Michaela Handke/ Winonan
On Oct. 30th, Nathan Wardinski, KQAL radio host of “Sounds of Cinema,” hosted a showing of the original 1984 film “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” as well as “A New Nightmare.” Wardinski provided students with education in reference to the films and its franchise.
Wardinski is the host of a radio program on KQAL called “Sounds of Cinema.” He said, once a semester he hosts a screening of a movie or two to promote the show.
This year he planned to have his showing around Halloween, so the double feature could tie into the holiday. But there is an educational aspect behind these two “Nightmare on Elm Street” films.
Wardinski said, “The films together have an educational benefit. We do not have students at Winona State studying film history, production and theory. Putting ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘New Nightmare’ together as a double bill provides learning opportunities in all three elements of that trifecta.”
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” debuted the Freddie Kruger franchise, marking the beginning of the popularity behind Kruger and his evil.
The producers, as well as others involved in making the film, noticed people were not as scared of Kruger when other marketable objects, movies and T.V. shows were released.
Wardinski said as the last movie was being written by Wes Craven, he decided to detach the storyline from the sequels to gain the thrill back for the audience.
“’A Nightmare on Elm Street’ is a classic, and it’s an important American horror story,” Wardinski said. “’New Nightmare’ reflects the impact of the series and upon the function of horror stories for individuals and for the culture. It makes the viewer reevaluate the first movie and horror films in general.”
Alex Carter, an audience member for the double feature, enjoyed the films despite not being a fanatic of the horror genre.
“I thought the movies were good, even though I am not a scary movie person,” Carter said. “I still wouldn’t say I’m a scary movie fan, but I enjoyed my time at the double feature.”
The first movie “A Nightmare on Elm Street” was a low budget picture with a production budget of about $1 million, Wardinski said.
“What the filmmakers accomplished with the money they had is really impressive,” Wardinski said.
“’New Nightmare’ is a very unique picture. It’s very intelligent, but it’s also vicious,” he said. “It’s unlike most anything that you’re likely to see out of Hollywood these days.”
