A Nightmare on Elm Street is a film many people would approach with a deal of trepidation, if not outright hostility. This is certainly understandable, given both the era from which it hails and the seemingly endless string of increasingly dumb and trashy sequels it spawned. However, those who do venture to watch it may find a surprisingly intelligent and even principled horror film.
This is not to say it doesn’t contain the elements one would expect; blood, gore, profanity, and partial nudity are all present, though in the latter two cases not as much as one might expect. Despite this, though, the film is far from just being another trashy Slasher flick.
A note: I am basing my observations of the film on the original, director-intended ending and ignoring the ‘shock’ ending of the film as it stands. I do this in view of both the director’s intention and the clear thematic course of the film as a whole.
The story is probably familiar to most people; child murderer Freddy Krueger is burned to death by the parents of his victims only to return years later to stalk the dreams of the remaining children. The movie is very well structured, entertaining, cleverly written, and chillingly effective. It is the film’s interpretation of evil, however, that makes it really interesting. Unlike the later films in the series, there is no glorification of evil here; Krueger is utterly loathsome and not the least bit amusing while his victims (including a shockingly young Johnny Depp in his first role) are all likable and sympathetic, especially the heroine, Nancy.
Evil here is portrayed as a seemingly unstoppable force; no matter what the characters try to counter it, everything fails. They can’t escape Krueger either by running or staying awake forever, he’s too powerful for them to fight, and no one can protect them from him. Even after they get him out of the dream world and attack him when he’s vulnerable, he still won’t stay down. Religious protection; a prayer, a crucifix, seem ineffective (emphasis on seem…).
But the film ends with a rousing assurance of the ultimate impotence of evil. In the end it’s revealed that not only is Freddy not as powerful as he seems, but that he is, in fact, utterly powerless. He only has the power his victims give him by believing him to be real and dangerous. Once that power is gone, not only is Freddy destroyed, but all his evil is erased; he never existed any more than any other dream.
And that is the nature of evil, particularly the evil inside each of us; our sins and temptations. At times they may seem like an unstoppable, overwhelming force, but they are, in fact, nothing. They only have the power we allow them to have and cannot exist for a moment without that power. In the end the best way to overcome our sins is not to run from them, for they will chase us wherever we go, nor to try to fight them head on, for they will very likely win and even if they don’t they will always come back. Rather, it is simply to turn our back on them and deprive them of their power. In the end the best thing we can do when confronted by evil often is to tell it the same thing Nancy tells Freddy; “You’re Nothing.” (adding “You’re Shit” is optional)
