Ranking the Nightmare on Elm Street Films from Worst to Best
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” started out strong by horror maestro Wes Craven (“Last House on the Left” (1972), “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977)) in the mid 80s showcasing a more talkative villain and an intriguing idea for the employment of special make up effects. Robert Englund became a household horror icon, Johnny Depp a star and Craven himself was placed front and center as a horror ambassador and an argument can be made as the voice of a generation. Yet the systematically produced and critically diminishing outputs just like in the other 80s slasher franchises (e.g., “Friday the 13th”, “Halloween”), were sufficient to kill off Freddy until his … meta resurrection with the “New Nightmare”, the much anticipated cross over with Jason and his inevitable and lackluster remake in 2010. Thus, it feels appropriate to rank down all the cinematic appearances of Freddy Krueger, the one liner demon that lives in the worst nightmare of the Elm Street teens from worst to best.
Critical and audience reception
budget and box office for each entry
Most successful entry
Freddy vs Jason (2003): $116 million dollars worldwide
Most expensive entry
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010): $35 million dollars
Highest score in Rotten Tomatoes
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984): 95%
Lowest score in Rotten Tomatoes
The Final Nightmare: Freddy’s Dead (1991): 23%
Highest IMDB score
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984): 7.4
Lowest IMDB score
The Final Nightmare: Freddy’s Dead (1991): 4.7
9. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
Best moment: Alice Cooper abuses young Freddy. The man can act!
“They saved the best for last” warns us the totally uninspiring tagline for this ill-conceived, ill-produced and mis-directed final entry in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise. Poor 3D effects, lame dream sequences, awful acting and terrible characters support the numbers performance of Robert Englund whose cartoony antics would feel right at home in a Saturday morning kids show. A travesty from beginning to end, the film attempts to copy the formula of the much superior “Dream Warriors” by introducing another troubled juvenile group with minimum artistic endeavor resulting in banal scares, boring skills and a comically infused tone much to the displeasure of the hardcore fans and the occasional horror afficionado. Even Freddy’s make up looks like a plastic mask.
To add insult to the injury, the story attempts to provide a forceful and unnecessary emotional backdrop for Freddy that never gets explored. His final showdown with the “last girl” is the weakest out of all the installments and ends as quickly as it starts. Only a couple of (really) random cameos provide some mild form of entertainment.
Kills
✔️
One liners
✔️
Horror
✔️
Acting
N/A
Dream world
✔️
Freddy
✔️
Direction
✔️
8. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Best moment: The use of micro-sleeps is an intriguing idea … that goes nowhere.
This visually faithful remake had all the right ingredients for a potentially exciting upgrade of the cult 80s classic. Jackie Earle Haley seemed an ideal choice to take Freddy’s mantle (or knife glove if you are a purist), the budget was appropriately enticing and the noughties required a more sophisticated approach in the slasher formula, particularly after “Scream” broke the rules by being aware of them and Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” which depicted raw and unflinching violence. Yet, the first feature film of commercial director Samuel Bayer was the equivalent of a creative black hole.
Attempting to place Freddy into a more realistic context, the script alters his sinister persona (he is accused of being a child molester) and almost makes a case for a lynching mob mentality that flirts with poor taste. Bayer replicates key moments of the original with newer special effects but these lack Craven’s panache or gusto to make an impact and the introduction of the micro-sleep concept does not get the attention it deserves. The cast seems bored and Freddy’s new design does not look menacing enough. The remake’s only feat was to showcase how sensational the original remains despite the lack of technical finesse. This film has no reason to exist.
Kills
✔️
One liners
✔️
Horror
✔️
Acting
✔️
Dream world
✔️
Freddy
✔️
Direction
✔️
7. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream master (1988)
Best moment: Hard to find anything that truly stands out but the one liner that comes after the water bed kill is memorable (“How’s this for a wet dream?“).
Who would have guessed that before helming the big budget sequel to one of the greatest action films of all time (“Die Hard 2” (1990)) while carving a career of action highs in the colorful decade of the 90s, Renny Harlin began with a subpar entry into the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise? In any Hollywood (and especially franchise entry) debut, there are usually figments of talent behind the camera, albeit restrained, a marker for better things to come.
