Example research essay topic: Nightmare On Elm Street Film And Reality - 1,373 words

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The original A Nightmare on Elm Street was inspired by an extraordinary series of unnoticed stories in the Los Angeles Times. A young immigrant male, early 20 s, usually from Southeast Asia, a son, would have a severe nightmare where he would wake up screaming. The next day, he would tell his family it was the worst nightmare hed ever had, and he had been terribly shaken by it. The next night when he went to sleep died. Six months later I looked in the paper and there was a very similar story. I clipped it out and put it with the other one.

Then the third appeared about a year and a half from the first one, this time in Northern California. And the elements were the basis for the film. The rest is horror history. Wes Craven, Director of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

At a time when the stalker movie had run its course to all ends and the image of mute, staggering, vicious killers had been etched into society's consciousness to the point of exhaustion, a new kid entered the block. The year was 1984 and it was time for a new villain to enter into the horror genre. It was a villain that was agile, intelligent, almost invincible, yet viscous, and by all means deadly. A Nightmare on Elm Street introduced the distinctive presence of Fred Krueger to the horror industry and to the audience. Freddy Krueger took the center stage and with him a new era of horror films began. This horribly scarred man who wore a ragged slouch hat, dirty red-and-green striped sweater, and a glove outfitted with knives at the fingers reinvented the stalker genre like no other film had.

Fred Krueger breathed new life into the dying horror genre of the early 1980 s. This paper will enter the realm of the ideas in the movie, such as the psychological horror it held for the viewer, as well as the use of reality within the film. Not knowing what was real and what was a dream made for A Nightmare on Elm Street to be a successful horror movie. Horror films are designed to frighten the audience and engage them in their worst fears, while captivating and entertaining at the same time. Horror films often center on the darker side of life, on what is forbidden and strange. These films play with society's fears, its nightmares and vulnerability, the terror of the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of identity, and the fear of sexuality.

Horror films are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown human, supernatural or grotesque creatures lurking about. These creatures can range from vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies, evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed, werewolves and freaks to the unseen and even the mere presence of evil. Within the genre of horror films falls the sub-genre of teen slasher / stalker films. These teen slasher / stalker films take the horror genre film characteristics into account, however they add more to the formula. More violence, sadism, brutality, and graphic blood and gore are used to increase the terror factor.

Sexuality and gratuitous nudity are also key characteristic of many of these films, including this one. Imitations and numerous sequels are also a common characteristic of teen slasher / stalker films as well, as Craven came back with six sequels. A Nightmare on Elm Street and all the following six sequels fall into its own sub-genre of the teen slasher / stalker ideas and it is known as the Nightmare on Elm Street Series. This series of films adds a new dimension to the typical teen slasher / stalker film, depth of character and story. The characters are not there only to be killed, but rather they have distinct personalities.

They are independent and intelligent, particularly the female lead characters. The killer, Fred Krueger, not only murders his victims violently, but he displays a great amount of wit, sarcasm and intelligence while doing it. As the Nightmare on Elm Street movies progress, the audience gradually gains knowledge of each of the characters individual personalities. The storyline takes on a greater depth as well. The story goes beyond the simple gore and focuses more on the psychological terror that lies within and scares society the most. The line between nightmare and reality becomes blurred and the terror is allowed to build up, which results in a tremendous amount of suspense for the viewer.

Horror films developed over a century ago have come from a number of different sources: folktales, witchcraft, fables, myths, and ghost stories. The first horror movie was made by Georges Movies, titled The Devils Castle (1896). Another of the early influential films was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919).

The shadowy, dream-nightmarish quality of this film was brought to Hollywood in the 1920 s and continued on into the horror films of the 1930 s. Horror entered into the Dracula and Frankenstein era during the early 1930 s. The studios took stories of European vampires and mad scientists and created some of the most iconic beings ever known on the screen. Dracula films and sequels were less successful than many of the Frankenstein sequels.

Many of the films in the horror genre from the mid 1930 s to the 1950 s were B-grade films, inferior sequels, or low budget gimmick films. During the 1950 s most of the films were cheaply made, mostly drive-in teenage oriented films. To counter the popularity of television, experiments with 3 -Dimensional films were made. These low budget films helped to keep the horror genre alive when the larger Hollywood studios turned away. Horror films branched out in all different directions in the 1960 s and afterward.

Film censorship was on the decline and directors began to portray horror in ordinary circumstances and seemingly innocent settings. Alfred Hitchcock brought out his most horrific film, Psycho, at the start of the decade, which changed the face of horror films. In 1968, the MPAA created a new ratings system with G, M, R, X ratings in part to the violent themes of horror films. In the 1970 s the horror genre was subjected to far more violence as well as blood and gore. Murderous films, in which the victims were stalked and killed by mortal or immortal psychopaths, also became popular during this decade, with films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1978). This trend carried through to the 1980 s as well with films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13 th, with the sequels to these films carrying them throughout the rest of the decade and into the 1990 s.

During the 1990 s Wes Craven, the writer and director of the original Nightmare on Elm Street, has been credited with bringing the horror genre back to life with films such as Scream. The characters in these films are now aware of the history of the slasher horror film and know all the rules. They survive the movie based on their ability to outguess the twists of the formulas in which they are trapped (Mast, Kawin, 553). Nowadays, with all the horror movies out, the characters have more of an understanding as to what is happening to them in the films.

As stated above, knowing the rules of horror movies gives them a better jump as to what may happen to them during the movie. The horror genre, as well as slasher / stalker genre, and The Nightmare on Elm Street genre, have been influenced by Expressionism, rendering inner states as aspects of the outer world. Masks, madness, and shadows come together in the Expressionist horror film, where the threatening figure is often uncontrollably destructive, sexually aggressive, masked or in heavy makeup, and acting out some culturally repressed impulse (Kawin, 94). A Nightmare on Elm Street was written and directed by Wes Craven. The movie was released in 1984 and challenged the typical slasher genre film of the time in many aspects. The movie begins with the haunting childrens song, One, two Freddy's coming for you Three, four, better lock your door Five, six grab your crucifix...

Research essay sample on Nightmare On Elm Street Film And Reality