Movies
Vanishing on 7th Street (On Demand)
“Quivering with too much CGI, an bizarrely staged opening sequence, and a lackluster ending, Vanishing ends up being “just OK”, but that’s good enough for me.”
One of the most anticipated films at this year’s TIFF “Midnight Madness” was Brad Anderson’s (Session 9, The Machinist) Vanishing on 7th Street, a film that carried a not-so-original theme, but with the directorial talents of Anderson could have been something visually unique. Quivering with too much CGI, a bizarrely staged opening sequence, and a lackluster ending, Vanishing ends up being “just OK”, but that’s good enough for me.
The film opens with John Leguizamo as a projectionist at a local AMC theater chain. Anderson takes the audience into the cinema where AMC logos riddle every aspect of the film immediately removing them from the experience. It almost comes off like a commercial or student film, until ultimately “the event” happens taking the large-scale indie out into the world.
After a (seemingly) worldwide power outage, people who by “chance” were using a light source see the resurgence of power only to find themselves in complete desolateness. All that remains are piles of clothing littered through malls, streets and apartments. Instead of giving the audience the “immediately after” portion of the story, Anderson projects to a few days later where the sun is rising and setting an accelerated and alarming rate. Hayden Christensen is the unlikable protagonist looking to escape the city (and go where?). He meets up with a woman, a child and Mr. Lequizamo, who band together in a bar, powered by a gas generator, to wait out what they hope is just an event “passing by.”
In their fight to survive, they gather batteries, flashlights and other sources of light, all of which don’t like to work all too well. They constantly flicker, go out, or just fail to work. One of the characters even uses glow lights that kids play with, constantly putting them around everyone’s neck – only they’re never actually used (go figure).
The movie has epic gaps of logic and asks the audience to have an astronomical suspension of disbelief. The characters act like morons and make illogical situations that will have you slapping your forehead in disbelief.
The CGI, while at times is dismissible, can be distracting – although I’m not exactly sure how you direct a horde of menacing shadows without the technology. The way they move and react to the situation at hand can be quite cool, although Anderson fails to introduce any “rules” for these so-called shadow-ghosts. For example, half of the movie the shadows are reeling in terror from light, only when a character is running in fear the shadows are closing in and engulfing the light near them. Which is it?
Many will have a problem with the third act that concludes with a strongly ambiguous finale. Even as silly as Vanishing on 7th Street plays, it’s kind of a fun movie that’s carries some light religious sub context, and never takes itself all too seriously. As long as the audience doesn’t take it seriously either, Anderson’s film is simple, cliché fun.
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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