How well do you sleep at night? Probably not very well if you happen to have marathoned the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies recently. The iconic horror series serves up some terrifying tales, as well as one or two rather queasy moments, and it’s fair to say some scenes in the series linger in the mind (especially a certain sequence involving a pizza in Nightmare 4.)
But if you have watched all of the Nightmare movies, how would you rate them? Are they all sweet dreams or are they beautiful nightmares?
Well, with plenty of films in the portfolio there are more than enough entries to be ranked. So… let’s rank ’em!
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Deadly Dreams
To date there are nine Nightmare movies. The series began in 1984, with the release of director Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street.
The film – which starred Robert Englund – focused on a small group of friends who begin to experience horrifying nightmares about a frightening, disfigured man. The man is revealed to be Fred Krueger, a former child killer who stalks the dreams of teens, including ‘final girl’, Nancy Thompson.
Filled with some truly creepy imagery, as well as a whole bunch of inventive ideas, A Nightmare on Elm Street was a huge hit with critics and audiences alike, paving the way for a sequel. However, when A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge arrived a year later, it wasn’t met with the same critical reception.
Nowadays the film has been reassessed and is considered one of the stronger entries in the series, but at the time of its release in 1985, Freddy’s Revenge was seen as a departure from some of the ideas set up in the first film. It also didn’t include any of the characters from the original, with the exception of Krueger.
But the critical reception for part two didn’t stop the series from continuing, and in 1987 A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors arrived. For this film, the action was moved from Elm Street to the Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital, where Nancy Thompson is now an intern therapist and Freddy Krueger is still infiltrating the dreams of teens.
Unlike its predecessor, Dream Warriors was met with a much better critical reception. This ensured the series continued for a fourth entry, which hit cinema screens in 1988, titled A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.
Propelled by the popularity of Dream Warriors, The Dream Master was a significant box office success. While not as strong as what came before, it was a decent instalment in the series, playing to the series’ strengths and meeting audience expectations as Freddy stalked more teens.
Then came 1989’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, where the series continued to repeat the Nightmare formula with less spectacular results, as well as 1991’s Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare which was a dud. Freddy’s Dead included a small sequence in 3D (which required audiences to don 3D glasses), promised to be the final entry in the series (it wasn’t), and proved to be a fairly tedious instalment.
The series then went on a brief hiatus for three years before returning in 1994 with the rather clever, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. Breaking away from the continuity of the six previous films, New Nightmare posed the intriguing question: What if all of the other films were just movies, but this one is real?
Set in the ‘real world’, New Nightmare breathed some much-needed life into the series and made Freddy scary again, after a collection of sequels which had diluted his presence. Along with the original film, New Nightmare became a must-see entry.
Another nine years would pass before the next film debuted, and this eighth offering didn’t just cater for Nightmare fans, it played to fans of the Friday the 13th movie series too! The film was 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason – a daft but fun monster-mash-up movie.
And then, with eight films in the series, all featuring Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, the reset button was pressed for 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. This ninth film acted as a (poor) remake of the original film, with Jackie Earle Haley playing Krueger with less-than-stellar results.
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Let’s Rank… The A Nightmare on Elm Street movies
OK, it’s time to rank the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies in reverse order:
- 9.) A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) – Dreadful entry in the series, which adds nothing of value and rehashes the 1984 film badly. Avoid.
- 8.) Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) – Lacklustre offering which drags in places and demonstrates an exhaustion of ideas.
- 7.) A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) – So, so entry in the series which has some decent set pieces, but the wheels are clearly starting to come off.
- 6.) A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) – Enjoyable offering. Not the best example of the series, but far from the worst.
- 5.) Freddy vs. Jason (2003) – Daft nonsense which doesn’t work as well as it should, but if you run with it there is fun to be had.
- 4.) A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) – The one-time black sheep of the series which has grown in popularity over the years. Really rather good!
- 3.) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) – Fan-favourite sequel and for good reason. Dream Warriors has a great cast and is very creative.
- 2.) Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – Clever meta-sequel which adds an unexpected post-modern twist to the Nightmare series.
- 1.) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – The original and the best. Genuinely terrifying at times and loaded with brilliant (and iconic) set pieces.
And with that, the nine A Nightmare on Elm Street movies are ranked!
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this edition of Let’s Rank… . For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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