How A Nightmare on Elm Street Influenced Stranger Things

Nancy of Elm Street shares more than a name with Stranger Things' badass teenage heroine

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven. The plot revolves around burnt serial killer Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), who haunts and murders teenagers in their dreams, thus killing them in real life.

The Duffer Brother have cited director Wes Craven as a large influence on the horror aspect of Stranger Things, stating that "the teens are in that sort of ‘80s horror film like Nightmare on Elm Street — or that John Carpenter film that’s created by the pains and difficulties of high school, loss of innocence is juxtaposed with this super mass of evil." Clips from the movie were used alongside Halloween, E.T. and Poltergeist, among others, in the pitch trailer the Duffer Brother created to present their concept of the show.

They also said A Nightmare on Elm Street — and its antagonist Freddy Krueger — was one of the films that scared them the most when they were young, with Ross explaining that they tried to emulate the film's essence with Stranger Things; putting ordinary people that you can understand and relate to up against an unexplainable evil. That was the scariest to the brothers, because "suddenly I'm going to bed, and I'm thinking 'Is Freddy going to push through the ceiling and grab me?'"

For those who have seen A Nightmare on Elm Street, it will be apparent that it Stranger Things pays homage to and borrowed some aspects from the popular '80s slasher, especially in the case of their female heroines Nancy.

A Nightmare on Elm Street's protagonist is Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), an intelligent and good-natured girl with brown, curly hair, dating the school's preppy heartthrob — who also has the best hair. If it sounds familiar, it's because the Nancy of Elm Street shares more than a name with Stranger Things' Nancy Wheeler.

Speaking of the heartthrob boyfriend, Glen Lantz in Elm Street (Johnny Depp's first film role) was definitely part of the inspiration for Steve Harrington's look in Stranger Things, as revealed by the costume design tear sheets shared by costume designer Kimberly Adams. In addition to this, their preferred means of entering Nancy's bedroom is through her window.

Beyond appearance, personality and taste in men, the two Nancys also share a similar character development; starting out as innocent and clueless, they gradually take charge of their situation as they understand more, before transforming into badass heroines facing their respective monsters head on.

Their best friends also share similar fates and roles in the story; they provide each their Nancy with a motivation and set their stories in action. As Nancy's best friend Barb was taken by the monster at a home-alone party in "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street," Nancy Thompson's best friend Tina Gray (Amanda Wyss) was Freddy's first victim, also at a home-alone party. In addition to this, both had a live animal crawling out of their mouth when they were seen dead.

During investigations into her best friend's disappearance, Stranger Things' Nancy bravely entered the monster's dimension in "Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat," much in the same way that Elm Street's Nancy voluntarily went into Freddy's dreamworld because she was connecting the dots about her best friend's murderer. They were both terrified and anxiously screamed for their male counterparts, who were in the real world.

When they know more about their respective monsters, both Nancys take matters into their own hands and come up with a plan to defeat them; Nancy Wheeler read a book about predators and bought equipment for booby traps and fighting, while Nancy Thompson read a book about booby traps and asked her boyfriend Glen for assistance.

As the arcs of the heroines reach their climax and it's time for the teens to confront the monster, the Nancys rig the house with booby traps and lure their monster into their own dimension, finally setting fire to Freddy and the monster.

Glen was supposed to beat Freddy with a baseball bat in Elm Street Nancy's original plan before he died, much like Steve's famous scene bashing the monster with a spiked baseball bat in Stranger Things.

In addition to the similarities between their teen girl protagonists, Stranger Things also has some subtle and not-so-subtle shout outs to the horror classic.

In "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street," the monster stretched through the wall in Will's bedroom, an effect very reminiscent of a scene where Freddy stretches through the ceiling in Elm Street.

Although it is probably coincidental, the first on-screen appearance of the monster in "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers" is visually similar to the first full-body shot of Freddy in Elm Street; standing on a road in the dark of night, the only thing visible is their black silhouette, with inhumanely long arms. 

In "Chapter Seven: The Bathtub," Eleven, Will and Dustin are escaping from the Hawkins Lab agents and they radio Lucas to agree upon a rendezvous point. "Meet me at Elm and Cherry," says Lucas, in an obvious reference to the titular street of the film.

In the following scene, the kids bike through a playground where three girls are playing. Though it could be a stretch, they are at least a little similar to the iconic scene with the girls playing jumprope in Elm Street.

I hope you enjoyed this look at one of Stranger Things' many influences, and check back later for another in-depth look at more of the influences. If you enjoyed this post or noticed something is missing, feel free to leave a comment.