Every Nightmare On Elm Street Film Ranked Worst To Best

Though the series had officially ended three years earlier, 1994 marked the tenth anniversary of the original Nightmare on Elm Street - and the perfect opportunity to revive the property, with a now-willing Wes Craven in tow. Finally prepared to take real chances, New Line Cinema allowed Freddy's creator to take the character down a very bold new path, revisiting the beginnings of the series and examining its legacy in a very unusual way.

New Nightmare was arguably the first truly meta-horror movie, stepping outside the series and reflecting on what Freddy had become. Original Nightmare leading lady Heather Langenkamp stars as herself, with Craven, producer Robert Shaye, co-star John Saxon and Robert Englund himself doing likewise, in a bizarre vision in which the dream demon somehow breaks through into the reality of the people who first brought him to life on film.

It's a daring and sophisticated idea, and given that it critiques the clown figure Freddy ultimately became, it was courageous of New Line to allow it. Even so, New Nightmare's sensibilities are so mature and intellectual that it's less accessible than the movies that came before it. In addition, the heightened, more primal take on Freddy - a demonic archetype of sorts, as opposed to the character audiences knew - was off-putting to some fans.

Still, it was nice to see Craven revisit his greatest creation just once more - even if the director would soon thereafter explore a post-modern approach to horror more successfully with the Scream movies.