Common Sense Media Review
By Charles Cassady Jr.
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
First feature for knife-handed Freddy; sex, violence, gore.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 46 parent reviews
Parents say the film's appropriateness varies widely depending on children's maturity, with some suggesting it be reserved for ages 13 and older due to its intense violence and mature content. While it is celebrated as a classic horror movie with strong themes and notable characters, many reviews emphasize caution for younger viewers because of its scares, gore, and implied sexual content.
- maturity dependent
- intense violence
- classic horror
- caution advised
- strong characters
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Based on 201 kid reviews
What's the Story?
In A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, Ohio teen Nancy (Heather Langenkamp); her high school football player boyfriend, Glen (Johnny Depp, in his movie debut); and two schoolmates have been having disturbing dreams. They all involve a badly scarred man in a hat and garish striped sweater who's stalking, taunting, and trying to kill them with a custom-made glove that has knives in the fingers. After one of the teens is brutally murdered, Nancy suspects there's a link to their terrifying nightmares and manages to pry the truth from her mother (Ronee Blakely). Years ago, a child-killer named Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) prowled their neighborhood and was released from jail on a legal technicality. The local parents took matters into their own hands and set his dwelling on fire, burning Krueger alive, and then concealed their act of vigilantism. Of course, those same parents have no idea that the renewed "nightmare" on Elm Street is the vengeful Freddy returned to torment their offspring while they sleep.
Is It Any Good?
Part of this film's success was that writer-director Wes Craven made it at a time when banal, bloody copies of Friday the 13th (starring hockey-masked Jason) commonly filled theaters. Any teen-themed horror film that was even halfway original and imaginative would have stood out: Enter A Nightmare on Elm Street, with a cast of teens who were a shade more sympathetic and well-drawn than Jason's victims. And the dream-attack gimmick, while never really explained as clearly as it should be, makes for lots of shock scenes and visual surprises. Craven teases viewers about what is or isn't really happening and also plants more sophisticated seeds of unease, like the repeated nursery rhyme that has become a hallmark ("One, two, Freddy's coming for you ..."). Parenting and family life—touchstones of reassurance and protection in horror movies like Poltergeist—aren't sources of comfort here. Mothers and fathers killed Krueger and covered it up, and now the villain is punishing their children for it—the old sins-of-the-fathers biblical warning (in slasher-movie clothing).
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the slasher movie conventions that A Nightmare on Elm Street uses. What cliches of the genre do you notice? How does this movie differ from other slashers? How has it influenced the genre to this day?
The movie has messages about facing fear head on, such as when Nancy takes on Freddy in her dreams and plots to put an end to his reign of terror. Why is facing your fears or unwelcome thoughts helpful in real life, too?
How does the movie build tension? What role do things like sound design and lighting play? Are there any scenes that stand out as scary to you? Why? How do you feel about the gory, bloody scenes? How do they compare to the levels of gore in more recent horror films?
Movie Details
- In theaters : November 9, 1984
- On DVD or streaming : August 11, 2001
- Cast : John Saxon , Johnny Depp , Robert Englund
- Director : Wes Craven
- Studio : New Line
- Genre : Horror
- Run time : 91 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : gore, profanity, sexual innuendo, alcohol use
- Last updated : December 11, 2025
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