At the beginning of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' we can see the production company logo of 'New Line Cinema'. This shows us that this film has been made by a well respected film production company, so encourages us to watch the film.
The film has a very dark setting. We cannot see much light at all, which is typical of the horror genre. Most of the film is at night. Again, this expected from a horror movie. When we do see shots of day time, we see three little girls skipping. Because of the quick cuts though, this seems to be a foreboding shot, and not a happy one. Light is used very effectively in this film. One shot, in a basement of some kind, is very dark, but there is an orange light in the background. In front of this light stands the antagonist, Freddy Kruger. Because of the dim light behind him all we can see is a very imposing black figure, with blades for hands. This works well to create fear in the viewer. Any light we do see in this film is usually quite dim and flickery, creating a sense that you cannot escape from the darkness, and darkness connotes fear and danger.
In the film we hear a lot of screams and cries. We can hear a song about Freddy being sung in a disturbing child's voice. It echoes, again sounding disturbing. This, like the lighting, is effective at creating fear.
The infamous bladed hands appear often in the film. There is usually a close up on them, used for emphasis. Whenever we see them we know something bad is going to happen. They are rusty knives attached to the fingers of a killer's hands, so are very distubring. It seems that this film attempts to be as disturbing as possible. Freddy isn't just a killer, he is a killer with a completely burnt face, and the infamous stripey jumper and hat, who attacks you when you are most vulnerable. All these add to the experience of watching the film, and do well to increase tention and terror.
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