movie

1984 · United States, United Kingdom

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Horror

Tonight at a glance

Runtime: 91 min
Age rating: R
Language: English
Country: United States, United Kingdom
Violence: Strong
Frights: Strong

Why tonight?

Under two hours — there is still an evening on the other side of it.
It goes hard on violence and frights — not a wind-down.

The story

Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...

dreams
nightmare
psychopath
sleep
child murder
supernatural
ohio
murder
slasher
trapped

The look

A few frames, chosen rather than collected.

The bill

Jsu Garcia — Rod Lane
John Saxon — Lt. Donald Thompson
Ronee Blakley — Marge Thompson
Charles Fleischer — Dr. King
Joseph Whipp — Sergeant Parker
Lin Shaye — Teacher
Joe Unger — Sergeant Garcia
Mimi Craven — Nurse
Jack Shea — Minister
Ed Call — Mr. Lantz
Sandy Lipton — Mrs. Lantz

Directed: Wes Craven
Written: Wes Craven

Production

Rating: 7.3 / 10 · 5,862 ratings
Studio: New Line Cinema, Smart Egg Pictures, Media Home Entertainment, Cinema 84, The Elm Street Venture

The Collection

The complete story, in order.

1984 · You’re here
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Where it starts.
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 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: The Dream Child
1989
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
1991
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
1994

If this stayed with you

Then these are the nearest things Cue holds — chosen for what they share with it, not for what happens to be popular.