Keep in mind these are only my opinions. If you would like to let me know what you think about the Elm Street series, e-mail me and tell me about it! stevend@unicomp.net

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
The film that started it all! I don't think many can argue that the first was the best. That's usually the way it is. This is by far the best writen movie of the series. Wes Craven introduces us to the legend know as Fred Krueger. We are given Freddy's background as a child murdered and his death at the hands of the Elm Street parents. Now we find that Freddy has returned to hunt down the children of Elm Street in there dreams. The fact that if you die in your dreams you die for real is frightening. This introduced a new type of supernatural horror movie.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
A lot of people don't like this one very much, but I gotta say that to me this was the best one next to the first. I think Freddy's look in this film was the most frightening it's ever been. I also thought the idea of Freddy being able to kill in real life through Jesse was a nice difference from all the other films that seem to be pretty much the same in the dream sequences. There's a scene where Freddy is attacking the kids at Lisa's party and her dad takes a shot at him with a shotgun. The look on Freddy's face, illuminated by the fire, is classic. Along with a spooky musical score by Christopher Young, this is what I consider the darkest Nightmare on Elm Street.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
This is where Freddy started to get comedic. This film was a change of pace from the two preceding films, but its form was coppied too closely in the movies that followed. Freddy's look got less gruesome and we got to see him as other objects, such as a giant snake like creature, a puppet, and a television. This movie also started one trend that I'm not too fond of, Freddy's one liners. We were treated to lines like "Welcome to prime time, bitch" and "Let's get high!" It does however supply more background information by introducing Amanda Krueger, Freddy's mom. She tells of how she was locked in a mental institution with a bunch of crazies and raped multiple times. The result was, "The bastard son of a hundred maniacs", Freddy Krueger.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
The surviver of Part 3, Kristen, is back in this one. She's played by a different actress, but I guess we weren't supposed to notice that. Kristen lasts about halfway through the movie before Freddy gets her. Then Alice takes over as this films heroine. Every time one of her friends dies Freddy gets their souls and she gets their powers. I'd say this film is a bit better than Part 3. There are some pretty cool special effects. In the end Freddy dies by simply seeing his reflection in the mirror.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
Ahhh, Something new injected into the continuing plot line. Freddy can now get to people by using the dreams of an unborn baby. This baby belongs to the Alice from Part 4. We get to see more of Amanda Krueger as Freddy is born a deformed demon child. Then again we see her at the end as Freddy is reduced back to the demon child and Amanda takes him back inside her.

FREDDY'S DEAD: The Final Nightmare (1991)
This is what was supposed to be the final film in the Elm Street series, but of course as long as New Line Cinema thinks they can squeeze a little more money out of Nightmare they'll keep cranking out new movies. This movie is really just more of the same. The best part of the movie is the ending where it switches to 3D. It's done in a kind of corny way, but it was still cool to watch in the theater. The problem comes when you watch it on video, because the 3D effects are gone. Again another twist is thrown in. We find out that Freddy has a daughter and that when Freddy died he was offered eternal life by some kind of Dream Demons. So that explains why Freddy can come back and kill you through your dreams.