One of the most iconic horror movies is celebrating a major milestone withA Nightmare on Elm Street’s 40th anniversary. The 1984 film hailed from writer/director Wes Craven, who had built a solid filmography for himself up to that point with the likes ofThe Last House on the LeftandThe Hills Have Eyes, and properly put him on the map as one of the genre’s greats. From there on,Craven’s genre spotlight would continue to growwith the likes of the now-cult classicsThe Serpent and the RainbowandThe People Under the Stairsand, eventually, launching the still-iconicScreamfranchise with Kevin Williamson.
1984’sA Nightmare on Elm Streettold the story of Nancy Thompson, a teenager living in the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio, who, along with her friends and boyfriend, find themselves tormented in their dreams by a mysterious figure who has the ability to kill them in their dreams. As she struggles to stay awake in order to avoid being targeted, Nancy learns thatthe figure is Freddy Krueger, a child serial killer who initially escaped conviction on a technicality, but was later burned alive by the victims' parents, turning him into a vengeful spirit.
10 Horror Movies That Were Clearly Inspired By A Nightmare On Elm Street
Wes Craven’s classic supernatural slasher, A Nightmare on Elm Street, has inspired countless imitators, from fascinating homages to cheap rip-offs.
Led by Heather Langenkamp as Nancy and Robert Englund as Freddy, the 1984 film not only remains a classic in its own right, but also led to the spawning of a multimedia franchise.TheNightmare on Elm Streetserieshas since gone on to include six sequels, a TV show, the standalone meta twistNew Nightmare, a crossover with theFriday the 13thfranchise, and a 2010 remake. Attempts at a second remake or reboot of the franchise have remained in development hell, with Craven’s estate accepting various pitches after getting the rights back in 2019, though no major announcements have been made since.
In honor of the film’s 40th anniversary,Screen Rantinterviewed Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund to discussA Nightmare on Elm Street, how they found the movie changed the cultural landscape, particularly for the horror genre, and some of the most meaningful interactions they’ve had with fans of the franchise in the years since it launched.
Langenkamp & Englund Are Still “So Proud” Of The Movie’s Cultural Impact
“…we really are the film that finally brought the horror fan girl en masse to the movie theaters.”
Screen Rant: I am so excited to chat with you both, as I’m sure you hear all the time,the originalNightmare on Elm Streetis one of my favorites, and it’s crazy to think we are here at the 40th anniversary, but also just in time for Halloween. How does it feel for both of you to reflect on the legacy that you both have, not only in the genre, but with this film?
Heather Langenkamp: I mean, I know for myself, Robert would agree with me, we’re so proud to be part of something that’s this culturally significant and important, and we get so much back from our fans, who also appreciate this movie so much. So, I feel really grateful. I feel not that old that I can’t possibly be celebrating a 40th anniversary. [Laughs] I feel like that time must have had some kind of mash up in there, but it’s humbling and exciting at the same time.
Robert Englund: I think with hindsight, too, one of the things I’m really proud of, and I don’t want to sound preachy here, or like I’m virtue signaling, but we really are the film that finally brought the horror fan girl en masse to the movie theaters. I know that Sigourney Weaver contributed to that, and Jamie Lee Curtis, but with Heather and our wonderful Alice, Lisa Wilcox, and Monica Keena in Freddie vs. Jason, Lisa Zane as my daughter. Always the strong survival survivor girl in our films, always that journey to take for all of the female fans of the genre. I think that was a real important contribution to cinema history, and I’m proud of that.
Langenkamp Has Heard Many Stories That “Blew My Mind” Of Nancy’s Influence On Them
“I sometimes don’t feel responsible for it…”
So Heather, you just mentioned getting so much back from fans like myself, and I’d love to hear from both of you, even though Freddy’s the villain, is there something that you’ve heard from fans that has really stuck with you, as far as your characters go?
Heather Langenkamp: Well, I did a documentary called I Am Nancy 12 years ago, and one of the women that I featured had lost her leg in an accident. Her story is similar to many, many stories that I hear, but she was in the hospital for many weeks and months, and she watched A Nightmare on Elm Street every single day, thinking to herself, “If Nancy can go through all that with Freddy, then I certainly can go through all this in my life.” And that just blew my mind, that people would have that kind of relationship with Nancy as a character, and I do believe they do form that kind of relationship with her.
I sometimes don’t feel responsible for it, because it’s really Wes Craven’s creation, but I really am proud of the way that, at least, I was able to bring it to life in the way Wes intended. I don’t know if even he intended to have so much effect on people’s lives. And it’s not just girls, it’s everybody that I meet who have struggles in their life. I ask them, “What’s your Freddy?” And they always have a response, and I can identify with them and say, “Yeah, that’s a tough one.”
Englund Is Surprised By The 1 Way TheNightmareFranchise Has Found Its Fanbase
“There’s also a strange phenomenon that I’ve realized…”
Robert Englund: There’s also a strange phenomenon that I’ve realized as I add up my experiences with fans, talking to fans, I always thought — because I’m a movie actor, I began as a movie actor — of Freddy and the Nightmare films as in a movie theater. But most of our fans came to us on video, and DVD, and streaming, and because of that, they saw us at home, and because of that, many times it was shared with family.
Now, we’re several generations into our fans, Heather and I, and there are moms and dads that have passed away from that first generation, but I have countless fans come up and tell me about a dad taping steak knives to his fingers and scratching the sliding glass doors of the family room or the den, or a stepfather who would let them watch the movie and mom wouldn’t, or their parents were divorced, and they had a Sunday dad, and they would go to his house and he would let him watch it. But they shared that, and he’s gone now, and they have that experience of turning dad on to a horror movie that was part of their generation and their world, and he liked it too.
Or vice versa, an older brother or an older sister or a parent who let the kids see it, because they liked horror movies and turned their kids on to the genre, and they have that memory of it being a familial experience, which I never think of, in terms of Nightmare on Elm Street. I think of that collective sitting in the dark in a movie theater experience, but not that sitting around the living room with a cold pizza. [Chuckles] But watching it and stopping it and pausing and rewinding and talking about it with mom and dad or a brother and sister. I think that’s a real mark that the technology, along with the franchise, made on the culture.
AboutA Nightmare On Elm Street
Can your nightmares be fatal? In this classic of the horror film genre that launched a movie franchise, a hideously scarred man who was murdered by a lynch mob returns years later in the terrifying nightmares of his killer’s teenage children… and the dreaming teenagers are starting to die in their sleep. In 2021, A Nightmare on Elm Street was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
A Nightmare on Elm Streetis now available for the first time on 4K on digital platforms, followed by physical shelves on October 15!
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Cast
A Nightmare on Elm Street, released in 1984, explores the terror faced by a group of teenagers haunted in their dreams by Fred Krueger, a vengeful spirit. As they confront a series of mysterious deaths, Nancy Thompson uncovers the truth about Krueger’s dark past and seeks to stop him.
