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Wes Craven's New Nightmare

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2:30

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

R

Released Oct 14, 1994

1h 52m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

44 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Reality and fantasy meet in unsettling ways in this installment of the long-running horror series, which finds director Wes Craven and actors Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund all portraying themselves. As Heather (Heather Langenkamp) considers making another film with Craven, her son, Dylan (Miko Hughes), falls under the spell of the iconic disfigured villain Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Eventually, Langenkamp must confront Freddy's demonic spirit to save the soul of Dylan.

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Critics Consensus

Wes Craven's New Nightmare adds an unexpectedly satisfying - not to mention intelligent - meta layer to a horror franchise that had long since lost its way.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: C-

Sep 7, 2011

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

This one's defeated by the rigid formula.

Apr 5, 2010

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Joe Leydon

Variety

Englund once again is in bravura form as Freddy, playing as much for nasty laughs as unnerving shocks.

Mar 26, 2009

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Justin Kim

Loud and Clear Reviews

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare provides compelling commentary about franchises and good psychological horror, but stumbles on the finish line with its campier finale.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 16, 2025

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

It’s a cool idea as far as it goes, which is to say, it doesn’t go far at all.

Rated: 1.5/4

Oct 20, 2024

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Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

Quintessential Wes Craven: smart, creative, meta and featuring a number of dazzling horror set pieces. Langenkamp shines, particularly in the hospital scenes.

Rated: 4.5/5

Oct 15, 2024

Full Review

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Rick W

Grew up watching this movie and I always wanted to see it on a big screen and am eternally grateful to the Alamo Drafthouse for screening it this October. Quality was outstanding and the quality served to immerse me so sufficiently that it took me back to being a kid.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/30/24

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Diane

Loved every moment of it!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/17/24

Full Review

James F

Pretty cool to see the critical reception of this movie get larger over the years. Making it the second highest rated Freddy Krueger film. I always thought this was the scariest one but whatever it is you think. You can't doubt the fact that the story is so good. It was definitely a breath of fresh air in a dying universe!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/27/25

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Jasper J

This was a very fun and smart movie that I definitely recommend, the closest to the original in terms of how great it is, and is a must watch for anybody, one of the best slasher movies out there

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/10/25

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Emil P

The best A Nighmare On Elm Street sequel. Best since the first movie. And maybe the scariest movie in this franchise.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/25

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Alexander S

Wes Craven establishes a New Nightmare for his suffering franchise, introducing a unique original storyline that ventures beyond the Freddy universe featuring the original cast and crew members playing themselves, though the concept won’t appeal to all Freddy fans, it was Wes Craven’s way of delivering a fitting one-last scare for Freddy and concluding his standalone franchise he created. Grading: B

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/25

Full Review

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Wes Craven's New Nightmare: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Reality and fantasy meet in unsettling ways in this installment of the long-running horror series, which finds director Wes Craven and actors Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund all portraying themselves. As Heather (Heather Langenkamp) considers making another film with Craven, her son, Dylan (Miko Hughes), falls under the spell of the iconic disfigured villain Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Eventually, Langenkamp must confront Freddy's demonic spirit to save the soul of Dylan.

Director: Wes Craven
Producer: Marianne Maddalena
Screenwriter: Wes Craven
Distributor: New Line Cinema, Roadshow Home Video [au]
Production Co: New Line Cinema
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 14, 1994, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $18.1M
Runtime: 1h 52m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo, DTS

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