Every 'Nightmare on Elm Street' Movie, Ranked

For the better part of a decade, Freddy Krueger was a pop culture icon; he wasn't just a boogeyman, he appeared in pop songs and on TV commercials. In 1988, he even had his own 1-900 number where you could call and chat with the mass murderer. And, looking back on the "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise, it was a work of unparalleled creativity and bloodshed. It basically created New Line Cinema, at the time a struggling distributor and indie that would go on to become a mini major (before being folded into Warner Bros.) and its legacy remains. As far as modern monsters go, it is hard to beat Freddy.

9. ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ (2010)

Hell no. A big budget remake, festooned with the latest in digital technology, should have made “A Nightmare on Elm Street” an all-time spookshow for a new generation. Instead, it was a painfully dull exercise in attempted franchise rejuvenation. Jackie Earle Haley makes a terrific Freddy, especially with the nifty advancements in computer generated make-up (seeing through his face is a lovely touch). But everything else seems like a half-baked retread, from Samuel Bayer’s slack direction (why is everything so muddy?) to the screenplay’s staggering lack of imagination. It should have been a movie where anything was possible; so why is everything so humdrum?

8. ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child’ (1989)

This was when the franchise really started to show signs of running out of steam, to the point that when the title card for “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” flashes, the “5” is omitted entirely. A straight sequel to the far superior fourth entry, you can tell that things were getting creaky. Despite some stylish direction from Stephen Hopkins, it is dumber than it is scary. And a greater emphasis on explicit gore doesn’t make anything more exciting.

7. ‘Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare’ (1991)

Somewhere, I still have my 3D glasses from the theatrical release of ”Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare,” which I enthusiastically wore during the incredibly lame 3D sequence where Freddy actual dies. Still, it added to the sense of theatricality that accompanied the film’s release, which feels more like a cameo-filled series finale than a major motion picture. Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, Tom Arnold and, er, Rosanne Barr, all make brief, incredibly ‘90s appearances.) At this point, the series had become too jokey and self-aware; what should have been a monumental event feels more like a poorly conceived prank.

6. ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge’ (1985)

Notably perhaps for being the gayest horror movie ever made (and potentially for being one of the gayest movies, period), “Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” has gotten most of its attention for this sub-textual reading and not for the actual, you know, movie itself. And that’s because the movie's storyline, which unwisely brings Freddy to the real world in the goofiest way imaginable (pool party!), is pretty dopey. But looking at the movie as the story of a man battling with his own closeted homosexuality gives it far more dimension and verve; it goes a long way in explaining why there’s a lengthy scene set in a leather bar.

5. ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master’ (1988)

Following the adrenalized blast that is the third film was definitely going to be a challenge. What makes &”Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” so effective is that it continues that storyline, expanding the narrative and embroidering the mythology, while also making subtle tonal shifts unique to this installment. Energetically directed by a young Renny Harlin (he was just 29 at the time), this installment features some of the franchise’s most memorable kills and zippiest one liners (the smarter-than-expected script was co-written by future Oscar winner Brian Helgeland).

4. ‘Freddy vs. Jason’ (2003)

At the end of 1993's “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday,” Jason's iconic hokey mask is seen in the clutches of Freddy's gloved hand. But it would be another decade before the characters actually battled it out on the big screen (there are at least a dozen scripts for “Freddy vs. Jason” lying around Hollywood). When the clash finally came, it wound up being one of the more purely fun installments in either franchise. Most of that fun has to do with Hong Kong director Ronny Yu's showy direction, which veers from cartoon-y to surrealistic and back again (but, you know, always blood-soaked). Englund's ultimately final performance as Freddy rules, too.

3. ‘New Nightmare’ (1994)

2. ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors’ (1987)

1. ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984)

Released at the height of slasher movie mania, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” dared to be different. Based, in part, on a series of incidents where teenagers were dying in their sleep (recounted terrifyingly in Rodney Asher’s documentary “The Nightmare”), the bookish Wes Craven decided to make a scary movie that was steeped in occult ritual and ageless mysticism and ripe with metaphor. Robert Englund’s Freddy Krueger isn’t just a ghostly serial killer; he’s a Norse god of mischief -- a creature of pure id and the embodiment of teen angst. The dream element meant that the suspense set pieces could be festooned with surrealistic flourishes, which only added to its power. And while the sequels often skewered towards horror-comedy territory, the original is turn-your-blood-into-ice-water scary. The rightful beginning of a cinematic phenomenon.