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A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) DVD Review
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) DVD Credits:
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Directed by:
Wes Craven
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Written by:
Wes Craven
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Cast:
Robert Englund, Johnny Depp, Ronee Blakley
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) DVD Release Date:
25th September 2006
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A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Synopsis:

A hellish, razor-fingered monster enters the dreams of the teenage residents of a bucolic town and systematically slaughters them in their sleep--until one courageous young woman does battle with the predatory fiend. An excellent, surprisingly surrealistic genre entry from the master, Wes Craven.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) DVD Review:

Nightmare on Elm Street has a remarkable place in film history. Not only was writer/director able to revive a genre, but he also basically made New Line what it is today and gave Johnny Depp his first film role. This isn’t a bad achievement considering it is “just a horror film.”

Although the entire set of A Nightmare on Elm Street films have been released in a set, special attention is given to the first in this series with infinifilm to help it along. It really is easy to get lost in all of the perks of the new release. Some of them are great while others seem placed just to overwhelm fans. Re-releasing the film on DVD with a great new digitally re-mastered transfer also allows for a number of new special features, but fortunately the fact that this was Johnny Depp’s introductory role is not exploited for the sale of the DVD. What is exploited is the terror which was brought from Freddy, giving us a DVD cover which is particularly cool/disturbing in its simplicity. The menus also use simple methods to appear creepy in every way.

There is a new commentary track with a number of people involved. Wes Craven, Robert Shaye, Robert Englund and many more key players are involved in the commentary but they did not all record at the same time. There are snippets of sound clips, usually right after they are introduced, but it doesn’t have the same flow as the original archival commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon and Jarques Haitkin (cinematographer), which is also included in the features. There is also a fact track, which has facts about the film appear on screen in subtitles as the film plays.

Watching the DVD with the infinifilm feature on will present a number of opportunities to escape from the film and go behind the scenes, but these same features can be found on a separate menu as well. There are exclusive video clips and a number of documentaries and featurettes. “The House that Freddy Built” is a documentary showing that the legacy which the film began in New Line, also providing a perfect opportunity to showcase other New Line horror films which can be purchased. The history of New Line is fascinating nonetheless. “Night Terrors” is a documentary about the origins of Wes Craven’s horror masterpiece, going back even further by bringing experts together to examine the history of dreams themselves.

The All Access Pass features include three alternate endings, some more ridiculous than others. It is obvious why these were not used, but it isn’t obvious why the small changes all merited different endings. The Freddy Ending might be appreciated by some fans. There is also a trivia challenge for true fans, a theatrical trailer and a documentary. “Never Sleep Again” is a making of documentary with all of the usual stops.

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A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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