‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ Will Be Preserved Forever At The National Film Registry

  |  
Dec 15, 2021

Freddy Krueger will be preserved forever. Not in the dreams of the Elm Street children, but in The National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. The 1984 Wes Craven horror classic A Nightmare On Elm Street is now an official addition to the Film Library this year, alongside a selection of only 25 films.

The National Film Registry at the Library of Congress has deemed the film to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” enough for the prestigious inclusion.

Here is what the Library of Congress had to say about A Nightmare On Elm Street:

“The great horror maestro Wes Craven, as both writer and director, gave a generation of teens (of all ages) terminal insomnia with this imaginative and intense slasher scare fest. Freddy Krueger (played by soon-to-be legend Robert Englund) is the burn-scarred ghost of a psychopathic child killer, now returned to haunt your dreams and take his revenge! Heather Langenkamp stars as the heroic Nancy, who figures out who Freddy is and must be the one to stop him. Also in the cast: Johnny Depp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley and Charles Fleischer.”

The official press release continued with adding: “Made on a budget under $2 million, “Elm Street” became a box office sensation and has inspired numerous sequels (including a film that pitted Freddy against Jason of the “Friday the 13th” films), a 2010 remake, a TV series, books, comic books and videogames, making it one of the most successful film franchises in the history of any cinematic genre. The film established New Line Cinema as a major force in film production, with some calling New Line “The House That Freddy Built.” 

A Nightmare On Elm Street joins a select few other horror titles to be included in the library, such as  The Exorcist, Alien, Psycho, Rosemary’s Baby,Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Shining.

All the other films that have been added to the library this year are as follows: 

  • Ringling Brothers Parade Film (1902) 
  • Jubilo (1919) 
  • The Flying Ace (1926) 
  • Hellbound Train (1930) 
  • Flowers and Trees (1932) 
  • Strangers on a Train (1951) 
  • What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) 
  • Evergreen (1965)
  • Requiem-29 (1970) 
  • The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) 
  • Pink Flamingos (1972) 
  • Sounder (1972) 
  • The Long Goodbye (1973) 
  • Cooley High (1975) 
  • Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979) 
  • Chicana (1979) 
  • The Wobblies (1979) 
  • Star Wars Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983) 
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) 
  • Stop Making Sense (1984) 
  • Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1987) 
  • The Watermelon Woman (1996) 
  • Selena (1997) 
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 
  • WALL•E (2008)

Lastly, what other horror films deserve the Library of Congress treatment? Let me know on Twitter via @joshkorngut. I’m always around to chat all things A Nightmare On Elm Street.

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