Top 20 Freddy Krueger Kills
#20: Jesse Gets Hole-y
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (2010) While the 2010 movie isn’t perfect, it does at least have a pretty terrifying version of Freddy Krueger. Instead of relying on elaborate set pieces, this variant of the villain prefers to use brutally straight-forward methods to take out his enemies. Jesse learned this the hard way after he entered the dream world. Freddy stalks him like a predator on the hunt. Jesse is reduced to a blubbering mess before he receives a brutal blow to his body that leaves a gruesome mark. What makes this simple attack stand out is that the victim doesn’t die right away. As Jesse clings onto life, Freddy promises to toy with him longer.
#19: Freddy Slays a Legend
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987) The most iconic heroine of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise seemed to meet a surprisingly straightforward end. When Freddy gets an opening, he skips the theatrics and simply stabs her to take her out quickly. However, that’s not the end of Nancy’s story. After he tosses her aside, she comes back and makes him hurt himself with his own knife glove. She manages to hold him in place long enough for her allies to finish Freddy off. Although Nancy doesn’t survive her wounds, she still went out like a legend. While Freddy inflicted a fatal blow, he didn’t get the last word.
#18: Coach Schneider Hits the Showers
“A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge” (1985) In "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2", we’re introduced to Coach Schneider. He’s... not exactly a great person. Schenider had no problem tormenting his students for the slightest offenses. His unlikeable nature made his demise one of the most satisfying deaths in the entire franchise. After sending Jesse to the showers, Schneider ends up in his office alone. Suddenly, the gym equipment in his room starts moving on its own. He’s hit with a barrage of objects until a rope suddenly pulls him into the showers. The sequence ends with Freddy emerging from the steam and giving the coach a permanent time out.
#17: Like Knives On a Chalkboard
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“Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” (1991) Out of all Freddy’s many, many, many victims, he seemed to have an especially fun time tormenting Carlos. The villain puts the poor guy through multiple stages of hell in a particularly sadistic display. Freddy turns the hearing aid Carlos uses into a some sort of horrifying parasitic creature. Then the villain torments his victim by scratching his knives on a chalkboard. In the dream world, these sound waves are so intense that Carlos loses his head. Freddy cements his victory with a cheesy one liner. The absurd and gruesome way Carlos is taken out may leave you laughing and cringing at the same time.
#16: Spencer Gets a Game Over
“Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” (1991) While Spencer is hanging around a tv, Freddy takes him on a far-out journey through the TV and into a psychedelic video game. The villain has fun using a controller to make his prey move through the digital world. Spencer also has to endure psychological torment and faces off against video game versions of his dad. To make matters worse, Freddy can control his movements in reality too. Spencer slowly inches closer to his demise in both the game and on earth. Unfortunately, he ends up getting the worst game over of all. While the game’s effects may look a little dated, they don’t take away from the creativity of Spencer’s end.
#15: Kristen’s Fiery Demise
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” (1988) A seemingly peaceful beach dream quickly became the sight of one of Freddy’s most memorable kills. After Kristen realizes the villain is nearby, she tries to escape and is pushed into quicksand. She proceeds to fall into a much darker and unsettling environment. When she attempts to get to safety, Kristen finds herself in a boiler room. She tries as hard as she can to stand up to Freddy and resist his nightmarish powers. However, Kristen is ultimately unsuccessful and the villain makes sure her dreams of stopping him go up in smoke. As he collects her soul, her real world room burns to the ground. The disturbing imagery of Freddy’s captured villains and hellish flames made this an extremely sinister scene.
#14: Freddy Vs. The Wizard Master
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987) After the Dream Warriors make their way into Krueger's World, Will finds himself alone and facing off against Freddy. It looks pretty grim for the bespectacled victim at first. But we had a glimmer of hope Will might survive when he turned himself into a powerful dream wizard. He’s able to blast away a nightmarish wheelchair with little effort. His confidence in his new abilities motivated him to try to take out Freddy by himself. But all of Will’s magical strength proved useless against Freddy in the end. The villain puts an end to the wizard with a decisive stab. Seeing Will perish after gaining so much power was a crushing moment that reminded us how unstoppable Freddy is.
