A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)

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A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise logo.png
Created by Wes Craven
Original work A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Owner Warner Bros. Pictures
Years1984–present
Films and television
Television series Freddy's Nightmares (1988–1990)
Miscellaneous
Character(s) List of characters

A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American supernatural slasher media franchise consisting of nine films, a television series, novels, comic books, and various other media. The franchise began with the film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), written and directed by Wes Craven. The overall plot of the franchise centers around the fictional character Fred "Freddy" Krueger, the apparition of a former child killer who was burned alive by the vengeful parents of his victims, who returns from the grave to terrorize and kill the teenage residents of the fictional Springwood, Ohio in their dreams. Craven returned to the franchise to co-script the second sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), and to write/direct Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). The films collectively grossed $472 million at the box office worldwide.

Contents

The original film was released in 1984. A series of sequels produced by the independent film company New Line Cinema followed. New Line often attributes the growth of their company to the success of the Nightmare series. [1] The film series as a whole has received mixed reviews by critics, but has been a financial success at the box office. When comparing the United States box office grosses of other American horror film series, A Nightmare on Elm Street is the third highest grossing series in adjusted US dollars. [2] In 1988, a television series was produced with Freddy as the host. The pilot episode focused on the night Freddy was burned alive by the angry parents of the children he had killed, though the rest of the series featured episodes with independent plots. Twelve novels, separate from the adaptations of the films, and multiple comic book series were published featuring Freddy Krueger, as well as a crossover film featuring fellow horror icon Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise. A remake of the 1984 film was released in 2010, while a reboot is in development. [3] [4] [5]

Films

FilmU.S. release dateDirected byScreenwriter(s)Story byProduced by
A Nightmare on Elm Street November 9, 1984 Wes Craven Robert Shaye
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge November 1, 1985 Jack Sholder David Chaskin
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors February 27, 1987 Chuck Russell Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner, Chuck Russell & Frank Darabont Wes Craven & Bruce Wagner
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master August 19, 1988 Renny Harlin Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat & Brian Helgeland Brian Helgeland & William Kotzwinkle Robert Shaye & Rachel Talalay
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child August 11, 1989 Stephen Hopkins Leslie Bohem John Skipp, Leslie Bohem & Craig SpectorRobert Shaye & Rupert Harvey
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare September 13, 1991 Rachel Talalay Michael De Luca Rachel Talalay Aron Warner & Robert Shaye
Wes Craven's New Nightmare October 14, 1994Wes Craven Marianne Maddalena
Freddy vs. Jason August 15, 2003 Ronny Yu Mark Swift & Damian Shannon Sean S. Cunningham
A Nightmare on Elm Street April 30, 2010 Samuel Bayer Wesley Strick & Eric Heisserer Wesley Strick Brad Fuller, Andrew Form & Michael Bay

Overview

The original film, written and directed by Wes Craven and titled A Nightmare on Elm Street , was released in 1984. The story focuses on Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) attacking Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and her friends in their dreams, successfully killing all but Nancy, in fictional Springwood, Ohio. Krueger's back-story is revealed by Nancy's mother, Marge, who explains he was a child murderer. The parents of Springwood killed Krueger after he was acquitted on a technicality. Nancy defeats Freddy by pulling him from the dream world and stripping him of his powers when she stops being afraid of him. [6]

Freddy returns to possess the body of Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton), the new teenager living in Nancy Thompson's house, in 1985's A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge . Jesse is temporarily saved by his girlfriend Lisa (Kim Myers), who helps him exorcise Krueger's spirit. [7]

Wes Craven returned to write A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors , released in 1987. In the second sequel, Freddy is systematically killing the last of the Elm Street children. The few remaining children have been placed in Westin Hills Mental Institution, for allegedly attempting suicide. Nancy Thompson arrives at Westin Hills as a new intern, and realizes the children are being killed by Freddy. With the help of Dr. Neil Gordon (Craig Wasson), Nancy helps Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette), Joey (Rodney Eastman), Taryn (Jennifer Rubin), Kincaid (Ken Sagoes), and Will (Ira Heiden) find their dream powers, so they can kill Freddy once and for all. Neil, unknowingly until the end, meets the spirit of Freddy's mother, Amanda Krueger (Nan Martin), who instructs him to bury Freddy's remains in hallowed ground in order to stop him for good. Neil completes his task, but not before Freddy kills Nancy. [8]

