Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

Making its long-awaited – and bonus content-loaded – UK Blu-ray debut, the all-encompassing Freddy Krueger doc Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is a must-own for horror buffs. This utterly packed 4-hour epic gives fascinating insight into each film in the cult film franchise and its enduring legacy, and unlike many hagiographic docs of its kind, isn’t afraid to point and laugh at how ridiculous the series was in places.

Indeed, Never Sleep Again is full of a genuine reverence for its subject and isn’t afraid to take loving swipes throughout – even Wes Craven himself remarks upon the sequels being “silly” and how he never cared for them. But it is also richly fascinating stuff; here is how making-of documentary should be done. The 4-hour runtime contains not one shred of filler, as seemingly every single aspect of the series’ creation and production is discussed in detail.

Never Sleep Again remains a definitive filmmaking documentary and 101 Films’ Blu-ray release is generously packed. If the 4-hour feature wasn’t enough, a second disc of bonus features is just as fascinating with its immense wealth of featurettes and deleted scenes.

Essential not just for Elm Street fans but indeed for anyone with even the slightest interest in film, Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is a masterclass in its genre. A truly terrific film that will make you scoff at puff-piece 20minute making-of special features on your DVDs and Blu-rays for the rest of time.