In 1984, Wes Craven created the first According to Craven, he created Freddy based on a story he read in the newspaper about kids dying without an official reason and designed the look on a man who scared him as a child.
Freddy started as a child killer who ended up murdered by the children's parents on Elm Street, burnt alive. However, he returned as a vengeful demon, given the ability to kill children in their dreams. As the years went on, more about Freddy's origin was discovered until the kids finally vanquished him in 1991.
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
The final movie in the main A Nightmare on Elm Street series was Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare in 1991. This took place years after the events of Dream Child, and this movie changes everything about Freddy. It turns out Dream Demons are why he keeps returning from defeat, but he can be killed in the real world. This happens when it turns out Freddy has a daughter named Maggie, who pulls him into the real world.
Then the two have one of the worst fights ever. Her friend Tracy tosses her a ton of weapons for Maggie to throw at Freddy and even throws her a lit stick of dynamite, which she jams into Freddy's stomach, blowing him up. This was all in 3D, and Freddy's head flies toward the viewers as he dies.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
Most people dismiss A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge because it is the one movie that stands out and never feels like part of the franchise as a whole. However, one thing that this second Nightmare on Elm Street has going for it is the highest kill count, with Freddy killing 15 people in the film, most at the pool party.
It was that party that started the climax, but it all ended at a factory where love saved the day. Freddy had taken over Jesse, and it took Lisa to it her love for him to cause Freddy to turn to ash and die. Of course, he returned at the end as Jesse's nightmare of Freddy was driving his school bus.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
In the 1989 movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Freddy returns and finds new victims, using the baby of a pregnant Alice. This is also the movie that reveals the history of Freddy's mom, Amanda. Several convicts assaulted her, the result being pregnancy and Freddy.
The climax here was somewhat smart, with Alice's friend Yvonne finding Amanda's ashes, which caused her and Amanda to Alice and her baby Jacob to fight Freddy in the Dream Realm. The infant Jacob actually beats Freddy with Amanda sealing him away.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
If there is one complaint about the first A Nightmare on Elm Street movie, the ending makes no sense. The final fight was great, with Nancy realizing that she needed to pull Freddy into the real world if she wanted to have a chance to beat the dream demon. She pulled him into the world and then beats him by proving she is no longer scared of him, talking away all his power. However, as great as this is, Freddy appears at the end and takes Nancy's mother before seeming to take Nancy as well.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master takes place following the Dream Warriors beating Freddy in the Dream World. However, that movie saw Nancy's death, a huge shock as she was the first final girl. When Joey and Kincaid die, Kristen finds new friends to help, including Alice.
It is Alice who is the final girl this time around. It is Alice in the Dream World who discovers the key from an old nursery rhyme that she ed, and she showed Freddy his reflection, which caused the souls that Freddy took to revolt and burst out of his body, tearing him apart in one of the more ghoulish shots in the series.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)
It might be controversial, but the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street ranks higher for the final climax. Yes, the original movie was better than the remake, but as mentioned that original film had an ending that really made no sense.
In the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, the ending was different. Instead of beating Krueger by just showing she had no fear, she actually pulled him into the real world and torched him, bringing back memories of how he died to begin with. However, his body was never found. That made him returning to take Nancy's mother actually make sense.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Wes Craven's New Nightmare was a movie ahead of its time. Craven decided he wanted to make a meta-horror movie that played like a movie in a world where horror movies exist. This is something that Craven saw great success with when he made Scream a few years later.
The movie sees Wes Craven planning to make a new Nightmare movie and gets both Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund to sign on to star. However, as they prepare to make the movie, it turns out Freddy really exists and wants into this world through Heather's young son's nightmares.
Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)
that ended with Jason decapitating Freddy.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
The best climax of any A Nightmare on Elm Street movie came with the third effort, Dream Warriors. Arguably, the best sequel of the entire series, this movie takes a very different direction than the first two movies. This isn't about pulling Freddy into this world. It is about going into the Dream Realm as teammates and taking the fight to Freddy.
Nancy helps teach the kids how to enter each other's dreams, and they end up fighting Freddy in the most entertaining dream battles of the franchise, and they actually beat the murderer, albeit with a sacrifice by Nancy.