The story of Kristen Parker would continue with 1988's A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master . This time, Kristen (Tuesday Knight) unwittingly releases Freddy, who immediately kills Kincaid and Joey. Before Freddy can kill Kristen, she transfers her dream powers to Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox), a friend from school. Alice begins inadvertently providing victims for Freddy when she begins pulling people into her dreams while she sleeps. Alice, who begins taking on traits of the friends who were murdered, confronts Freddy. She uses the power of the Dream Master to release all the souls Freddy has taken; they subsequently rip themselves from Freddy's body, killing him in the process. [9]

Picking up shortly after the events of The Dream Master, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child involves Freddy using Alice's unborn child, Jacob (Whitby Hertford), to resurrect himself and find new victims. The spirit of Amanda Krueger (Beatrice Boepple) returns, revealing that Freddy was conceived when she, a nun working in a mental asylum, was accidentally locked in a room with "100 maniacs" and raped "hundreds of times". Amanda Krueger convinces Jacob to use the powers he was given by Freddy against him, which gives her the chance to subdue Freddy long enough for Alice and Jacob to escape the dream world. [10]

Two years later, 1991's Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare followed the exploits of "John Doe" (Shon Greenblatt), an amnesiac teenager from Springwood, who was sent out to find Freddy's daughter Maggie (Lisa Zane), who he needs to leave Springwood. Freddy's goal is to create new "Elm Streets", and begin a new killing spree after having killed all of the children in Springwood. Maggie, utilizing new dream techniques, uncovers Krueger's past, which include: being taunted by schoolmates for being the "son of 100 maniacs", being cruel to animals, beaten by his stepfather, the murder of his own wife when she discovers he has been killing children, and the moment when the Dream Demons arrive in his boiler room to make him the offer of eternal life. Eventually, Maggie pulls Freddy out of the dream world, and uses a pipe bomb to blow him up. [11]

Wes Craven returned to the Nightmare series a third time with New Nightmare in 1994. This film focuses on a fictional "reality", where Craven, Langenkamp, and Englund all play themselves, and where the character of Freddy Krueger is really an evil entity that has been trapped in the realm of fiction by all the movies that have been made. Since the movies have stopped, the entity, which likes being Freddy Krueger, is trying to escape into the real world. The only person in its way is Heather Langenkamp, who the entity sees as "Nancy" – the first person who defeated him. Craven explains to Langenkamp the only way to keep the entity contained is for her to "play Nancy one last time". Langenkamp pursues "Krueger", who has kidnapped her son, into the dream world as "Nancy". There, she and her son trap Krueger in a furnace until he is finally destroyed. [12]

In 2003, New Line pitted Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees against Freddy Krueger. The film, Freddy vs. Jason , explains that Freddy Krueger has grown weak as people in Springwood, his home, have suppressed their fear of him. Freddy, who is impersonating Pamela Voorhees, the mother of Jason Voorhees, sends Jason (Ken Kirzinger) to Springwood to cause panic and fear. Jason accomplishes this, but refuses to stop killing. A battle ensues in both the dream world and Crystal Lake between the two villains. The winner is left ambiguous, as Jason surfaces from the lake holding Freddy's severed head, which winks and laughs. [13]

In 2010, a remake of the original Nightmare on Elm Street was released. Here, Freddy (Jackie Earle Haley) stalks the dreams of Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara) and her friends as they discover that they all share a common link from their childhood; they were all molested by Freddy before he was murdered by their vengeful parents. Now a supernatural force in their dreams, Freddy kills off the children that alerted the parents about his transgressions. Freddy slowly works his way to Nancy, his favorite of the children, and manipulates her into going without sleep long enough that her body falls into a coma, resulting in permanent sleep and life with Freddy forever. Nancy is awakened when her friend Quentin (Kyle Gallner) injects adrenaline into her and pulls Freddy out of the dreamworld, where she and Quentin kill him and burn the remains of his body. [14]

