FILM · 1984 · USA
A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Directed by
- Wes Craven
- Runtime
- 91 min
- Studio
- New Line Cinema, Smart Egg Pictures, Media Home Entertainment
439 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
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…
439 Interesting Facts About A Nightmare on Elm Street
Interesting Facts (30)
- #001
Ronee Blakley played a country superstar in Nashville (1975) several years before playing Nancy's mother. Connie Britton, who played the same role (though the character's name was altered) in A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), later went to play a country superstar in the unrelated television series Nashville (2012).
- #002
- #003
- #004
- #005
Pro wrestler Tommy Gilbert wrestled for a while in Memphis as "Nightmare Freddy". His son Doug Gilbert would take the gimmick to the Japanese hardcore wrestling promotion Wrestling International New Generation (W*ING), and bring his brother Eddie Gilbert into the promotion in 1993, where he would compete as Michael Myers (from Halloween (1978)).
- #006
- #007
In the original script, the movie ended happily. Nancy kills Krueger by ceasing to believe in him, then awakens to discover that everything that happened in the movie was an elongated nightmare. She then says goodbye to her mother, and drives to school with her friends. However, Robert Shaye wanted a twist ending that would leave the way open for sequels. He suggested fooling the audience into thinking Krueger has been defeated, only to reveal that the final scene itself is actually a nightmare, and then end the film with Freddy driving the car away from the house and the kids screaming. Wes Craven hated this ending, and ultimately four endings were filmed; Craven's happy ending, Shaye's 'Freddy ending' and two versions of a compromise ending Craven and Shaye had reached, in which Nancy's mother is pulled back into the house, but the audience is left slightly ambiguous as to what is going on. Craven has always maintained that the film should have had the happy ending he originally wrote.
- #008
In a deleted scene, featured on the LaserDisc and VHS from Anchor Bay, we learn that Nancy and many of her friends from the neighborhood weren't always only children. They had a brother or sister before they were killed by Freddy (during the scene in the basement just before Nancy's mother reveals she has Freddy's glove).
- #009
The scene where Marge talks to Nancy about Krueger's death, and shows her his gloves was extended. Not only would her mother inform her that the Elm Street teenagers were not only children, but she would elaborate on what happened after the mistrial. The scene in the script was extended, and Marge goes into detail by saying that Fred did not die instantly in the fire. Just like a demon surfacing from hell, a burning and frantic Krueger burst from his basement. As the flames consumed him, he threatened the parents and swore revenge. As Marge confesses to Nancy it was actually she who took a gun and shot Fred, delivering the coup de grace.
- #010
- #011
The scene of Tina (Amanda Wyss) thrashing across the ceiling was shot using a rotating room set, which was slowly spun to allow her to roll into position. Because there wasn't any money for mechanical hydraulics, the rolling had to be done by hand and everything inside (props, cameras, lighting) had to be carefully balanced. The camera was bolted to the wall and the cameraman strapped into a chair beside it, which turned in tandem with the room. For the two shots where Rod (Jsu Garcia) and Tina reach for one other as Tina is on the ceiling, she is really lying on the floor and Garcia is upside down with his hair pasted down to stay flat. The effect was so good, that just before shooting began, Wyss got a bad case of vertigo.
- #012
- #013
- #014
- #015
- #016
In the original script the film ended happily. Nancy kills Krueger by ceasing to believe in him, then wakes up and discovers that everything in the film was a long nightmare. She then says goodbye to her mother and goes to school with her friends. Robert Shaye, however, wanted a different ending that would lead to sequels. He proposed tricking the audience into thinking Krueger had been defeated, revealing that the final scene was actually a nightmare, and then ending the film with Freddy driving the car away from the house and the children screaming. Wes Craven hated this ending, and ultimately four endings were filmed: Craven's happy ending, Shaye's 'Freddy ending', and two versions of a compromise ending reached by Craven and Shaye in which Nancy's mother is pulled back into the house but the audience is left somewhat uncertain about what is happening. Craven always maintained that the film should end with the happy ending he had written.
- #017
Wes Craven first came up with the film's core idea from a series of articles published in the "Los Angeles Times" over a three-year period about a group of Southeast Asian refugees from the Hmong tribe, many of whom died after suffering terrifying nightmares. The group had come to the US to escape Pol Pot's bloody rule, and within a year of arriving three men had died in similar circumstances: an otherwise healthy young man would have a nightmare and then refuse to sleep as long as he could. When he finally fell asleep from exhaustion, he would wake up screaming and then die. Autopsy results revealed that they had not died of heart failure; they had simply died. It was the inability to find a cause of death that fascinated Craven so much. Medical authorities have since named this phenomenon Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome (SUDS) and Asian Death Syndrome, a variant of Brugada Syndrome.
- #018
- #019
Wes Craven's original concept for Freddy Krueger was much more horrifying: teeth were visible through the flesh above the chin, pus oozed from the wounds, and part of the skull was visible inside the head. Makeup artist David B. Miller argued that an actor could not be made convincing in this way, that filming a puppet would be difficult and would not match well with live actors, so these ideas were ultimately abandoned.
- #020
The original glove was later used in A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) and also appeared hanging on the wall of the work shed in Evil Dead II (1987). This was a response to the use of The Evil Dead (1981) on a television screen in this film and part of the ongoing prank war between directors Wes Craven and Sam Raimi. However, when Wes Craven lent the glove to the set of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), it went missing, and the glove is said to have ended up with Robert Englund's agent.
- #021
- #022
- #023
- #024
- #025
- #026
A deleted scene included on Anchor Bay's LaserDisc and VHS releases reveals that Nancy and many of her friends in the neighborhood were not always only children. Before being killed by Freddy, they had a brother or sister (in the basement scene, just before Nancy's mother explains that she is carrying Freddy's glove).
- #027
- #028
- #029
The idea behind the glove was a practical one for Wes Craven, because he wanted to give the character a unique weapon but also one that could be made cheaply and was not difficult to use or carry. At the time he was studying primal fears embedded in the subconscious of people from all cultures and discovered that one of those fears was the attack of animal claws. Around the same time, he saw his cat unsheathe its claws, and the two concepts merged; in the original script, however, the blades were fish knives rather than the steak knives seen in the finished film.
- #030
The scene in which Marge talks with Nancy about Krueger's death and shows her the gloves was extended. Her mother not only tells her that the teenagers on Elm Street were not only children, but also details what happened after the wrongful acquittal. The scene in the script was expanded, and Marge goes into detail by saying that Fred did not die instantly in the fire. Like a demon rising from hell, a burning and crazed Krueger burst out of his basement. As the flames consumed him, he threatened the parents and swore revenge. As Marge confesses to Nancy, it was actually she who picked up the weapon, shot Fred and delivered the final blow.
Production Story (188)
- #031
- #032
- #033
Near the end of production, the music supervisor, who had been given money to pay composer Charles Bernstein, had been involved in a deadly car accident, and had fled with the money out of fear of being charged with manslaughter. Producer Sara Risher, who had just given birth to her son, was called by Robert Shaye to talk to Bernstein and convince him to finish the score while they were working out the finances.
- #034
Early in development, Robert Shaye negotiated with Wes Craven's agent to finalize a deal for Craven's services [e.g. writing and directing]. Throughout negotiations Shaye and Craven continued with developing script revisions and lowering the budget. Having just recently worked for a major studio (with larger budget, more resources), Shaye wasn't in a position to compete with some of the perks Craven's representatives negotiated on Swamp Thing (1982); Shaye eventually circumvented Craven's agent (during one of their creative meetings) and presented the director with a deal he believed was the only way his film could get made. Craven now says he knew better (not to sign it), but after every other studio refused his Elm Street script he believed this was the only way to finally move forward - regrettably, Wes Craven signed away his intellectual property [rights] for just $75,000 (included with his fee for writing and directing Elm Street). When asked about this Shaye insists the figure was much more (offering variable amounts, somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000); But Wes Craven confirmed this transaction (and amount) in the franchise documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010).
- #035
- #036
In the original script, Freddy's famous red-and-green sweater was red and yellow (based on the colors worn by Plastic Man, who, like Freddy, could change his form; the idea was that whatever Freddy changed into would be yellow and red). However, when Wes Craven read an article in "Scientific American" in 1982 that said the two most contrasting colors to the human retina were red and green, he decided to alter the colors.
- #037
- #038
- #039
The inspiration for the character of Freddy came from several sources in Wes Craven's childhood. Fred Krueger was a schoolmate of his, with whom he had shared a paper route and who had bullied him for several years. In The Last House on the Left (1972), Craven also used this experience as inspiration, calling the villain Krug. Freddy's burns came from a man with severe burn scars by whom Craven had once been terrified as a child, and Freddy's attire (especially the dirty clothes and hat) was inspired by an alcoholic hobo that Craven saw staring at him through his window one day when he was 10 years old.
- #040
Paramount was at one point interested in distributing the movie, which would have paid off the film's debts all at once. However, during screening for the head of Paramount, the film's ending was incomplete, so the editor's assistant had to rush it to the screening, which had to be paused at a most inopportune moment. Paramount eventually passed on the film, so New Line Cinema did the distributing themselves.
- #041
According to Wes Craven, Robert Englund was not the first choice for the role of Fred Krueger. Craven had initially wanted a stuntman to play the part, but upon testing several stuntmen, he realized he needed a real actor. Other ideas was to cast a elderly actor but he feared they would be too soft for the way he would've wanted the character to act. Englund eventually got the part by showing up at his audition with ash smeared under his eyes to sink them, greasing his hair back with a dipstick from under the hood of his car, and blinking as little as possible.
