''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' made our countdown of the 13 scariest movies of all time

”A Nightmare on Elm Street” made our countdown of the 13 scariest movies of all time

The screen debut of the character who gave striped sweaters a bad name, Nightmare introduces a suburban monster who stalks teens while they sleep. Director Wes Craven makes the most banal aspects of adolescence hellish, whether it’s turning the sanctity of childhood bedrooms into murder zones or a phone into a demonic tongue. (And ”One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…” irrevocably changed the way we feel about playground chants.) Freddy eventually turned into an all-too-jokey shadow of himself — but there’s nothing funny about him in this first installment. Bonus: A young Johnny Depp gets eaten alive by a bed.