A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

R

1987

1h 36m

Horror

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Popcornmeter

68%

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66 Reviews

68%

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250,000+ Ratings

During a hallucinatory incident, young Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) has her wrists slashed by dream-stalking monster Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Her mother, mistaking the wounds for a suicide attempt, sends Kristen to a psychiatric ward, where she joins a group of similarly troubled teens. One of the doctors there is Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who had battled Freddy some years before. Nancy senses a potential in Kristen to rid the world of Freddy once and for all.

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Critics Consensus

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors offers an imaginative and surprisingly satisfying rebound for a franchise already starting to succumb to sequelitis.

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Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

07/27/2023

Abysmal, and the only thing worth cheering is special effects work by Peter Chesney.

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Desmond Ryan

Philadelphia Inquirer

07/25/2023

It's the dumbest installment in the series.

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Bill Briggs

Orlando Sentinel

07/24/2023

Drive-In Academy Award nominations for... Robert Englund, as Freddy Krueger, the one and only, and Chuck Russel, the director, for doing a heck of a job.

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Heather Wixson

Dread Central

Apr 28

4/5

Dream Warriors is no doubt in the upper echelon of horror sequels released during the 1980s—not only did it cleverly find a way to bring old and new casts of characters together seamlessly, it also expanded on the original movie’s mythology.

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Oct 1

7/10

The end result is a film that, while never quite reaching the quality of Wes Craven’s original work, stands up as a particularly strong sequel – taking up the ingredients of the format and set-up, and remixing them into an entertaining new variation.

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Sep 11

2/5

It offers more campy fun than it has any right to deliver, though it's still a far cry from something I'd call "good."

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Jay R

Oct 15

Always a great movie, this theater used a real reel projection of the movie, it was a great experience.

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Jessica C

Sep 11

It was a fun movie that really held up well for the time period. We really enjoyed seeing this again.

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Uld F

@RT10700606 4d

Of all the films in the *A Nightmare on Elm Street* saga, this third one is the second best. ...with the same intensity as the first movie. It doesn't lose its essence. A fantastic cult film—a truly great classic.

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Charles T

@CharlesGaming1000 Jul 14

Great! This should have been the real part 2, but I am not saying I didn’t like part 2

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Romas M

@Romas Jul 13

Greetings from Lithuania. "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" (1987) is second to best film in the series for me. I've doing a re-watch of all 7 movies in 2026 after purchasing a newly restored 4K UHD collection, and I was very surprised of how much I've enjoyed Part 3. For me it is on a same league as the first movie. This is a very inventive, kind of a head of its time horror, fantasy film that has a great premise, great script (Frank Darabont!), very solid acting (Laurence Fishburne!), and a very good and confident directing by Chuck Russell ("The Mask", "Eraser"). The visuals here are outstanding. Practical effects were pretty amazing. On 4K they looks as good as anything that comes out today. Overall, Part 3 is a very energetic, amazing made real sequel to the original. It is a superbly crafted movie that is pure fun.

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diogo13 T

@Tua_mera Jul 11

Este filme foi fantástico... um verdadeiro retorno à boa forma após a decepcionante sequência que o precedeu.

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Chuck Russell

Director

Heather Langenkamp

Nancy Thompson

Patricia Arquette

Kristen Parker

Craig Wasson

Dr. Neil Gordon

Laurence Fishburne

Max

Priscilla Pointer

Dr. Elizabeth Simms

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Synopsis

During a hallucinatory incident, young Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) has her wrists slashed by dream-stalking monster Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Her mother, mistaking the wounds for a suicide attempt, sends Kristen to a psychiatric ward, where she joins a group of similarly troubled teens. One of the doctors there is Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who had battled Freddy some years before. Nancy senses a potential in Kristen to rid the world of Freddy once and for all.

Director: Chuck Russell
Producer: Robert Shaye
Screenwriter: Frank Darabont, Bruce Wagner
Distributor: New Line Cinema, Image Entertainment Inc., Media Home Entertainment
Production Co: New Line Cinema
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 27, 1987, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 30, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $44.1M
Runtime: 1h 36m