Development

The basis for the original Nightmare on Elm Street has been said to have been inspired by several newspaper articles printed in the LA Times in the 1970s on a group of Khmer refugees, who, after fleeing to America from the Khmer Rouge Genocide in Cambodia, were suffering disturbing nightmares after which they refused to sleep. Some of the men died in their sleep soon after. Medical authorities called the phenomenon "Asian Death Syndrome". The condition itself afflicted only men between the ages of 19-57 and is believed to be sudden unexplained death syndrome and/or Brugada syndrome. [15] The 1970s pop song "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright sealed the story for Craven, giving him not only an artistic setting to "jump off" from, but a synthesizer riff from the Elm Street soundtrack as well. [16] It has also been stated that he drew some inspiration after studying eastern religions. [17]

Initially, Fred Krueger was intended to be a child molester, but Craven eventually decided to characterize him as a child murderer to avoid being accused of exploiting a spate of highly publicized child molestation cases that occurred in California around the time of production of the film. [18] By Craven's account, his own adolescent experiences led to the naming of Fred Krueger. He had been bullied at school by a child named Fred Krueger, and named his villain accordingly. [18] The colored sweater he chose for his villain was based on the DC Comics character Plastic Man, and Craven chose to make Krueger's sweater colors that of red and green, after reading an article in Scientific American in 1982 that said the two most clashing colors to the human retina were this particular combination. [19]

Robert Englund has revealed that at a time, there was a serious development toward a prequel for Freddy's story called The First Kills, which would have been centered around two policemen chasing for the Springwood Slasher and two lawyers during the legal proceedings. Englund claims that John McNaughton was considered for directing the prequel, but these plans were forgotten after New Line Cinema was merged with Turner Broadcasting System in 1994. [20] [21] McNaughton came back later around the millennium shift and hoped to produce an alternative prequel story, alongside scriptwriter R.J. Tsarov, which would have been set in Hell, where McNaughton imagined Freddy to have been stuck in between his lynching and the events of the 1984 film. New Line Cinema rejected this idea due to the film Little Nicky (2000) having been partially set in Hell while also being a box-office bomb, deterring the company from producing another film set in Hell at that time. [22] [23]

On January 29, 2008, Variety reported that Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes production company would be rebooting the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise with a remake of the original 1984 film. [24] To provide a freshness to the character, producer Brad Fuller explained that they were abandoning the things that made the character less scary—Freddy would not be "cracking jokes" as had become a staple of his character in later sequels—and focus more on trying to craft a "horrifying movie". [25] There was not agreement among the original crew as to whether it would be a good idea to remake the film. Craven expressed his displeasure, primarily because the filmmakers chose not to have him as a consultant to the film, unlike with the 2009 remake The Last House on the Left where he "shepherd[ed] it towards production". [26] In contrast, Robert Englund felt it was time for A Nightmare on Elm Street to be remade. Englund liked the idea of being able to "exploit the dreamscape" with CGI and other technologies that did not exist when Craven was making the original Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984. [27]

Box office

The Nightmare on Elm Street series, when compared to the other top-grossing American horror series— Halloween , Child's Play , Friday the 13th , Saw , Scream , and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre —and adjusting for 2023 inflation, is ranked third with $793.5 million. [28] Halloween is the highest-grossing horror series in the United States at approximately $1.09 billion. [29] [30] Next in line is Friday the 13th at $908.4 million, [31] The Scream film series is in fourth place with $779.5 million, [32] followed by the Saw series with $688.3 million, [33] The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with $459.7 million, [34] and the Child's Play film series rounding out the list with $305.2 million. [35]

FilmRelease date (US)BudgetBox office revenueReference
United StatesOther territoriesWorldwide
A Nightmare on Elm Street(1984)November 9, 1984$1,800,000 [36] $25,624,448$31,560,686$57,185,134 [37] [38] [39]
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's RevengeNovember 1, 1985$3,000,000 [40] $29,999,213$29,999,213 [41]
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream WarriorsFebruary 27, 1987$4,300,000–4,600,000 [38] [42] $44,793,222$44,793,222 [43]
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream MasterAugust 19, 1988$6,500,000 [38] [44] $49,369,899$49,369,899 [45]
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream ChildAugust 11, 1989$8,000,000 [46] $22,168,359$22,168,359 [47]
Freddy's Dead: The Final NightmareSeptember 13, 1991$9,000,000 [38] $34,872,033$34,872,033 [48]
Wes Craven's New NightmareOctober 14, 1994$8,000,000 [49] $18,090,181$1,631,560$19,721,741 [50]
Freddy vs. JasonAugust 15, 2003$30,000,000 [51] $82,633,448$34,009,973$116,643,421 [52]
A Nightmare on Elm Street(2010)April 30, 2010$35,000,000 [53] $63,075,011$52,620,171$115,695,182 [54] [55]
Totals$105,600,000–$105,900,000$370,625,814$119,822,390$490,448,204

