NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY

NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY

I remember seeing an advert for Wes Craven's A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET in the mid 1980s. It didn't give much away - it was essentially a clip of a teenaged girl preparing a succession of booby-traps around her house while ominous music played out. It was enough to pique my interest.

A few months later, the film was released on VHS to rent. By this time I was fully aware of the acclaim it had garnered, and that the director of two of my favourite films - THE HILLS HAVE EYES and THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT - was once more at the steering wheel. I was fortunate enough to hire the film out on its day of release.

And it was good. It was original in concept and the villain, Freddy Krueger, offered a novel spin on traditional slashers (despite his bladed glove recalling the faceless killer from Mario Bava's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE). I could see where one disgruntled Fangoria reader was coming from when he wrote into the magazine accusing the film of being nothing more than a TV movie with added gore. But it was still leagues above the toss that had become the norm for the slasher genre by 1984. In fact, ELM STREET effectively killed off the slasher cycle for many moons as its sequels became more and more fantastic - until, that is, Craven's SCREAM ironically resurrected mainstream interest in the ignoble sub-genre in the late 1990s.

Anyway, back to the early days. As remarkable as I gathered ELM STREET was deemed to be, I could never have anticipated the startling amount of revenue it would generate. And when the first sequel was released, FREDDY'S REVENGE, it proved to be little more than throwaway fun; I truly did believe that that was the end of Mr Krueger's run.

I was wrong. Freddy moved from cult figure to Multiplex-pleasing wise-cracker in a surprisingly short space of time. He overtook the other horror franchise characters - Norman Bates, Leatherface, Jason Vorhees, Pinhead - as THE genre pin-up for the masses. With his striking appearance and unique ability to harm people when at their most vulnerable, it's easy to see why he captured the imagination so well. But, with each subsequent ELM STREET instalment becoming sillier and sillier, it's also not difficult to comprehend why many hardcore horror fans treat the series with some disdain.

I fall somewhere between the two.

So I went into this mammoth documentary (not to be confused with Jeffrey Schwarz's 50-minute documentary offered on the existing original ELM STREET's special edition DVD and blu-ray sets) with a mixture of open-mindedness and apathy.

I was pleasantly surprised. This happens to be an engaging and largely comprehensive examination, not only of the films but also their global success and continued cultural significance.

It begins, following a prolonged opening titles sequence which employs some enjoyable stop-motion animation re-enactments of key scenes from the series, with a look at the first film's genesis. Craven is on hand to speak to the screen with a permanent grin, revealing his inspirations (which are different here to the ones he gives in an interview I've kept from an old issue of Film Review. Hmm), John Saxon's toupee habits and how the script was developed. Robert Englund (Freddy) is more fun but no less informative, telling of how he fought for the role after it had been earmarked for someone rather more famous at the time ...

Best of all though are the thoughts of New Line Cinema's Bob Shaye, who went on to produce the films. We learn how small a business New Line really was at the time and that investing in ELM STREET was a genuine make-or-break gamble for them. But Shaye's one of Hollywood's good guys, more interested in developing good ideas than earning a quick buck.

Very swiftly, this documentary establishes itself as an extremely slick and stylish production that aims to cover as much intricate details as possible. The majority of this is achieved by way of talking head-style studio interviews with cast and crewmembers. An impressive array of people have been pinned down to take part although, predictably, the likes of Johnny Depp (part 1) and Laurence Fishburne (DREAM WARRIORS) are absent.

We do get some behind-the-scenes footage and make-up test material to savour too, as well as plenty of interesting on-set stills. But the bulk of the running time is devoted to the interviews.

Well-edited and attractively shot, the documentary also benefits from an agreeable narration from Heather Langenkamp (the teenaged girl Nancy I'd seen in the aforementioned trailer). She's a keen hostess who helps with the flow of the smart pace dictated by co-directors Daniel Farrands and Andrew Kasch.

