Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...
Still stands on its own as an intriguing and chilling example of how horror works best when the characters and the audience don't have to be lobotomized.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
A Nightmare on Elm Street... puts more emphasis on bizarre special effects, which aren't at all bad.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
It's all good scary fun.
– Nicholas Royle,
Time Out,
26 Jan 2006
fresh:
Craven vitalizes the nightmare sequences with assorted surrealist novelties.
– J. R. Jones,
Chicago Reader,
21 Sep 2007
fresh:
A highly imaginative horror film that provides the requisite shocks to keep fans of the genre happy.