A Nightmare on Elm Street 4K Review (Warner Bros. / New Line Cinema)

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 slasher written and directed by Wes Craven (New Nightmare, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Scream franchise, The People Under the Stairs, The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, Shocker, Deadly Friend, Red Eye, Cursed, and Swamp Thing). It was produced by Robert Shaye (A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, The Lord of the Rings franchise, Critters franchise, Alone in the Dark, Menace II Society, The Hidden, Freddy vs. Jason, Xtro, and Hairspray). It has spawned 6 sequels, a television series, a remake, and a crossover with Friday the 13th with Freddy vs. Jason. New Line Cinema was saved from bankruptcy by the success of the film. It’s the film debut of legendary actor Johnny Depp. The budget was $1,800,000 it grossed $25,699,618 worldwide at the box office.On Elm Street, Nancy Thompson (played by: Heather Langenkamp from A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, The Demolitionist, Shocker, American Horror Story, The Midnight Club, and Hellraiser: Judgment) with her friends Tina Gray (played by: Amanda Wyss from Silverado, Better Off Dead, Highlander, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Shakma), Rod Lane (played by: Nick Corri from Collateral Damage, We Were Soldiers, Predator 2, Vampire in Brooklyn, and Candyman: Day of the Dead), and Glen Lantz (played by: Johnny Depp from Benny and Joon, Donnie Brasco, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Black Mass, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Blow, From Hell, 21 Jump Street, and Platoon) are all having nightmares about the same disfigured vicious killer with a sharp glove. His name is Freddy Krueger (played by: Robert Englund from A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Freddy vs. Jason, Dead and Buried, Hatchet, V, Eaten Alive, Wishmaster, Urban Legend, 2001 Maniacs, The Mangler, Galaxy of Terror, The Phantom of the Opera, Behind the Mask, and Strangeland) and he wants to get revenge. Lieutenant Thompson (played by: John Saxon from Black Christmas, Enter the Dragon, Blood Beach, From Dusk Till Dawn, Tenebrae, A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Nightmare Beach, Beverly Hills Cop III, and Cannibal Apocalypse) is focused on the wrong person for these murders. The group of friends must figure out how to stop this monster that stalks them in their dreams. They need to stay awake to avoid their own gruesome deaths because on Elm Street, sleep kills!!!!A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the greatest horror films and slashers ever made. Legendary Wes Craven was no stranger to the horror genre before he wrote and directed this 80’s movie. This is one that changed everything for the director and it literally saved New Line Cinema from shutting down. I’ve always enjoyed that they went the Psycho format with Tina because you honestly feel like it’s her movie for awhile and they just flip it on you. After that, you never know what’s going to happen and it always keeps you on your toes. This original movie is not the wise cracking Freddy Krueger that most fans know. He is very dark and there’s not really much humor here. It’s a much smaller part than all the other movies. Robert Englund was a character actor doing smaller horror and science fiction projects at the time before he landed this iconic role. He was the perfect choice for this bladed killer that torments these kids in their dreams creating some extreme nightmares. The look of Freddy Krueger is haunting, it just stays with you right away. The special fx team did an excellent job with the classic horror villain plus all the gore that’s flooded in A Nightmare on Elm Street. It has some interesting graphic kills and it delivers when it comes to slashers despite having a lower body count. Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson is one of the better final girls of all time. It’s a shame that she didn’t have more of a career after this because there was so much potential. Nancy becomes one of Freddy’s worst nightmares over the years. Amanda Wyss as Tina Gray is very underrated in this. Like I said before, she is basically the main character at the beginning of A Nightmare on Elm Street. You get invested into the character and Wes Craven wakes you up from it. Johnny Depp as Glen Lantz is Nancy’s boyfriend. He’s the nice guy from the group of friends. He tries his best to help Nancy with the psychotic Freddy Krueger. He’s really good in this but I honestly expected him blow up the way he did and he’s one of the best actors around right now. Nick Corri as Rod Lane is your typical jock and popular highschool guy in this. His character goes through hell and he’s just trying to prove that he is innocent. John Saxon was the biggest name and actor when this production was originally set up. He’s great as Lieutenant Thompson, he’s the local law enforcement and the father of Nancy that doesn’t really believe what these kids are claiming. He’s doing his own investigation of this nasty situation. The rest of the supporting cast includes Ronee Blakley (Nashville), Charles Fleischer (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Joseph Whipp (Scream), Lin Shaye (Insidious franchise), Joe Unger (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III), and Mimi Craven (Swamp Thing). A Nightmare on Elm Street delivers all kinds of suspense and thrills especially during the finale. The score is tied to this classic horror series forever and it’s one of the best things about this. Freddy Krueger is still on the most unique horror icons ever created, no one really tried the killer invading his victims dreams except for Dreamscape that came out at the same time as this one back in 1984. This is one of the few slashers that really elevated the entire sub-genre. 