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Horror master Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most beloved franchises in the genre, and its famous slasher villain, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), is equally beloved. Since it has remained undeniably popular in the 40 years since the first film's release, it is hard to believe that Craven had a difficult time trying to get the project picked up. All the major studios balked at the premise, claiming they didn't think audiences would find dreams scary enough. Luckily, New Line eventually gave the movie the greenlight, thus giving birth to one of horror's most iconic franchises.

Despite being made on a lower budget, the movie became a big success and catapulted Freddy into horror icon status. The surprise success of the movie paved the way for seven sequels, a crossover with fellow horror icon Jason Voorhees, a remake, a video game, a TV series, and countless merchandise.

It's hard to overstate just how significant Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street still is. The slasher classic has successfully infiltrated our popular subconscious, reaching a sinister gloved hand into the imaginations of generations of filmmakers and reshaping modern horror cinema. It's perhaps only with hindsight that the full extent of the 1984 movie's impact can be appreciated. But even with its iconic villain, inspired premise, and archetypal story, the original A Nightmare on Elm Street is much more than an artifact to be admired. It remains a thrilling spectacle albeit with some of its originality tarnished.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Director Wes CravenRelease Date November 9, 1984Studio(s) New Line CinemaWriters Wes CravenCast Paul Grenier, Leslie Hoffman, Don Hannah, Ash Adams, Brian Reise, Carol Pritikin, Shashawnee Hall, Donna Woodrum, David Andrews, Sandy Lipton, Ed Call, Jack Shea, Mimi Craven, Joe Unger, Joseph Whipp, Jsu Garcia, Ronee Blakley, Jeff Levine,...

We explore the connections between the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and Star Trek, including actors, crew members, and other connections. Some of the connections include: Lisa Wilcox, who played Alice Johnson in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and 5, appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3 episode "The Vengeance Factor." Mimi Craven, who had a small role in A Nightmare on Elm Street, appeared in Star Trek: Voyager season 6 episode "Dragon's Teeth."

Star Trek may not seem to have much in common with A Nightmare on Elm Street, but several cast and crew members have worked on both iconic franchises. Star Trek began with the premiere of Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966 and has become a pop culture juggernaut with numerous films and television show spin-offs. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) have become household names and some of the most recognizable figures in science fiction,...

It’s time for a new episode of the Awfully Good Horror Movies video series, and in this one we’re looking back at an underseen killer kid movie from 1992, Mikey (watch it Here), and it’s awesome! To find out why we count this one as being awfully good, watch the video embedded above.

Directed by Dennis Dimster from a screenplay written by Jonathan Glassner, Mikey has the following synopsis: After each member of his family has died in unexplained accidents, young Mikey, a seemingly innocent and sweet little boy, is placed with an adoptive family. The family will discover the boy’s true personality at their own expense. Remember, Jason and Freddy were kids once, too.

The film stars Brian Bonsall, Josie Bissett, Ashley Laurence, John Diehl, Mimi Craven, Whitby Hertford, Lyman Ward, and Lorenzo Obias.

With the Awfully Good Horror Movies series, we take a journey through...

A whole lot of horror fans recently signed up for the Peacock streaming service, since Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends were both released on Peacock the same day they reached theatres. To help horror fans find ways to make their Peacock subscription worthwhile, we here at Arrow in the Head have compiled a list of the Best Horror Movies on Peacock Right Now! Check it out:

Mikey (1992)

Director Dennis Dimster-Denk’s Mikey had the tagline “Remember, Jason and Freddy were kids once too”, and the movie does its best to make sure the titular creepy kid (played by Brian Bonsall) is just as deadly as any adult slasher. Mikey does some really nasty stuff in this movie and racks up an impressive body count… and Dimster-Denk certainly wasn’t afraid of pushing the envelope. The movie begins with the murder of a five-year-old and proceeds to show Mikey obsessively creeping...

A new episode of our Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? video series has just been released, and with this one we’re looking back at a 1992 film that you may not have seen – and if you haven’t, you really should check it out as soon as possible. The movie in question is Mikey (watch it Here), and it’s awesome! To find out all about it, watch the video embedded above.