Future

In August 2015, it was reported that Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema were developing a second remake with Orphan writer David Leslie Johnson, with Toby Emmerich, Walter Hamada and Dave Neustadter producing it. [56]

In June 2016, Brad Fuller said the remake was in development hell. Englund expressed interest in returning to the series in a cameo role. [57] He later expressed interest in having Kevin Bacon to portray Freddy. [58]

In October 2018, Robert Englund reprised his role as Freddy Krueger on a Halloween-themed episode of The Goldbergs . [59]

In December 2018, Leslie Johnson said the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street was still in development, but New Line Cinema was more focused on The Conjuring Universe :

"It's still happening. Nothing is percolating just yet. The Conjuring universe is sort of first and foremost on [New Line Cinema's] horror burner. Everybody wants to see Freddy again I think, so I think it's inevitable at some point". [60]

In September 2019, it was announced that film rights had reverted to Wes Craven's estate. By November, the estate had begun work on future project pitches for new A Nightmare on Elm Street projects; with pitches received for both feature film and a potential HBO Max series, with the intent to have Robert Englund reprise his role as Freddy Krueger. [61] [62] [63]

Television

Beginning on October 9, 1988, Freddy's Nightmares was an anthology series, in the vein of The Twilight Zone , which featured different horror stories each week. The show was hosted by Freddy Krueger, with Robert Englund reprising his role from the films. Freddy played more of a background character, but occasionally showed up to influence the plot of particular episodes. The series ran for two seasons and a total of 44 episodes, ending March 10, 1990. [64] Although most of the episodes did not feature Freddy taking a major role in the plot, the pilot episode "No More Mr. Nice Guy" depicts the events of Krueger's trial, and his subsequent death at the hands of the parents of Elm Street after his acquittal. Directed by Tobe Hooper, creator of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, Freddy's acquittal is based on the arresting officer, Lt. Tim Blocker, not reading him his Miranda rights, which is different from the original Nightmare that stated he was acquitted because someone forgot to sign a search warrant. After the town's parents burn Freddy to death he returns to haunt Blocker in his dreams. Freddy gets his revenge when Blocker is put to sleep at the dentist's office, and Freddy shows up and kills him. [65]

In other media

Literature

Novels

Between 1987 and 2003, Freddy Krueger appeared in the novelization of each of the films. The first five films were adapted by St. Martin's Press. Those adaptations follow the films closely, with minor changes to specific details that occurred in the film. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 does not follow the respective film, instead utilizing the same plot elements to tell a different story altogether. This novel also provides a different backstory for Freddy. [66] [67] In 1992, Abdo & Daughters Publishing Company released adaptations of their own for the first six films. Written by Bob Italia, each was under one hundred pages and followed the films' plot. [68] [69] [70] [71] [72] [73] The final two books, Wes Craven's New Nightmare and Freddy vs. Jason, were published by Tor Books and Black Flame. These novels also followed the films closely, with the adaptation of Freddy vs. Jason containing a different ending than the movie. [74] [75]

Comic books

The popularity of the film series also led to the creation of several comic book series published by companies such as Marvel Comics, Innovation Comics, Trident Comics, Avatar Press and, most recently, WildStorm Comics. Writers such as Steve Gerber, Andy Mangels, Chuck Dixon and Brian Pulido have all contributed stories to the various series. There have been crossovers with other franchises, such as Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors .

