Happily standing in defiance of the criticism I've noticed for our next film, which is that it's "dated," as I notice this kind of flawed reasoning in my daily life. Easy and smooth modern technology isn't always the most satisfying. For example, digital music is easy to access, yet it's a lot less gratifying than walking into a hidden surviving music store that sells cd's, cassettes, and vinyl records. The filmmaking talent on display here weren't stuck at a computer designing polished digital effects, instead they threw their creative energy at hands-on innovation. In other words, they had a good time. Booby traps, guys on garage roofs in Venice, California setting up marionetting, a bathtub scene with an entire pool of water hidden underneath, entire rotating sets for savage horror sequences. How refreshingly raw and tangible, like, oh, I don't know, walking into a music store, buying a cassette which I can hold in my hand, injecting it in my portable tape player, and watching the wheels spin. I'm in love. Instead of digital downloaded literal physical emptiness.
"Even though I've had lots and lots and lots of people tell me 'you gave me nightmares,' for years, they always have a smile on their face."
-Wes Craven
The man who made
"The Last House On The Left" (1972) and
"The Hills Have Eyes" (1977) imparts that his idea of
Elm Street is of pure Americana. The school he taught at before he jumped ship out of academic teaching was Clarkson College of Technology next to Elm Street in Potsdam, New York. The
route where President Kennedy was assassinated was also
Elm Street. Gives you a sense of the scope of Craven's vision. His script for the film was passed over by Hollywood for three years, until a company got onboard called
New Line Cinema, started out of owner Bob Shaye's trunk. Their best hits were cult films such as
"Pink Flamingos" (1972) and
"Reefer Madness" (1973). This film features a sharply played cast of friends led by Nancy, a legitimate "girl next door," a survivor girl. Her friends are Tina, the victim of a broken home, Rod Lane, a cocky womanizer with a big ego, and Glen, a jock played by Johnny Depp in his first movie role who previously had been involved trying to start a band in Los Angeles while the 80s hair metal rage was in FULL SLASH. Originally, Charlie Sheen wanted the role, yet he demanded $3,000 a week and New Line didn't have the wallet to shell out the bucks. Craven's daughter encouraged him to choose Depp, declaring, "Dad, he's beautiful."
Actor Johnny Depp about his first ever film role as Glen David Werner was originally cast for the role of Fred Krueger, though at the last minute he had a prior commitment and couldn't commit to their timeframe. That's when Robert Englund entered the picture, fresh off the mini-series
"V" (1984). In his interview for the role with Craven, Englund expected to meet the Prince of Darkness, but instead found himself in front of the Ralph Lauren attired Wes Craven, who thought Englund to be semi-geeky and much younger than he was looking for. Those gathered in the studio whispered, "They want him to play Freddy?" David Miller, fresh off the zombie make-up effects in Michael Jackson's
"Thriller" video with John Landis, helmed the makeup effects of Freddy Krueger, which he built out of pepperoni pizza using the inspiration of real burn victims for reference. Don't be confused, Rick Baker from
"An American Werewolf in London" (1981) led the werewolf effects for
Thriller, while David Miller crafted the look of the zombies, take notes. Robert Englund confirms that he recognized the power of the Freddy silhouette and shadow, and made conscious choices to physicalize him a lot, using the inspiration of Klaus Kinski's
Nosferatu, and Jimmy Cagney for his spread-legged strong gangster stance.
Robert Englund in his hit mini-series "V" (1984), before being cast as Krueger The rotating room, inspired by Fred Astaire's
"Royal Wedding" (1951) as he dances on the roof and the walls, was the creative source for the most brutal scene in the film when Tina is dragged up the walls and down the walls in a savage horror sequence in a highly disorienting set for cast and crew which was utilized again by Christopher Nolan in his film about dreams,
"Inception" (2010). When
A Nightmare On Elm Street was released on November 9th, 1984, the studio waited fearfully as a box office faceplant could have destroyed New Line Cinema. Instead, film crowds lined up in droves. The formerly renegade, independent film company grew into a Hollywood powerhouse that produced hundreds of box office heavyweights, including
"The Lord Of The Rings" which won seventeen Academy Awards. Worth mentioning for film relevance scale, and also because my older brother regards those films closely.
New Line Cinema.
The House That Freddy Built. Owned by Bob Shaye, who agreed to partner with Wes Craven and Robert Englund, the rockstar of boogeymen, until Shaye was forced out by corporate political BS. Freddy Krueger is richer than Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees, because Freddy's series has higher production values and more importantly his movies made more money too. While Michael is bound to Haddonfield and Jason to Crystal Lake, Freddy roams the limitless space of Dreams and Imagination, freeing up artists and filmmakers to open up their unlimited visual minds. The Elm Street films are built with an energy of sheer creative enthusiasm, completing
The American Dream. Where the best ideas are valued and an attitude of shared creative excitement wins. Creative forces. Ideally, the high voters would be the ones presenting their films, rather than one set-in-stone Host. Authentic creative forces, I know that's what pulls me. Let's kick this MoFo's ass all over Dreamland.
12. 
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Runtime: 1 Hr 31 Mins Production Company: New Line Cinema Distributed by New Line Cinema Production Budget: $1,800,000 Box Office: $25,500,000 Eighteen Votes 273 Points: (25, 25, 23, 23, 22, 22, 18, 17, 16, 16, 15, 13, 10, 9, 8, 6, 4, 1) High Voter: @Nostromo87 , @honeykid
Terror In The Tub by Charles Bernstein
Closed Thread
. The film was on my list at #5.
