4 Film Favorites: Nightmare on Elm Street 1-4(DVD)

The difference between Freddy Krueger and the other boogeymen of 80s horror is that those other guys -- Jason Voorhees, Pinhead, Michael Myers, ad hoc genus -- only showed up in your dreams by accident. Freddy was there on purpose. I can't personally say he ever made an appearance in my own nightmares, but he sure did prevent me from sleeping when I was thirteen years old. In fact, one memorable afternoon I was convinced he was loose in my house, razors and all, but I'll tell that story in a ninute.In case you grew up in a land where horror movies are banned, the premise of the NIGHTMARE series is fiendishly simple. Freddy Krueger, in life, was a vicious child murderer who was himself murdered by vengeful parents -- burned alive, in fact. Years later, he appears in the dreams of the children of those who killed him, stalking and slaughtering them with a razor-tipped glove of his own manufacture. The series' conceit is this: if you die in your dream, you die in real life...so don't fall asleep. On the other hand, if you want to defeat Freddy, you have to face him on his own turf: dreamland. I don't mind telling you that as a kid, I considered Mr. Krueger to be a really below-the-belt villain, in that he attacked you not in some remote woodland setting or even in your own home, but when you were at your absolutely most vulnerable: in bed.I think I have lost track of how many "Nightmare" movies have been made, but most fans would agree that this no-frills four pack of DVDs covers the best of them. When I had occasion to meet Robert Englund a few years ago at a tribute to Wes Craven, he mentioned that he thought Part VI was where the series fell into complete pastiche and self-parody. In my opinion, it did so somewhat before then, but that's part of the joy of being a horror fan is arguing about what constitutes the best and the purest entries into any series. So here is my take on the four movies included here:A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984). Ordinary small-town teen Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) is having terrible nightmares about a badly burned man who wears a Fedora, a fugly green 'n red sweater, and a razor-tipped glove. Oddly enough, her friends are having the same dreams. When one of them is brutally murdered, Nancy's cop father Donald (John Saxon) suspects a fellow student of Nancy's, but Nancy has her own suspicions, and as her friends get carved up one by one as they sleep, she must extract the secret of the killer's identity from her alcoholic mother, and team up with her doubtful boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp), in hopes of dragging Fred Krueger into the waking world, where he can be killed. NIGHTMARE is a fiendishly clever horror movie, playing on the most terrible of our insecurities, and using clever lighting and cinematography to keep Krueger's presence ill-defined and dreamlike. It is neither overly gory not possessing of a large body count, but instead concentrates on ratcheting up the tension by depriving its main characters of sleep and placing them in a scenario where no one can help them. Robert Englund, who plays Krueger, does so here with a snarling, hate-filled viciousness that is terrifying. Some of the imagery of this movie is unforgettable.FREDDY'S REVENGE (1985). Five years after the events of the first movie, Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton) moves into the Thompson's house with his family. He immediately begins to have nightmares, but of a different sort: Freddy Krueger is urging Jesse to commit murder on his behalf. This begins a battle between Jesse to retain his sense of self and Freddy K., who is trying to possess him so he can walk again in the material world. A much reviled entry in the series, REVENGE is a flat-out weird movie, full of forgettable performances and homoerotic imagery, and begins the transformation of Freddy from a terrifying, barely-glimpsed apparition into a wisecracking slasher. The best thing about it are probably Kim Myers, the love interest, who is both adorable and sexy, and Robert Rusler, who plays an idiot guido bully who becomes Jesse's best friend. Interestingly, this semi-dud of a movie was directed by Jack Sholder, who two years later helmed THE HIDDEN, one of the best B-movies ever made.DREAM WARRIORS (1987). Nancy Thompson (again played by Heather Langenkamp) is back and working as a counselor at an institution for troubled teens. There she meets Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette), who nearly died of a wrist-slashing ascribed to a suicide attempt, but which Nancy realizes is the work of her old nemesis, Fred Krueger. In fact, Nancy realizes the young people at the institute are the last survivors of the Elm Street kids whose parents burned Krueger to death, and therefore his next round of victims. Nancy plans to do away with Krueger for good by recruiting the kids into a sort of army (hence the title): meanwhile, her colleague Dr. Gordon (Neil Wasson), investigates the horrible origins of Krueger's birth and deals with Nancy's now alcoholic father (again played by John Saxon). This inventive, clever, brutal movie is the best in the entire franchise after the original itself, and Wes Craven intended it to be the series finale, but it made too much money and lo, another sequel was put in the chute, to wit...DREAM MASTER (1988). A year after the events of Part III, the surviving characters (who I shan't name for obvious reasons) are going about their teenage business with some new friends, including one plucky redhead named Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox). One of the gang suspects Freddy will return, but her warnings are ignored, because hey, when is any horror movie warning taken seriously? Naturally, Freddy does show up, and tries to settle accounts left over from Parts I & III by eliminating the last of the last of the Elm Street kids. This movie is the first of the franchise I saw in the theater, and I must confess I, and the rest of the audience, spent most of it laughing, because by this point the producers had lost interest in NIGHTMARE as a horror movie and turned it into a series of inventive murders and one-line wisecracks. The acting is generally but not universally bad, the writing is awful ("I didn't spend all that time in the gym to be killed by some night stalker!"), there is no internal logic to the story, but as popcorn entertainment meant to take the money out of teenage wallets, it served its cynical purpose. At the end of the movie, incidentally, the boy asks the girl what she's wishing for, and when I first saw it in 1988, some wiseacre in the audience shouted, "PART FIVE!" ... which absolutely brought down the house, and which was far better than any of the lines in the film.All in all, I think this is an excellent collection for the money. The first movie is a classic, the third is very damn good, and the others can be enjoyed on different levels as camp, kitsch, comedy or cautionary tale. The 80s were an incredibly fertile time for horror movies and the NIGHTMARE franchise showed considerably more imagination than most of the other slashers. Even at its worst it was generally worth the price of admission if only to see what the writers had come up with in the way of really inventive death scenes for the hapless teens of Springwood, USA. Robert Englund relished every moment of his time beneath the Fedora and while his character stopped being scary no later than Part III, he remains one of the ultimate horror movie monsters. Tuck these suckers in around Halloweentime and you won't be disappointed.