- #042
- #043
- #044
The movie almost folded before production had begun. Initially, Smart Egg Productions was supposed to put $1 million into the movie, but it dropped out several days before filming began, and Robert Shaye, who had put in a lot of his own money, had to try to raise money elsewhere. Two weeks into shooting, the production had no money left, so the crew was asked to work one week without pay, after which line producer John H. Burrows used his own credit card to pay those who had stayed. Director Wes Craven missed the first table reading because his agent had advised him not to come, due to the financial insecurity. Eventually, Shaye brokered a deal with Media Home Entertainment, and subsequently persuaded Smart Egg to put up the final $200,000 needed to complete the film.
- #045
- #046
Even though there are palm trees shown throughout the film, the story and the rest of the franchise take place in Ohio. Palm trees are native to certain parts of the United States such as California. In the original script, the story takes place in California. Eventually, the location of where the story took place was left ambiguous until A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). However, it isn't entirely impossible for palm trees to exist in Ohio. Albeit, the trees are smaller. In the southern part of Ohio, there are a few subtropical areas with moist mainlands that contain palm trees.
- #047
- #048
- #049
Wes Craven's original concept for Freddy Krueger was considerably more gruesome, with teeth showing through the flesh over the jaw, pus running from the sores, and a part of the skull showing through the head. Make-up artist David B. Miller argued that an actor couldn't be convincingly made up that way, and a puppet would be hard to film and wouldn't blend well with live actors, so these ideas were eventually abandoned.
- #050
- #051
Its been long-rumored Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, Brad Pitt, Kiefer Sutherland, Nicolas Cage, and C. Thomas Howell were considered for the role of Glen. But in 2010, Elm Street casting director Annette Benson squashed most of this myth: "John Cusack, I don't think so. I met him when he auditioned for Christine (1983) and liked him a lot, so I would have remembered. Plus, I believe he lived in Chicago at the time. Brad Pitt, no. I met him in 1987 when casting Apt Pupil (1998) for director Alan Bridges." (Interestingly, this revelation would also contradict the anecdote that Pitt later auditioned for Elm Street's first sequel, which Benson also cast in 1985.) Benson continues, "Kiefer Sutherland, not that I remember. Nicolas Cage, definitely not. And C. Thomas Howell, possibly."
- #052
- #053
Charlie Sheen was interested in the role of Glen, but according to producer Robert Shaye, he wanted more money than the production could afford. Sheen later tried denying this, insisting, "I didn't price myself out of it because I didn't get greedy until years later. That came much later," he laughs. "I just didn't understand [Craven's script]...I didn't want to get eaten by a bed. I want to sleep in a bed. I don't want to get eaten by a bed." But several New Line Pictures representatives, as well as Sheen's own then-representation affirm: New Line was only paying scale wages, and Charlie demanded $3,000/per week (or double-scale).
- #054
- #055
- #056
- #057
In the original script, Freddy was a child molester. However, the decision was made to change him into being a child murderer to avoid accusations of exploiting a series of child molestations in California around the time of production. He was re-written as a child molester in the 2010 remake starring Jackie Earle Haley.
- #058
Wes Craven was a professor at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, which has the actual Elm Street, situated between the State University of New York at Potsdam and Clarkson University. The house on which it was based is owned by a fraternity, and is listed at the address 20 U.S. 11, Potsdam, New York 13676 (this stretch of Elm Street becomes U.S. 11 in Potsdam).
- #059
The first was originally supposed to be set in Los Angeles, California. The script mentions the San Fernando Valley, a filmed, but cut, line from the film has a teenager say, "California is the most high and palmy state, man!" in the classroom scene, and palm trees are visible in the background of some scenes. This detail was changed for the final cut of the film, to make it vague in which city the movie was set, the town's name or possible location is never stated at any point. The second movie establishes the town's name as Springwood, and later movies confirm the new location as Springwood, Ohio. Director Wes Craven was from Cleveland, Ohio.
- #060
- #061
- #062
- #063
- #064
- #065
- #066
- #067
- #068
Many extended scenes, which were cut from the work print, appeared on the 1996 Anchor Bay Special Edition release. Charles Bernstein had not yet composed the score for the film, so these scenes include pre-existing temporary music taken from other sources. Some of the music heard is from Final Exam (1981) by composer Gary S. Scott. Scott later went on to score many episodes of the Elm Street spin-off television series Freddy's Nightmares (1988).
- #069
- #070
During production, screenwriter Leslie Bohem pitched the idea of a Freddy baby to the studio. His pitch involved telling a pregnant executive to imagine Freddy's claws tearing out of your body. Unsurprisingly, his idea wasn't used. His idea of a "Freddy baby" was ultimately used in A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989), which he wrote.
- #071
This was the second movie produced by New Line Cinema. The first was Alone in the Dark (1982), directed by Jack Sholder, and starring Jack Palance. However, it was given a very limited theatrical release, and when it performed poorly, and received bad reviews, it was released straight to video. As such, this movie was New Line Cinema's first genuine mainstream cinematic venture.
- #072
- #073
Wes Craven wrote the script and presented it in 1981 to try to sell it to a major studio, but no one wanted it. Even his friend and business partner Sean S. Cunningham, with whom he had made The Last House on the Left (1972), wasn't totally convinced if the premise would work. Craven said that "it just flew around" for three years until Robert Shaye of New Line Cinema, who was a distributor who wanted to produce movies, picked it up.
- #074
- #075
- #076
The idea behind the glove was a practical one on Wes Craven's part, as he wanted to give the character a unique weapon, but also something that could be made cheaply and wouldn't be difficult to use or transport. At the time he was studying primal fears embedded in the subconscious of people of all cultures, and discovered that one of those fears is attack by animal claws. Around the same time, he saw his cat unsheathe its claws, and the two concepts merged, although in the original script the blades were fishing knives, not steak knives, as in the finished film.
- #077
- #078
- #079
- #080
- #081
Wes Craven first came up with the basic idea for the movie from a series of articles in the "Los Angeles Times" over a three-year period, about a group of Southeast Asian refugees from the Hmong tribe, several of whom died in the throes of horrific nightmares. The group had come to the U.S. to escape the murderous reign of Pol Pot, and within a year of arriving, three men had died all in similar situations, the young, otherwise healthy man would have a nightmare, then refuse to sleep for as long as he could. When he finally fell asleep from exhaustion, he awoke screaming, then died. Autopsy results revealed that they had not died from heart failure, but had simply died. It was this inability to find a cause of death that intrigued Craven so much. Medical authorities have since called the phenomenon Asian Death Syndrome, a variant of Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome (SUDS), and Brugada Syndrome.
- #082
- #083
In the original script, the film ended happily: Nancy defeats Krueger by refusing to believe in him, then realizes everything was a long nightmare, says goodbye to her mother and goes to school with her friends. However, Robert Shaye wanted a surprise ending that would open the door to sequels; he suggested convincing the audience that Krueger had been defeated and then showing that the final scene was also a nightmare, ending the film with Freddy driving the car away. Wes Craven hated this ending, and in the end four different endings were shot: Craven's happy ending, Shaye's 'Freddy ending', and two versions on which the two compromised, in which Nancy's mother is pulled into the house but the event is left ambiguous. Craven always maintained that the film should end with the happy ending he had written.
- #084
- #085
Wes Craven took the film's core idea from a series of articles published in the Los Angeles Times over three years about Southeast Asian refugees from the Hmong tribe. Three young men from this group, who had fled Pol Pot's genocidal regime and come to the US, had died after suffering similarly terrifying nightmares; a seemingly healthy person would have nightmares, resist sleeping, and when exhaustion finally made them sleep, they would wake up screaming and die. The fact that autopsies listed the cause simply as 'death' rather than heart failure deeply affected Craven. Medical authorities later named this phenomenon Asian Death Syndrome, Sudden Unexplained Death Syndrome (SUDS) and Brugada Syndrome.
- #086
In the original script, Freddy was a child molester, but during production he was changed to a child killer to avoid accusations of exploiting a series of child molestation cases in California at the time. In the 2010 remake, the character, played by Jackie Earle Haley, was written as a child molester again.
- #087
The inspirations for the Freddy character go back to Wes Craven's childhood. Fred Krueger was a schoolmate of Craven's who had bullied him for years; Craven had previously used this experience for the character Krug in Last House on the Left. Freddy's burns were inspired by a man with severe burn scars who frightened Craven as a child; his dirty clothes and hat were inspired by an alcoholic homeless man who looked in at him through his window when he was 10 years old.
- #088
- #089
Freddy's glove was an entirely practical idea: Wes Craven wanted to give the character a weapon that was unique but cheap to make and easy to use and carry. While researching primal fears in the subconscious of all cultures at the time, he discovered that the fear of being attacked by animal claws was widespread; when he saw his cat extend its claws, the two ideas came together. In the original script, the blades were described not as steak knives but as fishing knives.
- #090
The scene in which Marge tells Nancy about Krueger's death and shows her the gloves was actually longer. The mother not only said that the teenagers of Elm Street were not only children, but also detailed what happened after the case was dropped: Freddy had not died immediately in the fire, but had burst out of the basement like a demon from hell, still burning, and had sworn revenge on the families while engulfed in flames. Marge confessed to Nancy that she herself had struck the decisive blow, shooting Freddy with a gun.
