When one thinks of iconic horror film directors the name Wes Craven (The Hills have Eyes) instantly comes to mind. He is considered to be one of the greatest of all time and he created one of the most legendary characters in the horror, slasher genre. In 1984 he wrote and directed a feature film called A Nightmare on Elm Street that debuted a supernatural man named Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund; V). Over the past four decades and through seven original films, Freddy has been terrorizing teenagers in their sleep causing an entire generation of fans to try their best to stay awake. At the end of September Warner Bros. Decided to release a 4K box set that includes all seven movies.
In the original movie Freddy Krueger was a murderer who killed 20 children but was released on a technicality. Seeking justice, he was then burned alive by the victims' parents, alongside other Elm Street residents. In the first film the teenagers Freddy targets are the children of those residents who killed Freddy. In the second film, Freddy returns to possess the body of Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton; Family Possessions), a new teenager living in the house on Elm Street. In the third installment the kids of Elm street supposedly "go crazy" and are placed in a mental institution. Nancy (Heather Langenkamp; Just the Ten of Us), the survivor of the first film and an intern at the mental hospital, realizes Freddy is killing the kids in their dreams. She teaches them how to find their dream power to stop Freddy.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, A student transfers her dreams to another person who then starts pulling people in with her and takes on some of their traits when they are murdered by Freddy. Movie number 5, subtitled The Dream Child, shows Freddy being resurrected inside the body of an unborn child and finding new victims. In the film we also learn that Freddy was conceived when a nun becomes trapped in a mental ward and is raped by 100 patients. In 1991 Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, Freddy has a plan to create other Elm Streets in order to find new victims and finally, in 1994 Craven returned to the writer's room for Wes Craven's A New Nightmare where the actors from the first film play themselves in the movie and Freddy is really an evil entity who is looking to escape the fictional world he had been living in.
While the original Nightmare On Elm Street was released in 4K last year (you can read my review here: FlickDirect: A Nightmare on Elm Street) for the 40th(!) anniversary none of the other films in the series had been remastered until now. All of the movies are presented in 4K from a scan of the original camera negative to varying degrees of success. The original movie through number five have deep, rich colors, even different tones of black that offer diverse shadings. The details are clean and sharp as well. Movie Number 6, The Final Nightmare, while still an upgrade, doesn't have they same sharpness as the others but Wes Craven's A New Nightmare (movie #7) is comparable to the others.
The entire collection has been upgraded to Dolby Atmos and what a treat to the ears they all are! Ambient noises echo from different speakers and the soundtrack is robust, offering depth as instruments are layered giving the music importance in almost every scene. The dialogue is sharp and crisp as it sits comfortably in the front, center speaker.
While this set only includes the 7 original Freddy movies and doesn't consider the Freddy vs. Jason or the 2010 remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street, it is the only complete set out and it is done well enough to please even the harshest of Nightmare On Elm Street fans. With both upgraded video and audio watching these movies is like seeing for the first time all over again. Since we don't know when something like this will be released again, this set is not to be missed!
The box set includes: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy's Revenge, Dream Warriors, The Dream Master, The Dream Child, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, and Wes Craven's New Nightmare. Each film comes with its own set of extras listed here:
A Nightmare on Elm Street:
Audio Commentary
Focus Points
Alternate Endings
The House That Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
Never Sleep Again: The Making of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'
Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven's Nightmares
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge:
Freddy on 8th Street
Heroes and Villains
The Male Witch
Psychosexual Circus
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors:
Behind the Story
Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master:
The Finnish Line
Krueger, Freddy Krueger
Hopeless Chest
Let's Makeup
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child:
Womb Raiders
The Sticky Floor
Take the Stairs
Hopkins Directs
A Slight Miscalculation
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare:
86'D
Hellraiser
Rachel's Dream
3D Demise
Wes Craven's New Nightmare:
Audio Commentary
NEW! Boiler Room Confessional
NEW! Freddy's Footnotes
NEW! Becoming a Filmmaker
Filmmaker
An Instant Troupe
The Problem with Sequels
Two Worlds
Welcome to Prime Time
Conclusion
Grade: B+