80’s horror was very popular and this inspired so many future movies. A Nightmare on Elm Street still holds up great after all these years, it has amazing replay value. It’s always been forever entertaining and so much fun on each revisit, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Warner Bros Pictures! These 2160p (1.85:1) transfers with HDR10 are from a brand new 4K restoration. It has two different versions of A Nightmare on Elm Street which includes the unrated and the theatrical. They are both 91 minutes but the extended cut has 8 additional seconds of uncensored material on it. I’ve owned A Nightmare on Elm Street on basically every home video format that it’s been released on over the years and I can say with 100% confidence that this is the sharpest and highest quality that this 80’s slasher has ever been. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, and English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono on the UHD. The picture quality isn’t the only thing that has been improved with this brand new 4K. The audio is a major improvement, the iconic theme and classic scenes have an extra punch to them now. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the nightmares are elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it especially it’s flawless score. It has English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish subtitles. There’s no new or exclusive bonus material here but luckily A Nightmare on Elm Street has always been loaded with so many fantastic archive extras. It has the 2001 “Audio Commentary” with director Wes Craven, actors Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and cinematographer Jacques Haitki. They chat about the origins of the project.They talk about the overall shoot and their experience on the production. They share some stories and drop some behind the scenes knowledge. It has the 2006 “Audio Commentary” with director Wes Craven, New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye, actors Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Ronee Blakley, producers Sara Risher, John Burrows, cinematographer Jacques Haitkin, composer Charles Bernstein, editors Rick Shaine, Patrick McMahon, mechanical special effects designer Jim Doyle, special makeup effects artist David B. Miller, and film historian David Del Valle. All the participants recommended their parts separately and it’s all edited together here. It doesn’t really have the chemistry vibe as the other one because they are not actually together recording this. It’s still very interesting to hear from so many people on the same track about this legendary feature. There’s so much information discussed during the track and you will definitely learn something new if you haven’t heard it yet. It has the “Ready Freddy Focus Points” that you can watch along with the movie. It has lots of behind the scenes material. It has interviews. It has some alternate takes. It has some similar footage that’s by itself on this disc but it’s still a fascinating mix of extras added together. There’s so much stuff on here that plays while you are viewing A Nightmare on Elm Street. It has 3 different “Alternate Endings” which includes “Scary”, “Happy”, and “Freddy”. It has the almost 23 minute “The House That Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror”.It has a variety of interviews. They chat about the popular horror franchise and it’s movies. They talk about the iconic horror villain. They bring up New Line Cinema and how A Nightmare on Elm Street has impacted the studio. They mention some of the other horror projects that they have worked on. It has the almost 50 minute 2006 documentary “Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street” directed by Jeffrey Schwarz. It has interviews with Wes Craven, Robert Shaye, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Ronee Blakley, Charles Bernstein, Sean S. Cunningham, and many others. This is my favorite personal extra on this 4K. It goes over Wes Craven’s early career before he did this. Influences and inspirations about this feature are brought up. It has the story about it’s beginning of what started it all and it’s process that lead to it going to New Line Cinema. It covers the cast, characters, and filming it. They go into detail about the Freddy Krueger role and what it took to achieve that look. I’ve always enjoyed this, it’s a very interesting and entertaining watch. It has the almost 16 minute “Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares”. It has a few different professionals breaking down sleep and nightmares. It comes with a slipcover and a digital code. There’s a few different limited edition versions available besides this standard home video release. This is a must own for every horror fanatic, it should be in every collection. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!