10 Horror Movie Nightmares WITHIN Nightmares

By 1987, the Nightmare franchise had been through some teething problems but was considered a lucrative bet for New Line studios. The first movie was a hit and had the makings of a genre classic, the second was enjoyably camp trash but was dragged down by haste, so by the time part three came round, producer Bob Shaye invested heavily in its conceptual stages.

Wes Craven was back for writing duties, now teamed with Shawshank's Frank Darabont and the star of the original, Heather Langenkamp, was returning as the plucky Nancy. A bigger budget, a surprisingly effective structure and a confident tone gave us the best Freddy sequel to date.

Kristen (Patricia Arquette) and the last of the Elm Street kids are unaware of Freddy's murder at the hands of their own parents. He is now killing them in their sleep and Kristen, plagued by nightmares, finds herself in Nancy's dilapidated Elm Street house in the film's opening dream sequence.

She attempts to rescue a little girl from Freddy's razors and wakes in a cold sweat. Making her way to the bathroom to wash off the experience, Kristen reaches for the tap, which suddenly sprouts blades and slashes both her wrists. Freddy himself laughs at her from inside the mirror; Kristen is still trapped in the nightmare.

There are, as one would expect, several false awakenings in the series but this one is perhaps the slickest, serving as a suitably flashy intro to the most polished of the Elm Street nightmares.