A Nightmare On Elm Street’s ending is one of the most divisive ones in the slasher genre, but a theory puts an end to the biggest question about it while also improving the movie and Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Back in 1984, Wes Craven brought A Nightmare On Elm Street, through which he introduced the audience to a one-of-a-kind slasher villain: Freddy Krueger. The success of A Nightmare On Elm Street made way for a franchise with a total of nine movies (including a remake and a crossover), though few of them were able to match the quality of the first movie.
A Nightmare On Elm Street followed Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who, along with her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) and their friends, began to be stalked by serial killer Freddy Krueger – however, Krueger went after them in their dreams, as they were completely vulnerable in them, and if he killed them there, they died in the real world, too.
Heather found a way to defeat Krueger and seemed to have succeeded until the ending of A Nightmare On Elm Street revealed Krueger was still around. Now, a theory finally puts an end to speculation on what the ending really meant and makes Krueger a lot more complex.
