A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
If Nancy doesn't wake up screaming, she won't wake up at all.
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...
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 9 November 1984 |
| Genre | Horror |
| Director | Wes Craven |
| Starring | Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund and Johnny Depp |
| Runtime | 91 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 7.7/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 95% · Metacritic 76/100 · TMDB users 7.4/10 |
| Budget | $2 million |
Where to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is streaming on Max ($18.49 a month) in the US. If that is the only reason to subscribe, one month of Max is $18.49 at list price.
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Rent or buy
You can rent A Nightmare on Elm Street on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango at Home and Spectrum On Demand. It is also for sale on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango at Home.
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| Austria | Max €11.99 |
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| Germany | Max €11.99 |
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| Portugal | Max €9.99 |
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What kind of watch this is
Wes Craven’s 1984 horror film runs 91 minutes and swaps the typical safe room for the one place you cannot run: your own mind. The tagline captures the trap perfectly. If Nancy doesn’t wake up screaming, she won’t wake up at all. It is a tight, claustrophobic puzzle where the protagonist must learn the rules of a game she never chose to play. The tension comes from the simple, terrifying fact that sleep is no longer an option.
What the critics said
Rotten Tomatoes holds a 95% Tomatometer score as of August 2024. That is a strong number for a movie about a man who kills you in your sleep. Metacritic gives it a 76 out of 100. The average user rating on Rotten Tomatoes sits at 7.7 out of 10, a figure reported in October 2021. It is the perfect score for a film that demands you keep your eyes open.
What came next for the cast
Robert Englund came from Dead & Buried. After 1984, he appeared in Freddy vs. Jason, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Amanda Wyss stepped out of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Her next stops included Silverado, Better Off Dead..., and Highlander: The Series. The timeline shows where they went, not what the 1984 film did to them. Careers move in odd directions.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Sources
- A Nightmare on Elm Street on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q329434 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “A Nightmare on Elm Street” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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