“One … two… Freddy’s coming for you, three… four… better lock the door, five… six… grab your crucifix…”
Freddy might have been born in the mind of Wes Craven, but he grew and developed in the knife-wielding hands of Robert Englund. Granted, not all of these films are equal in quality, but the first was everything you could ask for in a horror/slasher film of the era. Freddy himself is by far the most colorful and animated of the slashers. His burned face, fedora, striped sweater, and knife-blade glove were all integral parts of the wise-cracking maniac. You know the story already, so I’ll stick the main idea. Freddy was a child molester and killer before the parents of Elm Street decided to burn him to the ground in a boiler room. Good homestyle justice goes wrong when Freddy reappears in the nightmares of the children of Elm Street. He has become a demon of sleep where he is able to manipulate the world into the most terrifying images possible for his victims trapped by their own slumber.
What was just as iconic as Freddy himself were the fabulous dreamscapes that were his domain. Unlike the other slashers of the time, Freddy didn’t operate in some dark place out in the real world. No lake campgrounds or quiet any-town streets here. Freddy created a domain of pure evil and Hell inside the dreams of his victims. Here there were no rules of physics. Reality was whatever the dark corners of the human mind could conjure. It was a land of endless possibilities, and Freddy was king. He could manipulate these dream wonderlands to his own brutal purposes. Some of the most memorable scenes in the franchise can be found in the sleep world of Freddy’s intended victims. Who can forget the stretching arms in the alley with those knives sparking against a metal wall? An incredibly vivid and bizarre look is what this dreamland brought to the movie and its sequels. This film doesn’t have the Hell playland kind of sets that later films would employ, but Freddy’s boiler room has a fanciful, yet stark reality that creates superb atmosphere. It’s a very sweet treat indeed to be able to finally see those images in high definition. I’d love to see the entire series get the Blu-ray treatment sooner rather than later.
There should be some talk about the cast of A Nightmare On Elm Street. Of course, it all begins with Freddy himself and the incredible Robert Englund. More than any actor of this genre, Englund created a real character who relied more on who was playing him than any of the others. In fact, various actors ended up playing the likes of Jason and Michael Myers during even the original runs. But Englund gave life to Freddy and continued with the character through all of the sequels. It makes me just a bit nervous to think about the current remake and having someone else, for the very first time, fill that fedora and sweater. John Saxon delivers as the police lieutenant whose own culpability in Freddy’s demise makes his daughter one of the killer’s intended targets. He carries just the right amount of determination tinged with that nuanced look of guilt and regret to make us understand the situation with that much more clarity. Heather Langenkamp is an unusual and effective choice as the primary representative of the victims. She’s not the typical great-body-survivor chick. She’s far more of an everyday girl than you ever see in these things. She manages to make it that much real for us. Finally, you just can’t talk about the cast without a mention of one of the kids who is here purely to get knocked off. This would be the very first movie for future superstar Johnny Depp. Yes, that really is a teenage Depp getting swallowed by his bed. He would later make a cameo on the sixth film as a guy on the television. I think you can say that Depp has come a long way.
I know that fans of the franchise have bought these movies in so many formats already. It was released at the forefront of the home video market, a business New Line was pioneering at the time. That means you could easily have this movie on VHS, Laserdisc, several DVD’s, Blu-ray, and now in 4K. I won’t argue that each new release was necessarily a huge enough upgrade to warrant the extra dip into your wallet. But this might well be the definitive release. It’s very hard for me to imagine it ever looking or sounding better. Of course, Freddy was always about the imagination. So who knows? I’d take the chance and spring for this one anyway. It’s the stuff dreams, or at least nightmares, are made of..
