It comes as no surprise that Warner’s have delivered a boxset of all 7 original Elm Street flicks within a year of releasing the first film in various releases last year. The double-dipping trickery never ends, does it? In fact, all the studios seem to be leaning into the spoon-feeding technique with franchise releases in 4K. Nevertheless, this iconic horror set is a welcome addition to any film nut’s shelf, delivering every film from the original run and eschewing 2003’s Freddy vs Jason and the much-maligned Platinum Dunes’ 2010 remake.

From the brilliant (if twisted) mind of Wes Craven (may he rest in peace), came a decade of carnage at the hands of one Freddy Krueger, a child-murdering sicko who met his end at the hands of the Elm Street parents. Only that was when the real nightmare began. Seems Krueger found a way to continue his evil from beyond the grave, slipping into the dreams of Elm Street’s teens and taking them out. Through 7 movies, at the hands of dozens of writers and directors (bookended by Craven), Freddy sliced his way through a bevy of casts and enthralled the world. They came in varying levels of interest and quality to be frank, but what a memorable ride it was.

The Elm Street films have literally flourished and engrained themselves into the public consciousness for generations now, due to the ever-changing home media markets. VHS had a big part to play in its perennial appeal and commercial viability. It’s also been the beneficiary of some spectacular releases over the years. So, I’ll briefly go through each film and dive into what we’re here for: probably the last generation of transfers.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

In 1984, Craven delivered what he assumed was a one shot. The story of a girl named Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) who is experiencing terrible dreams. Turns out so are some of her friends. They decide to have a slumber party, when her friend Tina (Amanda Weiss) is slaughtered by an invisible force in her sleep. Turns out she is the latest victim of a long-dead child killer, Freddy Krueger. A demonic entity now capable of finding victims in the living world through one of life’s necessities: sleep. Nancy fights to stay awake and find answers to why Freddy seems interested in taking out all of Elm Street’s teens before it’s too late. 

Utterly brilliant story. Taking a benign, everyday moment of life and making the characters of the film vulnerable to attack. A creature so malevolent that he claims your life without detection. The character of Nancy was a quintessential shift in young female horror characterisation. She is a teenage girl, desperate, powerless, and afraid. But she has her wits and great empathy. They help her win the day against an omnipotent adversary. Supporting characters range from serviceable to one note. The adults are deliberately written to be useless, so I guess that’s what they are. The winning hand is Englund’s Krueger. He espouses malevolence as easily as he does glee and sells the terror Craven was going for.

Some of the brilliant set-pieces and effects still hold up to this day. The ill-received remake proved this a decade ago. CGI and fancy lighting were no match for the Tina kill and Freddy morphing through Nancy’s bedroom wall practical effects from the original. 

My only real issue with this was a scene Craven didn’t even want to film: the final scene where all four teens are alive and going to school, Nancy’s mom claims she’s quit drinking… and “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…” He burst through the front door window and wrenches a sex doll inflatable mom back inside. Looked terrible on VHS, just imagine what it looks like in 2024 4K/2160p! 

This film is where it started. It’s the epitome of the imagination and risk taking that defined the 1980s and gave us the majority of the IPs now relentlessly milked by Hollywood. Rest In Peace, Wes Craven. You left us Freddy to deal with. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

New Line Cinema may have eked out an existence before 1984, but it was Freddy that made them the studio they became. Following on from Craven’s Elm Street they wanted to capitalize on the success with a sequel. Not ever having envisioned the story of Freddy as a franchise and quickly falling out with New Line owner Bob Shaye over money, Craven was out. Enter director Jack Sholder.

This one chose to pit Freddy against a male protagonist. Awkward teen Jesse (Mark Patton) and his family move into Nancy’s (Heather Langenkamp) family’s former home, several years after the original Nightmare. Inexplicable shit starts occurring in the home, like oppressive unexplainable heat and spontaneously exploding family pets, and of course Jesse is dreaming of one Frederick Krueger. Jesse has the obligatory circle of acquaintances that will become Freddy’s playthings. Of note is Lisa (Kim Myers), who for some reason fancies him? In this one Freddy has the ability to use Jesse as an avatar to slice and dice kids in the real world. The carefully constructed surrealist dream powers have been supplanted by more of a slasher film pastiche in this one. While this is anathema to Craven’s original vision, it does offer something different.

