A Nightmare on Elm Street

This classic 80s horror follows the teenagers of Elm Street as they are stalked by clawed serial killer Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a man with the power to kill people in their dreams. One by one, they begin to be killed and Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) must take a final stand against him...

Directed by the great Wes Craven (Scream, The Hills Have Eyes) who sadly died last year, this is the forerunner for so many slasher films that would come later, and manages to still feel fresh and relevant to this day. The focus on practical effects works brilliantly—some may feel a little dated, but it's truly surprising how well most of the visuals hold up on screen now.

The characters may not be the most incredibly written, but all are acted in a fashion which makes them instantly engaging, and in Nancy, Langenkamp creates an iconic horror heroine who is equal parts brave and resourceful (bonus points have to be given for Johnny Depp appearing in his first ever film here). The film also provides a legendary villain of horror cinema in the form of Krueger, who Englund imbues with a sense of absolute terror and menace.

If you're a fan of the horror genre, you don't want to miss this absolute classic!

Callum McManus

Forget the sequels, the imitators and the lifeless 2010 reboot. Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street remains a genre touchstone untarnished by time, retaining the power to frighten with its ingenious concept and iconic villain. I am of course referring to Freddy Krueger, the consummate boogeyman. Unlike every other masked weirdo with a machete, Freddy has an agenda and a special talent. He stalks you in your dreams, and in the depths of your subconscious, terror has no limits.

Nancy (a pleasantly steely Heather Lagenkamp) and her friends (including a young Johnny Depp) are suffering through a spate of nightmares; stalked by a man with blades for fingers, a striped pullover and a horrifically burnt face. At first it seems like eerie coincidence, but eventually people start dying, the assailant able to slay his victims in the seeming safety of their own slumber. Banding together, the kids of Elm Street battle to stay awake, hoping beyond prayer for a way to halt the murderous fiend known only as Freddy.

Craven pieced together this classic on a tight budget, relying on clever practical effects, a strong narrative and some unusually intelligent themes to sell the final piece. It was a huge success and rightfully so, it’s unsettling from the opening sequence onward, and the depiction of parental sin being revisited upon their helpless brethren is deeply unnerving. Moving seamlessly between dreams and reality, A Nightmare on Elm Street is a universally acknowledged classic, ready to be rediscovered on the big screen this term.

Dan Kelly

Freddy Krueger, the bastard son of a hundred maniacs, was a disgustingly insane man who abducted children and carved them up in his dingy, set-designer's dream boiler room. Freed by a technicality, the killer was hunted down and torched by some vigilante parents (talk about neighbourhood watch) - but he didn't let it rest there, oh no. He got his revenge over 6 sequels...

Nancy is your average teenager, she has a drunken mother, an estranged father, and a boyfriend (Depp - in his first role) who crawls in her window at night for nocturnal whoopee. Everything seems fine. But she begins to be haunted by recurring nightmares; extremely vivid dreams which are shared by her best pal Tina. When Tina dies mysteriously (she whirls around the room spraying blood everywhere) the police suspect her oversexed boyfriend (well, you would, wouldn't you?) but Nancy knows better. She knows that something is stalking the teenagers of Elm Street, and unless she does something about it, she'll be the next one to get a one-way ticket to corpse-ville...

Yes, it's the sort of film which merits three full-stops after each paragraph - A Nightmare on Elm Street is a classic scarer which exemplifies the theory that the original film in a series is the best. Ably directed by Craven and with astonishingly good performances from the teenagers, Nightmare is perfect as a midnight horror special - just remember: Don't fall asleep.

Mark Chambers

Freddy Krueger (Englund), the bastard son of a hundred maniacs, was a disgustingly insane man who abducted children and carved them up in his dingy boiler room. Released by the authorities on a technicality, the killer was hunted down and burned alive by the vigilante parents of the murdered kids. Back from the dead, and with an understandable grudge, the disfigured Freddy refuses to let the matter rest. He intends to get revenge - even if it takes six sequels and a much-touted Freddy Vs. Jason cross-over.

Nancy (Langenkamp), this film would have us know, is an average all-American teenager. She has a drunken mother (Blakley), an estranged father (Saxon), and a boyfriend (Depp in his first role) who crawls through her window at night for a bit of nocturnal how's-your-father. She is also haunted by a recurring nightmare featuring a badly scarred man wearing a tattered green and red sweater and a glove with razor-sharp "finger knives". She soon discovers that her friends are having similar dreams, and when her best friend dies gruesomely, Nancy realises that she must stay awake to survive. Uncovering the identity of the dream killer and his connection with the children of Elm Street, the girl plots to draw him out into the real world.

Simon C. Williams