[.ca] Nightmare On Elm Street: 1-7 (ISBN 0780626966)

Amazon.com Essential Video:
In the trinity of modern horror films, there's the father (Michael Myers of Halloween, the first masked maniac), the son (Jason of Friday the 13th fame, a knockoff), and the unholy spirit, Freddy Krueger of the Nightmare on Elm Street films. The spectral man who haunted the nightmares of unsuspecting teenagers with deadly consequences, Freddy (as played by Robert Englund) was a truly frightening bogeyman and icon for the '80s. Unlike the hockey-masked Jason, who dispatched horny teenagers with mechanical and monotonous ease (he never talked, never took off his mask), Freddy was a truly creative and diabolical villain, with a sadistic and blackly funny personality. The hallmarks of the Nightmare on Elm Street series were imaginatively gruesome suspense pieces, set in the overactive imaginations of the teen victims. The first film of the series, Wes Craven's truly intelligent and scary film, was so hugely successful it begat not one, not two, but six more sequels, each pretty much diluting the originality and horror of its predecesor. (Horror fans will fondly remember Drew Barrymore's assertion in Scream that the first Nightmare film was great but all the rest sucked.) Still, there's fun to be had in the remaining films in the series, seeing as a number of aspiring filmmakers cut their teeth on the continuing saga of Freddy. Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) and Chuck Russell (The Mask) worked on the third installment, Dream Warriors (starring a young Patricia Arquette), and Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2) came to prominence with the ingeniously macabre fourth film, The Dream Master, coscripted by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential). Craven and original star Heather Langenkamp did return for the last film, New Nightmare, which presaged the tongue-in-cheek postmodernism of the Scream films and resharpened Freddy's ability to scare. --Mark Englehart

The ultimate (though not quite perfect) Freddy collection:
The Nightmare on Elm Street DVD Collection is pretty much a must-have for all Freddy fans, especially those like me who basically came of age watching Freddy do his thing. No movie releases apart from the original Star Wars trilogy invoked more excitement and conjecture in me than did the Elm Street sequels, and all of the films are really just as good now as they were when they were released - better, in fact, thanks to DVD technology and the abundance of special features it makes possible. Of course, the technological explosion in terms of cinematic possibilities we have witnessed in the years since Freddy's birth comes with a price - it is now almost impossible for horror fans such as myself to actually be scared by a movie. Even today's youngest generation will never feel the true magic that Freddy cascaded onto his original audience - they have simply become inured to such primal feelings via the saturation of pop culture itself. Still, though, we who have just turned the door on youth can rediscover the feelings the Elm Street movies first wrought inside our souls, and several of these films do possess the creepy potential to insinuate their horrors into the hearts and minds of the younger generations. The original will never be as shocking as it was in 1984, but it is still a powerful film built on grand archetypes of good and evil that will never fade away. The third film, in contrast to the second one, shows just how effective a true sequel can be at not only recapturing what has come before but expounding upon its very essence in a way sure to delight the audience. Films four and five highlight the innately human propensity to take a good idea and milk it for all it's worth, transforming the core idea that gave birth to something innovative into purely entertaining, meaningless echoes of its original dark self. Freddy's Dead shows just how difficult it can be to recapture the magic that even studio executives know has been lost, and then Wes Craven's New Nightmare makes up for all the bad things, as Freddy's creator returns to the series and recreates and redefines his now-stagnant creation into something just as different and unsettling as the original. The seven movies basically need no exposition on my part, so I will turn my attention to the extras included on this definitive Freddy collection. For one thing, you get the option of watching the original 3-D ending to Freddy's Dead (along with two sets of 3-D glasses) as well as the 2-D ending that the video release included. The 3-D ending does not make up for the general problems with Freddy's final "death" but its availability to the home viewer counts for a lot in my book. Each DVD allows you to jump to any death sequence you choose, which some fans may like (even though Nightmare's essence was not really about the increasingly outlandish kills). The set comes with a bonus DVD that purports to feature The Nightmare Series Encyclopedia. I found this DVD somewhat tedious after a while, but it does feature a brand new documentary on the series. You also get a number of interviews with the men and women who helped bring Freddy to life as well as interested bystanders such as Clive Barker comparing his Hellraiser films to Craven's Nightmare series. There is a Freddy trivia game included for those who like that sort of thing, a very impressive booklet featuring the original press kit information on each film, two film commentaries, a screensaver, trailers, and cast and crew information. A lot of this bonus material is made available in the form of a labyrinth in which you must travel from place to place picking items at random - fortunately, much of the material is much more handily available through an index of features on the disk. Two things disappoint me about this collection. For one, the Labyrinth is aggravating and really not enjoyable to explore; I really don't know why industry people think fans enjoy having to work our way to the special bonus features we paid for in the first place. My other disappointment is the lack of commentaries. The original film features a marvelous commentary by Wes Craven, actors Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon, and director of photography Jacques Haitkin, while Wes Craven's New Nightmare contains a fascinating commentary by Wes Craven alone, but these are the only commentaries available over the entire series of movies (the third movie definitely deserves a commentary of its own). Deleted scenes would also have been a welcome addition, especially given Craven's abundant comments concerning scenes he had to remove from his Nightmare films for various reasons. Still, this collection delivers the goods that all Freddy fans care the most about, as the widescreen, digitally remastered versions of the seven films are stunningly impressive.

The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection:
I am cool! And you are not! That is all I have to say.

The Ultimate Nightmare!:
This box set containing all of the films(as of this writing) of the Nightmare on Elm Street series is a pure bundle of horrific fun. Not all of the films are created equal of course(not many in any series are)and they may have lost some of their original clout but they are still a delight to watch and follow along to. Robert Englund as Freddy literally "owns" the part.Most of his lines in the films may have been written for him(there are exceptions) but he made Freddies' walk and mannerisms all his.And thankfully this is one of the reasons New Line never has(and hopefully never will)replace him with anyone else. Another thing I loved about Freddy as the series progressed was his tongue in cheek humour.This just enhanced the whole character of Freddy to a greater degree. As the extras that are contained in this set reveal you will find out that Robert Shaye the head of New Line pictures and even the creator Wes Craven have been,and unusually so,very concerned and aware of fans concerns regarding the series every step of the way.Both have gone to great pains to keep a consistancy throughout the entire series and stay true to its' central theme and characters. The bonus disc contains a plethora of extras that will satisfy just about everyone.It also contains a "labyrinth" that one must go through in an exact and certain way in order to enjoy all of its' 'hidden' features.Not easy to get through for sure but an enjoyable way to pass some time and learn alot about these films that you didn't know before. In conclusion I highly recommend this set to all fans of the series.The transfers are for the most part very well done and I'm sure it will not fail to disappoint most viewers.

The Nightmare On Elm Street Collection:
I arrived in good condition and in a fair amount of time considering how far it had to travel and i am extremely please overall

ONE OF, IF NOT THE GREATEST HORROR SERIES EVER!:
Words can't begin to describe how awsome this set is! But I'll try by saying all seven NIGHTMARE movies in one set is amazing, and then you also get The NIGHTMARE series encyclopedia! With so many bonus features it enough to make your head spin. Original mind blowing animated menus, two feature length commentaries with series creator Wes Craven, a thirty six page collector's booklet with the origional production notes and rare photo's, eight original dream world trivia games (DVD-ROM)*, jump to a NIGHTMARE screne navigation, 3-D DVD sequences (two pairs of glasses included), and all seven screenplays (DVD-ROM)*-watch the scene will reading the script, and much more! This is the best way to see all seven NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET films on DVD! I highly recommend any and all horror moie fan's to pick this set up today!...