Modern eyes have retrospectively labelled this to have a homoerotic subtext throughout, but this was never the original intention. What it does do is push the boundaries of gore and Freddy’s character is more hateful and vicious in this one. That sense of disturbing glee and playfulness is replaced with a malevolence in this entry that doesn’t ever resurface. As a side note, for five seconds, the miserly New Line attempted to replace Englund with a stuntman due to his salary demands and quickly learned it wasn’t doable.

This one is an outlier in the franchise. It has no real connection to the original or the sequels that would follow it. A story apart, in tone and involvement. It’s an effective horror movie, just not an organic fit to the franchise. But it succeeded well enough to propagate a lot more of them, so not a bad legacy at all. Sadly, my favourite part of this sequel was the movie poster artwork.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Craven’s battles with New Line were softening and he was lured back to scripting duties with Bruce Wagner for the third Nightmare. Sadly, their script was deemed unusable and after going through several permutations, director Chuck Russell and none other than Frank Darabont ended up conceiving what would be considered the best sequel of the series.

We begin anew with fresh face Kristen (Patricia Arquette). Freddy’s (Robert Englund) new object of torment. Jesse (Mark Patton) is forgotten, not even mentioned. Kristen is having those dreams these unfortunate kids have. Her less than sympathetic mother could give two fucks. Kristen appears to self-harm, slicing her wrist with a razor and mother dearest ships her off to the nut farm. There, Kristen meets a whole group of troubled kids experiencing the same thing. Well-meaning but useless staff can’t help them, and Freddy is picking them off one-by-one. Then a potential ray of hope comes in the guise of original Freddy survivor Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp). Nancy is a fresh-faced psychologist graduate now, with some unique and experimental ideas. Fighting Freddy and ignorant co-workers to keep them alive, Nancy recognises abilities within Kristen/the other kids and attempts to yolk them to destroy Freddy once and for all.

This one is a great one. Extending Freddy’s torment to a collective adds a new dimension to his power and more opportunities for carnage. Thanks to Craven’s early drafts, this one also provides Langenkamp’s Nancy development and agency beyond the first movie. More is revealed about Freddy’s past, with the ‘bastard son of a hundred maniacs’ plot line. The kills are surreal and creative. Freddy’s maliciousness and deadliness was never more effective (after the first one). Englund’s ad-libs are the stuff of legend from this one. The ending, in my view, is the best of the series. A nice bookend to the story… But of course, they weren’t done churning these out, especially after seeing the box office receipts. Not by a long shot.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master

Seems the power of Christ and holy water held no efficacy when it came to box office takings. In a rather colourful sequence, Freddy comes back through the de-sanctified power of border collie flame piss! I shit you not!

Kristen (recast with Tuesday Knight), Kincaid (Ken Sagoes) and Joey (Rodney Eastman), the survivors of Dream Warriors, are still being pulled back into Freddy’s dreamworld. Although a spooky little ghost tells Kristen “Freddy’s not home,” of course we know that’s bollocks and all three of them are quickly dispatched once he shows. They were the last of the offspring of the Elm Street parents who murdered Freddy. What is the murdering ‘bastard son of a hundred maniacs’ to do? Fortunately (for box office receipts) Kristen passes her special dream powers to new lamb to the slaughter, Alice (Lisa Wilcox), a Hollywoodised brow-beaten, greasy-haired teen with no confidence. And Freddy goes at her and her doomed cadre of friends/relations with gleeful aplomb.

It's pretty rinse and repeat from here on out. Renny Harlin proved his metal as the man behind the camera in this one visually, but the script by Brian Helgeland and Scott Pierce was marred by a writer’s strike. Everyone in the New Line family were hitting their stride in this film making for the most polished looking, but it can’t save the flick from a mediocre story that leans more into fantasy tropes than horror. Alice ends up invoking the respective gifts of her fallen pals and Freddy is literally pulled apart by the souls of his victims. Meh.