It took awhile to get here but for 10 bucks it was totally worth it I think 1 2 and 3 are the best nightmare on elm Street movies Friday the 13th movies are better in my opinion however when I watch these movies now a days some parts of the original nightmare on elm Street still gives me chills Freddy could be more scary however the trophy is going to Jason voorhees either way both characters will never be forgotten both are great franchises and so evenly matched who's your favorite????

the first four were always the best in the franchise to me and i could watch them all day everyday. brand new at a low price, i couldn't past it up. the first four really connected back to back giving in depth detail of the elm street legacy. the first touches on how freddy was a child murderer freed on a technicality and all the parents band together to torch him, setting him on fire burning him alive. then, he returns in nightmares killing their children. part two pays homage to nancy, the soul survivor of part one, leaving behind a diary in the house she stayed in on elm street which is soon discovered by freddy's next victim, jesse (whom he basically uses as a pawn to kill victims throughout the film) and jesse's love interest, lisa. it gives detailed information from part one of how scared nancy was and what happened during her struggle. 3 brings nancy back as an older psychiatrist who befriends a bunch of young teens dealing with freddy on a nightly basis the same way she did and she helps them put pieces together to counteract freddy's assault and onslaught of terror throughout the film. although 1 is the best in the franchise hands down, part 4 is my personal favorite-the dream master. kristen returns from part 4 as a gifted dream master who can pull people in her dreams much like she did in part 3. only this time, her gift is passed onto her best friend, alice, whom freddy uses as a prop to pull in her friends for terror torture. this is a must have for any nightmare/freddy fun and does not miss or disappoint in anyway.

This is a collection of the famous film series from 1-4. In part 1, we are introduced to Freddy Krueger, a human male that was murdered by the townspeople for being a psychotic killer. He makes a deal with demons to be able to enter humans' dreams and kill them in their sleep. Some of the kids of Elm St. barely survive part 1. Part 2 is when Freddy wants to enter this realm from the astral world. One boy must fight the possession of Freddy in a supernatural and psychological battle! Freddy is beaten once again, but certainly not killed. Part 3 is the coolest of all the Elm St. films. WE FIGHT BACK HARD. Some kids discover that they can control and shape their dreams like in the other film Dreamscape(not an Elm St. movie). They use their dream powers to fight Freddy in the dream/astral realm. One heck of a fight but Freddy has more experience and still racks up a body count! One kid is different though and beats Freddy. In part 4, Freddy discovers that he has a young male relative that would make a perfect replacement for him if he ever dies. Too bad for Freddy because the girl who beat him in part 3 is guarding the boy! This is the astral war of the ages between a gifted psychic girl and one of the most scary film monsters ever! Action, horror, and even some macabre comedy on Freddy's part(one liners galore) make this some of the best horror you will ever see.

