Psychoanalysis- The subconcious dreamstate and Nightmare on Elm Street

The film Nightmare on Elm Street is on of my favorite horror films of all time. I first saw the movie when I was in about sixth grade and it really freaked me out. Personally Freddy is one of the most frightening monsters I’ve ever seen in a film. However after taking film communication and learning about how films are made and how their content is derived I have grown a new liking for the movie. Particularly after learning about psychoanalysis and how it pertains to film it easy to make connections between the film and the concept.

            Psychoanalysis revolves around the subconscious component of the human mind; meaning that films make themes to play off the subconscious aspects of the human mind. If you know anything about the film Nightmare on Elm Street you know that the monsters entire strategy of getting to his victims is by accessing their dreams. What can be more subconscious than the subconscious dream state each human is submerged in every time we lay down to go to sleep? I applaud the writer of the film for picking such an obvious yet unique concept to build on.

            One may wonder how the writer of the film could use dreams in a horrifying way. I think that it is not hard to figure out. One reason being is that as common as dreams are they are not always pleasant. Young children are tormented by nightmares regularly, and I as a 21 year old have an occasional nightmare as well. Another reason is the idea of “The terrible place” in slasher films. Each film has this terrible place where the main character(s) may be isolated from help and forced to deal with this monster on their own. “Another fundamental trait of the slasher film is the “

Terrible Place

” a typically remote location where the killer lives and stages his attacks. Although much of A Nightmare on Elm Street revolves around Nancy’s house, the terrible place is actually the human subconscious, which literally separates the victim from others because they cannot enter his or her dream.” (Kendrick 27). James Kendrick makes clear why the dream state in the film is so terrifying to the audience. It is because our monster isolates the victim in the most isolated place in our respective worlds: our dreams. I think this terrifies most people because dreams, their purpose, and the science behind them is widely unknown. People are always scared of what they don’t know. Also the fact that dreams are such a regular occurrence, and the fact that victims are preyed upon in that unknown place which we visit every night is frightening.