A Nightmare on Elm Street

‘80s HORROR MARATHON

The film will be screened in a digitally restored print.

Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
Duration: 91 minutes
Year of Production: 1984

Four decades ago, the future director of Scream secured his place among the most famous creators in horror cinema with this film — made on a shoestring budget yet achieving such widespread popularity that it spawned a beloved commercial franchise lasting over 25 years. Inspired by a traumatic childhood experience and mysterious deaths of several Hmong natives, who after being released from Vietnamese concentration camps died mysteriously in their sleep from unbearable nightmares, Craven created an unforgettable villain in Freddy Krueger. This maniacal killer, wearing a glove fitted with blades, appears in the dreams of young boys and girls to slash them as they sleep. Their only hope: to wake up in time before meeting a gruesome death.

The film’s core idea is simple, but in Craven’s skilled hands, it becomes supremely terrifying and highly effective. The director has an impeccable grasp of manipulating the audience, constantly subverting their expectations and surprising them with some of the most frightening scenes ever seen in cinema up to that point. Despite the original Nightmare spawning six sequels, a TV series, and a remake, none managed to replicate the rare combination of massive commercial success and respected artistic acclaim that the original achieved. Loukas Katsikas