I've decided to split up A Wes Craven Halloween into five posts rather than one for each movie. This first post will cover my first viewings of the first two films in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. The next post will cover the next three, the third will cover Freddy's Dead and New Nightmare, the next post will cover the first two Scream films, and the last will cover the next two.

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Starting with the original A Nighmare on Elm Street from 1984, I thought this was a great slice of '80s horror. A lot of the special effects held up pretty well over forty years later, though not all of them have held up. Robert Englund does a great job portarying Freddy Kruger in his first appearance. The actors playing the lead teenagers also turn in better than average performances for slasher films. Heather Langencamp in particular turing in a great lead performance as Nancy. I also very much enjoyed how pervasive the dreamlike atmosphere was throughout the whole film, with multiple moments where you aren't sure if you're seeing a dream or not until the eventual reveal. Overall, this was a great start to this series, and leaves me excited to continue this project even though I know that these movies do get worse over time.

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I... actually think I liked this one slightly more than the first movie. Freddy's Revenge is most famous for the gay subtext present throughout the film. Watching it I was shocked that allegedly only the writer and lead actor Mark Patton were aware of it as it is very front and center through the entire film. While it can be viewed as homophobic depending on how you read the film's themes, I don't feel that it's my place to say how well or poorly these themes are handled. Regardless, they do make the film much more interesting to watch than it would have been otherwise. Freddy's Revenge is also a bit goofier than the first film. The way that the protagonists parents react to the supernatural events in their house are especially ridiculous. And of course, Robert Englund once again gives a great performance as Freddy. This sequel honestly surprised me. I was expecting I wouldn't like this one that much and then things would pick up slightly with the third, but this just really worked for me.

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Next time I will cover films 3-5.