Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)

(The final film in the marathon, after House of 1000 Corpses and Friday the 13th.)

I reveal myself as a nerd by saying that the first thing I noticed was the typography: simple, plain titles in a simple, sans-serif typeface, save for slight vertical adjustments to bring the characters out of line. It's off, just a little, just far enough to be unsettling.

It sets the scene for horror which is horrifying for the same reason: it's off, just a little, just far enough to be unsettling. Freddy Krueger has since become a horror icon, so there's no need to rehash the plot. It's a simple one: a hideous, scarred man with knives for fingernails attacks teenagers in their dreams -- and what happens in their dreams is echoed in the real world.

Dream logic is strange; dream logic applied to horror is terrifying. Nothing at all can be taken for granted. Freddy can appear and disappear; doors open to the wrong place; stairs melt; the bathtub goes deeper than you ever imagined. Literally, nowhere is safe: not in the usual way, where death is ubiquitous -- natural disasters, unstoppable waves of zombies -- because it's still personal. Nowhere is safe because even your sanctuary can be used against you.

What makes the film especially satisfying, though, is that Nancy actually fights back. Her success at it is debatable (personally, I prefer Wes Craven's ending over the studio's), but either way it's delightful to see actual, effective resistance. It was a welcome relief from the limp-noodle ineffectiveness of the heroes in Friday and House.

This one earned its place as a classic, and it still holds up today. It's worth seeing.