Search - A Nightmare on Elm Street Collection [Blu-ray] on Blu-ray

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 6/6/2023...

A must watch classic with Johnny Depp and Robert Englund!

David B. (EyesMalloy)
Reviewed on 5/26/2014...

This is the first Blu-ray set for the Nightmare on Elm Street series and the result is almost entirely a success. For those of you who already own the original 8-disc DVD set that includes the Nightmare Encyclopedia, the biggest question you have to ask yourself is whether you value substance more than style. Meanwhile, if you own that other set where the encyclopedia has been replaced with the slapsticky, CGI-heavy misfire called Freddy Vs. Jason, I highly recommend you get this instead. Like the original DVD set, this Blu-ray set includes only the seven true Nightmare on Elm Street films, bookended by those directed by creator Wes Craven.

This legendary horror series is completely deserving of a Blu-ray set in which each film receives its own disc, but this is not the case here. Given Blu-ray’s high data capacity, this set contains only five discs, the first four of which hold the movies. The first A Nightmare on Elm Street is the only film to have its own disc thanks to its special features that include two commentaries, two alternate endings, three featurettes, and an interactive trivia track. The next three discs contain parts 2 & 3, 4 & 5, and 6 & 7 respectively. Most of the extras from the original DVD set have been ported over and an effort has been made to place many of them with their respective film. The fifth disc is a DVD (and a hush falls over the crowd). It contains an exclusive retrospective documentary called Fear Himself: The Life and Crimes of Freddy Krueger, as well as two episodes from the Freddy's Nightmares TV show and most of the rest of the short videos from the Nightmare Encyclopedia.

The picture and sound quality are naturally superior to all previously-released editions of each film, with 1080p-HD and DTS-HD. The fact that the fifth disc is a DVD and therefore in standard definition may bother some, but frankly it still looks and sounds just fine.

If there is one questionable feature about this first Blu-ray set, it’s the packaging. The cover design is a 3-D illusion of Freddy calmly slicing through the white foreground. While modestly cool, it’s still very plain. If the glove were textured, that might be something. The original DVD set depicts two very different reliefs of Freddy on the front and the back, and the images on the spines of each of the eight discs ultimately make up a badass image of Freddy wearing his trench coat and standing amid a haze of smoke with his hands clenched behind his back! This set is not relieved, which limits the effect of the illusion. It’s apparent that little attempt was made to attract people with a killer cover for this set, which is a shame. The discs inside are arranged on flaps that hold one on either side, making for two pages of Blu-rays. The extra DVD that houses the main special features is at the back. This arrangement gives the set the height of a standard Blu-ray and the width of a standard DVD. On the bright side, it won't take up much space on your shelf.

Freddy Krueger is one of the best villains in film history and his films belong in the collection of every true horrorhead. Honestly it wasn’t easy to decide whether to get this set or to just stick with the original DVD set, but in the end I decided that it's what's inside that matters most. The quality of the movies is more important than that of the packaging. I give this set four out of five stars.