We are in the Los Angeles area, near Elm Street. A bloodthirsty madman kidnaps children and kills them after torturing them atrociously. The parents are obviously concerned with taking arbitrary justice into their own hands, throwing the maniac into the fire and keeping the secret among themselves.
Dead? Freddy Krueger, that's his name, makes a pact with the forces of evil and acquires the terrible power to dominate dreams, appearing in the nightmares of some teenagers. His favorite victims are the children of his executioners, and now he takes out his thirst for revenge on the teenagers.
The symptoms are the same: they dream of a horrible monster with claws, a burnt face, and a red-and-gray striped sweater; the dream becomes reality and young people die like flies. No one wants to believe what is happening and the police are completely in the dark. Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is the first to understand the reality of the situation and tries to stop old Freddy with all her might...
The first film featuring a character (Freddy Krueger) who became an absolute icon of 1980s horror and the title that established Wes Craven in the world of intense cinema. The hammer with blades attached to his fingers, the wide-brimmed hat, and his face disfigured by fire created the ideal symbol of the cruel and ruthlessly ironic villain in the imagination of fans. It is undoubtedly one of the most important films in the history of splatter, especially for the original subject invented by Craven. It spawned a series of sequels, with mixed results, which focus heavily on the personality of the ’villain’ (who continues to reap fans around the world today). When a good character is combined with a well-crafted plot and scenes, enhanced by David Miller's special effects, the result is a masterpiece of its genre. It will be difficult for anyone to understand what is dream and what is reality, to which the protagonists of our story desperately cling. Even more delirious is the nursery rhyme that accompanies Krueger's exploits, making the atmosphere decidedly distressing... “The bogeyman isn't dead/he has claws like a raven/his voice is scary/take the cross right away/open your eyes, stay awake, don't sleep tonight...”
And to think of the risk the film took: rejected by all the major Hollywood studios, it was the then independent New Line Cinema that took on the burden of distribution. The results were record box office takings and critical acclaim (it also won the Avoriaz award for best actress), which transformed Nightmare into a cornerstone for all lovers of horror and action cinema in general. Not to be missed.
Review by mestreandrea