- #091
In the original script, Freddy's famous red-and-green sweater was red-and-yellow, inspired by the colors of Plastic Man, who like Freddy could change shape. However, Wes Craven changed the colors after reading in a 1982 issue of Scientific American that the two colors most opposed to the human retina are red and green.
- #092
In the bloodbath scene in which Glen is pulled into the bed and killed, it was planned that he would burst out of the bed completely covered in blood and fall lifeless to the floor, but this part was cut. The scene can be seen on DVD, Blu-ray and YouTube; fans who have watched it say it is quite terrifying.
- #093
- #094
- #095
Wes Craven wrote the script in 1981 and tried to sell it to a major studio, but no one wanted it. Even his friend and partner Sean S. Cunningham, with whom he had made Last House on the Left, was not fully convinced the idea would work. Craven said the script 'floated around' for three years, waiting until distributor Robert Shaye, who was moving into film production, took it on.
- #096
The film was actually written to take place in Los Angeles, California; the script mentions the San Fernando Valley, in a scene that was shot and cut a teenager says 'California is the coolest state, man!' and palm trees were visible in the background of some scenes. However, in the final cut the city was made ambiguous, and the town's name or location was never specified. The second film named the town Springwood, and later films clarified the location as Springwood, Ohio. Wes Craven was also born in Cleveland, Ohio.
- #097
- #098
The film nearly fell apart before production even began. Smart Egg Productions was initially expected to put up $1 million, but that fell through days before shooting; Robert Shaye, who had invested more of his own money than anyone, had to look for other sources. When the money ran out in the second week of shooting, the crew was asked to work for free for a week, after which production manager John H. Burrows paid the remaining crew members with his own credit card. Because of the financial uncertainty, Wes Craven, on his agent's advice, skipped the first script reading. In the end, Shaye struck a deal with Media Home Entertainment and persuaded Smart Egg to put up the last $200,000.
- #099
It was the second film New Line Cinema produced; the first was Alone in the Dark, directed by Jack Sholder and starring Jack Palance. But Alone in the Dark had gone into very limited release, and after bad reviews and a poor box office performance it went straight to video. A Nightmare on Elm Street is therefore considered New Line's first genuine mainstream theatrical effort.
- #100
The film sets itself sharply apart from slashers like Halloween and Friday the 13th, in which teenagers are killed off in isolation from adults and authority figures; here the parents are right at the center of the story. What's more, Wes Craven's daughter was bothered by the way women in Swamp Thing kept stumbling and falling while being chased, so Craven made his heroine far less defenseless and clumsy.
- #101
- #102
- #103
The 1996 Anchor Bay Special Edition included many extended scenes cut from the workprint. Because Charles Bernstein had not yet composed the score, these scenes used temporary music from other sources; some of the music heard was from Gary S. Scott's Final Exam (1981). Scott later scored many episodes of the Elm Street series Freddy's Nightmares.
- #104
During production, screenwriter Leslie Bohem pitched the studio the idea of a 'Freddy baby'; he told a pregnant executive to imagine Freddy's claws coming out of her body. Not surprisingly, the idea was not used, but the 'Freddy baby' concept later came to life in A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child, which Bohem wrote.
- #105
- #106
- #107
- #108
- #109
During the final week of principal photography, New Line boss Robert Shaye's constant pressure to 'stop spending money' and 'finish the shoot' had worn Craven down. His friend and colleague Sean S. Cunningham offered to help and agreed to work on second unit, but without Craven's knowledge Shaye intervened and moved Cunningham up to direct first unit. Heather Langenkamp disliked Cunningham's style of barking orders and rushing everyone; she said that when she asked whether the path she would run barefoot along at night had been cleared of debris, Cunningham scolded her. Unfortunately Langenkamp stepped on a piece of glass, cutting her foot deeply, and as the blood spurted some feared she might have severed an artery. As the crew tried to take Langenkamp for treatment, Cunningham insisted she carry on shooting. When Langenkamp refused, Robert Shaye immediately stepped in and told her to 'tough it out' and 'keep going, or he would have to shut everything down'. According to costume supervisor Lisa Jensen, hairdresser RaMona Fleetwood aggressively came to Heather's aid and made sure Langenkamp got to the emergency room. Craven later apologized to Langenkamp; the two agreed that from then on Langenkamp would take directing instructions from no one but Craven. Heather's injury can be seen in the finished film: as she flees Freddy and approaches her house, she limps on one foot at the front door; a few seconds later, as she climbs the stairs, her bandaged foot is visible.
- #110
- #111
Near the end of production, the music supervisor who had been given money to pay composer Charles Bernstein was involved in a fatal traffic accident and fled with the money for fear of a manslaughter charge. Producer Sara Risher, who had just given birth, was called by Robert Shaye and asked to talk to Bernstein and persuade him to finish the music until the financial problems were resolved.
- #112
Paramount was at one point interested in distributing the film, which would have cleared all of its debts in one go. However, during a screening for the Paramount president, the film's ending was not yet finished, so an assistant editor had to rush the final section, and the screening was paused at the most unfortunate moment. Paramount ultimately rejected the film, so New Line Cinema took on distribution itself.
- #113
Early in development, Robert Shaye tried to strike a deal with Wes Craven's manager for his writing and directing services. Shaye and Craven continued working on script revisions and budget reductions during this process. Shaye was in no position to compete with some of the privileges Craven had from his bigger-budget studio experience on Swamp Thing; eventually, at one of the creative meetings, he bypassed Craven's manager and presented the director directly with a deal he believed was the only way the film could be made. Craven now says he knew he should not sign, but believed it was the only way forward since every other studio had rejected the Elm Street script. Unfortunately, Wes Craven signed away his intellectual property rights, including his writing and directing fee, for just $75,000. Although Shaye claims the figure was much higher (citing amounts ranging from $100,000 to $200,000), Wes Craven confirmed the transaction and the amount in the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy.
- #114
- #115
The scene in which Freddy, engulfed in flames, chases Nancy up the stairs, falling and rising again, was captured in a single take with multiple cameras and was the most complex fire scene made up to that time. Stuntman Anthony Cecere was only supposed to climb the stairs, reach out and be extinguished, but he improvised by falling and running again, and won the year's best stunt award for this scene.
- #116
- #117
- #118
- #119
The scene in which Tina is thrown around on the ceiling was shot on a rotating room set; the set was slowly rotated so the actress could take her position. Since there was no budget for mechanical hydraulics, the rotation was done by hand and everything inside (set dressing, camera, lighting) was carefully balanced. The camera was fixed to the wall, and the cameraman was strapped into a seat beside it and rotated along with the room. In the two shots where Rod and Tina reach for each other while Tina is on the ceiling, Tina was actually lying on the floor, while Garcia hung upside down with her hair glued in place. The effect was so successful that Wyss suffered a severe bout of vertigo just before the shot began.
- #120
- #121
- #122
- #123
In the blood-geyser scene where Glen is killed, the rotating room set used for Tina's death was reused. The set was turned upside down and the camera was fixed so that the room appeared right-side up, and gallons of red water (water colored with food dye, because normal movie blood did not produce the desired effect) were pumped from the bed and filled the room. The room had to be rotated as the blood flowed, but when it was rotated in the wrong direction, instead of the blood gushing from the bed and splattering the walls, it flowed out through the open door into the area where the camera and equipment were, with exposed cables and outlets. The power on the set went out, but no one was injured. In his DVD commentary, Wes Craven likened the room turning the wrong way to "a Ferris wheel from hell." The scene was partly inspired by the elevator scene in The Shining (1980).
- #124
- #125
In the scene where Nancy runs toward her house with Freddy right behind her, Heather Langenkamp cut her foot and needed stitches. While watching the scene, she can clearly be seen limping as she enters the house; this was not part of the role but a natural reaction to a real injury. In the final shot of the "sticky stairs" sequence that follows immediately after, the bandage on her foot can be noticed if you look carefully.
- #126
In the scene where Nancy tries to warn Glen that Freddy is after him (at about 1 hour 7 minutes), she sees Freddy's mouth and tongue appear on the lower part of the telephone. The effect was made with cheap rubber and a prosthetic. According to the effects team, Heather Langenkamp wanted to take this prop home after filming; the team found this strange.
- #127
- #128
In an interview, Heather Langenkamp said that Ronee Blakley really slapped her during the kitchen argument scene between Nancy and Marge. However, when the scene is watched carefully, it is clear that the slap in the shot used in the film is fake; she was probably referring to an alternate take.
