A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) ✦ Full-Length Watchalong Reaction
Added 2024-10-20 18:45:01 +0000 UTCHappy Sunday all! Here's the winner of the 60s-80s Horror Poll! (Placeholder image until I get thumbnails made.) So fun to finally experience this, as I obviously know of the character Freddy Kreuger. Kinda difficult to participate in Halloween your whole life and not see someone dressed up as this guy. [Direct link here.]
I'm looking forward to your comments!
✦ KL
Comments
Thanks! It's a sweater I was gifted a while ago, but put it away in the closet and never pulled it out until now! I wish movies still did the "Introducing" text, to be honest! Thanks as always for the kind words and sharing your experiences!
kaiielle
2024-10-31 18:42:16 +0000 UTCI definitely think you could react to the first, third, and seventh and be good, and not just because those are my favorite, but because those are the three films that creator Wes Craven was involved with, among other connective tissue. Of the others, I think you could make a case for reacting to 4, and to a lesser extent, 2. I don't actually hate 5, but I think it and 6 (despite 6 being the "end" of the series -- every long running horror franchise must have a "final chapter" that is not final) are the least-essential.
Tyler Foster
2024-10-27 01:01:39 +0000 UTCThanks for the history lesson on NLC! I looooove the practicality of Tina/Glen deaths, especially since a similar set-up with a rotating set is one of the top moments for me in the movie Inception. Yeaaah I'm aware these franchises are on the "larger" side. So we'll see how I go about it. I won't skip watching, but whether they're all reacted to is a different story.
kaiielle
2024-10-26 21:46:46 +0000 UTCYes, it's such an interesting concept!
kaiielle
2024-10-26 21:44:35 +0000 UTCI'm glad I knew so little too! The benefits of largely avoiding horror for most of my life.
kaiielle
2024-10-26 21:44:25 +0000 UTCFirst, I just want to say I like your sweater. I like the color and design. I also like the skull shaped lights in the background. They are honestly a little creepy. Nice aesthetic. Yes, this was Johnny Depp’s first movie. You may not have caught the credits actually read, Introducing Johnny Depp as movies were more prone to do for someone’s first role. It’s rare nowadays. When I was 11 years old, in 1986, I had just started at a new school. My parents had already screwed up and taken me to PG movies that should not have been PG and I had seen some stuff. I made a new friend who invited me to his house to trick or treat and a sleepover party. His mom rented Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Like you, I wasn’t scared, though I did jump a couple of times. But I was fascinated by the effects, make up, and story. I was hooked on Freddy Kruger and horror movies in general. Have been ever since, so Freddy will always have a special place in my heart. As disturbing as that may sound. I appreciated your sincere reaction. You didn’t exaggerate and I could tell you were hooked by the story. To add an element of unease to the whole thing, the writer/director Wes Cravens, was inspired by a story of Cambodian refugees whose son was having nightmares and refused to sleep insisting someone was out to get him. After several days to a week they finally got him to sleep only to hear him screaming with a terrible nightmare and before they could wake him he died in his sleep. It’s a well documented story. It’s interesting to think about. I’m the kind of person who has crazy hyper-realistic dreams. I’ve been chased and taunted by demons. I’ve run and fought them. I’ve had dreams of home invasions and dying in a car accident. But I’ve also had dreams I can fly and go wherever I want. Sometimes I can’t tell the difference and had hurt feelings with people because of situations I dreamed of that never happened. It’s an interesting life, but can’t say I recommend it. I did date a woman who never dreamed. She loved hearing about my dreams and got me to write them down, which I still do when they’re strong and stick with me until morning.
Bryan Dempsey
2024-10-21 03:36:23 +0000 UTCWhen A Nightmare on Elm Street was made back in 1984, New Line Cinema was a truly tiny indie company, moreso than even, say, the contemporary A24. From 1967 to 1976, they simply distributed films that already existed; one of their biggest successes before 1984 was managing to secure the rights to re-release The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (back when home video had yet to completely explode with the mainstream adoption of VHS). New Line made A Nightmare on Elm Street for $1.8m and grossed $57m, putting them on the map as a legitimate studio. The company was known for years as "The House that Freddy Built." The founder's name was Bob Shaye, and he was also still in charge at New Line decades later after it had become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. when Peter Jackson pitched him on making two live-action Lord of the Rings movies, and Shaye told him they should make three. Without Freddy, perhaps, no LotR. Shaye's sister, Lin, is an actor, and she appears in this movie as Nancy's teacher. She is quite famous among genre fans, with roles in so many of New Line's movies as well as elsewhere. Bob can also be heard twice in the movie as voices on the radio and TV. Craven got the idea from a newspaper article about a real person who died of fright in their sleep. Some of the details, like the coffee maker in Nancy's room, were taken from the article. You may have been so focused on the "Johnny Depp" part of his credit that you missed the "introducing" part beforehand -- this is his very first movie. He apparently attended the audition with a friend just to hang out with the friend, and ended up getting the role himself. Both Tina and Glen's deaths were filmed in a set on a big gimbal so it could be spun upside down. For Tina's death, the actor playing Rod was strapped to the floor, and the room was rotated slowly to make it look like Tina was being dragged up the wall. Even now, 40 years later, it still looks amazing. When Nancy stays up watching the horror movie, the horror movie is The Evil Dead. In The Evil Dead (not a spoiler), there's a moment where you can seen a torn movie poster for Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes on a wall, which director Sam Raimi put in as a tribute to Wes and also as a knowing jab, like "you thought that was scary, well, check out us!" Wes returned the favor with the clip on the TV, and so on and so forth. I know you don't skip, so I won't suggest it, but it will be interesting to see how these long-running horror franchises go for you. Luckily, if the imagination that goes into the dream sequences is your favorite part of the movie, there is no shortage of that in any of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, both good and otherwise. There are seven original Nightmare on Elm Street movies, my favorites being the first, third, and seventh, followed by Freddy vs. Jason, and a 2010 remake already mentioned by someone else. (Jason will take longer, as there are 10 original Jason movies as well as a 2009 remake, although Freddy vs. Jason can be watched after the 9th film, Jason Goes to Hell.)
Tyler Foster
2024-10-21 03:12:50 +0000 UTCDespite having a distaste for 90% of horror, the original Nightmare is still an iconic film just for the fact that it dared to ask "What if your nightmares COULD kill you? What if the thing you run from in your deepest darkest dreams was actually hunting you?" It was scarier than any other slasher because literally nowhere is safe from your own mind. I'd be interested to know what you think of Jackie Earl Haley's remake compared to this one.
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2024-10-20 22:13:43 +0000 UTCI’ve forgotten how many times I’ve seen this. Loooove it and I love that you knew next to nothing going in. The creative deaths, the 80s synth, the unique story…such a wild ride. Definitely one of the best horror villains ever.
RichieRich
2024-10-20 21:14:58 +0000 UTCAgreed! Definitely prefer him over Michael.
kaiielle
2024-10-20 21:00:18 +0000 UTCThat is a big time difference! I do have a lot of members here multiple hours difference, which is why I say that reactions may be shared on the following day for some people vs. what I say on my schedules. Please enjoy!
kaiielle
2024-10-20 21:00:00 +0000 UTCI have literally been waiting all day for you to drop this—I'm currently in Poland, for god knows why, and the time difference is insane—so to say I can't wait to watch this with you is an understatement.
Sam
2024-10-20 19:38:46 +0000 UTCMy favorite slasher franchise and my favorte killer of all the big ones like Jason, Michael, etc. Freddy is so unique and fun to watch!
Miles is Editing
2024-10-20 18:52:09 +0000 UTC
