Ten...

Never Sleep Again

Growing up as a child in the 80's was a pretty unique experience.  The decadence and excess that appeared in nearly every aspect of the culture seemed normal.  The horror movies of yesteryear evolved into blood-drenched slasher flicks.  At the height of special effects and animatronic technology, the films went from being about fear suspense to the spectacle of on-screen death.  Sequels after sequels got churned out of any movie that could become a franchise.  A new generation of monster kids were born, worshiping characters that generally referred to by their ordinary first names.  And no one was cooler than Freddy Krueger.

If you're like me, and still have an affinity for these movies, I can't recommend this documentary enough.  It came out a couple of months ago (in conjunction with the remake).  It's a comprehensive four-hour retrospect of the original eight movies, the television series, and New Line Cinema.  It's got interviews with just about every actor, director, writer, and producer that isn't too famous to be in a Freddy Krueger documentary.

It's really interesting.  Some of it I knew.  Some of it I didn't.  But I watched it all in one sitting (apart from pauses for drinks, bathroom, phone calls, etc).  There's a really cool stop-motion intro with scenes form the first movie.  I got it from Netflix, so I can't comment on the bonus disc.

Watching the documentary also made me realize that I probably haven't watched many of these movies since they were first pressed on DVD eleven years ago.  There's a lot of stuff that I forgot from these movies that I used to spend many a late night (and sometimes sit through an afternoon; remember when television wasn't so conservative?) watching.  I once even watched them all at once (consecutively, not simultaneously).  I don't know if I'd recommend that, but I'm proud to say I've done it.

Anyway, I'm going to go back and watch them all to see if they still hold up.  I'll get some reviews up in the next few weeks.  Since my box set predates Freddy Vs Jason, I have to rent it, so we'll have to see how motivated I am to do that.  I didn't see the remake (something else I wanted to but couldn't motivate myself to do; I really hate Platinum Dunes, and can't bare even the aesthetics), but maybe I'll get up a review when that's on DVD.  Anyway, here's how I remeber the films.  We'll see how my newer reviews compare:

Nightmare on Elm Street:  Genuinely scary, well made movie.

Freddy's Revenge:  Some cool sequences, but an overall failure.

Dream Warriors:  Really cool and fun.  A little goofy.  Very close 2nd after the original.

Dream Master:  Like 3, but less story and more death.

Dream Child:  Not bad, but boring.  I think there was a body count of 3.  Unacceptable.

Freddy's Dead:  Really weird and silly, but still really enjoyable.  Alice Cooper.  Alice Cooper.

New Nightmare:  I give credit for trying something new, but it didn't work.  Some really cool and creepy moments.

Freddy Vs Jason:  To be fair, it's the only one I first saw as an adult, but just terrible.

Nightmare on Elm Street (2010):  Probably awful.