- #129
- #130
The wall-to-ceiling drag scene was accomplished with a rotating room built by mechanical special effects designer Jim Doyle. In the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010), Doyle explains: "Wes really wanted something big, fantastic and out of the ordinary for the first death, so I suggested a rotating room." Wes Craven described the room as "a terrifying situation"; there were no wires, just spins that induced vertigo and panic attacks, all the furniture was nailed down, and the cameraman was strapped into an "airplane seat" bolted to the wall. The room was not mechanical; several crew members on either side of the rig turned it by hand. Shooting inside it was a nightmare, yet for Glen's death scene the filmmakers returned to the rotating room. The pressure was immense, because not only was the blood effect complicated (working with water is always difficult), they also had to do it in a single take. The room was turned upside down and the crew prepared for the effect. A channel had been cut through the middle of the bed for the blood; crew members positioned "above" outside the room were ready to pour gallons of blood-colored water. The bed was now positioned so that it was on the room's "ceiling," and Craven, strapped into a camera seat, said "action." According to cinematographer Jacques Haitkin in Never Sleep Again, when the crew began pouring the water through the hole, "as soon as it hit the ceiling and the light it immediately electrified the water. So the person pouring the water got electrocuted." Or, as Doyle put it: "oops." Not only did the water become electrified, as Haitkin describes, it began sloshing from one side to the other, which upset the room's weight balance, causing it to slide and the operators to lose control. The room rolled completely over, and crew members were pulled out of the way as cables and ropes snapped from their rigging. As Craven recounted in the documentary, the water "got into all the lights and as it spun in the dark there were huge flashes in the darkness, all these sparks flying." There was a window in the wall, and of course the blood poured onto the operators trying to bring the room under control. After all the liquid had drained out, the room finally stopped swaying; the crew hung there for about 20 minutes, still attached to the rig, upside down, in the dark and covered in blood. The up-down logic of the original geyser scene is easy to grasp, but thanks to this unfortunate chain of events, the blood did not merely pool on the ceiling. After the first spurt, the liquid slid and flowed at angles that defied all logic; it was a lurch that turned all logic upside down. Miraculously, no one was injured, and even more miraculously, they got the shot. As detailed in the Larry Cohen biography Larry Cohen: The Stuff of Gods and Monsters, the cult director hired the Elm Street crew to pull off the rotating room trick for The Stuff: "It was lucky for me that nobody got hurt," Cohen explains. "But the scene looks great." Apparently that is the risk of a hand-operated rotating room.
- #131
- #132
- #133
There is no scene in the film in which Freddy Krueger appears in daylight. However, the student on duty whom Nancy encounters in the hallway wears Freddy's sweater, has Freddy's finger blades and uses Robert Englund's voice (in fact, this is Freddy disguised as one of Nancy's classmates), and this scene takes place in daylight. Also, at the end of the film, when Marge Thompson is pulled through the peephole in the door by Freddy's demonic hand, it is daytime. So although Freddy in full form, played by Englund, is not shown in daylight in this film, his different guises and versions do appear in daylight.
- #134
- #135
- #136
Wes Craven's first design for Freddy was much more terrifying: teeth would be visible over his jawbone, pus would flow from his wounds and part of his skull would be exposed. When makeup artist David B. Miller said that this image could not be convincing with an actor and that using a puppet would be inconsistent with live actors, these ideas were shelved.
- #137
- #138
Wes Craven states that his first choice for the role of Freddy was not Robert Englund. Initially he considered a stuntman, but after tests he realized he needed a real actor. The idea of an older actor was shelved out of concern that he could not give the character his toughness. Englund won the role by auditioning with ash smeared under his eyes, his hair slicked back with a car dipstick and blinking as little as possible.
- #139
- #140
- #141
- #142
Robert Englund says that he based Freddy's physicality on Klaus Kinski's performance in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu (1979). He also connects Freddy's story to a memory from his own childhood: at school on Valentine's Day, while everyone gave each other cards, one boy received no card at all. Englund thinks that boy grew up and became Freddy.
- #143
Robert Englund states that Freddy's walk and mannerisms were inspired by the costume and by looking at himself in the mirror. When he put on the fedora, old gangster films came to mind and he gave Freddy a James Cagney-style swaggering walk. Because the weight of the glove with real metal blades made his right shoulder droop involuntarily, he likened this posture to gunslingers carrying a pistol and holster. He created Freddy's unusual sideways walk by taking inspiration from the sideways stance of surfers on a board.
- #144
- #145
- #146
- #147
- #148
- #149
- #150
There had long been rumors that Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, Brad Pitt, Kiefer Sutherland, Nicolas Cage and C. Thomas Howell were considered for the role of Glen. However, in 2010 the film's casting director Annette Benson debunked most of this legend: 'John Cusack? I don't think so. I had met him at the auditions for Christine (1983) and liked him very much, I would have remembered. Besides, he was living in Chicago at the time. Brad Pitt? No, I met him in 1987 for Apt Pupil. Kiefer Sutherland? I don't remember. Nicolas Cage? Definitely not. C. Thomas Howell? That might be possible.'
- #151
Charlie Sheen was interested in the role of Glen, but according to producer Robert Shaye, he asked for more money than the production could afford. Although Sheen later denied this, New Line representatives and Sheen's managers at the time confirm that he asked for $3,000 a week (twice the normal fee). Sheen jokes, 'Years later I got greedy, not then. I just didn't understand the script... I didn't want to be eaten by a bed. I like to sleep in a bed, not be eaten by one.'
- #152
- #153
- #154
Nancy looks in the mirror and says, 'God, I look 20 years old.' Heather Langenkamp was indeed 20 years old when the film was released. Most of the 'young' actors in the film were actually in their 20s: Amanda Wyss and Johnny Depp were also in their 20s, and Jsu Garcia was 21, not 16 like the character he played. The reason Hollywood uses young adults for high-school-age characters is that they do not require work permits, need no special arrangements on set, and are considered more attractive. The line 'look 20 years old' also carries an obvious irony.
- #155
- #156
Freddy's sweater usually has 8 or 9 stripes on the body. However, in this first film there are 11 stripes and no stripes at all on the sleeves. The reason is that in the first makeup tests it was planned for him to wear a sleeveless sweater vest, but David B. Miller did not like this look and put the vest over a red long-sleeved sweater.
- #157
- #158
- #159
- #160
- #161
A few years before playing Nancy's mother, Ronee Blakley had played a country music superstar in Nashville (1975). Connie Britton, who played the same role in the 2010 remake (though the character's name was changed), would later play a country star in the unrelated series Nashville (2012).
- #162
- #163
- #164
- #165
- #166
- #167
In the original script the film ended happily: Nancy defeats Krueger by refusing to believe in him, then realises everything was a long nightmare, says goodbye to her mother and goes to school with her friends. Robert Shaye, however, wanted a surprise ending that would open the door to sequels; he suggested convincing the audience that Krueger had been defeated and then revealing that the final scene was also a nightmare, ending the film with Freddy driving the car away. Wes Craven hated this ending, and in the end four different endings were shot: Craven's happy ending, Shaye's 'Freddy ending', and two versions the two compromised on, in which Nancy's mother is pulled into the house but the event is left ambiguous. Craven always maintained that the film should end with the happy ending he had written.
- #168
- #169
Wes Craven took the film's central idea from a series of articles published in the Los Angeles Times over three years about Southeast Asian refugees from the Hmong tribe. Three young men from this group, who had fled Pol Pot's genocidal regime and come to the United States, had died after suffering similarly terrifying nightmares; a seemingly healthy person would have nightmares, resist sleeping, and when exhaustion finally made them sleep, they would wake up screaming and die. The fact that autopsies recorded not heart failure but simply 'death' affected Craven deeply. Medical authorities later named this phenomenon Asian Death Syndrome, Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome (SUDS) and Brugada Syndrome.
- #170
In the original script Freddy was a child molester, but during production he was changed to a child killer to avoid accusations of exploiting a series of child molestation cases in California at the time. In the 2010 remake, the character, played by Jackie Earle Haley, was written as a child molester again.
- #171
The inspirations for the Freddy character go back to Wes Craven's childhood. Fred Krueger was a schoolmate of Craven's who had bullied him for years; Craven had already used this experience for the Krug character in Last House on the Left. Freddy's burns were inspired by a man with severe burn scars who frightened Craven as a child, while his dirty clothes and hat were inspired by an alcoholic homeless man who peered at him through his window when he was 10 years old.
- #172
- #173
Freddy's glove was an entirely practical idea: Wes Craven wanted to give the character a weapon that was unique but cheap to make and easy to use and carry. While researching the primal fears in the subconscious of all cultures at the time, he discovered that the fear of being attacked by animal claws was widespread; when he saw his cat extend its claws, the two ideas came together. In the original script the blades were not steak knives but fisherman's knives.
- #174
The scene in which Marge tells Nancy about Krueger's death and shows her the gloves was actually longer. The mother not only says that the teenagers of Elm Street were not only children, but also details what happened after the case was dropped: Freddy had not died immediately in the fire, he had burst out of the basement burning like a demon risen from hell, and in flames he had sworn revenge on the families. Marge confessed to Nancy that she herself had struck the decisive blow, shooting Freddy with a gun.
- #175
In the original script Freddy's famous red-and-green sweater was red-and-yellow, inspired by the colours of Plastic Man, who like Freddy can change shape. But Wes Craven changed the colours after reading in a 1982 issue of Scientific American that the two colours most opposed to the human retina are red and green.
- #176
- #177
Wes Craven wrote the script in 1981 and tried to sell it to a major studio, but no one wanted it. Even his friend and partner Sean S. Cunningham, with whom he had made Last House on the Left, was not fully convinced the idea would work. Craven said the script 'floated around' for three years, waiting until distributor Robert Shaye, who was turning to film production, took it on.
- #178
The film was actually written to take place in Los Angeles, California; the script mentions the San Fernando Valley, in a scene that was shot and cut a teenager says 'California's the coolest state, man!', and palm trees are visible in the background of some scenes. But in the final cut the city was made vague, and the town's name or location was never specified. The second film named the town Springwood, and later films clarified the location as Springwood, Ohio. Wes Craven was also born in Cleveland, Ohio.
