Widely forgotten in the tumult of sequels, rip-offs and parodies that followed in its wake is the fact that A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven’s original 1984 slasher classic, was not just a huge box-office success, but a critical success as well. Film reviewers recognized something fresh in the genre — after Halloween revived the idea of slasher movies and made them personal and Friday the 13th showed there was still room to play within the concept, Nightmare recognized that you could push the boogeyman idea all the way into the surreal and have a whole new canvas to paint on.