary.
Making The Glove is a 1 minute 8 second conversation
with Lou Carlucci, who made the first Freddy glove.
The Revolving Room is a 1 minute 52 second documentary
about the effects used to make Tina fly around
the bedroom as Freddy attacked.
There is a trailer for the film. Interestingly,
this trailer has Robert Englund not putting on
his Freddy voice for the 'I'm your
boyfriend now, Nancy.' line. |
| The Verdict |
Finally, A Nightmare on Elm Street is released in Region 4! Unfortunately it is not
completely given the respect it deserves (surely
an uncut 2 disc directors edition would be more
worthy of the mighty Freddy Krueger) but even after
all this time it is still a real treat to watch.
Got something else to say? Spill your guts on the
Digital Retribution Message Forum! |
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