- #179
- #180
The film nearly fell apart before production even began. Smart Egg Productions was initially expected to put up $1 million, but pulled out days before shooting; Robert Shaye, who had invested more of his own money than anyone, was forced to look for other sources. When the money ran out in the second week of filming, the crew was asked to work for free for a week, after which production manager John H. Burrows paid the remaining crew members with his own credit card. Because of the financial uncertainty, Wes Craven, on his agent's advice, skipped the first script reading. In the end, Shaye struck a deal with Media Home Entertainment and persuaded Smart Egg to put up the last $200,000.
- #181
It was the second film New Line Cinema produced; the first was Alone in the Dark, directed by Jack Sholder and starring Jack Palance. But Alone in the Dark had been given a very limited release, and after poor reviews and a failed box office run it went straight to video. A Nightmare on Elm Street is therefore considered New Line's first genuine mainstream theatrical effort.
- #182
The film sets itself sharply apart from slashers like Halloween and Friday the 13th, in which teenagers are killed off in isolation from adults and authority figures; here the parents are right inside the story. What's more, Wes Craven's daughter was bothered by the way women in Swamp Thing kept stumbling and falling while being chased, so Craven made his female lead far less defenceless and clumsy.
- #183
The 1996 Anchor Bay Special Edition included many extended scenes cut from the workprint. Because Charles Bernstein had not yet composed the score, these scenes used temporary music from other sources; some of the music heard came from Gary S. Scott's Final Exam (1981). Scott later scored many episodes of the Elm Street series Freddy's Nightmares.
- #184
- #185
- #186
- #187
In the final week of principal photography, New Line boss Robert Shaye's constant pressure to 'stop spending money' and 'finish the shoot' had worn Craven down. His friend and colleague Sean S. Cunningham offered to help and agreed to work on second unit, but without Craven's knowledge Shaye intervened and moved Cunningham up to direct first unit. Heather Langenkamp disliked Cunningham's style of barking orders and rushing everyone; she said that when she asked whether the path she would run barefoot along at night had been cleared of debris, Cunningham scolded her. Unfortunately Langenkamp stepped on a piece of glass, cutting her foot deeply, and as the blood spurted some feared she might have severed an artery. While the crew tried to take Langenkamp for treatment, Cunningham insisted she carry on filming. When Langenkamp refused, Robert Shaye immediately stepped in and told her to 'tough it out' and 'keep going, or he would have to shut everything down'. According to costume supervisor Lisa Jensen, hairdresser RaMona Fleetwood aggressively came to Heather's aid and made sure Langenkamp got to the emergency room. Craven later apologised to Langenkamp; the two agreed that from then on Langenkamp would take directing instructions from no one but Craven. Heather's injury can be seen in the finished film: as she flees Freddy and approaches her house, she limps on one foot at the front door; a few seconds later, as she climbs the stairs, her bandaged foot is visible.
- #188
- #189
Paramount was at one point interested in distributing the film, which would have cleared all of its debts in one go. But during a screening for the head of Paramount, the film's ending was not yet finished, so an assistant editor had to rush the final section, and the screening was paused at the most unfortunate moment. Paramount ultimately passed on the film, so New Line Cinema took on distribution itself.
- #190
Early in development, Robert Shaye tried to strike a deal with Wes Craven's manager for his writing and directing services. Shaye and Craven continued working on script revisions and budget cuts during this period. Shaye was in no position to compete with some of the perks Craven had from his bigger-budget studio experience on Swamp Thing; eventually, at one of the creative meetings, he cut Craven's manager out of the process and presented a deal directly to the director, believing the film could only be made that way. Craven now says he knew he should not sign, but believed it was the only way forward since every other studio had rejected the Elm Street script. Unfortunately, Wes Craven signed away his intellectual property rights, including his writing and directing fees, for just $75,000. Although Shaye claims the figure was much higher (citing amounts ranging from $100,000 to $200,000), Wes Craven confirmed the transaction and the amount in the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy.
- #191
The original glove was later used in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) and was seen hanging on the wall of the tool shed in Evil Dead II (1987). This was part of the back-and-forth between Wes Craven and Sam Raimi, since The Evil Dead (1981) was shown on a television screen in that film. However, when Wes Craven lent the glove to the set of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), it went missing and is rumored to now be with Robert Englund's manager.
- #192
- #193
While trying to stay awake, Nancy watches Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981). Craven added this scene as a response to Raimi using a poster of Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) in his own film to imply to audiences that his film was scarier. This back-and-forth continued with Raimi showing Freddy's glove in Evil Dead II (1987) and later in Ash vs Evil Dead (2015).
- #194
- #195
- #196
- #197
- #198
In the scene where Nancy falls asleep in class, a student quotes from Hamlet: "I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams." This is the beginning of the theme of opening later films with quotes about horror and tragedy from writers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Edgar Allan Poe, or from the Bible.
- #199
- #200
- #201
- #202
- #203
- #204
- #205
- #206
An often-overlooked moment of dark humor comes after Glen's death, when two paramedics enter the house with a stretcher, even though Glen has just been torn apart and reduced to blood. However, according to a deleted scene, Glen's bloody body had risen from the bed, leaving behind only his skin, some muscle and bones. So the paramedics did have a body to collect.
- #207
- #208
- #209
Nancy temporarily defeats Freddy Krueger by overcoming her fear. When Freddy tries to attack her, she passes through him and he vanishes. This resembles the Losers' Club shrinking Pennywise to baby size by overcoming their fears in It Chapter Two (2019). Like Krueger, Pennywise feeds on his victims' fears.
- #210
- #211
- #212
- #213
- #214
In this film, Nancy Thompson and her friends have terrifying nightmares about a supernatural and malevolent figure named Fred Krueger. Other Craven films such as The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) and Cursed (2005) also explore the theme of nightmares connecting to reality through trauma.
- #215
- #216
- #217
Professional wrestler Tommy Gilbert wrestled as "Nightmare Freddy" in Memphis for a time. His son Doug Gilbert took the character to the Japanese hardcore wrestling promotion W*ING and in 1993 also brought his brother Eddie Gilbert into the promotion as Michael Myers from Halloween (1978).
- #218
Behind the Scenes (81)
- #219
- #220
- #221
- #222
- #223
- #224
- #225
- #226
(At around 1h 7 min) There is a scene where Nancy attempts to warn Glen that Freddy is coming after him. She looks down to discover Freddy's mouth and tongue have taken form on the bottom half of the phone. The effect was made with cheap rubber and prosthetic. The effects team also reportedly stated Heather Langenkamp wanted to take the prop home after shooting, which they thought was unusual.
- #227
According to Heather Langenkamp, the melting staircase scene was shot using pancake mix. Wes Craven, however, said it was oatmeal and glue. The fact track on the DVD says it was Bisquick pancake mix. The scene was directed by Robert Shaye, who was on-set pressuring for the film to wrap, and Craven told Shaye he could direct it as it was based on a dream Shaye himself had once had. In another interview, Heather Langenkamp added that mushroom soup was also one of the ingredients in the staircase mixture.
- #228
- #229
The fictional address of the house in the film is 1428 Elm Street. The actual house where filming took place is located in Los Angeles, California, on 1428 North Genesee Avenue. The numbers "1428" on the side of the house were stolen and never returned according to the house's present owner, Angie Hill, who was quite upset over it.
- #230
- #231
- #232
In the iconic wall-stretch scene from the film, Freddy Krueger was played by Jim Doyle, the film's special effects designer, rather than Robert Englund. To create the practical effect, Doyle came up with the idea of stretching a sheet of stretchy spandex fabric across an opening behind a cutout in the wall. He stood on the opposite side and pressed his face and hands into the fabric to simulate Freddy pushing through the plaster and wallpaper above Nancy's bed. Doyle was also the craftsman who built Freddy's signature razor-glove for the movie.
- #233
- #234
- #235
- #236
- #237
- #238
- #239
- #240
- #241
- #242
- #243
During the last week of principal photography, Wes Craven was overwhelmed by New Line chief, Robert Shaye's frequent haranguing; Specifically, the endless demands they 'stop spending money', and, primarily, 'finish filming' (regardless Craven was still on-schedule). The director's friend and colleague Sean S. Cunningham offered his assistance, agreeing to help out second-unit; but unbeknownst to Craven, Shaye later interceded, foisting Cunningham to first-unit photography (without ever alerting cast or crew of the change). Heather Langenkamp didn't appreciate Cunningham's approach behind the camera, rather, his alleged barking orders and urging everyone hurry up. Cunningham reportedly shouted her down after Langenkamp cautiously inquired if the night-time pathway she was about to run barefoot on had been cleared of debris or clutter. Unfortunately she stepped on a piece of broken glass, incurring a deep laceration (with enough "gushing" blood some present worried she may have severed an artery). Those sympathetic crew were attempting to vacate Langenkamp (to seek treatment), but Cunningham was still pleading she continue. When Langenkamp refused, Robert Shaye immediately intervened, demanding she 'tough it out' and 'go again.. otherwise he'd be forced shut everything down.' According to costume supervisor, Lisa Jensen, that's when hair stylist, RaMona Fleetwood aggressively came to Heather's aid (thereby allowing her to finally depart for the nearest Emergency Room). Craven later spoke with Langenkamp and apologized; They both agreed, going forward, Langenkamp didn't have to take direction from anyone else (other than Craven). Heather's injury can be glimpsed in the finished film: While fleeing from Freddy (approaching her residence) she hobbles a one-footed limp at the front door; Seconds later, while running up the mushy staircase, Heather's bandaged foot is visible.
