Slasher Saturday: ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ Franchise Ranked

Welcome To This Week’s Slasher Saturday. Today’s Ranking Is A Nightmare, For Sure.

Freddy Krueger was as popular in the 1980’s as anything else. Honestly, it seems like Freddy was just as 80’s as Madonna and Ronald Regan. This week’s Slasher Saturday is quite the journey as we go deep in the our nightmares.

Slasher Saturday is a series on Monkeys Fighting Robots where a slasher franchise gets listed from bottom to top. The first week broke down ‘Friday The 13th‘ and now it’s time to tackle one of the most defining slasher movies of all time.

Here is a ranking of all the ‘Nightmare On Elm Street‘ films from worst to first!

9. ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ (2010)

• What can I say that hasn’t been said about this remake? It’s been bashed relentlessly and praised by some. 2010’s ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street‘ sadly missed the mark. Feels like the franchise can’t recover from this.

8. ‘Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare’ (1991)

• Like most horror franchises the “final” one is never really the last movie. Same with ‘Freddy’s Dead‘. It wasn’t the final movie and it wasn’t a great movie. By the time this movie came out, the franchise was a cartoony shell of itself.

7. ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child’ (1989)

• I think the worst thing about ‘The Dream Child’ is how forgettable it is. It’s no where near as bad as the 2010 remake but doesn’t live up to the earlier entries. Even Robert Englund has said this was one his least favorite movies.

6. ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge’ (1985)

• ‘Freddy’s Revenge‘ has recently seen a large amount of love. In part to nostalgia and also, many finally noticed the homoerotic nature of this film. Freddy targets a young man with subversive dreams that leads to some strange scenes.

5. ‘Freddy vs Jason’ (2003)

• Many consider this more of a Freddy movie than a Jason movie. I think they both get their fair share of screen time. But the magic in Robert Englund’s last performance of Freddy Kruger holds a special place in my heart.

4. ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: Dream Master’ (1988)

• After this, ‘Nightmare On Elm Street‘ went down hill. During a documentary about the franchise, Wes Craven praised ‘Dream Master‘ and said the director did what many couldn’t do. Yeah, he made a good Freddy Kruger movie…

3. ‘Wes Craven’s New Nightmare’ (1994)

• Before Wes Craven went full meta in ‘Scream‘, he started mixing reality with fiction in ‘New Nightmare‘. Only Craven could revitalize the ‘Nightmare’ franchise. This is the remake the franchise needed and should have stopped here.

2. ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ (1984)

• Wes Craven changed the horror genre when he released ‘Nightmare On Elm Street‘ in 1984. Starring Heather Langenkamp as Nancy and Robert Englund as Freddy, the movie is iconic but the low-budget shows with the ambitious plot.

1. ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors’ (1987)

• The original may be great but everything was perfected by the time ‘Dream Warriors‘ was released. Heather Langenkamp returns and the movie hits its peak with kills, thrills, and humor. Freddy was never better! So many great one-liners.

“Welcome To Prime Time Bitch!
–Freddy Kruger (A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors)

Thank you for reading for the second Slasher Saturday!

Next week will be ‘Halloween‘!

Do you agree with my ranking of the ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street‘ series?

Let me know in the comments below.