The Nightmare On Elm Street franchise includes nine movies, which has prompted some viewers to wonder what order these installments take place in. A Nightmare On Elm Street proved a huge hit when director Wes Craven’s iconic slasher horror movie was released in 1984. The story of a serial killer who returned from the dead to haunt the children of his murderers from beyond the grave, A Nightmare On Elm Street’s scariest innovation was its villain. Freddy Krueger was a dream demon who attacked the heroes in their sleep, meaning the franchise’s teens weren’t safe anywhere.
The Nightmare On Elm Street movies have remained one of the biggest slasher franchises thanks to the success found in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Robert Englund’s unforgettable Krueger went down in horror history as one of the sub-genre’s most memorable monsters, inspiring countless parodies and imitations in the years after the original movie’s success. Freddy’s distinct scarred visage and his killer one-liners made it so audiences continued to have an interest in seeing more movies involving him. However, the series’ chronology can be easy to forget or misunderstand after nine movies.
The Nightmare On Elm Street Movies In Release Order
The Nightmare On Elm Street movies began in 1984 with A Nightmare On Elm Street. This sleeper hit marked the beginning of an impressive run where six movies came out in the span of only eight years. This began with the often misjudged A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge coming a year later, and then a rare gap taken as A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors epitomized the potential of the franchise by leaning into its outlandish elements. The next two sequels continued this approach, but to diminishing returns, as Dream Warriors secretly ruined the franchise.
Freddy was reduced to spouting corny quips and killing celebrities during ill-advised cameos by the time Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare arrived. The critically abhorred outing effectively killed any lingering interest in the franchise until original director Wes Craven returned. New Nightmare preceded Scream’s meta-takedown of slasher tropes but failed to set the box office alight. The franchise then sought reinvention through the slasher showdown Freddy Vs Jason, only for Kreuger to remain inactive until the Nightmare On Elm Street remake. This is the correct viewing order for when each Nightmare On Elm Street movie came out.
- A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
- A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
- A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
- A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
- A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
- Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
- Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
- Freddy Vs Jason (2003)
- Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)
The Nightmare On Elm Street In Chronological Order Of Events
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Box Office: $857 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 31 minutes
Cast: Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Johnny Depp (Glen Lantz), Heather Langenkamp (Nancy Thompson), Amanda Wyss (Tina Gray), John Saxon (Lt. Thompson), Ronee Blakley (Marge Thompson), Lin Shaye (Teacher)
While the chronology of the series is a little choppy later on, the series definitively begins with 1984’s original A Nightmare On Elm Street. This slasher sees Heather Langenkamp’s Nancy Thompson try to work the identity of the monstrous figure haunting her dreams as he kills off her friends. John Saxon plays Nancy’s father while a young Johnny Depp plays her love interest. With a 91-minute runtime, A Nightmare On Elm Street earned a whopping $57 million upon release.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
Box Office: $30 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 27 minutes
Cast: Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Mark Patton (Jesse Walsh), Kim Myers (Lisa Webber), Clu Gulager (Mr. Walsh), Hope Lange (Mrs. Walsh)
1985’s A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge sees its hero Jesse move into Nancy’s old house but otherwise bears no relation to the preceding movie. Bizarrely, Freddy barely invades any dreams in the sequel, instead possessing Jesse. At 87 minutes, A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge is one of the franchise’s shorter outings and one of its less successful movies, with a box office of only $30 million.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Box Office: $44 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Cast: Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Patricia Arquette (Kristen Parker), Heather Langenkamp (Nancy Thompson), Craig Wasson (Dr. Neil Gordon), Rodney Eastman (Joey Crusel), Jennifer Rubin (Taryn White), Bradley Gregg (Phillip Anderson), Ira Heiden (Will Stanton), Laurence Fishburne (Max Daniels), Penelope Sudrow (Jennifer Caulfield), John Saxon (Donald Thompson), Nan Martin (Amanda Krueger)
At 96 minutes, A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors was a return to form for the series. This outing saw Nancy return as an adult psychiatrist treating a group of patients who were picked off by Freddy. This sequel introduced the premise of “Dream Warriors,” characters who could use their own dream powers to defeat Freddy. With a box office of $44 million and better reviews than its predecessor, the outing firmly brought the franchise back on track.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