Directed by Dennis Dimster from a screenplay written by Jonathan Glassner, Mikey has the following synopsis:

After each member of his family has died in unexplained accidents, young Mikey, a seemingly innocent and sweet little boy, is placed with an adoptive family. The family will discover the boy’s true personality at their own expense. Remember, Jason and Freddy were kids once, too.

The film stars Brian Bonsall, Josie Bissett, Ashley Laurence, John Diehl, Mimi Craven, Whitby Hertford,...

We have an eclectic slate of Blu-ray and DVD releases headed our way this week, led by Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition of the Hammer Films version of The Phantom of the Opera. If you’re into killer kid horror, you’ll definitely want to check out Mikey, and for those of you looking to indulge in some new genre stories, The Wretched is easily one of the biggest surprises for this writer to come along in 2020.

Other releases for August 11th include Aquaslash, American Sasquatch, Skin Walker, Ozone, Watch Me Die and a double feature of The Lady Kills and Pervertissima.

Mikey: Collector’s Edition

Mikey Kelvin has been a bad boy, only nobody knows exactly how bad. Tragic and Deadly ''accidents'' seem to happen all around Mikey. So, from foster family to foster family and from school to school he goes, leaving a trail of unanswered questions.

Previous | Image 1 of 23 | NextMariel Hemingway of ‘Manhattan’ and ‘Star 80.’

Chicago – “The Hollywood Show” is an exciting gathering of celebrities and memorabilia for movies, TV and pop culture fans. The latest edition is coming up – March 24th-26th, 2017 – at the Hyatt Rosemont/Chicago O’Hare Airport Hotel in Rosemont, Ill. Among the TV and film stars scheduled to appear is Ed Asner (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”), Stefanie Powers (“Hart to Hart”), Angie Dickinson (“Police Woman,” original “Ocean’s 11’), Dawn Wells (“Gilligan’s Island”), Charlene Tilton (“Dallas”) and Richard Chamberlain (“Dr. Kildare,” “Slipper and the Rose”). Detail link below the Slideshow.

To give you an example of the celebrities that appear at The Hollywood Show, photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com took Exclusive Portraits at last year’s Fall show in September. Click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through the slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below.

As horror fans, we make it our business to know the most obscure details about our favorite films. We watch the bonus features on the Special Edition releases of our favorite DVDs; we read retrospectives and interviews in support of our most beloved titles. But even the most diligent fan is bound to miss something along the way. So, to help you get the lowdown, we're running a recurring segment that rounds up some lesser-known trivia from your favorite horror films.

For this installment, we're setting our sights on the slasher film A Nightmare on Elm Street. There are plenty of well-known talking points regarding A Nightmare on Elm Street but we have rounded up some slightly more obscure facts that we hope will even enlighten even the super fan.

Now, we present to you: twelve things you may not have known about Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Rank the week of August 23rd’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Blitz

(Blu-ray & DVD | Nr | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #9439

Win Percentage: 51%

Times Ranked: 215

Top-20 Rankings: 5

Directed By: Elliott Lester

Starring: Jason Statham • Paddy Considine • Aidan Gillen • Zawe Ashton • David Morrissey

Genres: Crime • Crime Thriller • Police Detective Film • Thriller

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The Beaver

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #5199

Win Percentage: 52%

Times Ranked: 858

Top-20 Rankings: 6

Directed By: Jodie Foster

Starring: Mel Gibson • Jodie Foster • Anton Yelchin • Jennifer Lawrence • Zachary Booth

Genres: Comedy Drama • Drama • Psychological Drama

Rank This Movie

Win Win

(Blu-ray & DVD | Nr | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #2107

Win Percentage: 61%

Times Ranked: 2455

Top-20 Rankings: 6

Directed By: Thomas McCarthy

Starring: Paul Giamatti • Amy Ryan • Bobby Cannavale • Jeffrey Tambor • Burt Young

Genres: Comedy Drama • Drama • Sports Comedy • Sports Drama

Rank This Movie

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #5643

Win Percentage: 49%

Times Ranked: 725

Top-20 Rankings:...