Yet, nothing in this film resembles any of the Finnish director’s trademarks - outrageous stunts, overblown action sequence and great shots. The kills are among the most disappointing in the whole franchise, the inclusion of Karate antics(!), a relic of the 80s where Hollywood had a fascination (and misunderstanding) with anything Japanese, is hilarious and leans into parody, Patricia Arquette has been replaced by a wooden dummy and the pace of a snail are enough to send the audience to cinematic oblivion, seemingly unaware that Freddy is back and hungry for more. Who would blame them after enduring this?
Kills
✔️
One liners
✔️✔️✔️
Horror
✔️
Acting
✔️
Dream world
✔️
Freddy
✔️
Direction
✔️
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
Best moment: The directing frenzy within the asylum brings a surprising energy that is remains unmatched in the rest of the film.
The fifth installment is dragged down by frankly terrible performances, an unlikeable lead, uninspiring deaths (e.g., cyborg biker?) and a Freddy that is more like a live action talk show host rather than the embodiment of undefeatable and pure evil. However, the transition of Australian Stephen Hopkins from the world of ads to Hollywood features a frantic direction and an inspiring for its budget production design which bears a more sinister feeling from its predecessor.
The “birth” of Freddy inside the asylum is an interesting and disturbing concept and someone might have wished for the film to drop the typical dream-kill formula to explore this villain from a different and more visceral perspective. But of course, this being a typical entry for a money making franchise, things are resolved as fast as they are introduced and when the time comes, the finale leaves a lot of to be desired.
Kills
✔️✔️
One liners
✔️
Horror
✔️✔️
Acting
✔️✔️
Dream world
✔️✔️
Freddy
✔️
Direction
✔️✔️
5. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
Best moment: The effect of Freddy emerges from someone’s body holds up remarkably well.
After the huge and unexpected success of “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, it makes sense for the sequel to go bloodier and bigger right? Well in “Freddy’s Revenge”, the filmmakers opted out for a rather peculiar approach that did not stick its landing back then. The biggest setback is Freddy himself. Although he is still a sinister and demonic presence that takes pleasure in tormenting and slashing his unexpected teenage victims, he is barely in it. Despite Englund’s menacing efforts, his screentime is not enough to make an impact but denigrates into an excuse to use cool and occasionally macabre make up effects.
With the focus shifting from a traditional damsel in distress to a male “scream queen”, the creators decided to infuse the story with a hearty dosage of gay (and even BDSM!) subtext, a ballsy move by today’s standards in the self-censoring decade of the 80s which was dominated by excessive amounts of steroids and machoism. Finding a newly appreciated status precisely for this reason, “Freddy’s Revenge” remains an ok sequel that actually tried to do something different either because the filmmakers aimed to do so or because they failed to do so. Nevertheless, the dream sequences are nicely done and its gay aspects (“He is inside me!”, “He wants to take me again!”) give it more character than the later cookie cutter entries and it bears a bizarre charm over its proceedings.
Kills
✔️✔️✔️
One liners
✔️✔️✔️
Horror
✔️✔️✔️
Acting
✔️✔️✔️
Dream world
✔️✔️✔️
Freddy
✔️✔️✔️
Direction
✔️✔️
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Best moment: A few to choose from but “Welcome to Prime Time bitch!” remains a classic.
After the confused and anticipated “Freddy’s Revenge”, Wes Craven retuned and penned a direct sequel to his slasher novelty by brining all those who managed to survive (i.e., Nancy and her father) together with a pack of newcomers - the titular Dream Warriors, a group of youths that suffer from sleep disorders. It is an inventive take on the slasher formula as these teens not only suffer from the very thing that Freddy needs to kill them (i.e., sleep) but can fight back due to newly found super abilities. What a rush indeed.
Boasting a killer opening tune by rock metal favorites Dokken, “Dream Warriors” is, depends on where you stand, either the best thing that happened to Freddy or the worse, since it marked his turning point from a demonic force to an one-liner machine.
Chuck Russell (“The Blob” (1988), “The Mask (1994)) directs efficiently and stages some inventive dream sequences, the cast is actually quite good for this type of material and some of the deaths are glorious supported by excellent practical effects (i.e., here comes the human puppet).