#13: Sheila’s Sucky Fate
“A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” (1988) The studious Sheila falls asleep in class after pulling an all-nighter. This paves the way for Freddy to step in as the worst substitute teacher ever. After Freddy makes his presence known on her test paper, his hand leaps out of her desk. She manages to fight off the attack before Freddy appears at the front desk. He slowly makes his way to her desk while she’s frozen with fear. Once Freddy reaches her, he twists the fact that she has asthma and literally sucks the life out of her. The horrifying symbolism of her demise and the fact that it happened in a classroom make her end really unsettling. Even when she was surrounded by her peers, they couldn’t keep her safe from Freddy.
#12: Greta Gets a Mouthful
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” (1989) Tonight's menu consists of one-liners and a healthy helping of body horror. When Greta is at a dream dinner, she’s horrified to learn that Krueger is going to be the chef. He puts on his chef's hat and serves her a meal full of the most disgusting food items imaginable. Greta is left with a mouthful of horrific dishes and desperate to escape. While this version of her ending was bad, her demise was originally so gruesome that it had to be edited to keep the film at an R rating. The scene’s terrifying makeup, parallels with real life issues and sheer grossness make it hard to stomach.
#11: Freddy Goes Through Jesse
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” (1985) Throughout "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2", Freddy dives deep and focuses on breaking Jesse's spirit. The poor victim constantly questions whether he's losing it or not. Freddy takes advantage of Jesse’s crumbling psyche for a really visually striking scene. The victim suddenly experiences pain while he’s in a room with Grady. Suddenly, Freddy’s knives come out of his hands. The villains proceeds to literally emerge from Jesse’s body in an unforgettable scene of body horror. The special effects in this sequence hold up absurdly well. All the horrifying elements build up to Grady’s simple yet highly effective death.
#10: Dan Races to His Doom
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child” (1989) There is no out racing Freddy. When Dan finds himself in a truck, Freddy makes the vehicle careen out of control. Unfortunately, his terrifying ride with the villain doesn't end there. Dan is eventually ejected from the truck and tries to speed away on a motorcycle. But to his horror, the vehicle begins fusing with his body. The movie shows every second of this unbelievably painful process. By the time the scene is over, we can barely recognize Dan underneath all the metal and suffering. His life comes crashing to a halt after his absurdly terrifying fusion is complete. This creative and intense demise stands as one of the most memorable of the fifth film.
#9: The Entity’s Frightening Homage
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“Wes Craven's New Nightmare” (1994) "New Nightmare" presents a clever twist on the "Elm Street" formula. In this movie, Freddy is just a fictional movie character...until a supernatural entity starts masquerading as the villain. The innocent Julie has no idea that it’s coming for her in this gruesome display. Although she’s unable to see The Entity, it sneaks up on her and swiftly attacks. Julie is thrown and pulled across the room as the villain revels in the horror. Her fatal encounter with the Entity also pays homage to another demise on this list. While the people in this universe may have seen the movies, it didn’t help them avoid becoming victims themselves.
#8: Mark Gets Horrible Paper Cuts
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child” (1989) During another pop culture-driven dream, Freddy drags Mark into a comic book and starts playing mind games. The creative and comical setting made this scene instantly stand out. But things get really good after Freddy destroys a creepy porcelain doll of Greta. Mark tries to avenge her by becoming a gritty superhero. As he puts the hurt on Freddy, a heroic theme starts playing. But the villain puts on some serious muscle and decides to cut the hero down to size. After turning Mark into a comic character, Freddy shreds his paper opponent into ribbons. As entertaining as this comic book sequence was, it can definitely inspire its share of nightmares.
