PrimeWire

While it doesn’t stand up as the strongest horror movie of the 80s, and its subsequent sequels would send the franchise further into comedy, Nightmare on Elm Street does two things remarkably well.
Firstly, it makes for the ultimate VHS tape to have at your slumber party. It made you terrified to fall asleep. Of course this made conditions ripe for childhood pandemonium fueled by sugar, pizza, and the threat of having your hand put into a bowl of warm water if you were the first to nod off.
Secondly, it centers on a narrative that scares every child. Adults don’t believe children. Over and over adults are warned, cautioned, pleaded with, begged for help. And they brush off the sheer terror of the main character as hysteria or sleep deprivation. Eventually, I’m sure you’re not surprised, she has to take care of things on her own.
Oh, and it’s Johnny Depp’s first role. He gets eaten by a bed. Eaten. By a bed. He gets eaten by a bed.