Box Office: $49 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Cast: Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Lisa Wilcox (Alice Johnson), Danny Hassel (Dan Jordan), Tuesday Knight (Kristen Parker), Brooke Theiss (Debbie Stevens), Ken Sagoes (Roland Kincaid), Rodney Eastman (Joey Crusel), Andras Jones (Rick Johnson), Nicholas Mele (Dennis Johnson)
Director Renny Harlin took over after the third outing and A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master picked up only one year after the previous movie’s ending, bringing back numerous characters from its predecessor. However, A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master’s plot was a little more threadbare as Freddy simply started killing victims at random after getting his revenge. Although the sequel’s fast-paced 93-minute runtime features the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise’s best nightmare, this one still didn’t deserve its massive $49 million box office.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
Box Office: $22 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Cast: Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Lisa Wilcox (Alice Johnson), Kelly Jo Minter (Yvonne Miller), Erika Anderson (Greta Gibson), Danny Hassel (Dan Jordan), Beatrice Boepple (Amanda Krueger), Whit Herford (Jacob Johnson), Joe Seely (Mark Gray), Nicholas Mele (Dennis Johnson)
After the disappointing reception of A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, it is no surprise that A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child earned only $22 million at the box office. This sequel saw Lisa Wilcox return as Alice Johnson, one of the franchise’s most resilient Final Girls. However, A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child’s story was a disappointing mashup of earlier, stronger outings.
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
Box Office: $35 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Cast: Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Lisa Zane (Maggie Burroughs/Katherine Krueger), Lezlie Deane (Tracy Swan), Shon Greenblatt (John Doe), Breckin Meyer (Spencer Lewis), Ricky Dean Logan (Carlos Rodriguez), Johnny Depp (Teen on TV), Tom Arnold (Childless Man), Roseanne Barr (Childless Woman), Alice Cooper (Edward Underwood)
1991’s Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare was something of a comeback for Krueger in financial terms, earning $35 million upon release. However, the movie was a major letdown for fans. Set ten years in the future, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare had few canon connections with the earlier movies and mostly focused on an all-new cast that proved to be full of forgettable characters.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
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Box Office: $19.8 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 52 minutes
Cast: Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Heather Langenkamp (Nancy Thompson), Miko Hughes (Dylan Porter), John Saxon (Donald Thompson), Tracy Middendorf (Julie), David Newsom (Chase Porter), Fran Bennett (Dr. Christine Heffner)
Released in 1994, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare saved the franchise, but it was the first movie to screw up the franchise timeline. Returning director Wes Craven made a story about Freddy attacking his real-life creator, Langenkamp, and even Englund, a trippy meta-joke that meant this entire movie took place outside of the franchise’s timeline. With a beefed-up runtime of 112 minutes, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare found critical acclaim but disappointed at the box office by earning just shy of $20 million.
Freddy Vs Jason (2003)
Box Office: $16 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 38 minutes
Cast: Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Ken Kirzinger (Jason Voorhees), Monica Keena (Lori Campbell), Kelly Rowland (Kia Waterson), Jason Ritter (Will Rollins), Chris Marquette (Charlie Linderman)
2003’s Freddy Vs Jason offered just what its title promised. Seemingly set around 2003 (2 years after Freddy’s defeat in Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare), the franchise crossover unites two of the most iconic horror movie villains for a deadly team-up before ultimately turning on each other as a result of their differences. Freddy Vs Jason earned $116 million at the box office, but its brief 98-minute runtime left some critics unimpressed.
Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)
Box Office: $17 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Cast: Jackie Earle Haley (Freddy Krueger), Kyle Gallner (Quentin Smith), Rooney Mara (Nancy Holbrook), Katie Cassidy (Kris Fowles), Thomas Dekker (Jesse Braun), Kellan Lutz (Dean Russell), Clancy Brown (Alan Smith), Connie Britton (Dr. Gwen Holbrook)
2010’s Nightmare On Elm Street remake takes place outside the franchise’s continuity. The terrible 2010 remake rewrote Freddy’s backstory, changed his appearance, and left both fans and critics furious. Solid performances from Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, and Katie Cassidy helped make the remake more watchable than it otherwise proved to be. Despite earning $117 million, it remains the weakest of the Nightmare On Elm Street movies, ending any franchise viewing order on a disappointing note.
