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A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 ★★★★½
- Please, God.
- This... is God.
People like referencing the more silly, one liner filled sequels, before pointing out that the original was genuinely scary. And I can only concur with the last part. And I love Freddy's sense of humour.
Wes Craven shows his genius in the genre. He wastes no time before grabbing you by the back of the neck. First with the fingerknives - one of the scariest and most intriguing weapons in horror. It just looks so cool and menacing and efficient at the same time. Everyone who saw this wants/wanted one. Full disclosure: Yours truly has a plastic replica at home as well.
Then with Tina's first nightmare. Proving that the danger can come from literally everywhere. Only letting up for small portions of time. Allowing the viewers to catch their breath before taking it away again.
The kills are all compelling and intense. You are drawn in and you feel for the characters. Even for Rod. He may be a jerk, but you don't want him to die nonetheless. Tina's death is still as scary as ever and I will never get tired of the death bed. Especially hearing the backstage stories, with Heather Langenkamp cheerfully reminiscing on how rickety everything on the set was. Making it even more impressive that they managed to make it work as well as it did.
The humor that colours the sequels is far away here. The closest thing to funny bits are the cassette bit with Depp and the hallpass moment. Or a dude looking like eighties Bill Hader reading Shakespeare. Speak up, man. We can't hear you over your shirt.
A must see for any horror fan. Hands down.
Tenebre 1982 ★★★★½
Dario Argento is a genius and this is a masperpiece.
His unique mix of beautiful imagery and exciting music immediately draw you in. Making you think that in the ideal world, you can walk down the street with an Argento soundtrack playing, with the same level of cool as Travolta did in Staying Alive.
The story like with many Giallos is a rather complicated murder mistery with a few red herings thrown in to keep you guessing.
But that's not really what you are there for. In order to fully enjoy an Argento-film, you must be completely immersed: in the music, in the gorgeous imagery, in the beatifully filmed kills,...
Daria Nicolodi once again delivers a great performance, though she did not have as much to work with as in, say, Deep Red. She still outshines the actor playing Peter Neal, though. And it has John Saxon as (a bit of) a shady publisher. What's not to love about that?
Well recommended.
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