After that viewing of Part 3 and needing to be walked home despite being at secondary school, those words from my friends rang true:
“If you thought that was scary, you should see Freddy 1.”
We did indeed watch “Freddy 1”, more well known of course as A Nightmare on Elm Street.
This film hits different. It opens with a horror segment — a teen running through a nightmare landscape. You automatically settle in, assuming we’re following our protagonist Tina… only for her to be killed in the first few minutes.
The message is clear: no one is safe.
What the film does next is build tension absolutely perfectly. We meet Nancy and her friends. The adults — always a step behind in horror — have Tina’s boyfriend down as her killer. As the characters talk about their nightmares featuring the same “creep”, we know that night has to come. It’s this cycle that ramps up the tension massively. You know, because it’s universal, that they will have to fall asleep.
Unlike the other films, Freddy is on screen here for a grand total of seven minutes. This monster makes the version in the sequels look like a parody. His story is told through the other characters, and that is so much scarier. Proof, I think, that what you don’t see can be scarier than what you do.
But those story beats we do get… wow. One line on first watch from Nancy’s drunk mother: “He’s dead, Nan. He can’t get you. Mommy killed him.”
In this ghost story, the spectre, demon, or whatever Freddy is has the children paying for their parents’ sins. This is why none of the adults on Elm Street believe the kids.
Then there’s the ending. Bob Shaye, the producer, wanted to keep Freddy “alive”, seeing the potential in Elm Street as a franchise (he was right). Wes described a different ending — one that is actually a much better fit for the film (he was also right).
After pulling Freddy’s hat from her dream, Nancy realises she can bring Freddy back into the real world where he can be hurt. Today we’re used to seeing characters like Nancy in horror — but back in ’84, girls in these films usually did a lot of running and screaming. This was wonderfully against the norm.
Towards the end she faces Freddy and tells him: “I want my mother and friends again. I take back every bit of energy I gave you. You’re nothing. You’re sh*t.”
With that, Freddy is gone.
In Wes’s proposed ending, this wasn’t undone. Nancy goes to school the next day, her friends still alive.
The ending we got… well, you’ve likely seen it. The car has Freddy colours, and he drags Nancy’s mum through the door. The seeds of MTV Freddy are planted right there.
But imagine for a moment that Nancy’s powerful victory was left to stand. That Wes Craven’s ending was the one we got. A Nightmare on Elm Street would be a one‑and‑done masterpiece.
As it is, though, it’s still a masterclass in tension and a perfect Halloween watch.
Had Wes got his way, would I have watched Part 3 at my friend’s house? Would my friends even know who Freddy Krueger was? Would I be writing this blog to you all on Hallows’ Eve?