Having picked up the entire series on Blu (1 - 7) I thought I'd do a watch through, chronologically, of all the films. And I kicked off with...
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A bunch of teens realise they're all being terrorised by the same man in their dreams. They can't figure out what's happening, but one-by one they're being picked off in deliciously violent fashion by this monster. Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) begins to unravel the mystery and dfiscovers that this horribly burnt monster is Fred Krueger, a child killer who was hunted down and burnt alive by the irate parents of Elm Street after being freed on a technicality - and now he's back for revenge by claiming the lives of their children.
Freddy isn't the mischievous, wise-cracking character that he becomes in the later films - here he's pure evil and thoroughly menacing. The Blu transfer is lovely and breathes new life into the film and I enjoyed revisiting it again (even though I've already seen the standalone Blu release). Looking forward to catching up with the rest now.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
Hot on the heels of the runaway success of the first film comes this rather odd sequel. Directed by Jack Sholder it tells the story of Jesse (Mark Patton) who is being menaced by Freddy. Freddy wants Jesse to kill for him and wants to use his body as a gateway into the real world. As noted in the extras, although the film did well, people weren't too happy with seeing Freddy in the real world outside of the dreams, so the future sequels would focus on elaborate dream set pieces.
Having watched it again, I can certainly see what everyone means when they talk about the rather overt homo-erotic subtext to the film. Some of the lines really had me cringing. Still, taken for what it is, it's an enjoyable ride, but not the best of the series by a long chalk.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Heather Langenkamp reprises her role as Nancy for this one, and she's now working with troubled teens who, it transpires, are also being menaced by Freddy in their dreams. Apparently this bunch of teens are the last of the Elm Street kids and Freddy is still after vengeance. The teens are being picked off one-by-one and Nancy mentors them on how to defeat Freddy by sharing a group dream. This is the film that really established the image of Freddy as a wisecracking icon of horror. And John Saxon also comes back to help out a bit, but not much - and gets killed for his trouble! Poor Nancy, although it doesn't seem to trouble her much.
After the first film, this is probably the next best of the series with an interesting script and some neat ideas. I must confess, I really enjoyed this one again. It's a lot of fun.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
Freddy's first order of business is to dispatch the remaining Dream Warriors from part 3 - all except for one. He wants to keep just one alive so that she will open up the dreams of new victims for him.
It's all a bit of a mish-mash but director Renny Harlin does the best he can with a muddled script. The Blu looks brilliant though - a lot more colourful than previous releases and the level of detail is very good. So, nice Blu, not so great film.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
In this instalment Freddy is stalking Alice, who survived the previous film. Thing is, she's pregnant, and Freddy can access the dreams of Alice's friends through the dreams of her sleeping, unborn child. There's also some silly sub-plot involving Freddy's mother.
Whilst this film does provide a bit more backstory for Freddy, it's ultimately a bit of a stinker. There's a few inventive dream set-pieces, but on whole it's not very good. The BD transfer is immaculate - just a shame the film is a bit shit and quite forgettable. There's nothing in this one that really sticks in the mind.
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
Well, the title is a lie, as two more films followed.
This entry really is woeful and the real low point of the entire series.
Freddy has killed all the children of Springwood and left is a ghost town haunted by its remaining adult occupants, all childless now. Freddy starts infiltrating dreams and manages to draw a group of hapless teens and their adult supervisor into Springwood. Oh, and there's some bollocks about Freddy having a daughter. This is just bad on every conceivable level. They attempted to spice things up with a 3D finale (which isn't presented in 3D on the Blu). I remember watching this on VHS years ago and having to slap on some silly glasses for the finale and the 3D was rubbish.
I'm thankful this wasn't the last Elm Street film, as it would've been a really sour note to finish on.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Wes Craven creates probably the first post-modern film, or at least points the way to one, with this wrap-up sequel (if we discount Freddy vs Jason). Here, the cast of the first film play themselves and realise that the script that Wes is writing is becoming a reality. The genie is out-of-the-bottle, as they say in the film. Freddy has become real and is stalking the real Heather Langenkamp. It's a neat idea and works for the most part. Although the ending felt a bit rushed and cobbled together. I'd have expected a more explosive finale to what was one of the most popular horror franchises of all time. Instead it's all a bit rubbery, fake and unimpressive - with unnecessary humour. But up until the somewhat anti-climactic finale, it's a pretty good horror show.
So, having watched the entire series almost back-to-back, it's easy to see how the series went into rapid decline after the third entry (which is still one of my favourites). A good idea that was well-constructed in the first film by Craven and taken in new different directions as the series progresses. the problem is that the films never really progress after the third and only occasionally throw in some new stuff or backstory to Freddy. Still, taken for what it is, it's an enjoyable enough franchise and there are some moments of true brilliance to be found scattered throughout. And I definitely recommend the Blu set if you can find it relatively cheap and you enjoy the films.