#7: Joey’s Dream
“A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” (1988) After barely surviving Freddy's cruelty in "Dream Warriors," Joey once again finds himself in the killer's crosshairs in the sequel. Despite the hero’s resilience, he can’t get out of the way of Krueger's claws this time around. Joey is unwinding when he suddenly his bed starts rocking back and forth. He investigates and sees a swimming woman through his waterbed that we definitely cannot show on YouTube. As soon as she goes away, Freddy pops up and drags him into the water. Although Joey tries his best not to drown, it isn’t long before the water turns red. It’s a shame he fell for the old model in a waterbed trick.
#6: A Highly Unfortunate Face Off
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987) Taryn was one of the toughest people to ever face Freddy. Although she was ready to take him down in a fight, her old demons came back to haunt her. After a brief scrap, Freddy psychologically destroys Taryn by bringing up her past issues with illegal substances. The villain even turns his fingers into needles to further demonstrate his point. Seeing Freddy psychologically and literally get under her skin in this scene was devastating. Unfortunately, she couldn’t overcome Freddy during this harrowing encounter. The way he weaponized her own fears against her was unbelievably tragic.
#5: Jennifer’s Big Break
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987) One of the earliest deaths in "Dream Warriors" is gloriously over the top. When Jennifer fails to stay awake in a Rec Room, she finds herself in front of a malfunctioning television. She knows she’s in real trouble when Freddy makes a guest appearance on the small screen. After hitting the TV, mechanical Freddy hands pop out of the sides. Once Jennifer in his grasp, he drops one of his most notorious one-liners of all time. It’s not long before he finishes her off in gruesome fashion. The absurd dialogue and hamminess of Jennifer’s demise gave us a scene that we couldn’t turn away from.
#4: Debbie Gets Squished
“A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” (1988) Even the worst characters in the franchise didn’t deserve the absolutely cruel and lengthy end that Debbie faced. When she falls asleep while working on her fitness, Freddy pops up as her spotter. He uses the opportunity to severely damage her arms. As if things weren’t bad enough, Debbie starts growing multiple insect limbs. She ends up running straight into a human sized glue trap and getting stuck. And since Freddy didn’t think Debbie suffered enough, she fully transforms into a cockroach. Her hellish nightmare reaches an abrupt end when Freddy crushes her with his hands. While we never forget this absolutely horrific sequence, we still question why he went above and beyond to torment Debbie this way.
#3: Glen Falls Into His Bed
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984) Normally, the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise isn’t shy about showing us exactly what happens to victims in the Dream World. But the first movie’s most notable end happens mostly off screen. The iconic scene starts with Glen lying peacefully on his bed with his headphones on. Suddenly, Freddy drags a screaming and struggling Glen into a hole in his bed. A moment later, he’s gone and the audience sees a ton of red evidence that the villain was there. By leaving it up to us to imagine what happened to Glen, his demise becomes darker than anything the filmmakers could’ve put on screen.
#2: There Are Strings On Phillip
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987) "Dream Warriors" wasted no time showing how gruesome it could get. In a twisted turn of events, Freddy transforms Phillip into a marionette with some truly disturbing strings. But the villain was just warming up. Freddy decides to continue tormenting his victim by leading Phillip to a tall precipice. Once the unfortunate soul is high enough, the villain sends his prey plummeting to a certain doom while screaming witnesses look on. Grizzly and inventive, this death serves as a prime example of why "A Nightmare on Elm Street'' has persisted as a staple of horror. Could anybody but Freddy Krueger dispatch an enemy like this?
#1: Tina Gray’s Shocking End
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984) Sometimes, there is just no beating the original. "A Nightmare on Elm Street" couldn't have delivered a better first demise than what happened to Tina. Nightmare on Elm Street" initially made it seem like Tina would be the main protagonist. However, it isn’t long before Freddy hunts her down in a scene full of iconic imagery. Her eventual death incorporates many elements that would come to define Freddy and the series at large. It incorporated the villain’s twisted sense of humor, had impressive practical effects and ended in a brutal way that we could never forget. As soon as Freddy took his first victim, he cemented his place in horror movie history.