Documentary

On May 4, 2010, a 4-hour documentary chronicling the Nightmare on Elm Street series was released. The documentary includes interviews with the cast and crew for all of the Nightmare films. [76] In a wish to utilize individuals who contributed to the series, the makers of the documentary procured poster artist Matthew Joseph Peak to create the artwork for the release poster and DVD cover, and composer Charles Bernstein for the film's main title music. [77] [78] As part of a special offering, the filmmakers gave away a limited edition poster to anyone that ordered the documentary from the official website. Those same individuals would also be entered into a drawing to win one of three 27" × 40" teaser posters signed by dozens of people who worked on the films and were interviewed in the documentary. [79] Michael Gingold of Fangoria felt the filmmakers did an amazing job bringing together all of the behind-the-scenes footage, picture, never-before-seen deleted scenes, FX scenes, and other "treasures". Gingold noted that even die-hard fans would find something new. [80] Bloody Disgusting's Ryan Daley praised the film for being educational, and looking at the legacy of both A Nightmare on Elm Street and New Line Cinema. Daley believed that there was no better horror documentary. [81] Nick Hyman of Under the Radar noted that Never Sleep Again, unlike the earlier His Name Was Jason documentary, provided a more candid interview process with the people involved. Hyman pointed out that the best part of the documentary is the look at New Line's success through the Elm Street films, and the financial struggles and deadlines that plagued the film series. [82]

Aside from the Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy documentary, some smaller documentaries have been made; The Making of 'Nightmare on Elm Street IV' (1989) and The Making of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) covered the making of part 4 and 6 respectively. [83] [84] MTV released another short promotional special Slash & Burn: The Freddy Krueger Story in 1991. [85] Robert Englund also narrated the documentary Freddy Speaks in 1992, both as himself and as Freddy Krueger. [86] Heather Langenkamp released her own documentary called I Am Nancy in 2011, while Mark Patton also released a personal documentary, Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street in 2019. [87]

Merchandise

In February 2010, Funko released a Freddy Bobblehead. [88] Also in 2010, NECA released a 10" puppet of Freddy Krueger from Phillip's death scene in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, [89] a metal replica of his glove, and two action figures: Freddy before he was burned, and the other being him after the burning, including two interchangeable heads. [90]

Video games

A Nightmare on Elm Street is the shared name of two unrelated video games released in 1989, both loosely based on the series. From among those films, Dream Warriors and The Dream Master were particular influences on the gameplay of each. LJN (programmed by Rare) released one title for the NES, and Monarch Software the other for the Commodore 64 and IBM PC compatibles.

David Bergantino, video game developer, wanted to produce a Freddy vs. Jason game called Freddy vs. Jason: Hell Unbound, but the film being stuck in development hell constantly delayed any release of a video game, and once a release date had been set for the film, there would have been insufficient time to develop the game to correspond with the film's release date. The game would have continued on from Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) and have been its own storyline instead of being based on any screenplay. Bergantino considered Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 and later Xbox as possible platforms for the video game. The game would have allowed up to four players with Freddy or Jason as player characters, in various forms such as "Hooded Jason" or "Snake-Freddy". The premise would have been that Freddy and Jason are permanently stuck in Hell due to their countless unforgivable sins; Death makes the offer that whoever of the two can fight their way out of Hell, against demons and others of its denizens, gaining the highest body-count, would have been allowed to leave Hell, while the loser will remain stuck there forever. As each of the slashers are stuck in their personal hells, versions of Elm Street and Camp Crystal Lake would have existed there in some form. Freddy-based levels would have been more surreal, while Freddy could have toyed with Jason's perceptions. [91]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddy Krueger</span> Main antagonist of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise

Freddy Krueger is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as the malevolent spirit of a child killer who had been burned to death by his victims' parents after evading prison. Krueger goes on to murder his victims in their dreams, causing their deaths in the real world as well. In the dream world, he is a powerful force and seemingly invulnerable. However, whenever Freddy is pulled back into the real world, he has normal human vulnerabilities and can be destroyed. He is commonly identified by his burned, disfigured face, dirty red-and-green-striped sweater and brown fedora, and trademark metal-clawed, brown leather, right hand glove. This glove was the product of Krueger's own imagination, having welded the blades himself before using it to murder many of his victims, both in the real and dream worlds. Over the course of the film series, Freddy has battled several reoccurring survivors including Nancy Thompson and Alice Johnson. The character was consistently portrayed by Robert Englund in the original film series as well as in the television spin-off Freddy's Nightmares.

