Been a long time since I last saw this. While it comes off a bit dated in some places today (especially the soundtrack), this is still one of the best slasher films of all time. This script is so good. There’s something interesting happening nearly every 5 minutes, the scares keep coming, and there are an amazing amount of iconic scenes. Freddie pushing through the ceiling, the extended arms, the first murder, Johnny Depp exploding in his bed. Wow.
This is an important film in the genre because it came at a time where the craze that Halloween started in the late 1970’s had run its course and the genre was in sore need of a jolt. Nightmare came along and did just that.
I love that Freddie is more scary than comical in this one. Later sequels turned him into a bit of a jokester but he’s much more effective here. I also love that he is credited as “Fred Krueger” instead of “Freddie” too. Classic 1980’s horror film that still has effective moments even today.