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A Nightmare on Elm Street
The 1984 film A Nightmare on Elm Street has been released in a two DVD set by New Line's brand infinifilm. This is a nice release with a lot of new features that will interest a fan of this film, and it is worth taking a peek at. The picture quality is stellar on the new DVD, and the scene where Freddie appears through the wall while the heroine sleeps below has never looked better or scarier. It looks like the movie was shot yesterday. A Nightmare on Elm Street was originally released in mono, but the soundtrack has been remixed into a full surround sound mix, and the DVD does include a DTS soundtrack. You could use this DVD as one to show off your home system if you wanted to. It is that good.
A Nightmare on Elm Street was written and directed by Wes Craven after he had directed Swamp Thing. Even at this early stage of his career Wes Craven had an interesting track record with Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes . Both films are worth checking out if you have not seen them, but I prefer The Hills Have Eyes out of those two movies. Last House on the Left is a little too sadistic for my taste. A Nightmare on Elm Street is basically a teenager slasher film, but a very creative and imaginative one. One of the stronger elements of the film is that Freddy is an interesting character by himself, and comes across as very terrifying villain. Also Wes Craven uses the basic plot device that Freddy attacks while you sleep to a great advantage. This turns what could have been a very boring film into a film filled with many surprises. Also a nice touch is that the film does have a sense of humor if a very black one. Some of the special effects detract from the film, I wince every time I see that longed arm version of Freddy in the alley, but overall they hold up pretty well.
This DVD includes a feature called infinifilm. You can play the movie and little screens will appear that you can click on if you want to, that lead to a short one or two minute clip about how a particular scene was made, how an actor got his job (Johnny Depp's first appearance was here), and includes too many shameless plugs about the other Freddy films. I like this feature, and it was fun to use. If you were not interested in a particular subject, just wait a second and another one would pop up. There is also a second DVD of extras with two shorts; “The House That Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror” and “Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven's Nightmares.”
You can write James Harper at movielover77061@yahoo.com |