<i>Wes Cravens New Nightmare</i> 1994 American meta supernatural slasher film by Wes Craven

Wes Craven's New Nightmare is a 1994 American meta supernatural horror film written and directed by Wes Craven, creator of 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street. A standalone film and the seventh installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, it is not part of the same continuity as previous films, instead portraying Freddy Krueger as a fictional movie villain who invades the real world and haunts the cast and crew involved in the making of the films about him. In the film, Freddy is depicted as closer to what Craven originally intended, being much more menacing and less comical, with an updated attire and appearance.

<i>Freddy vs. Jason</i> 2003 American slasher film by Ronny Yu

Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is a crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises, being the eighth installment in the former and the eleventh in the latter. The film joins the two series in a shared universe and pits their respective antagonists, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, against each other. Freddy is weakened and forgotten because the citizens of his home town Springwood have defeated him by using medications that repress dreams. Freddy awakens Jason to stir up fear and grow his powers so that he may return and kill again. Jason turns out to not be as easily controlled as Freddy initially thought, and the two supernatural mass murderers come into conflict. The film is the last film in each franchise before their respective reboots.

<i>Freddys Nightmares</i> American horror anthology television series (1988–1990)

Freddy's Nightmares is an American horror anthology television series, which aired in syndication from October 1988 until March 1990. A spin-off from the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, each episode is introduced by Freddy Krueger, and features two different stories, with eight of them throughout the series actually having Freddy Krueger as the main antagonist. The pilot episode was directed by Tobe Hooper, and begins with Krueger's prosecution on child-murdering charges.

<i>Freddys Dead: The Final Nightmare</i> 1991 film by Rachel Talalay

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare is a 1991 American slasher film and the sixth film in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. It is a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and was originally intended to be the final installment of the series; Wes Craven's New Nightmare was released three years later but takes place outside the series canon. A canonical crossover/sequel, Freddy vs. Jason, was released in 2003. This was New Line Cinema's first 3D film release.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> 1984 American slasher film by Wes Craven

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Johnny Depp in his film debut. The film's plot concerns a group of teenagers who are targeted by Krueger, an undead child killer who can murder people through their dreams, as retribution against their parents who burned him alive.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors</i> 1987 film by Chuck Russell

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is a 1987 American fantasy slasher film directed by Chuck Russell in his feature directorial debut. The story was developed by Wes Craven and Bruce Wagner and is the third installment in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp, Patricia Arquette, Larry Fishburne, Priscilla Pointer, Craig Wasson, and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. Nancy Thompson, now a psychiatrist, and Kristen, a patient who can bring others into her own dreams, team up with other kids to launch a daring rescue into the dreamland and save a child from Freddy Krueger.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master</i> 1988 film by Renny Harlin

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is a 1988 American fantasy slasher film and the fourth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film was directed by Renny Harlin and stars Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox, and Danny Hassel. Following the death of Nancy Thompson, Krueger reappears in the dreams of Kristen Parker, Joey Crusel, and Roland Kincaid. After completing his revenge against the families who killed him, Krueger uses Kristen's best friend, Alice Johnson, to gain access to new victims in order to satiate his murderous needs. The film is a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). The Dream Master is often popularly referred to as "the MTV Nightmare" of the franchise.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child</i> 1989 film by Stephen Hopkins

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child is a 1989 American gothic slasher film directed by Stephen Hopkins and written by Leslie Bohem. It is the fifth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, and stars Lisa Wilcox, and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. The film follows Krueger, using a now pregnant Alice Johnson's baby's dreams to claim new victims.

Nancy Thompson (<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i>) Main character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series

Nancy Thompson is a fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. She first appears in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as a teenager hunted in her dreams by enigmatic serial killer Freddy Krueger. In this film, she was portrayed by Heather Langenkamp—who reprises the role in the sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). Langenkamp later portrayed a fictional version of herself who embodies the role of Nancy in Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). A reimagined version of the character, Nancy Holbrook, is portrayed by Rooney Mara in the 2010 remake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Parker</span> Film character from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series

Kristen Parker is a character from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. She is a co-protagonist and final girl of the third film of the series A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and the false protagonist in the following film A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, and has appeared in various merchandise as well. She is played by actress Patricia Arquette in Dream Warriors and Tuesday Knight in The Dream Master. She is the central member of the titular Dream Warriors, seven teens who have to learn to fight as a group in order to survive their spectral tormentor, enigmatic murderer Freddy Krueger, and has the ability to bring others into her dreams as well as being an Olympic-level acrobat in her dreams.

