Rounding Up The Krueger Chronicles

Like Freddy's arms I could stretch this out for ages, but I'll stop at four for now.

Now that I’ve covered the big four films from the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, it’s time for a wrap-up post. Let’s conclude this miniseries and banish Freddy to Hell once and for all!

If I’m being real here, I kinda wish I had rewatched the original for this project, but you know what, I think I got more out of the sequels without that oh-so-excellent slasher fresh in my mind. Let’s cover the scores before we go any further:

In first place it’s obviously the one that started it all, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), with 18 points. This is a classic, there’s no doubt.

In second, and not too close behind, it’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) with 17 points! It wasn’t afraid to get nasty, but mostly focused on being fun. Al

In third place, it’s Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) with 12 points (I promise I enjoyed it!)

And finally, as we all knew it would be, it’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (1985) with 11 points. Fruity, camp and hilarious to listen to analyses of, this one was a rollercoaster for sure.

Also, Kimberly B🌴👻🌴- that Fresh Prince song is wild.

Shocking nobody the Nancy Trilogy won out. I reckon the dreamy and fantastical direction the films followed was a really good move, and gave it a strong identity as a series. Each one had moments of the bizarre, weird, and sometimes downright horrifying that made them memorable. None of them were shit movies, genuinely. Only two were actively gripping, but none of them genuinely sucked. No, not even the second one; it had some banger bits of horror - Freddy splitting out that kid’s skin like a butterfly? The dog-things? Truly inspired.

I do see the wide appeal of this franchise, and of Freddy, but I don’t feel an urge to investigate it further. I’m sure I will, one day, but for now I’m happy to leave it at these four. It has more sleek charm than Friday the 13th (which I really like so far) but ANOES has left me craving a bloodier, grimmer kind of movie (NOT the remake, let me be clear, I will almost certainly not be watching the remake). Perhaps my Scarestack offering next month will fulfil my blood-and-guts quota, but then again, perhaps not. Only time will tell.

Overall, this was an enjoyable project and a good step forward in my horror education. I hope you had fun reading my thoughts and sharing yours!

As ever, thanks for reading,

Until next time,

H.E.