A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street

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"The original A Nightmare on Elm Street was

inspired by an extraordinary series of

unnoticed stories in the Los Angeles Times. A

young immigrant male, early 20's, usually

from Southeast Asia, a son, would have a

severe nightmare where he would wake up

screaming. The next day, he would tell his

family it was the worst nightmare he'd ever

had, and he had been terribly shaken by it.

The next night when he went to sleep--he

died. Six months later I looked in the paper

and there was a very similar story. I clipped it

out and put it with the other one. Then the third

appeared about a year and a half from the first

one, this time in Northern California. And the

elements were the basis for the film. The rest

is horror history."--Wes Craven, Director of A

Nightmare on Elm Street.

At a time when the stalker movie had run its

course to all ends and the image of mute,

staggering, vicious killers had been etched

into society's consciousness to the point of

exhaustion, a new kid entered the block. The

year was 1984 and it was time for a new villain

to enter into the horror genre. It was a villain

that was agile, intelligent, almost invincible,

yet viscous, and by all means deadly. A

Nightmare on Elm Street introduced the

distinctive presence of Fred Krueger to the

horror industry and to the audience. Freddy

Krueger took the center stage and with him a

new era of horror films began. This horribly

scarred man who wore a ragged slouch hat,

dirty red-and-green striped sweater, and a

glove outfitted with knives at the fingers

reinvented the stalker genre like no other film

had. Fred Krueger breathed new life into the

dying horror genre of the early 1980's. This

paper will enter the realm of the ideas in the

movie, such as the psychological horror it held

for the viewer, as well as the use of reality

within the film. Not knowing what was real and

what was a dream made for A Nightmare on

Elm Street to be a successful horror movie.

Horror films are designed to frighten the

audience and engage them in their worst

fears, while captivating and entertaining at the

same time. Horror films often center on the

darker side of life, on what is forbidden and

strange. These films play with society's fears,

its nightmare's and vulnerability, the terror of

the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of

identity, and the fear of sexuality. Horror films

are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-

ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown

human, supernatural or grotesque creatures

lurking about. These creatures can range from

vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts,

monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies,

evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed,

werewolves and freaks to the unseen and

even the mere presence of evil.

Within the genre of horror films falls the sub-

genre of teen slasher/stalker films. These

teen slasher/stalker films take the horror

genre film characteristics into account,

however they add more to the formula. More

violence, sadism, brutality, and graphic blood

and gore are used to increase the terror factor.

Sexuality and gratuitous nudity are also key

characteristic of many of these films, including

this one. Imitations and numerous sequels

are also a common characteristic of teen

slasher/stalker films as well, as Craven came

back with six sequels.

A Nightmare on Elm Street and all the

following six sequels fall into its own sub-

genre of the teen slasher/stalker ideas and it

is known as the Nightmare on Elm Street

Series. This series of films adds a new

dimension to the typical teen slasher/stalker

film, depth of character and story. The

characters