- #244
- #245
- #246
- #247
Freddy's sweater usually has 8 or 9 stripes across his body. However in the original, he has 11 stripes and none on his sleeves. This was because he was originally supposed to wear a sleeveless sweater-vest in early makeup tests but David B. Miller didn't like the look and put the vest over a red long-sleeve sweater.
- #248
- #249
The scene where Freddy is set on fire, chases Nancy to the top of the stairs, falls back down, and starts back up again, was all shot in one take, with several cameras, and was the most elaborate fire scene ever filmed up to that time. Stuntman Anthony Cecere was supposed to only run up the stairs, then lie down and be extinguished, but he improvised the falling and run back up again. He won best stunt of the year for the scene.
- #250
The scene where Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is attacked by Freddy in her bathtub was shot using a bottomless tub, which was put in a bathroom set that had been built over a swimming pool. During the underwater sequence, Langenkamp was replaced with stuntwoman Christina Johnson. Langenkamp spent 12 hours in the bath during filming.
- #251
Contains a major spoiler — show
The wall-to-ceiling drag was accomplished with a rotating room created by mechanical special effects designer Jim Doyle. In the essential making-of documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010), Doyle explains that "Wes wanted something really big and fantastic and out there for the first death so I suggested a rotating room." Wes Craven described the room as a "hairy situation," with no wires just vertigo and panic attack-inducing rotations, with all items nailed down and the cameraman strapped into an "airplane seat" attached to the wall. The room itself was not mechanical; it took several crewmembers on either side of the contraption to manually flip the room around. Even though it was a nightmare to shoot in, when it came time to film Glen's death, the filmmakers went back to the rotating room. The pressure was on, not only because the blood effect was complicated (working with water always is), but because they had one take to do it. The room was flipped upside down and the crew prepared for the effect. A sheet-lined shoot for the blood was carved out of the middle of the bed, with crewmembers positioned "above" on the outside of the room, poised to pour in the gallons of blood-colored water. With the bed now positioned at the "top" of the room, Craven, strapped into a camera chair, gave the word "go." As cinematographer Jacques Haitkin explains in Never Sleep Again, when the crew began to dump the water through the hole "as soon as it hit the ceiling and hit the light it immediately electrified the water. So, the guy pouring the water got electrocuted." Or, as Doyle puts it: "oops." Not only was the water now electrified, but as Haitkin describes, the water began to slosh from side to side, which threw off the weight of the room, causing it to shift and the operators to lose control. The room rolled all the way over and crew members leapt out of the way as cables and ropes ripped out of their rigging. As Craven recounts in the documentary, the water "went into all the lights and there were these huge flashes in the dark we were spinning in the dark with all these sparks going on." The wall had a window in it and of course, the blood poured out onto the operators desperately trying to regain control of the room. The room finally stopped rocking once all the liquid poured out, leaving the crew still attached to the structure suspended, upside down, for around 20 minutes in the dark and covered in blood. The up-is-down and vice-versa rationale of the original geyser is easy enough to wrap your head around, but thanks to the series of unfortunate events, the blood didn't just pool on the ceiling. After the initial splash, the liquid slips and streams at angles that just don't make sense; it's a lurch that defies all logic. Miraculously, no one was hurt and even more miraculously, they got the shot. as detailed in the Larry Cohen biography Larry Cohen: The Stuff of Gods and Monsters, the cult director employed the Nightmare crew to pull off a rotating room stunt for The Stuff: "I was lucky that nobody got hurt," Cohen explains. "But the scene looks great." Such is the gamble of a manually operated rotating room, it seems.
- #252
Contains a major spoiler — show
For the blood geyser sequence where Glen (Johnny Depp) is killed, the filmmakers used the same revolving room set that was used for Tina's death. They put the set so that it was upside down and attached the camera so that it looked like the room was right-side up, then they poured gallons of red water (the blood was water mixed with food coloring, as normal movie blood couldn't create the right effect for the geyser) into the room by pumping it down through the bed. The room itself was to be turned as the blood flowed, but it was turned in the wrong direction so instead of the blood gushing out of the bed and then splashing down the walls, it gushed out of the bed and out of the room through the open door where the camera and equipment were, with exposed wires and electrical sockets. The power on the set went out but no one was injured. On the DVD commentary, Wes Craven remarks that the room spinning the wrong way was like a "Ferris wheel from hell." The scene was partly inspired by the elevator scene in The Shining (1980).
- #253
Contains a major spoiler — show
During the scene where Nancy is running toward her house with Freddy right behind her, Heather Langenkamp cut her foot and required stitches. When viewing this scene, you can clearly see her limping as she enters her house. This wasn't acting, but rather a genuine reaction to her injury. If you look closely, you can see the bandage she's wearing in the last shot of the "goo stairs" sequence, which takes place just moments later.
- #254
- #255
Contains a major spoiler — show
After Freddy Krueger killed him by being pulled into his bed in the bloodbath scene, Glen, covered completely in his blood, was supposed to rise from the bed and land lifelessly. But that part of the scene was cut. The scene can be seen in DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film, and on YouTube. Fans who have seen that part of the scene stated that it was very creepy.
- #256
Contains a major spoiler — show
In an interview with Heather Langenkamp, she mentioned that Ronee Blakley really did slap her during the kitchen argument scene between Nancy and Marge. However, if you watch the scene carefully, you can see that she must be referring to an alternate take. It's obvious that the slap seen in the take used in the film is artificial.
- #257
Contains a major spoiler — show
The hands in the opening sequence of the film with building the iconic metal glove belong to special effects assistant Charlie Blaude Nelli, not actor Robert Englund. Blaude Nelli was pulled in during a splinter unit shoot when the crew needed someone to wear the famous striped sweater and act as Freddy's hands for the close-up shots of welding, cutting and filing the glove.
- #258
- #259
The scene in which Freddy is set on fire, chases Nancy to the top of the stairs, falls down and climbs back up was shot in a single continuous take with multiple cameras and was the most elaborate fire scene filmed up to that time. Stuntman Anthony Cecere was only supposed to run up the stairs, then lie down and put himself out, but he improvised the fall and ran back up again. He won the year's best stunt award for this scene.
- #260
The scene in which Tina (Amanda Wyss) is slammed into the ceiling was filmed using a rotating room set, which was slowly turned so that she could rotate in place. Because there was no money for mechanical hydraulics, the rolling had to be done by hand and everything inside (supports, cameras, lighting) had to be carefully balanced. The camera was bolted to the wall, and the cameraman was strapped into a chair beside the room that rotated along with it. In the two shots where Rod (Jsu Garcia) and Tina reach for each other while Tina is on the ceiling, Tina is actually lying on the floor and Garcia is standing upside down with his hair glued so that it stays straight. The effect was so good that Wyss suffered a bad dizzy spell just before filming began.
- #261
The scene in which Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is attacked by Freddy in her bathtub was filmed using a bottomless bathtub placed inside a bathroom set built over a swimming pool. During the underwater scene, stunt performer Christina Johnson doubled for Langenkamp. Langenkamp spent 12 hours in the bathroom during filming.
- #262
The scene in which Freddy, engulfed in flames, chases Nancy to the stairs, falling and getting back up, was captured in a single take with multiple cameras and was the most complex fire scene made up to that time. Stuntman Anthony Cecere was only supposed to climb the stairs and reach out before being extinguished, but he improvised by falling and running again, and he won the year's best stunt award for this scene.
- #263
- #264
- #265
- #266
- #267
- #268
The scene in which Tina is thrown around on the ceiling was shot on a rotating room set; the set was slowly rotated to allow the actress to take position. Since there was no budget for mechanical hydraulics, the rotation was done by hand and everything inside (set dressing, camera, lighting) was carefully balanced. The camera was fixed to the wall, and the cameraman was strapped into a seat beside it and rotated along with the room. In the two shots where Rod and Tina reach for each other while Tina is on the ceiling, Tina was actually lying on the floor, while Garcia was upside down with her hair glued in place. The effect was so successful that Wyss suffered a severe bout of vertigo just before the shot began.
- #269
The scene in which Nancy is attacked by Freddy in the bathtub was shot by placing a bathtub with no bottom into a bathroom set built over a swimming pool. In the underwater scenes, stuntwoman Christina Johnson took Heather Langenkamp's place. Langenkamp spent a total of 12 hours in the bathtub during filming.
- #270
- #271
- #272
- #273
The fictional address of the house in the film is 1428 Elm Street. The house where the actual filming took place is located at 1428 North Genesee Avenue in Los Angeles, California. According to the house's current owner, Angie Hill, the "1428" numbers on the side of the house were stolen and never returned.
- #274
In the blood-gushing scene where Glen is killed, the rotating room set used for Tina's death was reused. The set was turned upside down and the camera was fixed so that the room appeared right-side up, and gallons of red water (water colored with food dye, since normal movie blood did not produce the desired effect) were pumped from the bed and filled the room. The room had to be rotated while the blood flowed, but when it was rotated in the wrong direction, instead of gushing from the bed and splattering the walls, the blood flowed out through the open door into the area where the camera and equipment were, with exposed cables and outlets. The power on the set was cut, but no one was injured. In his DVD commentary, Wes Craven likened the room turning the wrong way to "a Ferris wheel from hell." The scene was partly inspired by the elevator scene in The Shining (1980).