Kills
✔️✔️✔️✔️
One liners
✔️✔️✔️✔️
Horror
✔️✔️
Acting
✔️✔️✔️
Dream world
✔️✔️✔️
Freddy
✔️✔️✔️
Direction
✔️✔️✔️✔️
3. Wes CRaven’s New Nightmare (1994)
Best moment: Freddy is revealed in all his newly redesigned glory inside a hospital.
After the critical disappointments of the “Dream Master”, “Dream Child” and “The Final Nightmare”, it was impressive to see Craven taking the reigns of his original IP and put it back into a sinister yet slicker box.
A prelude of “Scream” (1996), “New Nightmare” offers plenty of clever meta content about the horror genre, its perception from the L.A. film industry (and community) and the then pop culture where Freddy became an icon….for all the wrong reasons; a testament of Craven’s ability as a writer who oozes novel ideas.
Populated with people playing fictional versions of themselves (!) and much more improved acting, the final showdown in a Greek/Roman inspired setting between Heather/Nancy and Freddy does not disappoint, the kills are few but bear plot significance and although the occasional actor kid might bother some, the film has enough panache and suspenseful patient and sinister undertones that make it a must watch and frankly an under-appreciated entry in the horror director’s filmography.
Kills
✔️✔️✔️
One liners
✔️
Horror
✔️✔️✔️
Acting
✔️✔️✔️✔️
Dream world
✔️✔️✔️
Freddy
✔️✔️✔️✔️
Direction
✔️✔️✔️✔️
2. Freddy VS Jason (2003)
Best moment: Freddy gets pulled out in the real world. Cue heavy guitar riffs!
The much anticipated face off between these two slasher icons of the same Hollywood studio does not disappoint. Featuring a nuanced idea in the background that makes a good case of putting Freddy well…against Jason, it is a magic vs muscle ramble amidst Elm Street with various OTT acting teens running as extras (including Kelly Rowland who has a superbly funny death). Not shying away from blood theatricalities where people are impaled, split (or folded) in half, sliced, diced and electrocuted, it is a gore extravaganza with remarkable production values and make up effects that respect these horror icons’ roots and skillsets.
Ronny Yu’s (e.g., “The Bride With The White Hair“ (1993), “The 51st State“ (2001)) dynamic direction favors an impressively staged smackdown that goes from the dream world all the way to an explosive finale in Crystal Lake. Yu manages to insert cleverly some wire fu moves too and utilizes the environments as a “Mortal Kombat” arena that can be used to take a (bloody) advantage. It is albeit too silly and not even remotely scary but competently made nonetheless, funny and atmospheric under some truly gorgeous and colorful cinematography and a eclectic score by Kiwi Graeme Revell.
Ultimately though the films lives on Robert Englund’s shoulders as he gives a highly entertaining and final performance as Freddy Krueger after a whooping of eight films.
Kills
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
One liners
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
Horror
✔️✔️✔️
Acting
✔️✔️✔️
Dream world
✔️✔️✔️✔️
Freddy
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
Direction
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Best moment: Nancy’s supportive boyfriend falls asleep only to be pull inside his own bed and become a massive blood splash … on the ceiling.
Wes Craven’s innovative take on the slasher genre was what created Freddy in the first place. Utilizing him in small dosages with emphasis on some truly gut wrenching and bleak deaths - Tina’s upside down hack and slash in one take! - hold up extremely well by today’s standards that miss from modern horror. Just look at the above mentioned remake where all the technical finesse could not save from a total mediocrity status. Craven wisely aims to create an uneasy and gloomy atmosphere around the concept of sleep, the most essential ingredient in humans after food and water and architects an interesting mystery about the identify of this instantly culturally enduring supernatural evil with his glove, the hat, the sweater and the burned face.
Bringing several ideas on the table, Craven also showcases menacing production design which place strong emphasis in the torture of its victims, blurring the lines of reality and dream implying that Freddy can be anywhere at any time; the hand sticking out when Nancy is having a bath remains quite disturbing (and bears a sexual awakening typically seen in films like these). Meanwhile Freddy’s reveal is utterly memorable; “This IS God“ has never felt any chillier. Despite some occasionally stiff acting besides John Saxon, Johnny Depp (!) and of course the iconic turn of Robert Englund as Freddy, this nightmare is by far the best.
Kills
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
One liners
✔️✔️
Horror
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
Acting
✔️✔️✔️
Dream world
✔️✔️✔️
Freddy
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
Direction
✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️