Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Teens in suburbia are terrorized in their dreams by guy in a dirty sweater with very long artifical fingernails.
Biased, pithy comments: Craven's vision of a nightmare world is quite chilling, although more chilling in the beginning then it gets to be by the end. It varies from the scary to the quietly amusing, and the dream sequences are appropriately dream-like, though clear-visioned. Kicked off a host of sequels, most of which aren't as good as this one (except perhaps 4, which wasn't too bad). Good horror movie from the mid-eighties when the genre was at its richest.
Other Notes: That's the longest 30 minutes I've ever seen; plenty of time to set up booby traps.
How many times I have seen it: x4
Starring: John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Nick Corri, and (introducing) Johnny Depp.
Directed by: Wes Craven