cast : john saxon , ronee blakley , heather langenkamp , robert englund , amanda wyss , nick corri , johnny depp , charles fleischer , lin shaye , mimi craven written and directed by : wes craven running time : 91 minutes my first exposure to the nightmare on elm street series of films was not this one , but in fact the third installment ( it was the first to gain a national theatrical release ) . i didn't see the first film until much later . so looking back , the original didn't hold a lot of great memories for me , since i didn't think too much of it when i initially saw it . watching it now for a second time confirmed that it's an overrated horror film that ultimately makes no sense whatsoever . you all know the story by now : child murderer freddy krueger ( robert englund ) returns from the grave by haunting the dreams of the children of those who burned him alive years before . this first installment does an adequate job with it's low budget , but there's some absurd dialogue and conceptual problems with the story . plus the movie's ending ( understandably the result of the studio wanting the end of the film to have a " hook " for a sequel ) renders the rest of the film pointless . and does anyone understand what happens to nancy's mother at the end of this film ? don't get me wrong though . . . it's not as if a new generation of horror films have spurned me away from the classics . most horror movies released today are just as inane as this film is . horror is a difficult genre to pull off credibly , and a nightmare on elm street just doesn't cut it . a nightmare on elm street is available on dvd from new line home video . it is available both as a single disc and as part of the nightmare on elm street collection box set . the film is presented in both pan and scan and it's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1 . 78 : 1 ( although on the disc that comes in the box set , only a widescreen transfer is provided ) . the film has been digitally remastered and includes two options for audio : a mono mix and a new dolby digital 5 . 1 mix . also included on the dvd is a full-length audio commentary track with writer/director wes craven , stars john saxon and heather langenkamp , and the film's director of photography . other extras include the " jump to a nightmare " feature ( i'm sure you can figure that one out ) , the usual cast and crew bios ( which are from the film's original press release kit , and notably leave out robert englund and johnny depp ! ) , and the film's original theatrical trailer . some dvd-rom features are also included , but since i don't have dvd-rom capabilities i can't really get into that . the commentary track is entertaining and informative , but nothing spectacular . the first thing of note is that it's the same commentary track that was on the special edition laserdisc from a few years ago . i'm not saying that's a negative thing , just pointing it out . everyone seems enthusiastic about being there , with the possible exception of john saxon , who just doesn't say much at all . most of the time you'll forget he's even there . everyone else talks really quietly though for some reason , as if because they're commenting on a scary movie that they need to stay as quiet as possible . the bonus disc with the boxed set called the nightmare series encyclopedia features about 45 minutes worth of interviews relating to the first film of the series . also included is the original theatrical trailer and two alternate endings to the film . . . however you can only access one easily . the other is hidden in what's called " the labyrinth " , which might possibly be the most annoying feature of a dvd ever created . basically , it's an interactive game of sorts where you wander through different nightmare locations looking at objects which give you access to extra little snippets of footage , interviews , etc . somewhere in the labyrinth is the second alternate ending to the film . finding it though is both a chore and a bore . [r] the jacksonville film journal url : <a href= " http : //users . southeast . net/~chuckd21/ " >http : //users . southeast . net/~chuckd21/</a> <a href= " mailto : email : chuckd21@leading . net " >email : chuckd21@leading . net</a> © 1999 of the jacksonville film journal . no reviews may be reprinted without permission . 
