Post by George Willson on Feb 7, 2006 18:16:04 GMT -5
I decided to watch this classic last night while I was working on something else, and having seen it several times, I probably won't be as objective or clueless as I am in many of my other reviews. I enjoy the random nature of this movie series quite a bit.
Nightmare involves a dream stalker able to kill his victims as they sleep. Quite a frightening prospect since that is when we're at our most defenseless. Nancy's friends start dropping off one by one to this guy, and the adults all think she's losing her mind as she pursues this guy in her dreams.
This plot is quite intricate for a teen horror film involving not only the teens, but the parents play a huge role in the backstory and the creation of Freddy Krueger. Everything works together as a whole to make the story engaging.
Now, the film isn't perfect, but it does a good job of telling the story completely at the varied pace of a horror film. The characters are fleshed out decently enough to care, but not so well as to connect, a major shortcoming in this film. The focus is Nancy and how she relates to those around her, and she gets the meat of the development along with the second hand development of Krueger.
One of the weaker points in the film is actually the amateur acting of the lead, Heather Langencamp. Though this was Johnny Depp's first film, his acting chops are clearly superior to Langencamp's, and it's obvious why one has a career still, and the other doesn't. She does a passable job as the movie continues onward, but her earlier scenes are just horrible.
Wes Craven did deliver qute the splatter fest with a host of disturbing effects throughout, along with some good, solid suspense. Though this does rank as an early project of Craven's, he knows what he's doing.
The film does what it was meant to do, and that is deliver another coming of age tale against the backdrop of a horrific monster movie, while further solidifying the "rules" established by ts predecessors of Halloween and Friday the 13th, and so exalted in Craven's later picture Scream. Classic horror and a must watch for anyone into the genre.
Nightmare involves a dream stalker able to kill his victims as they sleep. Quite a frightening prospect since that is when we're at our most defenseless. Nancy's friends start dropping off one by one to this guy, and the adults all think she's losing her mind as she pursues this guy in her dreams.
This plot is quite intricate for a teen horror film involving not only the teens, but the parents play a huge role in the backstory and the creation of Freddy Krueger. Everything works together as a whole to make the story engaging.
Now, the film isn't perfect, but it does a good job of telling the story completely at the varied pace of a horror film. The characters are fleshed out decently enough to care, but not so well as to connect, a major shortcoming in this film. The focus is Nancy and how she relates to those around her, and she gets the meat of the development along with the second hand development of Krueger.
One of the weaker points in the film is actually the amateur acting of the lead, Heather Langencamp. Though this was Johnny Depp's first film, his acting chops are clearly superior to Langencamp's, and it's obvious why one has a career still, and the other doesn't. She does a passable job as the movie continues onward, but her earlier scenes are just horrible.
Wes Craven did deliver qute the splatter fest with a host of disturbing effects throughout, along with some good, solid suspense. Though this does rank as an early project of Craven's, he knows what he's doing.
The film does what it was meant to do, and that is deliver another coming of age tale against the backdrop of a horrific monster movie, while further solidifying the "rules" established by ts predecessors of Halloween and Friday the 13th, and so exalted in Craven's later picture Scream. Classic horror and a must watch for anyone into the genre.