Video
A Nightmare On Elm Street returns to its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The previous Blu-ray release gave us a matted 1.78:1 aspect ratio. I’m happy this release takes us back to the intend Wes Craven had when he shot the dang thing. The ultra-high-definition 2160p image is arrived at by an HEVC codec with an average bitrate of 65 mbps. The ultra high definition gets most of its bump from textures in the details. This is a very textured world, and the UHD release is far more accurate in those fine details. This is one hell of an exotic world at times, pun intended. I’ve watched this film several times, including more than once during its theatrical run. I’ve never before had quite this kind of look at the incredible set design and special f/x on this film. Then there’s the wonderful burned face of Freddy himself. You won’t have had a better look at the details of the scarred countenance than you had by watching the high-definition Blu-ray release. The HDR gives a bump to it all. One of the most obvious color and detail points is the color of Nancy’s eyes. I never before realized how blue they were. Rather sweet detail. Freddy’s iconic sweater has far more texture detail. Black levels might not be exceptional, but they work when they need to work. Certainly, the film’s age and limitations are just as easy to see here. But somehow it all worked together to create some fine atmosphere here. This was a visual presentation worthy of a classic horror film. Remember, this was shot on film, and that means it’s native 4K. I’m happy to report that the grain was not washed completely away with DNR. There is some evidence of its use, but the organic nature of the film elements remain.
Audio
The Dolby Atmos audio presentation defaults to 7.1. is an obvious rehash of the DVD release soundtrack. It’s far stronger in the dynamic and punch department, however. Most notable improvement is in the subs. Freddy’s voice has the depth I remember from the cinema. The old audio issues appear to be fixed. At least they are improved. Dialog comes through, and the surrounds help to bring out the exotic world of Freddy’s nightmare kingdom. Subs are absolutely more juiced, and it ends up being a pretty good audio presentation without messing too much with the original intent.
Special Features
No Blu-ray copy, so all the old features have been ported to the UHD disc. Unfortunately , this does take up bandwidth that could have been saved for the film itself.
Focus Points: This is a rather interesting little option you can employ while viewing the film. At various points in the movie, a golden disc appears, which is telling you that there is additional material you can now access. The clips include portions of the bonus material you can view separately, but there are bits that are only accessible here. That’s disappointing. I don’t usually like these kinds of extras, because it takes you out of the film. It’s fine for those that enjoy these side trips, and I’m happy the material is here. It would have been nice to be able to watch it on its own, however.
Never Sleep Again: (49:51) This is a very good documentary. It’s been included before, but is worth having here. Wes Craven leads the entire cast and crew on a retrospective look at pretty much every aspect of the film. You get Craven’s inspirations for every detail about Freddy; his costume, his knife gloves, even his name. There’s a lot of talk of the terrible financial dire straits the production was constantly plagued with. Finally, there’s plenty of conversation about the movie’s legacy and influence. There’s a lot of bonus footage here in the form of alternative takes on final scenes.
The House That Freddy Built: (22:47) This is a pretty much self-promotional look at how New Line was founded on the success of A Nightmare On Elm Street. Of course, it’s ironic now when you consider that the studio ended up bringing us the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and is now pretty much gone.
Night Terrors: (15:58) This thing is a pseudo-documentary on dreams. Of course, there’s a huge tie in with Freddy and the Nightmare films.
Alternate Endings: (4:56) This is the only bonus feature in high definition. There were three versions of the final scene in addition to the one used. They are quite similar with only minor changes and are labeled Happy, Scary, and Freddy. The final one has Freddy himself actually driving the car at the end..
Final Thoughts:
Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby. It was such a treat to have the original in 4K. I was never happy with the remake, and as good an actor as Jackie Earle Haley really is, he’s just no match for Robert Englund. Of course, Englund is much too old to ever do it again, but I think I’d take an old Englund over any young whippersnapper the studios might be tempted to pull out. Jason and Michael are well hidden and rather stoically violent. Freddy has a strong personality that can’t be recreated. It’s why this film alone from all of the slasher franchises just hasn’t been remade after the first and only attempt. “It is now twelve midnight, and this is station KRGR leaving the air.”
