A Nightmare on Elm Street is the perfect horror movie. I don't care how many of you try to tell me it's The Shining, Halloween, or maybe The Texas Chainsaw Massacre—'Nightmare' will always be at the top of my personal list. What Wes Craven was able to do in that movie, which no other horror film could do back then (or since), is make the horror inevitable. Let me explain. Are you afraid Jason Voorhees will come after you? Just don't go to Camp Crystal Lake. Worried about a Xenomorph? Just don't stick your head inside an alien egg. But with Freddy Krueger? There's nothing you can do—you have to go to sleep at some point.
Making people afraid to fall asleep is pure genius. You might make it through the night, but at some point, you'll have to sleep, and that's where Freddy gets you! We all get nightmares, but Wes Craven managed to give us nightmares about our nightmares. That's brilliant!
