10 Horror Movies Where The American Dream Becomes A Nightmare
3. A Nightmare On Elm Street
Returning to the suburbs, A Nightmare On Elm Street takes us to the end stages of the more modest understanding of the American dream. You work hard in life and pay your dues, and your reward is safety and security in your very own home.
The insidious genius of Craven’s best known film is the notion that the malevolent forces of the world can get to you wherever you are. The plot sees a prolific murderer of children killed by an angry mob, only to return in a spectral form. The razor-fingered Freddy Krueger haunts the very dreams of the teenage population of Elm Street, only these aren’t mere nightmares. Krueger’s powers allow him to creatively dispatch the cast of kids (including a young Johnny Depp for real).
The movie is very deliberately set in a particularly sleepy, clean, and otherwise nondescript suburb. It should be the safest place on earth, the final reward for those who’ve grafted and chased their dreams. Instead, it’s the content of their dreams that’s chasing them.