Rating: ****
Director: Wes Craven
Cast: John Saxon, Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Johnny Depp
This movie scared the hell out of me when I first saw it as a sophomore in high school, and I lost many nights of sleep dwelling on it. A group of teenagers is plagued by a horrific being named Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) who haunts their dreams. Soon they start dying in bizarre and gruesome ways as a result of being slaughtered in their dreams by the maniacal Krueger, and the kids try desperately to find a way to strike back and not go to sleep. Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) finally comes up with a way to defeat him by bringing him into the real world, but his evil will live on for numerous sequels. An inventive and well made film, highlighted by terrifying imagery and spine-tingling dream sequences.