A Nightmare on Elm Street
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.
- Director
- Wes Craven
- Signature
- Craft · Tension · Drama
- Worldwide
- $57M
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How A Nightmare on Elm Street actually feels to watch, measured on the twelve traits our editors track across every Nutevio title.
Story overview
What It's About
Spoiler-free. Read the analysis below for the full argument.
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...
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
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Why We Recommend It
Why It's Ranked
A Nightmare on Elm Street appears in 2 Nutevio collections. Here is the argument behind each placement.
- Best Horror Movies Ranked #31
Placed at #31 by the Nutevio ranking model. An editor's written case is on the way.
- Horror Movies Ranked #32
Placed at #32 by the Nutevio ranking model. An editor's written case is on the way.
The numbers
Box Office & Release
A Nightmare on Elm Street returned 31.7× its budget worldwide.
- Budget
- $2M
- Opening weekend
- —
- Domestic gross
- —
- International gross
- —
- Worldwide gross
- $57M
- Release date
- Nov 9, 1984
- Runtime
- 1h 31m
- MPAA rating
- —
- Language
- English
- Country
- United Kingdom, United States of America
Figures from the verified production record. Fields we cannot source are left blank rather than estimated.
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