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[DVD Review] ‘Cherry Tree Lane’ is Highly Effective and Well Crafted
Reviewed by Patrick Cooper
You guys, we watch a lot of horror movies ‘round here, with lots of gore, ghouls, and demons, but I don’t think anything will ever, ever, scare me more than home invasion movies. The idea of someone coming into your home, overpowering you, and doing whatever the hell they want is absolutely terrifying. Even the poorly done movies of the genre scare the shit out of me.
Another thing I’m horrified of is teenagers. They all have iPhones and cooler clothes than me and they do not care about anything. They’re awful. So imagine how great I’m going to sleep after watching Cherry Tree Lane – a home invasion thriller starring teenagers. There aren’t enough deadbolts in the world to make me feel safe…
Written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams (The Children), Cherry Tree Lane begins as a domestic drama. Husband and wife Michael and Christine are quietly bickering to one another over dinner. They’re speaking in that sarcastic verbal sparring tone that only develops after years of resentment – the kind Mike Leigh is a master of. This scene made me wish the disc had subtitles. It wasn’t their British accents but the incredibly low audio that made miss most of their conversation. Even with my sound cranked I couldn’t make out anything. I thought I was going to miss something crucial, but that’s not the case.
So they’re mumbling when there’s a knock at the door. Christine goes off screen to answer it. It’s someone looking for their son, Sebastian. He’s out until 9:00pm, she tells them, then sits back down to finish mumbling. There’s another knock and this time when she answers it, three rowdy teenagers force their way in. From this point on in the film I kept glancing at my front door to make sure it was locked.
Rian (Jumayn Hunter: Hi-Hatz from Attack the Block), Teddy, and Oscar quickly overpower Michael and Rachel, duct tape them up, and leave them stunned in the living room. Led by the charismatic Rian, the trio (two black, one white) explain that they’re going to wait for Sebastian to come home. They don’t seem interested in robbing them or raping Christine (at first) but as time goes by and tension grows, Rian basically says, “fuck it” and anything goes. He’s making up the rules as he goes along – acting nice to the couple when it suits his needs, then turning violent if he doesn’t agree with the result. It’s a scary performance to watch.
There’s an obvious statement going on here about class resentment – one teen makes a comment about the couple’s like of foreign films, another can’t figure out how to use the remote. But Williams never lets the message interrupt the tension. He builds it up patiently and precisely until it gets unbearable. The majority of the violence is implied (same with the rape, thank god) and that makes you feel just as helpless as the couple.
Of course what makes the genre so entertaining is waiting for the climax when the victims flip the script and get their bloody revenge. There’s always that inkling of hope to latch onto. Williams’ climax is expected, but not done in an incendiary manner. Much like the rest of the film. Highly effective and well crafted, Cherry Tree Lane is a standout of the genre.
A/V
Cherry Tree Lane is presented by Image Entertainment in 2.35:1 and 5.1 surround. It’s a DVD. It looks and sounds fine.
Special Features
Zilch.
Overall Score: 4/5
It was almost one year ago that Warner Bros. brought the entire original A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to 4K in one massive 7-movie collection, with the limited edition SteelBook version of the set quickly selling out and becoming highly sought after. But we’re happy to report tonight that the SteelBook set is currently back in stock over on Amazon!
While supplies last, grab the Elm Street SteelBook collection for $154.99 right now!!
Orders placed for this re-release are scheduled to begin shipping out September 15, 2026.
[Related] Freddy’s Back: New ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Movie in the Works at Paramount
From New Line Cinema, the collection includes the original seven films – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – along with the uncut versions of A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Dream Child.
Two BRAND NEW SPECIAL FEATURES for this set include:
- Boiler Room Confessional: The king of slashers, Robert Englund, takes us on a journey through the dream world, sharing what inspired Freddy Krueger, his rise as a cultural icon, and the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus his favorite kills, scenes, and more.
- Freddy’s Footnotes: Robert Englund and original A Nightmare on Elm Street filmmakers revisit iconic scenes, revealing the movie magic and chaos behind our favorite nightmares. Pull back the curtain and relive epic moments through the eyes of those who made them.
Here’s the full breakdown of included Special Features for each movie…
A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Ready Freddy Focus Points
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Robert Shaye, and Sara Risher
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Jacques Haitkin
· Alternate Endings – Scary Ending, Happy Ending, Freddy Ending
· The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
· Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
· Freddy on 8th Street
· Heroes and Villains
· The Male Witch
· Psychosexual Circus
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
· Behind the Story: Burnout
· Behind the Story: Fan Mail
· Behind the Story: The House that Freddy Built
· Behind the Story: Onward Christian Soldiers
· Behind the Story: Snakes and Ladders
· Behind the Story: That’s Showbiz
· Behind the Story: Trading 8’s
· Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
· The Finnish Line
· Krueger, Freddy Krueger
· Hopeless Chest
· Let’s Makeup
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
· Behind the Story: Womb Raiders
· Behind the Story: The Sticky Floor
· Behind the Story: Take the Stairs
· Behind the Story: Hopkins Directs
· Behind the Story: A Slight Miscalculation
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
· 86’D
· Hellraiser
· Rachel’s Dream
· 3D Demise
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
· Commentary with Wes Craven
· NEW – Boiler Room Confessional
· NEW – Freddy’s Footnotes
· Becoming a Filmmaker
· Filmmaker
· An Insane Troupe
· The Problem with Sequels
· Two Worlds
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Really Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: A Childhood Memory
· Welcome to Prime Time: Sometime in the Early 80s
· Welcome to Prime Time: So It Began
· Welcome to Prime Time: Beauty and the Beast
· Welcome to Prime Time: Making the Glove
· Welcome to Prime Time: Shapeshifter
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Shoot
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Revolving Room
· Welcome to Prime Time: All’s Well that Ends Well
· Welcome to Prime Time: Talalay’s Tally
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Couldn’t Have Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: Alternate Ending Version
· Conclusion: Where Gothic Plots Come From
· Conclusion: Why We Like Gothic
· Conclusion: Sadomasochism
· Conclusion: Freddy vs. Pinhead
· Conclusion: Freddy’s Manic Energy
· Conclusion: Creating Lasting Characters in Horror
· Conclusion: No More Magic Tricks
· Conclusion: Monster with Personality
· Conclusion: Freddy as Sex Machine
· Conclusion: Campfire Stories
The Elm Street collection is available in this collectible SteelBook packaging (exclusive to Amazon) and as a standard 4K collection that’s also available now over on Amazon.
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