The popularity of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series has led to several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, Innovation Publishing, Trident Comics, Avatar Press and WildStorm Productions. After the success of Freddy vs. Jason and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake film in 2003, New Line Cinema created their House of Horror licensing division which licensed the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to Avatar Press for use in new comic book stories, the first of which was published in 2005. In 2006, Avatar Press lost the license to DC Comics imprint, WildStorm Productions which then published several new stories based on the franchise before their license expired as well.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> (2010 film) American supernatural slasher film by Samuel Bayer

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 2010 American supernatural slasher film directed by Samuel Bayer, written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer, and starring Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, and Kellan Lutz. Produced by Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes, it is a remake of Wes Craven's 1984 film of the same name, as well as the ninth overall installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film is set in a fictitious town in Ohio and centers on a group of teenagers living on one street who are stalked and murdered in their dreams by a disfigured man named Freddy Krueger. The teenagers discover that they all share a common link from their childhood that makes them targets for Krueger.

Cinema Of Fear was a toy line of action figures, plush dolls, "screen grab" dioramas, and limited edition toys based on New Line's horror franchises: Friday the 13th, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Rob Zombie's Halloween II remake.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddys Revenge</i> 1985 film by Jack Sholder

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge is a 1985 American supernatural slasher film directed by Jack Sholder and written by David Chaskin. It stars Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Robert Rusler. It is the second installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film follows Jesse Walsh, a teenager who begins having recurring nightmares about Freddy Krueger after moving into the former home of Nancy Thompson from the first film.

Tina Gray (<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i>) Fictional character

Christina "Tina" Gray is a fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. She was created by Wes Craven. The character was portrayed by Amanda Wyss in the original film and Katie Cassidy in the 2010 film. Julianna Damm also portrayed the character as a preadolescent in the 2010 film's flashbacks and dream sequences. A high school student whose death is the catalyst for the events of the series, Gray is the false protagonist of the 1984 original film. She also appears in the novels, Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), 2010 reboot, merchandise based on the films, and a claymation version of the character is shown in the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010). The imagery featuring Gray in the body bag during the dream sequences have been regarded as iconic.

1428 Elm Street, also known as [the] Elm Street House, is a fictional residential house and street address in Springwood, Ohio, and is an important location in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, where it has been the home of Nancy Thompson and her mother, later Jesse Walsh and his family, and finally Lori Campbell and her father, throughout the film series. It has also been implied to have been Freddy Krueger's home at some point before the events that take place in the films. It appears in some form in nearly all the films, as well as literature, comic books, toys, and music videos. The house, like Freddy Krueger, Nancy Thompson, Tina Gray, and Kristen Parker, were all conceived by Wes Craven.

<i>Nightmares on Elm Street</i> Comic book series set in the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" universe

Nightmares on Elm Street is a six-issue comic book limited series set within the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, set chronologically between A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991). It was written by comic book writer Andy Mangels and published bimonthly throughout 1991 and 1992 by Innovation Publishing. The first two issues revolves mainly around Nancy Thompson's fate following her murder by Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, while issue three through six deals primarily with the return of Alice Johnson and her son Jacob to Springwood. The comics are considered to be canonical to the franchise.

References

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  7. ↑ Jack Sholder (Director) (1985). A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (DVD). United States: New Line Cinema.
  8. ↑ Chuck Russell (Director) (1987). A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (DVD). United States: New Line Cinema.
  9. ↑ Renny Harlin (Director) (1988). A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (DVD). United States: New Line Cinema.
  10. ↑ Stephen Hopkins (Director) (1989). A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (DVD). United States: New Line Cinema.
  11. ↑ Rachel Talalay (Director) (1991). Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (DVD). United States: New Line Cinema.
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