- Director
- Wes Craven
- Year
- 1984
- Country
- USA
- Runtime
- 91 min
Also released as
- Freddy - Chapitre 1 - Les Griffes de la nuit
- Pesadilla en la Calle Elm
- Freddy 1 - Les Griffes de la nuit
- Freddy 1
- Nightmare on Elm Street 1 - Mörderische Träume
- Pesadilla en lo profundo de la noche
- Koszmar z Ulicy Wiązów
- Pesadilla en Elm Street
- Nightmare on Elm Street - Mörderische Träume
- Nightmare - Mörderische Träume
- Εφιάλτης στο δρόμο με τις λεύκες
- Les Griffes de la nuit
- Terror på Elm Street
- Nightmare - Dal profondo della notte
- Pesadelo em Elm Street
- Pesadilla en la calle del infierno
- Erumu gai no akumu
- Painajainen Elm Streetillä
- Pesadilla en Elmo Street
- A Hora do Pesadelo
- Morderisk mareridt
- Rémálom az Elm utcában
- Noční můra v Elm Street
- 半夜鬼上床
- Qarağac küçəsində qarabasma
- Ác Mộng Phố Elm
- Қарағаш көшесіндегі қорқыныш
- Košmaras Guobu gatveje
- Cosmar pe Strada Ulmilor
- Страва у Улици брестова
- Nočná mora z Elm Street
- Mora v ulici brestov
- Elm ko'chasidagi kabus
- Strava u Ulici brijestova
- Кошмари на Елм Стрийт
- Жах на вулиці В'язів
Filed under
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Craven's best idea: a killer who gets you where you cannot stay awake to avoid him.
Craven's best idea, and one of the few few new premises the slasher produced: a killer who gets you in the one place you cannot stay awake to avoid.
It came from newspaper reports Craven had read about Hmong refugees who died in their sleep after describing nightmares they were afraid to go back into. He kept the detail that the victims fought to stay awake.
The mechanic gives the film something the others lack, which is escalating exhaustion. Nancy is the only final girl in the cycle who researches, sets traps and solves the problem rather than outlasting it.
New Line was nearly bankrupt and this film is the reason the company existed for the next twenty years.
Freddy has a personality here, which was a mistake the sequels rode into the ground until he was doing one-liners in a Nintendo Power Glove. In this one he barely speaks.
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Trailer
The sleeves
The same film, sold as a different film in each territory. Click any of them.
Where to watch
Australia
Canada
Germany
Finland
UK
USA
Legal sources only. Availability data from JustWatch via TMDB.
Checked 9 Aug 2026
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