Fans will be thrilled to learn that, after investing a fair amount of time on recollections relating to the original film, NEVER SLEEP AGAIN then caters for each sequel individually - it even takes in WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE, FREDDY VS JASON and the crappy TV series "Freddy's Nightmares". It's all wrapped up nicely by a summarising chapter entitled "The House That Freddy Built" and wisely doesn't dwell on the recent ill-advised remake.

Interviewees include, but are not limited to: Craven, Shaye, Langenkamp (on screen as well as narrating), Saxon, Englund, FX men Howard Berger, Kevin Yagher and John Carl Buechler, Alice Cooper, Renny Harlin, Clu Gulager, Chuck Russell, Brendan Fletcher and ... Don Dokken!

If there's one thing that this documentary can lay claim to, it's that it will surely stand as the definitive retrospective on this phenomenally successful franchise. It's an exhaustive trawl through its history, clocking in at a massive 240 minutes in length. However, it is also exhausting.

Don't get me wrong: the participants all have interesting tales to tell and the animation that separates each chapter is fun. But, at such a length, there comes a point (for me it was around the 90-minute mark) where attention begins to flag. Perhaps this has something to do with my disinterest in any of the films this side of DREAM WARRIORS.

Still, I admire the achievement of the co-directors and I don't imagine anyone usurping their position as chief ELM STREET documentarians any time soon.

This two-disc set is impressive too.

Disc one contains the film, presented in a highly satisfying anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer which boasts sharp and clean images. It looks great. English 2.0 audio is just as good, and optional English subtitles are a welcome addition.

An animated main menu page leads into a static scene-selection menu allowing access to the film via 13 chapters.

The only extra on disc one is an audio commentary track from the filmmakers. Which, in lieu of the ability to squeeze another 4 hours of freedom from my schedule at present, I didn't get through!

Disc two is host to a plethora of bonus features.

Beyond the static main menu page, these begin with a wealth of extended interview clips. There's some good stuff here, all split into their own chapters which are specific to each film. Amazingly, these additional clips cover a grand total of a further 103 minutes (FREDDY VS JASON has the most deleted interview footage - 19 minutes' worth).

Next up is a 7-minute "first look" at a documentary made by Langenkamp entitled "I Am Nancy". It looks like a moderately fun vanity project exploring the love for the character of Nancy at various film conventions and so on.

"For The Love Of The Glove" is an 18-minute featurette concentrating on freaky collectors.

"Fred Heads: The Ultimate Freddy Fans" is 13 minutes of more appreciation for Krueger, with some interesting thoughts on the pizza-faced one's appeal from Craven and Englund.

Next up is a 23-minute featurette entitled "Horror's Hallowed Grounds", which is basically a location tour relating to the original ELM STREET.

James Rolfe turns up in the next 6-minute short, entitled "Freddy Versus The Angry Video Game Nerd". You can imagine which one Rolfe is. This is a homemade short and has been available before. It's still pretty amusing in a crude way, and comes with an all-new introduction from Rolfe.

"Expanding The Elm Street Universe" is a 15-minute documentary looking at Freddy's life in comic book and novel format.

"The Music Of The Nightmare" is interview snippets with people who have contributed to the films' scores over the years. Its another 13 minutes - how much more can there fucking be?!

Matthew Joseph Peak gets his own 7-minute salute next, where his excellent poster art for the films is celebrated.

"A Nightmare On Elm Street In 10 Minutes" is members of the cast reciting key lines from the films. Guess how long this one lasts.

Finally (!) we get the original teaser trailer for NEVER SLEEP AGAIN.

There are no subtitles on disc two, but everything looks and sounds very good indeed.

The packaging for this set is also nice. A two-disc keepcase is housed in a shiny, embossed slipcase. Inside, you get an attractive foldout poster which reproduces the DVD cover art.

All in all, this is an impressive documentary (and even more impressive DVD set) that would perhaps work better as an accompaniment to a special edition of the series than as a stand-alone release. Either way though, you have to tip your hat to the makers for managing to collar so many participants and gathering so much information for the hardcore ELM STREET brigade.

For fans of the series, this is a must-have.

Review by Stuart Willis


 
Released by 1428 Films
Region 1 - NTSC
Not Rated
Extras :
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