Every Nightmare On Elm Street Film Ranked Worst To Best

Aside from New Nightmare, the only other Nightmare on Elm Street sequel to have any creative involvement from Wes Craven was 1987's third instalment, Dream Warriors. Always unhappy that New Line demanded he let Freddy win at the end of the original, Craven was keen to show the kids fighting back against Freddy, so with co-writer Bruce Wagner he cooked up a story in which Heather Langenkamp's Nancy returns to Springwood to mentor a new crop of sleepless teens in how to battle the Dream Demon.

While Craven and Wagner's script was heavily rewritten by Frank Darabont and director Chuck Russell, they hit upon a winning formula which makes Dream Warriors easily the most entertaining Nightmare sequel, and arguably the most rewatchable movie in the series.

For once, the teens are a genuinely endearing ensemble you want to see survive. There's a fun, comic book vibe to proceedings, with larger-scale action and SFX than the first two Nightmares, and - yes - a greater emphasis on wisecracks from Freddy. (Altogether now: "welcome to prime time, bitch!" If nothing else, Rick & Morty's Scary Terry wouldn't exist without this one.)

By bringing comedy and fantasy adventure elements to the forefront, Dream Warriors established the formula that would lead the series into a downward spiral, yet it's still hugely entertaining in its own right. Crucially, for all the wisecracks and corny teenage empowerment messages, it's still scary: the 'puppet master' sequence may be the single most memorable kill of any Nightmare movie.