I've never understood the cult status this film enjoys. And yes, I'm talking about the original version with Robert Englund. I find Wes Craven's "Scream" films much better. My main problem with the "Nightmare on Elm Street" films is the premiss that things happen in a dream. There are no rules, anything can happen. The end of the first film is particularly distressing for me, from a critic's point of view. One snap of the fingers and everything is back as it was. Wonderful!
My understanding of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, or at least the first one, is that it is a commentary on / allegory for the impact of an alcoholic parent on the life of their child, now a teenager. The snap of the fingers at the end perhaps is to signify that the true demon is much less easy to identify, much more ordinary, and this way even more horrifying?
ReplyDeleteWow! Do you really think that's what Wes Craven was trying to say? I thought it was a straight forward horror story without any deeper meaning.
ReplyDeleteTo quote an English professor of mine, who was in turn citing someone I believe, once a work is completed "The author is just a critic. A more informed critic perhaps, but a critic." Craven may or may not have been trying to say this, but the film can be read as saying it.
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