- #275
- #276
In the scene where Nancy runs toward her house with Freddy right behind her, Heather Langenkamp cut her foot and needed stitches. While watching the scene, it is clearly visible that she limps as she enters the house; this was not part of the role but a natural reaction to a real injury. In the final shot of the "sticky stairs" sequence that follows immediately after, the bandage on her foot can be noticed if you look carefully.
- #277
In the scene where Nancy tries to warn Glen that Freddy is after him (around the 1 hour 7 minute mark), she sees Freddy's mouth and tongue appear on the lower part of the telephone. The effect was made with cheap rubber and a prosthetic. According to the effects team, Heather Langenkamp wanted to take this prop home after filming; the team found this strange.
- #278
- #279
- #280
- #281
In an interview, Heather Langenkamp said that Ronee Blakley really slapped her during the kitchen argument scene between Nancy and Marge. However, when the scene is watched carefully, it is clear that the slap in the shot used in the film is fake; she is probably referring to an alternate take.
- #282
- #283
- #284
According to Heather Langenkamp, the melting staircase scene was shot using pancake batter. Wes Craven said it was oatmeal and glue. The trivia track on the DVD lists Bisquick pancake mix. The scene was directed by Robert Shaye, who was on set pressuring the production to finish the film; Craven said Shaye could direct it because it was based on a dream Shaye had once had. In another interview, Heather Langenkamp added that one of the ingredients in the staircase mixture was mushroom soup.
- #285
The 2006 Infinifilm edition corrects a continuity error in the original film. In the scene where Glen watches Nancy sleeping, Nancy turns off her light before falling asleep, but when she wakes up the light is on. The Infinifilm edition digitally darkens the room when Nancy wakes up and keeps it dark until her mother enters and turns on the light.
- #286
- #287
- #288
The wall-to-ceiling drag scene was achieved with a rotating room built by mechanical special effects designer Jim Doyle. In the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010), Doyle explains: "Wes really wanted something big, fantastic and extraordinary for the first death, so I suggested a rotating room." Wes Craven described the room as "a terrifying situation"; there were no cables, just spins that induced vertigo and panic attacks, all the furniture was nailed down, and the cameraman was strapped into an "airplane seat" bolted to the wall. The room was not mechanical; several crew members on either side of the rig turned it by hand. Shooting inside it was a nightmare, yet for Glen's death scene the filmmakers returned to the rotating room. The pressure was immense, because not only was the blood effect complicated (working with water is always difficult), they also had to do it in a single take. The room was turned upside down and the crew prepared for the effect. A channel had been cut through the middle of the bed for the blood; crew members positioned "above" outside the room were ready to pour gallons of blood-colored water. The bed was now positioned so that it was on the room's "ceiling," and Craven, strapped into a camera seat, said "action." According to cinematographer Jacques Haitkin in Never Sleep Again, when the crew began pouring the water through the hole, "as soon as it hit the ceiling and the light it immediately electrified the water. So the person pouring the water got electrocuted." Or, as Doyle put it: "oops." Not only did the water become electrified, as Haitkin describes, it began sloshing from one side to the other, which upset the room's weight balance, causing it to slide and the operators to lose control. The room rolled completely over, and crew members were pulled out of the way as cables and ropes snapped from their rigging. As Craven recounts in the documentary, the water "got into all the lights and as it spun in the dark there were huge flashes in the darkness, all these sparks flying." There was a window in the wall, and of course the blood poured onto the operators trying to bring the room under control. After all the liquid had drained out, the room finally stopped swaying; the crew remained hanging, still attached to the structure, upside down, in the dark and covered in blood, for about 20 minutes. The up-down logic of the original geyser scene is easy to grasp, but thanks to this unfortunate chain of events, the blood did not simply pool on the ceiling. After the first spurt, the liquid slid and flowed at angles that defied all logic; it was a lurch that turned all logic upside down. Miraculously, no one was injured, and even more miraculously, they got the shot. As detailed in the Larry Cohen biography Larry Cohen: The Stuff of Gods and Monsters, the cult director hired the Elm Street crew to pull off the rotating room trick for The Stuff: "It was lucky for me that nobody got hurt," Cohen explains. "But the scene looks great." Apparently that is the risk of a hand-operated rotating room.
- #289
- #290
Wes Craven was a professor at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York; there is a real Elm Street running between the State University of New York at Potsdam and Clarkson University. The house that inspired the film belongs to a fraternity, and its address is 20 U.S. 11, Potsdam, New York 13676 (this stretch of Elm Street becomes U.S. 11 in Potsdam).
- #291
- #292
- #293
- #294
- #295
- #296
There is no scene in the film in which Freddy Krueger appears in daylight. However, the sentry student Nancy encounters in the hallway wears Freddy's sweater, has Freddy's finger blades and uses Robert Englund's voice (in fact, this is Freddy disguised as one of Nancy's classmates), and this scene takes place in daylight. Also, at the end of the film, when Marge Thompson is pulled through the peephole in the door by Freddy's demonic hand, it is daytime. So although the full-form Freddy portrayed by Englund is not shown in daylight in this film, his different guises and versions do appear in daylight.
- #297
Although palm trees are seen throughout the film, the story and the rest of the series are set in Ohio. Palm trees are native to certain regions of the United States, such as California. In the original script, the story was set in California. In the end, the setting of the story was left ambiguous until A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). However, the presence of palm trees in Ohio is not entirely impossible; though the trees are smaller. In the southern part of Ohio, there are several subtropical areas with humid mainland that contain palm trees.
- #298
- #299
Characters & Cast (55)
- #300
According to Robert Englund, he based the physicality of Freddy on Klaus Kinski's performance in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979). Englund also says on his DVD commentary that in his mind, the backstory for Freddy was based on something from his own childhood. On Valentine's Day when Englund was in school, everyone in the class made Valentine cards for one another, but there was one boy who received no cards from anyone. Englund theorized that this boy went on to become Freddy.
- #301
- #302
- #303
- #304
In various interviews, Robert Englund stated that Freddy's walk and mannerisms were inspired by his costume and looking at himself in the mirror. When he put on the fedora, he thought of old gangster movies and decided to give Freddy a swagger akin to famous gangster movie actor James Cagney. Because the full glove with real metal knives (as opposed to the stunt glove with fake knives for safety) was so heavy, he found himself unintentionally dropping his right shoulder due to the weight. So, he equated the stance with a gunslinger who has his pistol and holster on his hip. As for the unusual way Freddy walks, he studied his posture and derived the sideways movement from a surfer standing sideways on a surfboard.
- #305
- #306
- #307
- #308
- #309
- #310
In the original script Freddy was a child molester. During production, however, it was decided to change him to a child killer to avoid accusations that the film was exploiting a series of child molestations in California. In the 2010 remake starring Jackie Earle Haley, he was rewritten as a child molester.
- #311
- #312
According to Wes Craven, Robert Englund was not his first choice for the role of Fred Krueger. Craven initially wanted a stuntman to play the role, but after trying several stuntmen he realized he needed a real actor. Other ideas were to cast an older actor, but he feared these actors would be too soft for the way he wanted the character to play. Englund ultimately won the role by smearing ashes under his eyes, greasing his hair back with a dipstick from under his car's hood, and blinking as little as possible.
- #313
- #314
- #315
Wes Craven's first design for Freddy was far more horrifying: teeth would be visible through his jawbone, pus would ooze from his wounds, and part of his skull would be exposed. These ideas were shelved when makeup artist David B. Miller said such an image could not be convincing with an actor, and that using a puppet would clash with the live actors.
- #316
- #317
Wes Craven states that his first choice for the role of Freddy was not Robert Englund. He initially considered a stuntman, but after tests realized he needed a real actor. The idea of an older actor was shelved over concerns that he could not give the character his toughness. Englund won the role by auditioning with ashes smeared under his eyes, his hair slicked back with a car dipstick, and blinking as little as possible.
- #318
- #319
- #320
- #321
- #322
Robert Englund says he based Freddy's physicality on Klaus Kinski's performance in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu (1979). He also ties Freddy's story to a memory from his own childhood: at school on Valentine's Day, while everyone gave each other cards, one boy received none. Englund thinks that boy grew up to become Freddy.
- #323
Robert Englund states that Freddy's walk and mannerisms were inspired by the costume and by looking at himself in the mirror. When he put on the fedora, old gangster films came to mind, and he gave Freddy a James Cagney-style swaggering walk. Because the weight of the glove with real metal blades made his right shoulder droop involuntarily, he likened this posture to gunslingers carrying a pistol and holster. He created Freddy's unusual sideways walk by drawing inspiration from the way surfers stand sideways on a board.
- #324
- #325
- #326
- #327
- #328
- #329
- #330
- #331
There were long-standing rumors that Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, Brad Pitt, Kiefer Sutherland, Nicolas Cage and C. Thomas Howell were considered for the role of Glen. However, in 2010 the film's casting director Annette Benson debunked most of this legend: 'John Cusack? I don't think so. I met him at the auditions for Christine (1983) and liked him a lot, I would have remembered. Besides, he was living in Chicago at the time. Brad Pitt? No, I met him in 1987 for Apt Pupil. Kiefer Sutherland? I don't remember. Nicolas Cage? Definitely not. C. Thomas Howell? That's possible.'
