10 Movies You Didn't Know Were Based On Real-Life People

3. A Nightmare On Elm Street

Uma Thurman Notting Hill
New Line Cinema

Not just one Wes Craven movie, but two Craven pictures get included in this list - for A Nightmare on Elm Street's core premise was based on a real person.

It wasn't knife-fingered, burnt-skinned, child killer Freddy Krueger who was based directly on a real figure, but more it was the victims of that first Elm Street for which Craven pulled inspiration from the real world.

As Wes detailed in an interview with Vulture back in 2014, his original idea for A Nightmare on Elm Street came after he read a story in the LA Times about a young boy who was troubled by nightmares.

This poor youngster had frantically told his parents that he didn't want to sleep, for if he did then the figure chasing him would kill him. After staying awake for several days, the boy eventually fell asleep. While his parents were originally relieved at this, they were awoken in the middle of the night by a terrified scream. Upon checking on their son, they realised that he'd died in the middle of his nightmare.

Pulling on this, Wes Craven then made this the basis for the terror that Heather Langenkamp's Nancy and her friends were faced with in 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street and beyond. All that Craven did then, was give this nightmare presence a face and a name - and that's where Freddy Krueger came into play.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.