A Nightmare on Elm Street holds a special place in my heart when it comes to horror films, and that’s because it’s the one franchise I actively avoided while growing up because its concept terrified me. I mean, mission accomplished as a horror franchise when you don’t even have to be watched to strike fear into the heart of potential viewers!
The idea that these teenagers became targets of Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) while they were asleep was just something I couldn’t deal with. You can mentally talk yourself out of other scenarios, like, “Well, I wasn’t a camp councillor when Jason died, and I don’t work there now so I’m safe from him showing up,” or by never taking babysitting jobs on Halloween. But falling asleep? No matter how hard you fight it there’s no escaping it, and the thought that someone was there waiting to kill you when you did? Who am I kidding, that’s still the most terrifying horror concept ever to exist.
Honestly, for that reason I’ve still only seen bits and pieces of the franchise even to this day. It’s the 40th anniversary of the original film, and the 4K release gave me reason to revisit the one that I’ve seen a couple of times prior, and after doing so I realize that maybe I owe it to the series to give it a go as a marathon, knock out all the sequels and see where they land. But for now, let’s focus on the 4K release of the iconic slasher film and its killer who easily finds himself on the Mount Rushmore of horror villains.
A Nightmare on Elm Street was written and directed by Wes Craven, an icon himself in the horror genre, and stars Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. We’ve also got our four teenage targets in Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), Tina (Amanda Wyss), Rod (Jsu Garcia), and newcomer to the silver screen, Johnny Depp, making his film debut as Heather’s boyfriend Glen. It doesn’t take long for things to get going as the film begins with Tina having a nightmare where she’s being chased by a horribly disfigured man in a striped sweater, who wields a glove with razor blades extending from each of the fingers that he uses to taunt and eventually gut his victims with.
Tina wakes up from her nightmare before any real damage can be done, though her nightgown is sliced up in the midsection, indicating that what happens in these dreams also happens in reality. Tina tells her friends about these nightmares, and we learn that they’ve also seen this horrific figure in their recent nightmares as well. Now they must figure out why they’re being targeted and how to stay awake long enough to figure out how to stop him before he takes each of them out.
Again, the premise of the film is rock solid and remains absolutely terrifying. There are quite a few horror films from way back when that were groundbreaking or shocking at the time, yet just don’t hold up as well when watched today. Certain things you can look past, but sometimes when watching something that’s held in high regard within the horror community you just go, “I can see how this was scary back then, but today it’s just hard to sit through.”
A Nightmare on Elm Street does not fall into that category, as sure, it’s got some questionable acting here and there, but as a whole it’s a well-paced, intriguing story, with sympathetic enough teenage characters (not always the case in horror films) that, for the most part, you don’t want to see added to the body count. Add on a truly scary monster in Krueger and you’ve got the recipe for a horror classic that actually holds up four decades later, with no signs of that changing even four decades down the road when it’s released in 16K.
4K Blu-ray Video and Audio Review:
The film has been remastered in 2160p/HDR10 and it looks really solid across the board. Sometimes with older horror films you run the risk of making things look cheesier than anticipated because 4K can be a bit unforgiving when it comes to showcasing flaws as much as it can be praised for elevating everything else. Here though they’ve done a solid job with keeping things looking clean and sharp, without any part of the film losing its dark, atmospheric feel, or Freddy looking like a guy covered in burn makeup. Overall things look natural, a bit of film grain remains but isn’t distracting, and the darker, scarier moments remain so with rich, deep blacks that set the tone right out of the gate.
The audio side of things take it a step further, really elevating things to a level that’ll rock your speaker system whenever Freddy appears on screen. There are some really great sound effects sprawled throughout the film, and they have their moment to shine here in the Dolby Atmos sound mix on the 4K disc. Audio is vital to all films, but setting atmospheric tones in horror can make or break a film, and Nightmare is packed with mood-setting moments that are elevated beautifully in this release. There’s also an Original Theatrical Audio option for fans that want to go that route.
Legacy Special Features:
Rated/Unrated Cuts – I wouldn’t call this a special feature, but it’s still noted on the back of the case and many may wonder what the difference between the two versions are and I’ll tell you now – it’s 8 seconds of a tad more blood during two of the death scenes. It’s so minimal and insignificant that they might as well add the 8 seconds to the original cut and just make that the movie. I’d say that purists may argue that they want the original left as is, but it’s literally such a minor addition that I’m not even sure why it had to be cut in the first place that having an entire “unrated” option seems silly.
Audio Commentary Tracks (found on the theatrical version of the film only):
Audio Commentary #1 – This track (which was recorded in 2001) sees Wes Craven, Langenkamp, John Saxon, and cinematographer Jacques Haitki talk about the film. It’s a solid listen for fans, as anything with Craven is something that you’d probably want to listen to as a fan.
Audio Commentary #2 – This one takes place five years later and is full of various cast and crew from Craven, Langenkamp, Englund, Wyss, Ronee Blakley, the founder of New Line Cinema, Robert Shaye, producers, editors, special effects and make-up artists…if you worked on the film and were free for this track, you’re on it.
Focus Points – This is a fun bunch of behind-the-scenes pieces of various unrestored takes while filming, and other gems that fans will definitely want to give a watch.
Alternate Endings – These endings are almost all identical, with very few changes. Out of all of these the one they went with is best, with the scary ending being closest to what was in the film, the happy ending seeing the kids drive off happily, while the mom just notices the kids skipping rope before the film fades to black, and the Freddy Ending is the original ending with Freddy driving the car – and I believe the mother gets pulled through the window while Nancy is watching. They all kind of blend together, especially since you have to sit through the same 90-seconds over and over before seeing what changed in the final 10 seconds of each ending.
The House That Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror – This is a 22-minute retrospective on the franchise, which I’m sure most Freddy fans have already seen repeatedly, but it’s great to have it on here for those of us who haven’t and want to check it out.
Never Sleep Again: The Making of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” – Here’s the biggest carry-over feature, which is a 50-minute documentary that’s a must-watch for fans new and old.
Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares – Here’s a 15-minute feature about dreams, their importance and so forth.
Disclaimer: A review copy of this Blu-ray was sent to me to cover in honest and truthful fashion.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A Nightmare on Elm Street. Written & Directed by: Wes Craven. Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Johnny Depp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia. Running time: 91 Minutes. Rating: R. Released on 4K Blu-ray: Oct. 15, 2024.
About Brendan Campbell
