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Nightmare on Elm St. - DVD
Director: Wes Craven Writer(s): Wes Craven Producers: Robert Shaye Studio: New Line Cinema Characters: Heather Langencamp - Nancy Thompson Johnny Depp - Glen Lantz Amanda Wyss - Tina Gray Robert Englund - Freddy Krueger Features: Commentary, Theatrical Trailer, Animated and Interactive Menus, Interactive Games, Scene Access, Standard 1.33:1, Widescreen 1.85:1, ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC], ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Mono [CC], SUBTITLES English Review: I gots to say that A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most over-rated horror movies out there. Everybody knows that the sequels are pretty terrible, but (along with Friday the 13th) the original still garners a little respect. It just doesn't deserve it. I hadn't seen this movie until yesterday, and I was looking forward to finally seeing the movie that launched such a well-known franchise. The credit sequence is really frightening. Quite well done. The first 30 seconds of the first nightmare are awesome. It goes sharply downhill thereafter. The movie is boring. The movie is certainly not scary -- not even 'make you jump' scary. My biggest complaint, though, is that 85% of the movie goes by before you get any information about who Freddie is. There is no evolution to his character at all, and the same thing (laugh laugh scrape cut laugh etc) grows tiresome after a couple of dream sequences have gone by. The movie is just not that good... There isn't much more for me to say about it. New Line has, as usual, done a very good job with it. The picture is extremely clear and looks way better than it probably deserves. Both the original mono soundtrack and a remastered 5.1 DD version are present. There is also a commentary with the director, the DP, Heather Langencamp, and John Saxon (plays Nancy's father). It is mildly interesting, but there is a lot of silence, and what talking there is is primarily reminiscent rather than informative. There is also some DVD-ROM content that I couldn't try out. I have always said that, hands down, Wes Craven's best film is The People Under the Stairs. Now, admittedly, I haven't seen all his movies, nor do I really think The People Under the Stairs, but it's got more charm in any given five minutes than Scream and Nightmare have put together. For those who are fans of this film, this DVD is really a necessity -- very well put together -- but if you aren't a true fan, I think this is crap. Rent it if you must. -- John
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