Even the ending with the survivors at a fountain bores me to tears. But of course, this wouldn’t be the end.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 - The Dream Child

The box-office return of part four, ensured another go around immediately. With a truncated turnaround, part five would be spear-headed by British Director Stephen Hopkins and writers John Skipp, Craig Spector and Leslie Bohem. No dog piss would be resurrecting Freddy this time, no sir. This time, the 80s favourite movie monster would wait for the two survivors to shag unsafely (protection kids!) and conceive. Tis Alice’s (Lisa Wilcox) child that Freddy wants to inhabit and wreak havoc on the world once again.

Yes, we are on a steep downhill slant in efficacy with this one. You immediately set-up that Freddy relies on Alice to be alive to ultimately get his way, removing any stakes or drama immediately. Fucking genius. While benefitting from a larger budget and a well-oiled machine behind the scenes, the ridiculous need to hit a release date instead of waiting for a serviceable script is quickly apparent. This film quickly descends into cartoonish characterisation, outlandish set-pieces and characters you could give two craps about. Apparently, there were early drafts that endeavoured to bring back fan favourites from Dream Warriors. That at least would have given you someone to care about. The glorified extras from this entry are so one note and so quickly and ridiculously dispatched the care factor is zero.

Englund’s performance borders on self-parody. It is pure gleeful relish, remiss of any of the dark pathos of previous entries. Super Freddy? Fuck off. There is no tension, no stakes of any import. The whole thing smacks of a piecemeal rush.

Hopkins visuals and budget are excellent, but lipstick on a pig springs to mind here. Just couldn’t get into it. 5 is the first real dud of the franchise… It didn’t get any better.

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

Well, they lied from the start. This wasn’t the last one at all. But I, for one, am glad this wasn’t Elm Street’s full stop because if you thought my review of 5 was less than chipper, then hold my beer.

Rachel Talalay, the ever-present producer/accountant/wearer of many hats, throughout the series run, decided she would take a crack at the director’s chair. Even she has regrets in retrospect.

After the less than enthusiastic reception of The Dream Child it was decided the next one would be the last for the foreseeable future. Freddy would be killed off. Fantastic for the marketing department (and, as with the last one, the best thing about the movie was the poster art). Then came the very token 3D gimmick to delineate it from the rest. Snore.

In this one, we again forget the survivors from the last one and jump in time to a dystopian future where Freddy has inexplicably come back and made good on his threat to wipe out all the children. All the grown-ups are cartoonish shells of rational human beings, walking around an unkempt suburbia, ranting like kindergartens with brain trauma. The two new leads, John Doe (Shon Greenblat) and Maggie Burrows (Lisa Zane) are potentially the offspring of Krueger, who discover Freddy’s power comes from three dream demons. If they separate him from the demons, then he can never come back. What unfolds is a horrid blending of tired set-pieces, literal cartoon sound effects and ham-fisted flashbacks that cohere with the success of chocolate dipped turds. Characterisation, so-called plot and execution are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Unsatisfying isn’t a strong enough word for this mess.

Just like the filmmakers, by the end of these credits, no one gave a toss. The only reaction to Freddy’s Dead was GOOD…

But of course, Freddy wasn’t dead. And thank the Lord! Salvation was at hand!

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

The title says it all. The creator was back! After a storied rift, a ‘fuck that!’ from New Line when he wrote them a sequel, they finally got Wes (again, may he rest in peace) back for another Freddy tale. ‘But Freddy was dead!’ I hear you say. No, no, no, my self-aware, savvy horror afficionado—money talked. And as it happened, being self-aware, a little meta you might say, was Craven’s new MO. Just a few years before he and Kevin Williamson revived horror with Scream, Wes cut his teeth breaking the fourth wall with one Fred Krueger.