This budget DVD set brings back nostalgic memories of the 1980's. Horror movie master Wes Craven made A Nightmare on Elm Street(1984), a surreal, dream-like, blood and guts horror film. I remember seeing these movies on local TV during Halloween. Robert Englund is flawless as child murderer Freddy Krueger. He's very, very scary and very, very funny. A Nightmare on Elm Street was spoofed on The Simpsons with Groundskeeper Willie trying to kill Bart, Lisa, and Maggie in their dreams! On Halloween, kids at school dressed up in Freddy Krueger costumes with plastic blades attached to the fingers of a glove.James Rolfe, the Angry Video Game Nerd, spoofed the film as he showed us footage from the Nintendo game version of A Nightmare on Elm Street. A Nightmare on Elm Street was remade and rebooted in 2010.A Nightmare on Elm Street(1984): A bunch of vigilante parents burn child murderer Freddy Krueger alive when the authorities refuse to punish him. Years later, Freddy Krueger preys on teenagers in their dreams. If they die in their dreams, they die in the real world. In these films, it's hard to tell the difference between the real world and a dream world. A young Johnny Depp and cute, sensual Heather Langenkamp star in this first film. John Saxon(Enter the Dragon, Mitchell) plays a police officer.A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge(1985): This sequel was made without Wes Craven's input and it shows. Robert Englund is quite good as Freddy Krueger even though he only has 13 minutes of screen time. This is considered the worst Nightmare on Elm Street movie, but I think it's decent. Freddy Krueger uses the body of an angst-ridden teenage boy to kill people. People claim this film is packed with homoerotic imagery. Kim Meyers is quite good as the film's heroine.A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors(1987): This is the best Elm Street sequel. Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon make guest appearances. We're introduced to new characters such as Kristen Parker(the lovely Patricia Arquette) and Kincaid(Ken Sagoes). There's some side-splitting gags. Freddy Krueger yells, "WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK?!" at Zsa Zsa Gabor. Freddy yells the famous one liner, "Welcome to Prime Time, @#$%^"." Chuck Russell directed the third Elm Street film and he went on to direct The Blob(1988) and The Mask(1994).A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master(1988): Renny Harlin(Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) directs this one. Kristen Parker is back, but now she's played by Tuesday Knight! I laughed when Kincaid's dog urinated fire! Kincaid looks like a Super Mario Brother when he travels through a giant pipe!The Nightmare on Elm Street films and the Friday the 13th flicks were slasher/horror movies that dominated the 1980's. They still deserve their R-ratings from the MPAA. You can enjoy the first four movies in the series thanks to this budget DVD. Friday the 13th was rebooted in 2009 and A Nightmare on Elm Street was remade in 2010. This DVD is worth the money if you love horror movies.

Ok,this is the order I like these four films: 1,4,2,3. Despite Nancy's return and her dramatic death in my least favorite of them,it was lackluster and kinda boring. You do get more background about Freddy.To note: Freddy Krueger has always been silly,and goofed around,he was just more subtle about it in part one. Yes it was more dark like part 2 that's it.The continuity is confusing. What REALLY happened to Nancy's mom and Nancy herself after part 1?? I got a "Nancy went crazy" and a "Her mom died in her sleep". Did BOTH happen?? Apparently not since Nancy returns in part 3!!!! We seen Krueger kill the mother,then she's "revived" or didn't really die to be killed again!! I'm aware it wasn't a cliff hanger for a sequel but that's no excuse for the confusion. The Nancy went crazy story would've made more sense,seeing her mother die in her DREAM at thr end of part 1,then loses her mind as the blame is put on her. The father never saw Freddy Krueger since that was Nancy's dream. Nancy fell asleep after her bf's death planning not to yet since she wanted to warn her father her plan to capture Krueger which she THOUGHT she did but was dreaming!!!! THERE'S your plot. End of Nancy's story unless we see her in a psyche ward in part 3 or something.

I love the A Nightmare on Elm Street series, especially Dream Warriors, so being able to have them in sets like this is great.

These "Four Film Favorites" pack are a great value for fans of Freddy Krueger. This is a simple, cost-effective way of watching and owning the first four films in the Nightmare On Elm Street series.As for the films themselves, well, obviously Nightmare On Elm Street Part 1 is the greatest of any Nightmare film. Part 2, Freddy's Revenge, actually gets a lot of flack and is sometimes called the weakest in the series. I disagree. I think it is actually one of the better ones as it carries nearly the same tone as the first. The third film, Dream Warriors, sets a precedent as it starts the "dream" movies as I like to call them. It loses the boyfriend/girlfriend dynamic of the first 2 movies and brings in a group of disturbed children to try to cope with and defeat Freddy. The fourth and last film in this collection, Dream Master, continues after the events of number 3 and again, a group of new kids has to defeat the menace that is infecting their dreams with such nightmares.A second "Four Film Favorites" is also available which include Freddy 5-8 : Dream Child (1989), Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) and Freddy vs. Jason (2003). Buy if you are a Freddy fan!

Very good set, much less cuts than the region 2 dvd, almost or altogether uncut

You saw the Nightmare on Elm Street movies as a kid. You loved them so much you collected Freddy Krueger trading cards. You stopped caring by the time they released New Nightmare. Now you spend 15 bucks to sit through crappy romcoms with a semi-interesting date hoping to get a post-movie smooch. No. Your kid instincts were right: Nightmare on Elm Street is the best horror movie franchise out there, and the first four were incredible. Revisit them immediately.

Excelente película! Llegó en buen estado

Not the cover I received. But whatever the movies are all good! It's Freddy

Really good films.Good picture quality too.