A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

  • 95% of critics liked it
    (42 reviews)

  • 78% of users liked it
    (375,796 ratings)

A decade of wisecracking sequels have not diminished the power of this striking horror film from the director of Scream. Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter (Heather Langenkamp) traces the cause to child… More

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R, 1 hr. 31 min.
Directed By
Wes Craven
Written By
Wes Craven
Genres
Mystery & Suspense, Horror
In Theaters
Jun 1, 1984 Wide
On DVD
Aug 21, 2001
New Line Cinema

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    A highly imaginative horror film that provides the requisite shocks to keep fans of the genre happy.

  • J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

    Craven vitalizes the nightmare sequences with assorted surrealist novelties.

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    A Nightmare on Elm Street... puts more emphasis on bizarre special effects, which aren't at all bad.

  • James Berardinelli, ReelViews

    Still stands on its own as an intriguing and chilling example of how horror works best when the characters and the audience don't have to be lobotomized.

  • Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

    First feature for knife-handed horror idol Freddy.

Read all 22 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Directors C


    [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Wes Craven's benchmark creature of terror: Freddy Kreuger. Combined with the brilliantly intelligent premise has strongly helped make this deservedly remain one of the greatest suspense horror's of… More

  • Sophie B


    It has ages fairly well but the massive amount of copy-cat films has made this film seem not so good to a new viewer. I'm sure that when it came out it was amazing, and it is a really good story with a superb soundtrack. The acting was believable and the tension was created… More

  • Jason C


    This movie is a true classic. The concept is pure genius and ended up advancing the entire slasher genre. Even after nearly 30 years and countless sequels, the idea of a murderer hunting his victims through their dreams remains disturbing. As for Freddy, this is the character at… More

  • Brad W


    One of the greatest horror flms in the history of movies, a all time classic, really scary.

  • Dan S


    An effectively-made, slightly campy horror film that knows how to scare correctly while developing one of the most terrifying, legendary killers in all of cinema. Unlike so many horror movies that are usually plagued with terrible dialogue, wooden characters, dumb decisions, and and… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

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