Simply put, The Making of 'Nightmare on Elm Street IV' changed my life.
It wasn't a seminar, a motivational speaker, or even a self-help book that helped guide me toward my future dreams, but rather a wiry dreamstalker in a ratty sweater and clawed glove and the special about him.
Most everyone reading this review is familiar of the goings on of Freddy Krueger, resident of nightmares on Elm Street. Suffice it to say, as a young child I found him quite terrifying, and was plagued myself with horrendous nightmares about him. My parents, bewildered, found out about this humble TV special and decided to have me watch it. Their thought, and a logical one at that, is that when I saw for myself that it was all make-believe that I would lose my fear of Freddy.
That did...to an extent...happen, but something as well that my folks simply didn't foresee. This was the first time I had seen how a movie was made, more importantly the special effects of them. I was bedazzled by everything I saw, and that day I was first inspired to follow suite.
Now I am an adult, and looking back I am grateful for this special. I have dedicated years of study to film making and special effects. I am even working on a Nightmare on Elm Street fan production. My hopes are to one day go to film school myself, and then branch out into directing my own productions. Maybe, just maybe, the day will come that my work will inspire a child just as this modest promotional tool inspired me.
