During his lifetime,Wes Cravenbuilt a name for himself as the nightmare maker, largely because of his contributions to the horror genre, which includedThe Last House on the Left,The Hills Have Eyes,The People Under the Stairs,Red Eye, and, of course,the first four installments in theScreamfranchise. But there’s one film series that would go down as the true ruler of nightmares, and now, audiences can watch where it all began, asA Nightmare on Elm Streetis streaming on Max. StarringRobert Englundin the role that would define him as one of the world’s most notorious slasher villains, the movie was also a jumping-off point for the career of a youngJohnny Depp, and put its leading lady,Heather Langenkamp, on the road to become one of history’s most iconic final girls.
In 1984, Craven dreamed as big as he possibly could when he brought the worldA Nightmare on Elm Street. The film follows a group of teenagers who arepreyed upon during their slumberby the dream demon who comes to be known asFreddy Krueger(Englund). In a red and green sweater with a fedora atop his head, the grisly-looking Krueger uses a glove with metal claws to tear his victims to shreds as he seeks revenge against the kidswhose parents were responsible for his death.
The movie isequal parts terrifying and campy, which would bea running themefor Craven’s features throughout his career. Fully making the story come to life was the work done by the makeup and effects team, who absolutely nailed the dream sequences and other gorey scenes. As mentioned, the film was a pivotal building block in the career of Depp, who celebrated his feature-length debut with the horror classic. Along with Depp and Langenkamp, the title also boasted leading performances fromJohn Saxon(Enter the Dragon) andRonee Blakley(Nashville).
‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Scared Up a Franchise
Taking cinemas by storm,A Nightmare on Elm Streetleft theaters with an incredibly impressive box office haul totaling more than $57 million. Still holding strong as a defining genre classic, the movie is Certified Fresh onRotten Tomatoeswith a nearly perfect score of 95%. When a production does as well as this one did, it’s almost inevitable that a franchise is on the way. Now, four decades since Freddy Krueger first slashed onto screens, the film series has grown into nine installments, spawned a television series, and has turned to written word through novels and comics. Craven would go on to pen the screenplay and script for 1987’sA Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, as well as direct theuber-meta standalone feature,Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.
Right now, audiences can see where the horror began asA Nightmare on Elm Streetis streaming on Max. Just don’t blame us when you may’t - or don’t want to - fall asleep tonight.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
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