9 Horror Movies That Were Ahead Of Their Time

The late, great Wes Craven made one key mistake: two years later, he directed a film which did the same thing as New Nightmare a bit better, and in a far more accessible fashion. 1996’s Scream is rightly considered a masterpiece, a postmodern picture that lampoons the conventions of horror movies while existing within them.

New Nightmare is weirder still. The seventh in the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise (and probably the best since the first), it stars Heather Langenkamp - Nancy from the original - as herself. She’s asked to return to the franchise and is reluctant to do so, until the actual Freddy Krueger emerges from the movie-world to dish out real life murders.

The smartest thing New Nightmare does is take the wild concept more seriously than ever before. Krueger actor Robert Englund is sensational here, toning down the zaniness that had become Freddy’s main trait and playing him as genuinely menacing.

This could so easily have been stupid or self indulgent, but instead it’s probably the most unsettling instalment the franchise has seen, and the last in the Craven-helmed series. It’s a surprising, but totally fitting send off to a truly legendary movie monster.