Of all the modern horror franchises there’s just something utterly special about the Nightmare on Elm Street films. The reasons are fairly obvious- the killer Freddy Krueger talks is one of them, the other are the death scenes itself. For this we can’t compare the Halloween franchise or Friday the 13th which were for the most part based in reality (yes Jason X we are looking at you as the exception to that rule).
And so because Nightmare on Elm Street was based in the dream world literally anything could happen. When was the last time you woke up and thought wtf just happened? That’s REM baby- where your brain will either delve into your deepest fears and anxieties- usually when you’re tired or once or twice a year you’ll get the ultimate great dream.
On Elm Street that was never the case, kids were butchered to death just because they fell asleep- in the words of Alice Johnson from Parts 4 and 5 “don’t fall asleep.” But well, you know unless you’re some Russian priest who travelled around the world lately in a balloon to not fall asleep is pretty darn hard. Said priest went a whopping 11 days without a wink just in case you needed to know.
In short the kills down Elm Street can be outrageous, gory and jaw dropping- the writers could run with their imaginations and often did. This created some very memorable if not often bizarre death scenes in the Elm Street films, and we loved them! Below is the top 10 including from the original to Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.
10. John Saxon Meets a Cadillac
Donald Thompson played of course by the great veteran actor John Saxon returned as Nancy’s father from the original Nightmare movie to star in A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors. Here we see him as no more than the town drunk when Nancy and her new colleague Dr. Gordon track him down so he can help locate Freddy’s remains and kill him forever. Once he is finally persuaded to join the hunt things go awry when Freddy’s remains come to life and attack Donald. He is thrown onto what seems to be the sharp end of a Cadillac and we lose one of the more important characters from the early Elm Street movies. Fight scene is fairly memorable as a nodding tribute to the classic Ray Harryhausen movies.
9. Freddy Plays the Ultimate Trick on Poor Nancy
Everything is going great for Nancy as she aims to help the final kids of Elm Street and save them from Freddy. But everyone’s favourite razor fingered killer has been real busy in what was Part 3: Dream Warriors. His skeleton self has just killed Nancy’s father, Donald (see above). His physical form is now after his nemesis- Nancy Thompson. So Freddy thinks outside the box and comes back as Nancy’s father as a spirit. At first Nancy is very perplexed- but the trick here is on us the viewer. Nancy has no idea at that point that her father has been killed- we do, and so we are bought in to the fact that the spirit really is her fathers. Well no it isn’t and as Nancy comes to terms with it all and hugs him for the last time, Freddy is revealed and he stabs her straight through the stomach for one of the real shock kills of the franchise. Despite the many Kleenex tissues that horror fans got through in that scene at least Nancy delivers the ultimate blow to Freddy by shoving his own gloved hand in his body. But he would, of course be back soon enough.
8. Don’t Dream and Drive
There’s just something about Dan Jordan’s death from Part 5: The Dream Child that touches a raw nerve- (sorry couldn’t resist). But seriously this is a real sad death. We know that Alice and him will be expecting a baby- opening credits are a dead give away! This chapter in their life is about moving on but no Freddy is back through their unborn child’s dreams and he goes predictability after Alice’s boyfriend Dan. There he is on his motorcycle but he’s tired and nods off, this is seriously one of the better kills from the series where Dan literally becomes one with his bike. Pistons break as wiring shoots up Dan’s veins and within his body. This death was originally hacked to pieces by the MPAA.
7. Ear Today, Gone Tomorrow
A really cruel kill here from Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Carlos has hearing problems so must wear a hearing aid, so Freddy of course plays on this instead of killing him off quickly he does it slowly. The smallest noise becomes the loudest- so Freddy drops some pins. Finally he uses his knifed glove to make some screeching noises which all becomes just too much for Carlos whose head then explodes! The best kill from an often difficult sixth movie.
6. YOU CAN CHECK IN BUT YOU CAN’T CHECK OUT….
So imagine your deepest fear is a hate of bugs and then imagine that Freddy Krueger knows that… Aah poor Debbie. Early on in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master it is revealed to us that Debbie doesn’t like bugs and Freddy uses this against her as Alice and Dan are trapped in a time loop trying to save her. Debbie is working out when Freddy appears and he presses down on her weights which snaps her arms, oh that must’ve hurt! Her arms are quickly replaced with what appears to be part of a cockroach’s legs! Debbie completes her metamorphose into a bug in a matchbox where she is now a cockroach that gets squished by a fast quipping Freddy. What a sad disgusting way to go, but remember Freddy knows your fears.
5. Johnny Depp Gets Swallowed by a Bed
Johnny Depp’s first movie didn’t end too well for his character but he did at least star in one of the great horror movies the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. Depp played Glen a typically laid back teenager who was Nancy’s boyfriend. Glen had nightmares though about everyone’s favorite serial killer and soon enough he would be mince meat. Glen falls asleep and instead of having a comfortable night, the bed goes and swallows him and then for added fright throws up his guts, eeek! But good gracious it was and still is fun to watch all that gore- a horror fans Niagara Falls.
4. The Puppet master
Dream Warriors the third part of the Elm Street franchise was loaded with great deaths. This one involved one of the patients who was already a threat for slitting his wrists so Freddy as usual capitalised on this. Phillip awakes to his veins being sliced and diced as well as his tendons and these are used as to control him like a puppet. Is he in pain? Evidently so but his total shock is keeping him from screaming. Great gore effects especially for the time. Freddy leads him to the tower where he cuts his veins and tendons like a puppeteer would to string and Phillip seemingly falls to his death in what looks like a suicide. Freddy you’re so cruel.
3. Welcome to Prime Time Bitch!
It sounds wrong, but what an awesome kill this is. Poor Jennifer from Part 3: Dream Warriors who stubs cigarettes into her hands to keep herself awake goes into the TV room to watch a movie. She’s fairly confident that watching Scott Grimes (awesome child actor) in the very wonderful Critters will keep her awake and safe from Freddy’s clutches. Not quite so. But maybe that’s because she changed the channel and watched Dick Cavett interview Zsa Zsa Gabor instead- Cavett turns into Freddy and goes to kill Gabor in an hilarious moment when the TV starts to play up. Jennifer checks it out only for Freddy’s squirming head to appear from the top complete with aerial and mechanical hands, “welcome to prime time bitch”, Freddy tells her before yanking her head into the television set. Our jaws dropped and then like the horror freaks we are we rewound and watched again and again and again.
2. Let’s Get High
Again this choice of kill draws from the excellent third instalment Dream Warriors. Here Freddy corners Taryn a recovering heroin addict, she thinks in her dreams she has what it takes to beat Freddy, but he knows his innermost fears. She checks her arms to see little mouths vying for some drugs and Freddy is loaded with gear. He shoves all 8 needles into her giving her one hell of an overdose, look closely and you see a great vein effect on Taryn’s face. Freddy finishes off by quipping, “what a rush.”
1. Tina Gets Killed Slowly
Poor Tina, Nancy’s best friend gets killed rather slowly as Freddy toys with her when she is in bed with her boyfriend who will get arrested for her death. Tina played by the wonderful Amanda Wyss gets slashed and diced by an invisible Freddy before being tortured upside down and on the ceiling as Freddy drags his claws all over her body. Her helpless boyfriend can only watch in horror. Crème de la crème is final shot of her body hitting a blood splattered and soaked bed. Glorious. It doesn’t end there for Tina though as she reappears in a body bag in the school halls tempting Nancy to the infamous boiler room, this is back when Elm Street was a genuinely scary movie and this is one creepy scene from the original.