In this one, Heather Langenkamp stars as… herself. She’s a working actress, living in LA with a husband and son, living their life with earthquakes and day-to-day stuff. But Heather has been receiving creepy phone calls and has started having nightmares about a certain movie bogeyman she once helped bring to life. Seems the more she tries to distance herself from Freddy, the more his reach permeates into her life. New Line then offer her the chance to work with Wes Craven on another one. Then tragedy strikes when her husband seemingly dies in a wreck. Or did he? As Heather navigates this tragedy, her son starts to pull some Linda Blair shit, with a heaping helping of Elm Street stuff to boot. The lines between reality and the surrealistic horrors of Freddy converge and a new, more terrifying Freddy emerges to get her… and to take her son.

Craven did what Craven does: he reinvented the wheel. He took something he created, that had been diluted and diminished by far too many sequels and did something completely unexpected with it. He was never into the idea of a sequel and, after so many had trodden through his world, he had no interest in following on from them either. So, he took his menacing baby out of the silver screen and planted him in the real world. It allowed him to explore with themes he never could have before.

It was a bold choice and, depending on your lean, either successful or not. The one thing that appealed to me was Englund’s new turn as Freddy. He was truly threatening in this one. Gone were the one-liners, the pithy cavalier Freddy, the mirth. He was hateful, intentional and menacing again. The redesign was jarring at first, but effective. I don’t love this movie, but I respect its attempt. A worthy entry solely for that.

4K / 4K Ultra HD + Digital 4K + Anaglyph 3D

Home Video Distributor: Warner Bros.
Available on Blu-ray - September 30, 2025
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; seven-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free

A Nightmare on Elm Street

VIDEO

As aforementioned above, this is the exact same disc as 2024’s release. Yeah… Not a home run here, folks. First let's start with the good. They fixed the aspect ratio from previous releases to show the full 1.85:1 picture. It’s revelatory in comparison to earlier transfers but there is more picture to be seen. Colours are warmer than in earlier prints and consistently more natural. The HDR subtlety improves most things but especially rises to the fore in daytime shots. Where it fumbles is in the darker scenes, where a few times I noticed some digital artefacts; I think they call it macro-not blocking. Look, this is an awesome uptick from previous releases but far from flawless. 

AUDIO

THIS is the reason to spring for this! All new DOLBY Atmos 7.1 mix, baby! And, according to those that know more than me, it reinstates missing original sound elements that were excised or replaced in previous mixes. (Sorry, I don’t pay that much attention.) This mix really sets the mood, with atmospherics getting a hefty workout. Dialogue is clean and centred. Base is effective and moody. There is also a remastered DTS-HD 2.0 mix, replicating the original mono soundtrack for purists. Perfect in every way.  

Supplements:

Copious legacy features from earlier releases. Nothing contemporary here, folks. Great stuff, but nothing new. They just won’t spring for new stuff anymore, despite having no compunction charging for it. I will say you get two versions of the film, uncut and theatrical. I got the steelbook edition with a flashy new cover art to review, and it’s the least disagreeable design for a bunch of crappy photoshop jobs on the new editions. The original poster is a masterpiece! WHY WARNERS? Why did you not use it? (‘because they were saving it for the vital organ required steelbook collection!)

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 - Freddy's Dead

VIDEO

Gobsmacking difference from anything before. The fine details at this 2160p native resolution are so revelatory even the film’s director, Jack Sholder, was amazed. From Kevin Yagher’s more demonic Freddy make-up to the blades of grass on the school field, you will see depth beyond anything this film has offered before. There’s no sign of print damage, optical dirt; film grain is present and consistent. HDR10 is sparingly employed but comes to fore anytime there’s a preponderance of reds. If there is one area that could have used a minor tweak it’s contrast. Black levels are a tad less punchy in this one compared to the first movie. But it’s a nitpick to be fair. This is a great transfer.

