A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, dir by Wes Craven, DP: Jacques Haitkin)

Since today is Wes Craven’s birthday, our scene of the day comes from 1984’s A Nightmare On Elm Street.  Along with Scream, this was Wes Craven’s signature film.  And also, much like Scream, a series of sequels led to many people forgetting just how effective the first film was.  Wes Craven reportedly reached back to his own childhood fears with the character of Freddy and, in Robert Englund, he found the perfect actor to bring the character to life.

(Interestingly, Craven’s initial choice for the role was David Warner.)

In this scene, we see just how scary the original A Nightmare on Elm Street actually was.