A Nightmare On Elm Street Movies: Ranked From Worst To Best

3. Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Wes Craven returned to the beloved Freddy franchise he created in the 90s with the excellently original New Nightmare, a film that would almost act as a prelude to the Scream series that he would make a couple years later. What is refreshing about New Nightmare is, after so many ridiculous, tired sequels, it sort of flips the whole horror genre on its head. People often credit Scream as the first great self-referential horror flick and they're probably right, but New Nightmare is up the same alley and has a lot of clever ideas of its own. The film stars Heather Langenkamp as herself, as well as other people involved with the Nightmare films, including Wes Craven himself and Robert Englund (who plays himself and Freddy). Wes and Langenkamp are trying to work up an idea for a new Freddy film, while Freddy is at large trying to kill her. If it sounds complicated, that's because it is - it is a meta horror film which also has a stab at some social commentary, dealing with the notions of why we are attracted to horror films and whether these films are suitable for children. Although the final act is a bit messy, New Nightmare is definitely one of the strongest Freddy movies, and was badly needed at the time.