- #332
Charlie Sheen was interested in the role of Glen, but according to producer Robert Shaye, he asked for more money than the production could afford. Although Sheen later denied this, New Line representatives and Sheen's managers at the time confirm that he asked for $3,000 a week (twice the normal fee). Sheen jokes, 'Years later I became greedy, but not then. I just didn't understand the script... I didn't want to be eaten by a bed. I like to sleep in bed, not be eaten.'
- #333
- #334
- #335
- #336
- #337
- #338
Nancy looks in the mirror and says, 'God, I look 20.' Heather Langenkamp was in fact 20 when the film was released. Most of the 'teenage' actors in the film were actually in their twenties: Amanda Wyss and Johnny Depp were also in their twenties, and Jsu Garcia was 21, not 16 like the character he played. The reason Hollywood uses young adults for high-school-age characters is that they don't require work permits, need no special arrangements on set, and are considered more attractive. The line about 'looking 20' carries an obvious irony.
- #339
- #340
Freddy's sweater usually has 8 or 9 stripes on the body. In this first film, however, there are 11 stripes and none at all on the sleeves. The reason is that the initial makeup tests planned for him to wear a sleeveless sweater vest, but David B. Miller disliked the look and put the vest over a red long-sleeved sweater.
- #341
- #342
- #343
- #344
- #345
- #346
- #347
- #348
A few years before playing Nancy's mother, Ronee Blakley had portrayed a country music superstar in Nashville (1975). Connie Britton, who played the same role in the 2010 remake (though the character's name was changed), would later play a country star in the unrelated series Nashville (2012).
- #349
- #350
- #351
- #352
- #353
- #354
Easter Eggs & References (22)
- #355
The 2006 Infinifilm release fixes a continuity error in the original film. In the scene where Glen watches over Nancy as she sleeps, she turns her light off before sleeping, but it's on when she wakes up. The Infinifilm release fixes this mistake by digitally darkening the room when she wakes up, until Nancy's mother enters the room and turns it on.
- #356
- #357
- #358
- #359
- #360
In this movie, Nancy is shown watching Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981) as she struggles to stay awake watching it. Craven decided to include the scene because Raimi had featured a poster of Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) in that film as a jab to show audiences the movie they're watching is scarier than Craven's. As a response to Craven's in-joke, Raimi showed Freddy Krueger's glove in the tool shed scene of Evil Dead II (1987), and later in Ash vs Evil Dead (2015) in honor of his passing.
- #361
- #362
- #363
- #364
Nancy looks in the mirror and says, "My God, I look 20 years old." Heather Langenkamp was in fact 20 years old at the time of this film's release. Most of these "teen" actors are actually in their 20s. Amanda Wyss and Johnny Depp are both in their 20s at this point; Jsu Garcia is 21, not 16 like his character. Hollywood has long history of using young adults to play high school kids, both because they don't need work permits and don't have to worry about having on-set tutors and shorter hours for minors; and also, because people in their 20s tend to be more physically attractive than high school kids and can more easily attain that "matinee idol" look that audiences and studio execs love. The line about "looking 20" is also obviously meant to be ironic.
- #365
- #366
- #367
In the scene where Nancy falls asleep in class, the student starts to quote a line from Hamlet, "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams." This is the start of a theme in later movies to open with quotes from early tales of horror and tragedy from authors like Friedrich Nietzsche, Edgar Allan Poe, or from the Bible.
- #368
The original glove was later used in A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) and was also seen hanging on the wall of the work shed in Evil Dead II (1987). This was in response to the use of The Evil Dead (1981) on a television screen in this film, and part of a continued banter between directors Wes Craven and Sam Raimi. However, when Wes Craven loaned the glove to the A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) set it got lost, and it is rumored to be in possession of Robert Englund's agent.
- #369
- #370
- #371
- #372
Contains a major spoiler — show
An often missed dark-humored joke is following Glen's death two EMT workers can be seen with a stretcher going into his house, despite Glen having just been pulverized into nothing but blood earlier. Although, according to a deleted scene that was part of Glen's death scene, his blood-soaked body had risen up from his bed. What would be left of his body are his skin, a bit of his muscles, and his bones. So, the EMT workers would still have a body to retrieve.
- #373
Contains a major spoiler — show
There are no scenes with Freddy Krueger during the daytime. Although the hall monitor Nancy encounters is wearing Freddy's sweater, has Freddy's finger knives, and has Robert Englund's voice, (and is actually Freddy just taking the guise of one of Nancy's classmates), this scene does take place during the day. Also, when Marge Thompson gets yanked through the peephole in the doorway at the ending by Freddy's demonic hand, it is also daytime. So, although full-formed Freddy as personified by Englund is not photographed in daylight in this movie, that is true; different visages and versions of him do appear in daylight.
- #374
- #375
- #376
Deeper Meaning (48)
- #377
This movie bears a stark contrast to its slasher brethren like Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980) which always portray a group of teenagers being terrorized while cut off from any adults and authority figures. Here the parents are very much part of the story. Also, on the suggestion of writer/director Wes Craven's daughter, who was annoyed that the women in his previous movie Swamp Thing (1982) trip and fall all the time while being chased, Craven made the heroine much less vulnerable and clumsy.
- #378
- #379
The film was released the same year Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984) was released in Japan, which focused on students being caught in some type of hallucination or dream. That one had characters disappearing one at a time. The concept of evil manipulating reality is explored in both movies.
- #380
- #381
- #382
In this film, Nancy Thompson and her friends experience horrifying nightmares about an otherworldly and malevolent figure named Fred Krueger. Other Craven films such as The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), and Cursed (2005), respectively, also explore the theme of nightmares being linked to reality through trauma.
- #383
- #384
Contains a major spoiler — show
Nancy momentarily defeats Freddy Krueger by overcoming her fear of him. When he tries to attack her, he ends up going right through her and disappearing. This is somewhat similar to how the Losers Club defeat It/Pennywise in It: Chapter Two (2019). The Losers overcome their fears and taunt Pennywise/It to where he is reduced to infant size. Like Krueger, Pennywise/It feeds off of the fears and insecurities of his victims.
- #385
The inspiration for the Freddy character came from various sources in Wes Craven's childhood. Fred Krueger was a schoolmate with whom he shared a paper route and who had bullied him for several years. Craven also used this experience as inspiration for The Last House on the Left (1972), naming the villain Krug. Freddy's burns came from a man with severe burn scars who had once terrified Craven in his childhood, and Freddy's outfit (particularly the dirty clothes and hat) was inspired by an alcoholic drifter Craven saw looking at him through his window one day when he was 10 years old.
- #386
In various interviews, Robert Englund has said that Freddy's walk and mannerisms were inspired by his costume and by looking at himself in the mirror. When he put on the fedora, he thought of old gangster films and decided to give Freddy an air similar to that of the famous gangster film actor James Cagney. Because the full glove with real metal blades (as opposed to the stunt glove with fake blades used for safety) was very heavy, he noticed that the weight made him unintentionally drop his right shoulder. He therefore equated this stance with that of a gunfighter carrying his pistol and holster on his hip. As for Freddy's unusual way of walking, he studied his stance and derived the sideways movement from a surfer standing sideways on a surfboard.
- #387
The original glove was later used in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) and appeared hanging on the wall of the tool shed in Evil Dead II (1987). This was part of a running joke between Wes Craven and Sam Raimi, since The Evil Dead (1981) had been shown on a television screen in that film. However, when Wes Craven lent the glove to the set of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), it disappeared and, according to rumors, it is now with Robert Englund's manager.
- #388
- #389
While Nancy tries to stay awake, she watches Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981). Craven added this scene as a response to Raimi using a poster of Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) in his own film to imply to the audience that his film was scarier. This joke continued with Raimi showing Freddy's glove in Evil Dead II (1987) and later in Ash vs Evil Dead (2015).
- #390
- #391
- #392
- #393
- #394
In the scene where Nancy falls asleep in class, a student quotes from Hamlet: "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams." This is the beginning of the theme of opening later films with quotations about horror and tragedy from writers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Edgar Allan Poe, or from the Bible.
- #395
- #396
- #397
- #398
- #399
- #400
- #401
- #402
- #403
- #404
- #405
- #406
- #407
- #408
- #409
- #410
An often overlooked moment full of dark humor is when two paramedics enter the house with a stretcher after Glen's death, even though Glen has just been torn apart and turned into blood. However, according to a deleted scene, Glen's bloody body had risen from the bed and all that remained was his skin, some muscle and bones. So the paramedics did have a body to take.
- #411
- #412
- #413
Nancy temporarily defeats Freddy Krueger by overcoming her fear. When Freddy tries to attack her, she passes through him and he disappears. This resembles the Losers' Club shrinking Pennywise down to baby size in It Chapter Two (2019) by overcoming their fears. Like Krueger, Pennywise feeds on his victims' fears.
- #414
- #415
- #416
- #417
- #418
- #419
- #420
In this film, Nancy Thompson and her friends have terrifying nightmares about a supernatural and malevolent figure named Fred Krueger. Craven's other films, such as The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) and Cursed (2005), also explore the theme of nightmares connecting to reality through trauma.
- #421
- #422
- #423
Professional wrestler Tommy Gilbert wrestled as "Nightmare Freddy" in Memphis for a time. His son Doug Gilbert brought the character to the Japanese hardcore wrestling promotion W*ING, and in 1993 he also brought his brother Eddie Gilbert into the promotion as Michael Myers from Halloween (1978).
- #424
Career & Awards (14)
Life & Family (1)
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work