The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise has never been a favorite of mine though the inferior sequels might not be great, they are better than the majority of the Friday the 13th sequels at least.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
— 7-Film Collection —
(1984-1994)
Genre(s): Horror
Warner Bros. | NR – 658 min. – $104.98 | September 30, 2025
Date Published: 12/29/2025 | Author: The Movieman
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
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A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) — Several Midwestern teenagers fall prey to Freddy Krueger (ROBERT ENGLUND), a disfigured midnight mangler who preys on the teenagers in their dreams — which, in turn, kills them in reality. After investigating the phenomenon, Nancy (HEATHER LANGENKAMP) begins to suspect that a dark secret kept by her and her friends’ parents may be the key to unraveling the mystery, but can Nancy and her boyfriend Glen (JOHNNY DEPP) solve the puzzle before it’s too late? A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) — Jesse Walsh (MARK PATTON) moves with his family into the home of the lone survivor from a series of attacks by dream-stalking monster Freddy Krueger. There, Jesse is bedeviled by nightmares and inexplicably violent impulses. It turns out Freddy needs a host body to carry out his gruesome vendetta against the youth of Springwood, Ohio. While Freddy gains influence, Jesse and his girlfriend, Lisa (KIM MYERS), race against the clock trying to figure out what’s going on. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) — During a hallucinatory incident, young Kristen Parker (PATRICIA ARQUETTE) has her wrists slashed by dream-stalking monster Freddy Krueger. Her mother, mistaking the wounds for a suicide attempt, sends Kristen to a psychiatric ward, where she joins a group of similarly troubled teens. One of the doctors there is Nancy Thompson, who had battled Freddy some years before. Nancy senses a potential in Kristen to rid the world of Freddy once and for all. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) — Freddy Krueger returns in Kristen’s (TUESDAY KNIGHT) dreams and persuades her to summon a friend. However, Alice (LISA WILCOX), who is drawn into Kristen’s dream, wakes up to realize that Kristen is in danger. A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989) —Alice, who believes Freddy Krueger has been eliminated for good. She optimistically hopes to start a life with fellow survivor Dan (DANNY HASSEL). The nightmares begin soon enough, though, and Alice learns she is pregnant. When her friends start dying, Alice suspects that Freddy is using the fetus within her as a weapon. Can she fight the demon while protecting her unborn child? Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) — Murderous ghoul Freddy Krueger has slaughtered every last child in his hometown. He ventures on to a new location, scouting fresh young victims to hack up with his finger blades. He arrives in a small town in which his long-lost daughter, Maggie (LISA ZANE), works as a therapist for troubled youths. He attempts to recruit her for his dastardly pursuits, but she has other ideas. Father and daughter meet for a bloody showdown that will determine Freddy’s fate once and for all. New Nightmare (1994) — Reality and fantasy meet in unsettling ways and finds director Wes Craven and actors Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund all portraying themselves. As Heather considers making another film with Craven, her son, Dylan (MIKO HUGHES), falls under the spell of the iconic disfigured villain Freddy Krueger. Eventually, Langenkamp must confront Freddy’s demonic spirit to save the soul of Dylan. Quick Hit Review: I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise save for the first one and have a modest appreciation of New Nightmare, but the rest I can pretty much skip though much of the makeup effects were at least decent enough and you can never not be happy with the joy Robert Englund has playing Freddy Krueger. That said, as horror franchises go, it’s nowhere near the top of the list but I guess these are at least watchable (can’t say the same for more than a few of the later Friday the 13th sequels). |
Nightmare on Elm Street has all 7 films housed on their own disc and comes with a matted slip cover and a single code for the Digital HD copies. Also included is a pair of the old 3D glasses.
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (5/5)
- Audio Commentaries
- 2001: Wes Craven (Writer/Director), Heather Langenkamp (Actress) and Jacques Haikin (Actor)
- 2006: Wes Craven (Writer/Director), Robert Shaye (Producer), Robert Englund (Actor), Heather Langenkamp (Actress), Amanda Wyss (Actress), Ronee Blakley (Actor), Sara Risher (Co-Producer), Jacques Haikin (Actor), John Burrows (Associate Producer), Charles Bernstein (Composer), Rick Shaine (Editor), Patrick McMahon (Editor), Jim Doyle (Mechanical Special Effects Designer), David B. Miller (Special Makeup Effects Artist) and David Del Valle (Journalist)
- Focus Points (18:13) — Here we get 29 mostly alternate takes of various scenes.
- Alternate Endings (4:58) — There are three different endings (Scary, Happy and Freddy)
- Featurettes:
- The House That Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror (21:52)
- Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street (49:54)
- Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares (15:33)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE (2.5/5)
- Featurettes:
- Freddy on 8th Street (5:34)
- Heroes and Villains (6:27)
- The Male Witch (2:53)
- Psychosexual Circus (3:32)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIOS (2.5/5)
- Behind the Story (27:00) — 7-part featurette
- Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video (5:10)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER (2.25/5)
- Featurettes
- The Finnish Line (2:29)
- Kruger, Freddy Krueger (8:18)
- Hopeless Chest (3:47)
- Let’s Makeup (2:22)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD (2/5)
- Behind the Story (15:17) — 5-part making-of featurette
FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE (1.25/5)
- Featurettes
- 86’D (1:46)
- Hellraiser (0:45)
- Rachel’s Dream (2:55)
- 3D Demise (2:24)
WES CRAVEN’S NEW NIGHTMARE (4.25/5)
- Audio Commentary — Wes Craven
- Featurettes
- Boiler Room Confessional (7:33)
- Freddy’s Footnotes (7:48)
- Becoming a Filmmaker (8:00)
- Filmmaker (4:43)
- An Insane Troupe (0:57)
- The Problem with Sequels (1:41)
- Two Worlds (2:10)
- Welcome to Primetime (49:53) is a documentary split into 10 parts
- Conclusion (17:27) — Another featurette split in 10 segments.
VIDEO – 4½/5 |
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All seven of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies are presented here in the original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given 2160p high-definition transfers. For the most part the transfers across all seven movies is consistent, detail is relatively sharp and colors well balanced between the brighter scenes either in daylight or in a well lit room to the darker aspects of the (mainly) dream world where it was stark yet still certain elements can be seen. |
AUDIO – 4½/5 |
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Each film comes with an upgraded Dolby Atmos track that really takes advantage of the horror aspects from the screams of Freddy’s victims to some of the more subtle elements like when in Freddy’s nightmare world. Every one of these is fine lossless tracks that will give at least a slight workout for the surround sound system. |
OVERALL — 3¾/5 |
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The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise has never been a favorite of mine though the inferior sequels might not be great, they are better than the majority of the Friday the 13th sequels at least. In any case, this set is a great release with bonus features ported over (for the most part) and now in a more compact case. At the right price it is worth picking up. |