A Nightmare on Elm Street is a beloved classic of the horror genre, but its ending makes absolutely no sense, even by rules established in the film. Operating as it does within the realm of dreams, there’s a certain level of weirdness most fans would be willing to accept. After all, dreams are often incomprehensible, and rarely feature any sort of rational logic. Plus, the ability to suspend disbelief is vital to enjoying stories that contain otherworldly elements like undead burn victims that prey on victims in their nightmares.
That said, while viewers don’t necessarily expect a movie to obey the laws of reality, a movie should usually be expected to stick to the rules laid out onscreen. For example, if a superhero is shown to have certain strengths and weaknesses, those attributes shouldn’t inexplicably change later on in the story. Or in the case of A Nightmare on Elm Street, if a supernatural killer is said to work within certain parameters, they shouldn’t suddenly be working outside those parameters later on.
As any horror fan knows, A Nightmare on Elm Street’s iconic villain Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) was a child murderer that escaped justice on a technicality, only to be hunted down by a mob of angry Springwood parents and burned alive. He then returned as a monster only able to claim victims while they’re asleep, and if pulled into the real world, is stripped of his dream powers. Except for the last act, when none of those rules apply anymore and things get very, very confusing.
Why A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Ending Makes No Sense
Determined to defeat Freddy once and for all, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) heads back into the dream world, with the intent to bring Freddy out into reality. Nancy succeeds in her mission to grab Freddy, and he at first seems vulnerable, getting set on fire and bashed around by Nancy’s booby traps. This all makes sense based on what had been established. Where things go nuts is when Donald shows up, and he and Nancy follow Freddy’s fire trail up to Marge’s room. A still burning Freddy is attacking her, and Donald rushes to throw a blanket over the fire. When it’s removed, Freddy is gone, and Nancy’s mom (now a skeleton for some reason) disappears into some kind of portal into the bed. Bizarrely, Donald seems entirely unfazed by the WTF thing that just happened to his ex-wife.
Finally, Nancy is left alone, and Freddy rises up out of the bed behind her. Again, he’s not supposed to have his dream powers in the real world. Nancy remembers a thing Glen said about turning her back on Freddy, so she does that, her lack of fear seemingly rendering him powerless and he vanishes. Then Nancy is shown exiting her home on a sunny day, with Marge now alive again, and all of Nancy’s friends back too. They drive away in Glen’s car, only for the car to become possessed by Freddy, and lock them all in. Freddy then grabs Marge (now played by a ridiculous looking dummy) and drags her through a small window in the top of the front door.
So, the ending repeatedly violates the rule that Freddy is only supernaturally powerful in the dream world, then has Nancy defeat him, only for him to somehow win anyway. Nancy’s return for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 doesn’t clear much up on that front, as no explanation is given as to how she survived riding away in the Freddy car, or if that part was even real. The fact that Glen, Tina, Rod, and Marge were killed by Freddy is at least confirmed. It turns out though, that writer/director Wes Craven actually wanted a happy ending that would’ve indeed brought everyone back to life and made the whole movie a dream. Producer Robert Shaye wanted to end on a scare, and leave things open for a sequel. As usual, the producer won, even if the end result leaves A Nightmare on Elm Street fans scratching their heads to this day.
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