AUDIO

Dolby ATMOS is afforded this movie as well, supplanting the old punchy 5.1 mix with two extra channels. Your ceiling channels won’t be taxed here, folks, but they do present a wider experience than the 5.1. like an accompaniment more than anything. It’s precise and clean, has modern LFE working in earnest to great effect, just not as noticeable a difference from previous releases as the picture. But nothing to sneeze at!

Supplements:

Same auxiliary stuff we got a dozen times before.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 - Dream Warriors

VIDEO

This fan favourite gets a fan’s big tick of approval. It looks remarkable. Again, this print is clean of artefacts and damage, its colours are bold, and constant and every scene is rich with a plethora of new detail at this resolution. They’ve gone the other way with black levels this time, bordering on too much but there are no signs of crush. Clean, masterful and couldn’t be happier.

AUDIO

Another Dolby ATMOS mix, another triumph! This one is front heavy, but clearly delineated. Centre is on point and clean with dialogue. Surrounds add new dimensions, especially in fantasy sequences and boiler room moments. It’s a bombastic mix for a bombastic sequel. This one had a tie-in song too, remember? Perfect.

Supplements:

Same old stuff.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master

VIDEO

This was where New Line were pouring more bread into production and the 2160p shows it off in great detail. Again, we have a clean restoration with constant and appealing grain (thus detail) remaining. HDR10 really goes to work in this one, emboldening everything from dream sequences to Alice’s faux-Hollywood dowdy hair. Beautiful contrast, skin tones and textures throughout. No signs of issues at all. Fantastic transfer for the downward slide in quality stories.

AUDIO

Oh, this is off the chart good! Dolby ATMOS again, but this time they’re pulling out all the stops utilising overheads with peak efficacy. It’s rich, immersive and detailed. Putting you right in the (mediocre) action. This actually managed to elevate my enjoyment of this entry. It’s that’s good!

Supplements:

Can you guess? Yep, same as always.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Child

VIDEO

No love for this movie. None. But the picture is bloody good! Same for me as number 2: We get a stellar uptick in resolution, fine detail, colour and HDR10 enhancements, it’s just a miniscule undercooked on contrast. Honestly, it’s so good looking I feel bad for not liking the movie.

Supplements:

Sigh… It’s Groundhog Day! You do get two cuts of the film.

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 Freddy's Dead - The Final Nightmare

VIDEO

Well, bugger me you can polish a turd! I doff my cap to Warners for this one, as it had the extra challenge of cleaning up old optical effects for the gimmicky 3D (which, in Australia, Warners decided NOT to include the anaglyph glasses as the US version has- nice one!). Thusly, I only reviewed the 2D version and they’ve done an amazing job. Beautiful clean print, free of blemishes, cinematic grain is consistent, colours are vibrant and rich. Has the same inconsistent black levels as some of the other flicks but really had to look for them. HDR10 is employed to great effect. This is one crisp looking presentation.

AUDIO

It’s six for six in this department. Atmos sends this mix into awesome territory! There are again subtle uses of overhead channels but welcomed. They expand the immersion further than the previous 5.1 mix. If you’re gonna pour your way through the bowels of the Elm Street series, then this is the way to listen to it!

Supplements:

They can’t be bothered trying. Neither will I.

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Wes Craven's New Nightmare

VIDEO

And it’s a home run. All transfers in this set are a marked upgrade from what has come before. Another solid restoration at 2160p, with all the aforementioned benefits: resolution, clarity, detail, HDR10. A cinematic and gorgeous looking picture. Black levels are fine but the same as previous entries. Could have been given a little more punch. No big issues!

AUDIO

Superb! Another ATMOS 7.1 mix, another hefty sound design for your listening pleasure. Atmospherics are fantastic! My cats ran, thinking there was a real earthquake. It’s a densely populated, immersive mix. An absolute pleasure to sit through.

Supplements:

Well… fuck me. There is something new here! Not much, mind you, but something. They are passing one of the ‘NEW’ offerings off that’s been seen before (Craven vintage footage). But Jack Sholder, Chuck Russell and a few others come back and share some quick (and I do mean quick) insights into the making of their respective entries. They’re brief though. Token even but appreciated.

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