A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

The world may not have become totally Dystopian as George Orwell predicted in his book 1984, but it was the year that Wes Craven made it difficult for many to sleep well.

It’s a huge franchise. Everybody knows who Freddie Kruger is. Everybody knows Johnny Depp was in the film. What I want to talk about is how Wes Craven gave us not only a new, wonderfully wicked monster for the canon, but he also gave us the perfect horror premise that we can all relate to and be frightened off. Here I’m using the word Premise as a theory as much as an undertaking. When writers create a narrative, especially one of a particular genre, they are provided with a set of conventions associated with that genre whether they like it or not. So their choice becomes “Do I try for something new within the confines of genre expectations and conventions?” or “Do I branch out, risking alienating fans of the genre?” 

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Some conventions of horror include creepy old houses, isolated places, superstitious people, crazy people, blood, scary music, stupid people, people killed after having sex, the list goes on and on. Writer, Director Wes Craven came up with a pretty chilling creation in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

His premise is that when we sleep… it’s possible to have nightmares…when we DON’T sleep… it’s possible to have hallucinations. Then he gives us a monster that can exist on both those ethereal plans as well as in our reality. SO THERE’S IMPLY NO ESCAPING HIM! 
Genius!

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A narrative’s effect on its receiver can be measured by how long the narrative’s details stick with the reader/viewer. For me, I’m still creeped out by thoughts of “One, two…Freddie’s coming for you…”

So thank you to Mr. Craven for his creation and contribution into the horror zeitgeist of America by introducing us to a monster who is impossible to escape and a premise that haunts me still.

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