Child murderer. Dream demon. The bastard son of a hundred maniacs. Any way you slice it, there can only be one man, one monster, who epitomizes those wordsFreddy Krueger.
For decades, Freddy has slashed his way through the dreams of countless youngsters, scaring up over half a billion dollars at the box office across eight terrifying, spectacular films. What's more, it has become evident that Freddy may never rest in peace.
In this thrilling retrospective, fans will enter the world of Freddy Krueger and A Nightmare On Elm Street like never before: exploring what spurred mastermind Wes Craven to craft the first groundbreaking film; delving deep behind the scenes of the original and all of its sequels; learning how the cast and crew brought their worst nightmares to life; and finally, understanding the impact the series and its mythos have had on modern pop culture and the horror genre.
Narrated by and starring Heather Langenkamp, featuring interviews with the cast and crew spanning every film, and loaded with clips, photographs, storyboards, conceptual art, publicity materials, archival documents and behind-the-scenes footage, "Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy" is the definitive account of what many have called the best, most frightening and imaginative horror franchise in motion picture history.
As stated in the synopsis above, this is without a doubt the "definitive" look at the greatest horror franchise in movie history. The near 8 hours it took to watch the main feature plus all the special features over one night was a great trip down memory lane when I saw the first three films by renting them at my local video store on VHS. Ever since that fateful night 23 years ago I have been a follower of all things Freddy Krueger. Every major player from the franchise give all new interviews and spout some really amazing thoughts on the films they worked on and all the behind-the-scenes happenings as well. The only loss was any new footage with Patricia Arquette who was my favorite female lead of the series after Heather Langenkamp. The only documentary to compare this release to would be "Halloween: 25 Years of Terror" and this title, keeping the horror theme buries it in buckets of blood. I recommend this exhaustive retrospective to even the most casual "Nightmare" fan and film lovers in general. Just an amazing piece of work 10/10
"Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy" arrives on DVD with a 480i Standard Definition transfer, in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Basing this review on the upconverted image from my PS3 and Pioneer Elite Blu-ray players, I can say that the documentary is very pleasing to the eyes with a strong color palette and solid black levels. The new interview footage is where this transfer is best, but the fantastic vintage on set footage and film clips come across fine. Considering the mixed source material, this title ears a solid 7.5/10
Audio is provided by a competent 2.0 Stereo Track. Being comprised mostly of talking heads interviews, the dialogue is what matters and it is crisp and intelligible at all times. English subtitles are provided. Overall does what it needs to 7/10
If you thought just a four hour documentary was exhaustive enough , you get almost another four hours of additional footage that is well worth taking the time to watch. This is a superb collection of bonus features that puts even Hollywood Blockbuster DVD or Blu-ray releases to shame. Simply put, a perfect 10/10.Below is what is included on Disc 2
Extended Interviews - Extended footage is shown for the following:
"A Nightmare On Elm Street" (13min14sec)
"Freddy's Revenge" (10min14sec)
"Dream Warriors" (8min53sec)
"The Dream Master" (13min28sec)
"Freddy's Nightmares: The Series" (5min5sec)
"The Dream Child" (11min4sec)
"Freddy's Dead" (8min57sec)
"New Nightmare" (10min56sec)
"Freddy vs. Jason" (10min4sec)
"A Nightmare on Elm Street:2010" (2min34sec)
First Look: Heather Langenkamp's
"I Am Nancy" (6min53sec) - This is an extended trailer really for the upcoming release that will focus on the actresses life on camera and off. There are some great moments between her and Robert Englund and fans at a convention.
For the Love of the Glove (18min12sec) - A fascinating look at some smart online businessmen who craft homemade Freddy Krueger gloves. They truly are a work of art.
Fred Heads: The Ultimate Freddy Fans (12min49sec) - A nice look at some of the most passionate Freddy fans and their collections, experiences at conventions,etc.
Horror's Hallowed Grounds: Return To Elm Street (23min18sec) - A fun look at the real life shooting locations used for the original film. Heather Langenkamp joins host Sean Clark for a visit at the school and the Thompson house. She reminisces and has some great stories.
Freddy vs. The Angry Video Game Nerd (5min25sec) - Not a big fan of this one. Just video game player James Rolfe yelling expletives at the screen while playing a vintage "Nightmare" game.
Expanding the Elm Street Universe: Freddy in Comic Books & Novels (15min17sec) - A good collection of interviews with the creators and artists who were given the chance to expand the franchise into comics and novels.
The Music of the Nightmare: Conversations with Composers & Songwriters (13min5sec) - A fun little look at the composers and songwriters who worked on the first few films of the franchise.
Elm Street's Poster Boy: The Art of Matthew Joseph Peak (7min21sec) - A wonderful peak into the artists gorgeous poster work for films 1-5.
A Nightmare On Elm Street in 10 Minutes - A hilarious 10 minutes of various cast & crew during the interview footage re-enacting scenes from the films.