Box Office

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=elmst.htm

This is useful as it gives box office figures for the opening weekend showing that A Nightmare on elm street, despite having an interesting twist on the typical slasher genre, didn't do too well when it was first released. This could be linked to the fact Wes Craven had a hard time finding a producer for the film. It also suggests that it maybe didn't give the audience of the time what it was looking for. However, it could also be due to the fact that the film was Craven's jump to major studios. The site also gives a 'Total domestic gross' and allows readers to grade the film which is useful as it suggests the film now has a cult following.

Interview

http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2008/10/wes-craven-on-dreaming-up-nightmares/

This is an interview with Wes Craven, the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street. This is useful as it talks about stereotypical antagonists within the genre and says that none match the 'cultural impact and longevity of Freddy Kruger'. It also talks about Craven’s variations on these stereotypes. It shows that Craven had problems with producing the film because there were already so many slasher films on the market such as Friday the 13^th. It mentions Craven’s inspirations and how he wanted to create something ‘beyond slice-and-dice’.

Reviews

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?DVDID=7240

This review of The Evil Dead is very useful as it mentions the films inspirations and how it both conforms and deviates from typical conventions. "Unbound by cinematic convention". It also details a shocking scene which 'condemned the film to the infamous nasties list'. This title appealed to the audience's morbid curiosity.

Video

A Nightmare on Elm Street Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BapcPNHd6JU


Child's Play Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imYvOgyU9oo


The Thing Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouZkkIsLiNg


The Evil Dead Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Bi9mGv1J8

Deselected Items

Others

Newspaper

The Observer, Sunday 9th May 2010.

Although this article mainly talks about the recent reboot of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, frequent links are made to the original. The article gives a brief overview of the film, mainly focusing on the author’s opinions or narrative structure. He expresses his opinions strongly, saying that the reboot was nowhere near as good as the original. He feels it is a classic and it’s legacy shouldn’t be tainted. He states “The sequels were bad enough”.

The Independant, Sunday, 19 December 1993
Helen Nowicka

This article mainly talks about audience and how films of this genre can affect them. The article defends the film Child's Play, stating that a link cannot be made between watching violent films and the two sadistic murders that had occurred. The article shows how the media tend to portray horror films and their potential influence over audiences.

Television

Books

The Film Genre Book by John Sanders (page 245 - 250)

This book features my focus film and analyses one of its key scenes. This is useful as it will show a lot of the conventions that are used in the film, which is relevant to my research. Conventions are also shown through a detailed analysis of the antagonist’s representation. The book also talks about the historical context of the film, how it was influenced by other films and how it relates to other films released at the same time.

The little black book, Movies (page 569)

This is useful because The Thing is mentioned as one of the key films. "It is the greatest technical and artistic use of the bubbling flesh effect". The book discusses special effects that were used in the film and how they satisfied the audience's desire for blood, gore and body horror. This provides not only the conventions the film employed but also why there were used by detailing the target audience.

Focus Film

A Nightmare on Elm Street

I chose this film as my focus film because

Related Films

The Evil Dead (1981)

I chose this film because it exemplifies what audiences in the 80s were looking for in a horror film. Its main hook is its use of special effects. Excessive blood and gore appeal to audiences demand for body horror. The small cast and isolated space make it very conventional of the early 80s.


The Thing (1982)

I chose this film, again because of its use of excessive blood and gore. It’s sci-fi element allowed bizarre scenarios such as 'body snatching' and aliens to be believable due to research carried out by scientists characters.

Child's Play (1988)

I chose this film because its slasher style is very relevant to 80s horror. The antagonist is a doll which could link to the fear of children which was prevalent throughout 70s horror. This shows how horror has developed over time.