feelsalike.comSign in
A Nightmare on Elm Street poster

Movies that feel likeA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...

If you loved A Nightmare on Elm Street, the closest films we have are Poison for the Fairies (1986), Scream 2 (1997) and Oculus (2014). All three share A Nightmare on Elm Street's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017).

πŸ… 93% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Wes Cravendreadunsettlingdreamlike
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· HBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

See it on the Mood Map

When is A Nightmare on Elm Street streaming? β†’

If A Nightmare on Elm Street hit the spot, these will too

Poison for the Fairies poster
Poison for the Fairies
1986 Β· dir. Carlos Enrique Taboada
β˜… 7.2fantasy Β· horror

Childhood dread curdles slowly into something genuinely sinister

The difference: A slow-burn psychological tale, no supernatural killer at all

In 1965 Mexico City, Flavia, a wealthy yet lonely schoolgirl, befriends Veronica, a young orphan girl who has a fascination with witchcraft. Veronica convinces Flavia that she is a real witch and forces her to be her assistant. The children's games gradually become more serious and Veronica demands more from Flavia.

Scream 2 poster
Scream 2
1997 Β· dir. Wes Craven
πŸ… 83%β˜… 6.3horror Β· mysteryHuluParamount+

Same director escalates a masked killer's spree onto a wider campus

The difference: A self-aware whodunit, no supernatural dream-stalker menace

Two years after the Woodsboro murders, Sidney Prescott acclimates to college life while someone donning the Ghostface costume begins a new string of killings.

Oculus poster
Oculus
2014 Β· dir. Mike Flanagan
πŸ… 75%β˜… 6.6horrorNetflixPrime Video

A malevolent supernatural force preys on a family across time

The difference: A haunted-mirror mystery, more sibling drama than slasher

A woman tries to exonerate her brother's murder conviction by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.

Child's Play poster
Child's Play
1988 Β· dir. Tom Holland
πŸ… 65%β˜… 6.7horrorPrime Video

A killer's soul survives to terrorize a new generation of kids

The difference: A killer doll stalks one family, not dreams claiming a whole town

After being shot in a toy store, a serial killer transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll. A mother then gifts it to her six-year-old son Andy, which unleashes terror upon the city.

Interview with the Vampire poster
Interview with the Vampire
1994 Β· dir. Neil Jordan
πŸ… 66%β˜… 7.5horror Β· drama Β· fantasyMax

Gothic dread wraps around a monster who preys across generations

The difference: A century-spanning vampire confession, slower and more mournful

A vampire relates his epic life story of love, betrayal, loneliness, and dark hunger to an over-curious reporter.

The Evil Dead poster
The Evil Dead
1983 Β· dir. Sam Raimi
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.3horror

One thread runs through both: halloween

The difference: Less dreamlike, more its own thing

In 1979, a group of college students find a Sumerian Book of the Dead in an old wilderness cabin they've rented for a weekend getaway.

Return poster
Return
1985 Β· dir. Andrew Silver
β˜… 4.8horror Β· fantasy Β· romance

Buried family history resurfaces through dreams that won't stay quiet

The difference: A quiet reincarnation drama, no killer or body count

After reading an article about hypnotic regression, a woman whose maternal grandfather died when she was only three years old contacts the hypnotic subject named in the article believing that he is the reincarnation of her grandfather, and hoping that she can learn the truth about how he died.

Poltergeist poster
Poltergeist
1982 Β· dir. Tobe Hooper
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.3horrorMax

Both keep coming back to the same thing: halloween

The Freelings' suburban home becomes the center of paranormal activity that opens a portal to the 'other side'. With help, they must cross over to get their daughter back.

Eraserhead poster
Eraserhead
1977 Β· dir. David Lynch
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.2horror Β· science fictionMax

Nightmare logic governs a world that never explains its own dread

The difference: Lynchian surrealism about fatherhood, not a dream-stalking killer

First-time father Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.

Tigers Are Not Afraid poster
Tigers Are Not Afraid
2017 Β· dir. Issa LΓ³pez
πŸ… 97%β˜… 6.9fantasy Β· horrorRent or buy

Common ground: murder

The difference: Played as fantasy first

When her mother suddenly disappears with no one to care for her, young Estrella ends up on the street and joins a gang of children, triggering a dangerous and tragic chain of events.

Freddy vs. Jason poster
Freddy vs. Jason
2003 Β· dir. Ronny Yu
πŸ… 41%β˜… 5.8horrorMax

Freddy himself returns for a straight-up slasher body count crossover

The difference: A tongue-in-cheek monster mashup, less dread than spectacle brawl

Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees return to terrorize the teenagers of Elm Street. Only this time, they're out to get each other, too.

Ghostland poster
Ghostland
2018 Β· dir. Pascal Laugier
πŸ… 52%β˜… 6.4horrorPrime Video

Dread-soaked where it counts, unsettling underneath

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

A mother of two inherits a home from her aunt. On the first night in the new home she is confronted with murderous intruders and fights for her daughters’ lives. Sixteen years later the daughters reunite at the house, and that is when things get strange...

In the mood for more dread?

all dread movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share A Nightmare on Elm Street’s defining feeling.