31 Nights of Halloween (2015)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

NIGHT 31

Written and Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund
Released: 1984

And finally, we have reached Halloween Night, and what more appropriate way to conclude the month of October than with a contribution from the late great master of the genre? This is easily Wes Craven's most iconic film, even more so than Scream, and it's not too hard to see why. Much like the original Halloween, while this may have mostly inspired a slew of ironically uninspired sequels (yes, I know what I just said, and it's intentional), this original still stands out on its own and holds up to this day as a classic horror film. Of course both Dream Warriors and New Nightmare were worthy follow-ups that brought back Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Drew, but they wouldn't even exist without the movie that started it all.

Also worth noting is how this movie featured Johnny Depp in one of his earliest notable roles. It's also great to see Freddy as how he was originally conceived. Before he became an utter parody of himself with a wise-crack to accompany every kill, let's not forget that he was a legitimate horror villain in this original incarnation. Sure, he had a bit of dark humor to his character even in the original movie, but it wasn't so overdone so as to completely take away from him actually being a legitimate threat to these characters, and for that his spoken lines were all the more effective. Overall, this is personally still my favorite film in the franchise, though, like I said, I do still really like the other two films that Wes Craven was heavily involved with, as well.

And with that, this discussion will close out this year's 31 Night of Halloween. I'd like to thank everyone for participating. The turnout wasn't quite as good as last year, though part of that had to do with my own circumstances preventing me from participating in discussions as much as I'd like to. Still, I really love this month and just talking about great horror-themed movies in general, so I'd still be up for doing another one of these in the following year. That said, I'm definitely skipping the Christmas movie discussions this year. The lack of interest in that made it clear that it wasn't worth the effort for me to run a thread like that.

Anyways, Happy Halloween, everyone!

[talonmalon333]

A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the best slashers alongside movies like Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I love that Wes Craven, after realizing that the slasher genre was degenerating in the 1980s, decided to blend the genre with fantasy. Nancy is one of the best final girls, and the side characters in general in this movie are more likable that the supporting cast of many other slashers. And, of course, Robert Englund is a star as Freddy Krueger.

My only problem with the movie is the ending which, of course, wasn't Wes Craven's idea. But everything else is great.

Happy Halloween, folks! I'm in on doing this again next year, of course.

[Avaitor]

I think that we got most of the important Christmas stuff done last year, but I think that we still have another good year or two left for Halloween. So I don't want this one to die yet.

To me, Nightmare on Elm Street felt like Wes Craven was keeping up with all of the big slasher films that were being released since its inception, and said to himself that he can do it better than most of them. I don't think that he topped Halloween, but he made one of the best with such ease to it. It's still pretty good today, too, while most of the other films from this era feel out of touch.