New Line returns to the one that started it all and delivers a new 2 disc set of Nightmare on Elm Street. The movie has been remastered and offers a boiler room full of special features.
A girl is being chased through a dirty boiler room by a man with a glove that has razors attached to it. She sits bolt upright in bed and we discover that her pursuit was just a dream. We find out that the girl is named Tina (Amanda Wyss) and the next day she meets up with some of her friends. Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), Glen (Johnny Depp), and Rod (Nick Corri) are planning a sleepover at Tina’s house.
Eventually they find out that they’re dreaming about the same knife gloved boogeyman. That night when Tina goes into dreamland, she does not awaken. The killer slashes her to death in her dream and her perplexed boyfriend Rod only watches in horror as knife wounds appear and Tina is dragged about the room by an invisible assailant. Nancy’s father (John Saxon) is on the police force and brought in to investigate, but neither he or her alcoholic mother Marge (Ronee Blakley) believe her stories of the dream slasher. Her friends begin to fall victim to the killer one by one.
Nancy finds out that the dream demon was named Fred Krueger (Robert Englund) and the parents of Elm Street took justice into their own hands and burnt him alive. He’s now seeking vengeance from beyond the grave on the children of Elm Street. Nancy has to take things into her own hands if she’s going to survive to sleep again.
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a landmark film in several ways. It cemented director Wes Craven’s star and the success of the film gave birth to New Line Studios. It also gave birth to the character of Freddy Krueger who would haunt the cinemas for decades and make a genre star of Robert England.
One, two, Freddy's coming for you
The point is made in one of the documentaries that if Freddy hadn’t been that the Lord of the Rings wouldn’t have come to be. It is funny how a charred child molester could lead to a movie of a literary masterpiece. Ironic ain’t it? Nightmare is a bit of a masterpiece itself and features a very scary monster in the form of Freddy (he’d later be more of a comedic character in other films). It wasn’t till Nightmare that a new generation of audiences would fear that they could be killed by their nightmares.
New Line knows that Nightmare is their flagship film and therefore treats it to a new re-master and the results are fabulous. Though I’ll perhaps have to court controversy in saying that I’m struck by how much better we can see Freddy now. I recall my days of the dark, grainy VHS where Freddy was a creature of shadows. Now you can see every gruesome sinew - which I’m not sure is such a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want a crappy VHS transfer but I’m more of the “what you don’t see is scarier” school. The print looks fantastic whatever the case.
A Nightmare on Elm Street is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features are numerous and spread across two discs.
The first disc contains two commentaries. The first commentary is new and features director Wes Craven, producer Robert Shaye, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Ronee Blakley, co-producer Sara Risher, cinematographer Jacques Haitkin, associate producer John Burrows, composer Charles Bernstein, editor Rich Shaine, co-editor Patrick McMahon, mechanical special effects Jim Doyle, makeup effects David B. Miller, and film historian David Del Valle. The participants were recorded separately and a narrator identifies them before they speak (I liked this part), however this gives it a feel of an audio documentary (that’s not a bad thing).
Freddy is never adverse to a little self mutilation
The second commentary is labeled “archival” and is from the first DVD release and features director Wes Craven, director of photography Jacques Haitkin, Heather Langenkamp, and John Saxon. There’s also a fact track that plays along with the film giving history, trivia, alternate takes, and other facts relating to the movie. Disc two contains several documentaries. The first is the 22 minute “House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror.”
It has interviews with composer Charles Bernstein, co-producer Sara Risher, Wes Craven, Robert Shaye, screenwriter of Final Destination Jeffrey Reddick, Friday the 13th director Sean S. Cunningham, Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, makeup effects Mark Bryan Wilson, Dream Warriors director Chuck Russell, New Line executive Mark Ordesky, film historian David Del Valle, and New Line executive Kevin Kasha. Next is the 15 minute “Night Terrors: Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares” which covers the whole dream aspect. It has interviews with Jungian psychologist Dr. John Kilhefner, author David J. Skal, author Dr. Marjorie Miles, Director of studies at the Gnostic Society Dr. Stephen A. Hoeller, Wes Craven, and neuroscientist Dr. Jerry Siegel.
Next are three alternate endings totaling about 3 minutes (Scary Ending, Happy Ending, and Freddy Ending). Next is the 49 minute “Never Sleep Again: The Making of Nightmare on Elm Street.” This fabulous documentary interviews Craven, Sean S. Cunningham, Del Valle, Shaye, production manager John Burrows, Risher, Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, mechanical special effects Jim Doyle, Ronee Blakley, Englund, cinematographer Haitkin, special effects makeup David B. Miller, editor Shaine, co-editor Patrick McMahon, and composer Bernstein.
Finally there’s the Freddy’s Coming for You Trivia challenge, theatrical trailer, and some DVD-ROM features (enhanced script to screen, Don’t Fall Asleep trivia game, and Nightmare website).
Before he was a Pirate, Johnny Depp was one of Freddy's victims
This edition is packed with special features and features an enhanced transfer. Certainly you shouldn’t have nightmares about spending your money. If I had one complaint it would be that some of the extras are hard to find. They’re buried in New Line Infinifilm sections and it might take you awhile to find them (Sorry, they irked me enough not to try and divvy them up in the special features breakdown).
Some of the stuff is “hidden” in the trivia track (such as some alternate takes). The set is worth the money, but I don’t like to hunt for my special features. Any Nightmare fan will consider the money well spent though.
Nightmare on Elm Street (Two-Disc Infinifilm Special Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, this version of the DVD is not available in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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