Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

"Maybe I should just pick up that bottle
and veg out with you; ignore everything going on
around me by getting good and loaded."

As if we needed more evidence that time stops for no man, woman, or Final Girl, today our lil' Nancy Thompson is turning fifty years old. Fifty! Heather Langencamp, whose place is assured in the top tier of all the Final Girls - her Nancy's about as tough a fighter as you'll find, clever and determined and smart enough to know a good thing when it wears a half-shirt...

Nancy should be revered amongst all mankind! Wes Craven's original Freddy movie is actually turning 30 this Fall - it was released on November 16th, 1984 and was pretty much an instant hit; it made about 26 million bucks (on a 1.2 million budget) and went on to, you know, became a whole thing.

And yeah Krueger gets all the attention, the dolls and the Halloween costumes, but that original movie is like 75% Nancy (leaving 5% for Nancy's drunk mother played to sloshed perfection by Ronee Blakeley, 3% Johnny Depp in a half-shirt, 2% Jsu Garcia in tighty-whities, and whatever's left is Freddy) and you're there with her the whole time. "SCREW YOUR PASS!" I love Nancy. It's why she got trotted out two more times in Part 3 and the terrific New Nightmare - we all love Nancy.