Features
Halloween Nightmares
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By: Josh Pearlman
What? A Nightmare on Elm Street
Who? Written and directed by Wes Craven. Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, John Saxon, Johnny Depp, Nick Corri, Amanda Wyss, Ronee Blakley and Charles Fleischer
Why Should I Watch? ‘Tis the season of pumpkins and popcorn and as a lifelong monster kid I’m here with my first recommendation to ensure that you have a spooky good time this Halloween. While prior generations had Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolf Man and all their pals, my generation grew up with Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and my personal favorite, Freddy Krueger. All these monsters have had their high points (and they’ve also all had some very low points), but for Freddy it never got higher than his first appearance – Wes Craven’s masterpiece film A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Craven’s true stroke of genius was creating a monster that there was no way to avoid. Freddy will find you in your dreams and everybody has to sleep eventually. As the series wore on (for six sequels, a crossover with the Friday the 13th series and an execrable remake) Freddy got more popular and less scary, but in that first movie he is straight up terrifying. A malevolent trickster who can invade your dreams is scary as hell and nobody knows that better than Craven. He’s out to scare you and he succeeds with flying colors (mostly red). Smart, creepy and featuring the first screen performance of Johnny Depp (who looks about twelve years old), Elm Street is the place to be for Halloween scares.
Just remember: Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep…
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