The original A Nightmare on Elm Street film was written and directed by Wes Craven and released in 1984. It told the story of a serial killer, Freddy Krueger, who wears a glove with knives for fingers and stalks teenagers in their dreams. Though the first entry in the series was a straightforward, if inspired, slasher, later entries gave Freddy more and more personality until it was unclear if the audience was meant to be rooting for or against him. The franchise was so popular that it has since spawned seven sequel films, one remake, a comic book series, a TV series, several novels, and even some video games. What’s so appealing about this guy?
Freddy Krueger’s kills are why the Nightmare on Elm Street films are so memorable. They’re what makes the bastard son of a hundred homicidal maniacs easily stand out from his slasher film contemporaries. While Michael and Jason were wearing masks and stabbing people like total freakin’ noobs, Freddy was out there turning people into motorcycles and driving them into semi-trucks, like a boss. Freddy has complete control over the dreamworld he exists in, so the possibilities are endless. Sure, the “kill ‘em with their hobbies” thing might have gotten old after a while, but even then, the kills themselves were still pretty inventive. Plan on never sleeping again after checking out these creative Freddy Krueger kills.
Glen Lantz - A Nightmare on Elm Street
Poor, poor Glen. Played by Johnny Depp, he is Nancy’s boyfriend in the original Nightmare film. Nancy has the perfect plan to catch Freddy and all Glen needs to do is wake her up at a specific time. Glen tries to stay awake by watching TV and listening to music but ultimately falls asleep himself.
Freddy pulls him into the bed and then a geyser of blood comes bursting through the hole in the mattress, spraying the ceiling and covering the room. This is one of the bloodiest deaths in the series and is made worse by the fact that what’s left of him is found by his unsuspecting mother. Pour, pour Glen.
Jennifer Caulfield - A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
Jennifer makes her appearance in the third Nightmare film as a patient of Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital, along with the last of the Elm Street kids. She spends most of her free time watching television and dreams of being on TV herself one day.
Freddy obliges. Jennifer falls asleep and he possesses the TV she’s watching. He creates mechanical arms to grab Jennifer and grows his head out of the top of the set. After uttering one of his finest one-liners, “Welcome to primetime, bitch!” Freddy pulls her head into the screen. No one said breaking into television was easy.
Phillip Anderson - A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
Like Jennifer, Phillip is a patient and one of the last Elm Street kids at Westin Hills. He sleepwalks and enjoys making marionettes. Per usual, Freddy turns both of his quirks against him.
In one of the more graphic scenes in the series, Phillip has his tendons ripped from his body and Freddy uses them to control him like they’re puppet strings. He walks Phillip onto a balcony and then cuts his puppet strings, causing him to fall to his death and making it look like a suicide. Apparently, Freddy was looking for NSA only.
Greta Gibson - A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
Greta is good friends and classmates with Alice Johnson in the fifth Nightmare film. See, Alice is pregnant and Freddy is using her unborn son to get into her friends’ dreams. Or something. Look, it’s the fourth sequel. Don’t question it. What’s important is that Greta has a controlling mother who wants her to be a model and often takes tight control of her diet.
When Greta falls asleep at a dinner party, Freddy shows up in a chef’s outfit and begins force-feeding her, as her mother and other party guests look on and laugh. Her cheeks expand horrifically as he keeps feeding her more and more until she can’t breathe. It’s revealed at the end that Freddy has been feeding Greta her own guts the whole time. She should’ve stuck with keto.
Spencer Lewis - Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
Like any normal teenage boy, Spencer likes to spend his free time playing video games, getting high, and ruminating about how much he hates his father. In the sixth Nightmare film, actually… nevermind. Explaining the plot here isn’t a constructive use of anyone’s time. Just remember this is the one that features Tom Arnold and Roseanne Barr.
Spencer gets high watching TV and starts tripping out. Eventually, Freddy sucks him into the TV and traps him inside a video game, where he faces an avatar of his father. Though initially victorious, he eventually faces a whole army of his dads. Freddy dons a power glove and takes Spencer to his final Game Over screen. Even the Konami code couldn’t save him.
