A Nightmare on Elm Street

The fact that this film has become such a cult-classic and the name Freddy Krueger is known even by people who haven’t seen any of his movies is quite difficult for me to understand. This bizarre horror creation simply didn’t entertain me. The atmosphere is brilliant, no doubt (especially thanks to the music and set design), Freddy is a terrific demon, and the script is relatively interesting, but that's about it. The actors are wooden (and I'm skipping the fact that they look twenty-five at the age of fifteen), the pace is uneven, and overall, it feels somewhat barren. Even the first film is not a groundbreaking work, so I don’t quite understand why the made sequels. Freddy is truly a legend, but it's more due to his appearance and his hand tricks rather than his personality as such. (18/11/2006)

A Nightmare on Elm Streeet... Even after thirty years, it hasn't become stale, which is admirable. The main villain, burned boilermaker Freddy with a sense of rather brutal humor, is still a unique character and his actions still entertain and frighten at the same time. The fact that the special effects don't look the least bit ridiculous (the scene with Tina) and the atmosphere is still chilling only confirms that this is Wes Craven's best horror film, a timeless hit that is going to scare generations of viewers for generations to come. (14/04/2013)

Truly great horror. I watched it when I was a kid and it hardly affected me, I didn’t understand it very well. I watched it again today and I’m thrilled. The awesome villain, the superb atmosphere and the pretty original murders (though considering the premise, they could have been better) put this movie among my all time favourites. And I even felt scared at times, so the full rating is really warranted. (06/06/2008)

I’m not really a fan of horror movies, but since such a classic was on and I haven’t seen it, I made myself watch it. I mean it was really that long even with all the commercials. Wes Craven sure is a guarantee of quality and some people tend to get crazy about his movies, which is why the movie has the rating it does on this site. I do understand, but for me Freddy Krueger will forever be a character that is cult to many, but that to me is no more than an ordinary character. I mean the jump scares are good, it’s all good but Freddy isn’t the kind of guy that will have me scared shitless even 30 years after the movie was made. (25/03/2013)

Wes Craven is definitely a pretty distinctive director who’s not afraid to experiment. Here, he succeeded brilliantly and created one of the most popular teenage slashers, whose cracking central idea and the character of Freddy Krueger will never die. Unlike the sequels, which are just embarrassing repetitive crap (except maybe the third one), this first movie has a really thick atmosphere and some delectable horror moments, and Robert Englund is absolutely peerless in his role, he may not be a well-known actor, but he has secured his immortality by portraying this twisted and ugly character. The overall impression is a bit spoiled by the stupid ending, but for everything else it deserves both 4* and the "cult horror classic" award. (11/02/2012)