Category Archives: Nightmare on Elm Street

The Cardigan-sploitation of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4!

I recently attended Screamfest’s 30th Anniversary screening of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 at Hollywood’s famed Chinese Theatre, and to say it was amazing would be an understatement. The whole cast was there, director Renny Harlin and legendary producer Bob Shaye were both there, and a fun Q&A with everyone followed the film. Sitting in the moderately-sized – but PACKED – theatre, watching the film with the stars of the film – well, that’s just a dream come true for any horror fan.

It’s always fun watching a horror film you’ve only ever seen on VHS or DVD up on the big screen. You seem to notice things you never really took note of before. For example, in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, during the classroom scene where Freddy sucks all the air out of Toy Newkirk’s asthmatic little body, I always thought Robert Englund actually peeled the apple (which had been sitting on the desk) using a real bladed-glove. However, seeing it play out 50 feet wide, I was able to see that the apple was actually pre-peeled and simply stuck back together. It was a small thing, but my insides still went “whoa, cool.” Continue reading The Cardigan-sploitation of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4!

Great Horror Movie Drunks, Part 2!

Last St. Patrick’s Day I whipped up a piece on some of horror’s greatest drunks. It was a far from comprehensive list, but then again it wasn’t intended to be. Soon after posting it I begin to think of other drunks I could’ve included, and a couple readers reached out with some suggestions, so I decided to do a follow up and, hey! Whatta ya know! You’re reading it now. And I’m drinking a Guinness as I type it, no kidding. So without further ado, here are some more of horror’s greatest drunks. Continue reading Great Horror Movie Drunks, Part 2!

HORROR NERD OF THE MONTH — Sheila!

sheila-noes4-nerd

The A Nightmare on Elm Street series is no stranger to nerdy characters (Will the Wizard Master, anyone?), but what with it being Black History Month and Women in Horror Month, Camera Viscera’s February HORROR NERD OF THE MONTH was a no brainer: Sheila, from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. And brother, what a geek! Continue reading HORROR NERD OF THE MONTH — Sheila!

Horror VHS Promo Videos!

If, like most Americans in the mid to late-’80s, you quit your law firm in the city to move to the boonies and open a video store amid the Great VHS Boom, you were probably fairly clueless on the subject and immediately found yourself struck with the most imperative decision of your new business venture: what do you stock your shop with?

You turn to your family for answers: your boy says “Freddy”, whoever that is; your daughter suggests anything with Johnny Depp; your wife offers something classic. All fine suggestions, but what do the people want? At a retail price of $99.95 a piece, video cassettes at the time were too pricey to simply buy blindly. That’s where promotional videos come in. In a pre-Google world, movie distribution companies — wanting to secure some video store shelf space — would send these promotional tapes directly to video store proprietors. Continue reading Horror VHS Promo Videos!

Not-so-awful Sequels! (Part One)

Hollywood gets a bad rap. People think of it as this horrible money machine, but the truth is Hollywood has nothing but a filmmaker’s best interest in mind. Believe it or not, producers and financiers actually care about creativity and artistic vision and want nothing more than to protect the filmmaker’s creation, and they want to encourage originality by supporting new ideas. Hollywood is about integrity and respect.

No, I’m only kidding. Hollywood is a bloated, greedy monster that cares only about how much money a film makes and absolutely nothing else. And if a film can somehow keep making boatloads of money years after its been released, even better! But how do you do that? Make it a franchise. There are no better cash-cows than horror franchises. Perhaps you’ve heard New Line Cinema referred to as “The House that Freddy Built“, due to the popularity of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. And how do you build a house? Money. Lots of money. Continue reading Not-so-awful Sequels! (Part One)