A Nightmare on Elm Street A Nightmare on Elm Street A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven, and produced by Robert Shaye. It stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his film debut. The plot focuses on four teenagers, living on one street in a fictitious town of Ohio, whose dreams are invaded by a burnt killer with a bladed glove. In the dreams, the teenagers are killed, but they also die in reality. The teenagers do not understand the cause of this strange phenomenon,
A Nightmare on Elm Street on Elm Street" was released in Europe, Canada, and Australia. In a contemporary review, Kim Newman wrote in the "Monthly Film Bulletin" that "A Nightmare on Elm Street" was closer to a Stephen King adaptation with its small-town setting, and "invented monster myth". Newman concluded that the film found "Craven emerging from the his recent career slump ("Swamp Thing", "The Hills Have Eyes Part 2", "Invitation to Hell") with a fine, perhaps definitive bogeyman to back him up" and that the film was "a superior example of an over-worked genre". Paul Attanasio of "The Washington Post" praised the film, stating