About A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Director

Wes Craven

Cinematography

Jacques Haitkin

Shot on

35mm film

Look

Color

Aspect ratio

1.85:1

Teenagers on one suburban street are killed in their dreams by a burned man with a glove of knives. Craven turned sleep into the thing you can't escape.

How it was made

• The blood geyser sequence reused the revolving room set from the first death scene. Dyed water was used because the special effects blood did not look right as a geyser.
• The bathtub attack used a special bottomless tub set over a swimming pool. The melting staircase was created using pancake mix.
• Principal photography lasted 32 days, mostly around Los Angeles. The boiler room scenes were shot in the Lincoln Heights Jail.