I'm not one to spend a lot of time on special features unless I REALLY love the movie. I do love a great documentary though and I was immediately intrigued when I saw this. Years ago when I first began to become an enormous full on movie junkie, I fell in love with horror. That started with a complete fascination and adoration for the entire Nightmare On Elm Street series. I realized even more-so while watching this incredible documentary series how much I love this series. This is an epic sized documentary spending a half hour(ish) to 40 minutes on each entry in the iconic Nightmare On Elm Street series. We are re-introduced to the actors who played their respective roles as they talk about what they remember, what they went through, and what the role and series meant to them. Of course, Johnny Depp is not one of them who is there to talk about it sadly. We get interviews with creator and legend Wes Craven and producer and New Line founder Bob Shaye through much of the documentaries. It is just a fascinating look back at how this series started from nothing to become the iconic, unstoppable horror franchise it is now.
Despite having only starred in three films out of the series, it is safe to say that Heather Langenkamp is considered an iconic scream queen and Freddy's first and most formidable opponent (despite being nearly campy in her performance.) It was a wise move to have her narrate the entire documentary and feature her in interviews as well. The makers of this film do it in an absolutely brilliant way breaking down each film and laying them out in similar fashion and talking about finance, creative process, special effects, cast...there is very little stones unturned. No more time is spent with Wes Craven or Langenkamp or Robert Englund than some of the lesser known characters giving everyone a fair chance to talk about the movies. The documentary is an enormous four hour undertaking that I watched in segments over the course of a week and loved every minute of it!! Perhaps the one thing I was disappointed with is that they didn't continue and discuss the remake because I'm sure that coming about that concept didn't come easy.
They couldn't have asked for a better director than Daniel Farrands. He is obviously an enormous horror fan and while he did pen one of the worst Halloween movies...I'll forgive him for that...he has worked on a number of horror film documentaries and he's got this down to a science. This is made for all the fans. Its simple and straight forward and is not complex or too technical...it just covers the basics and gives you enough information to be truly pleased with it. It never feels stale, even with its enormous run-time because each film is so different and you actually will find yourself looking forward to them talking about a certain instalment. I was really excited to hear about Wes Craven's New Nightmare and Freddy VS Jason and how they came about. The film also touches on the deplorable Freddy's Nightmares TV series. This is a documentary that every horror fan must watch and own. This is absolutely epic and like having all the special features right at your finger tips. Even if you're not a huge documentary fan I think you'll find this fascinating and if you wanted to you could jump ahead to your personal favourite but do yourself a favour and watch the whole thing!! 9/10
Despite having only starred in three films out of the series, it is safe to say that Heather Langenkamp is considered an iconic scream queen and Freddy's first and most formidable opponent (despite being nearly campy in her performance.) It was a wise move to have her narrate the entire documentary and feature her in interviews as well. The makers of this film do it in an absolutely brilliant way breaking down each film and laying them out in similar fashion and talking about finance, creative process, special effects, cast...there is very little stones unturned. No more time is spent with Wes Craven or Langenkamp or Robert Englund than some of the lesser known characters giving everyone a fair chance to talk about the movies. The documentary is an enormous four hour undertaking that I watched in segments over the course of a week and loved every minute of it!! Perhaps the one thing I was disappointed with is that they didn't continue and discuss the remake because I'm sure that coming about that concept didn't come easy.
They couldn't have asked for a better director than Daniel Farrands. He is obviously an enormous horror fan and while he did pen one of the worst Halloween movies...I'll forgive him for that...he has worked on a number of horror film documentaries and he's got this down to a science. This is made for all the fans. Its simple and straight forward and is not complex or too technical...it just covers the basics and gives you enough information to be truly pleased with it. It never feels stale, even with its enormous run-time because each film is so different and you actually will find yourself looking forward to them talking about a certain instalment. I was really excited to hear about Wes Craven's New Nightmare and Freddy VS Jason and how they came about. The film also touches on the deplorable Freddy's Nightmares TV series. This is a documentary that every horror fan must watch and own. This is absolutely epic and like having all the special features right at your finger tips. Even if you're not a huge documentary fan I think you'll find this fascinating and if you wanted to you could jump ahead to your personal favourite but do yourself a favour and watch the whole thing!! 9/10