History YMMV / ANightmareOnElmStreet1984

* SpiritualAdaptation: Creator/KimNewman wrote in the ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' that the film was closer to a Creator/StephenKing adaptation with its small-town setting, and "invented monster myth".

* The glove-making scene during the intro

** Nancy [[spoiler:turning her back on Freddy, [[TheEndOrIsIt seemingly defeating him for the first time]]. ]] As well as the film's AmbiguousEnding.

* OlderThanTheyThink: An evil entity haunting a teenager in both dream and reality, with the two becoming indistinguishable as the movie progresses, leading to an ending where said teenager believes they've won, only for a last minute scare as someone is grabbed and dragged through a door to their possible death? There's a possibility that {{Film/Phantasm}} may have been an inspiration for this movie.

** In a minor case, when Glen is pulled into his bed along with his things, there's a noticeable jump cut (just as his TV tumbles into the hole) that reveals it didn't happen all in one shot.

** In a minor case, when Glen is pulled into his bed along with his things, there's a noticeable jump cut that reveals it didn't happen all in one shot.

* SignatureScene: Glen's death.

** Nancy's boobytraps are pretty ''Film/HomeAlone''-ish.

** Freddy's actor, Robert Englund, ended up getting married in 1988 and he and his wife are still together. His wife's name? Nancy.
** Creator/LinShaye is in a movie where dreams were dangerous before ''{{Film/Insidious}}''.
** The BigBad is a RealityWarper who weaponizes his victims' worst fears and makes sure the AdultsAreUseless through sheer disbelief. Are we talking about Freddy or Literature/{{It}}?
*** Even better, there's a poster for [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet5TheDreamChild the fifth Elm Street film]] briefly before the climax of [[Film/It2017 the 2017 adaptation of It]].

** Creator/LinShaye, best known for being [[Film/{{Insidious}} Elise Reiner]], is Nancy's teacher.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: It took about five years for Wes Craven to get funding for the film, because no one in Hollywood thought it was scary.

* NightmareRetardant: At the end of the film, when [[spoiler:Freddy drags what is supposed to be Nancy's mother through the little window in her front door as a [[NotQuiteDead final scare]]. It's a [[{{Narm}} hilariously]] [[SpecialEffectsFailure obvious mannequin.]]]]

** Creator/JohnnyDepp getting killed off by a man with knives for fingers. Depp later gets out of ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'' by playing a man with [[Film/EdwardScissorhands scissors for hands.]]

** [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Roger Rabbit]] is the lead doctor at the sleep institute where Nancy's dreams are studied.
** [[Film/{{Insidious}} Elise Reiner]] is Nancy's teacher.

* VindicatedByVideo: The movie did solid box-office business for a low budget 1984 movie, but it was the home video sales that really demonstrated what a money-maker Freddy could be.

** Freddy's actor, Robert Englund, ended up getting married in 1988 and he and his wife are still together. His wife's name? Nancy. [[Main/NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer No, really.]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The menacing, atmospheric synth score by Charles Bernstein is a treasure trove of unsettling vocal effects, reverberated percussion, and queasy pitch-bends that often feels like it could suddenly change direction or feel at any given moment, just like Freddy himself. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Gf_A8B1s0 main theme]] especially stands out with its inquisitive ascending/descending synth hook.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The menacing, atmospheric synth score by Charles Bernstein. For just a sample, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Gf_A8B1s0 here's his take the main theme.]]

%%* HolyShitQuotient: Glen's death.

*** Even better, there's a poster for [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet5TheDreamChild the fifth Elm Street film]] briefly before the climax of [[Film/{{It2017}}]].

*** Even better, there's a poster for [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet5TheDreamChild the fifth Elm Street film]] briefly before the climax of [[Film/It2017]].

** Freddy's actor ended up getting married in 1988 and he and his wife are still together. His wife's name? Nancy. [[Main/NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer No, really.]]

* FridgeBrilliance:
** Nancy's mother's drinking problem holds another layer besides straightforward self-medication when you realize that alcohol actually prohibits REM sleep.
** Tina mentions that nightmares sometimes foreshadow earthquakes; exactly what signifies Freddy's presence in ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'' years later.
* FridgeLogic: Given the way Freddy died, his entire body should be horribly burned, but when he pulls his sweater up and cuts his chest in Nancy's dream in the school, his torso only has very minor scarring on one side, and he even has chest hair.