Nightmare On Elm Street, A (LD/DVD) Released by:
Laser Disc: Elite Entertainment, Licensed from New Line Home VideoDVD: New Line Home Video, Distributed by Warner Home Video
Features:
Laser Disc: 1984; 92 Min; Rated R; Digital Tracks: Dolby Surround English; Analog Tracks: Left - Audio Commentary, Right - Original Mono Soundtrack; Widescreen (1.85).DVD: 1984; 92 Min; Rated R; Dolby Digital: 5.1 English; English Mono; Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85).
Extras:
DVD/Laser Disc: Audio Commentary featuring Director Wes Craven, Director of Photography Jacques Haitkin, Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon. (Produced by Elite Entertainment)Laser Disc: Trailers for all seven Nightmare films; Television Spots for Nightmare on Elm Street; 19 Deleted Scenes; Still Frame Archives; "Dream Sequence" storyboards; Other stuff.
Review:
Who are the most disturbing bad boys in the world of cinema? Charlie Sheen and Robert Downey Jr? No. If either Mr. Sheen or Mr. Downey are reading this, I understand you have some personal problems but, please don't send your lawyers after me, this is all in jest. I'm talking about the on screen bad boys... You know, Norman Bates, Michael Myers, Jason and everyone's favorite Freddy Krueger.Before Freddy became the clown prince of horror as is know him, Wes Craven's original concept for Freddy was much simpler. What would happen if you were killed in your dreams? This is what A Nightmare on Elm Street is about.
Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is a high school student that has been suffering nightmares. She learns from her friend Tina, that they are all suffering the same nightmare. Not only do these nightmares all take place in a run down boiler room, the same man is haunting their dreams, the crispy, red and green sweatered Freddy (Robert Englund). As is learned later in the film, he was a child molester that was torched by the parents of the kids on Elm Street.
Most people know the plot of this film, so there's probably no need to go much father into it. What were all here to know, is how does the LD compare to the DVD?
On the surface, since I hadn't watched my Laser Disc in so long, two things we instantly apparent. The DVD's overall transfer is leaps and bounds ahead of Elite's THX LD. While the LD looked great at the time, the DVD's colors are much more stable and vibrant. The video transfer is also much sharper. I was actually quite surprised at the lack of detail that was in the laser disc's picture. One must remember, when Elite released the original SE laser disc, back in 1996, it was made from the best elements available at the time.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on the New Line DVD absolutely blows away the Dolby Surround mix created by Chance Surround for the the LD. I assume that Chance Surround also created this new discrete mix for New Line, but I haven't gone through all of the DVD credits yet. The music is much clearer, the directionality is more defined, the center channel is understandable. Plain and simple, the actually presentation of the film trounces every previous version available.
Now you can all throw that ancient LD away. But wait, there's a catch!
While much of the supplement of the SE laser is on the Nightmare Encyclopedia, such as the trailers, alternate endings, audio commentary and the like, it's not all readily accessible on the DVD. While you can easily access everything on the LD, you have to dig through multiple menus to find everything on the supplemental disc.
You can go through all nineteen deleted scenes (yes, nineteen!) on the laser with no problem. Hell, I'm not even sure if all of this footage is on the Encyclopedia disc. Maybe it's hidden in the labyrinth section, but I sense from some of the liner notes, they aren't. The same goes for the "Dream Sequence" storyboards, as well as the still frame archive.
I don't know how much I can reiterate to the studios. While you can make a fancy looking dvd, with interactive menus and hidden materials, it doesn't mean you should (see Matrix). Maybe I'm getting old and craby (Ed: At age 29?), but the supplements should be laid out for easy access, none of this easter egg crap. I will give credit to New Line for one thing, at least the major interviews were accessible via the encyclopedia's index. If I had to go all through the labyrinth to access all of the interviews, I would have been really pissed.
This is the best film in the Nightmare series, although I would rank New Nightmare at about the same level from enjoyment. Halloween is my reference when it comes to modern horror films, and if that ranks a nine in my book, I would have to give Nightmare on Elm Street a seven.
When it come to the general presentation, I will give both the LD and DVD an eight. This is a difficult call because the actual film presentation on the DVD blows the LD out of the water. The supplements are a different matter, the Nightmare Encyclopedia is pack with info, but not all of it is the same stuff. As a package the Nightmare collection is awesome, but for Nightmare on Elm Street by itself? Eh... If it wasn't for the supplement set up, I would give the DVD a ranking of a perfect 10.
Dan Linzmeier, FIT Productions
Fitprod@aol.com
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