I have a lot of time for Wes Craven’s 1984 shocker “A Nightmare On Elm Street“. It honestly scared me silly as a wee boy and watching it a few nights ago, I remembered seeing it for the first time and what a big deal it was back then.
It set a new mark for horror cinema but unfortunately it also paved the way for YEARS of crap. Let’s face it, if you grew up with “A Nightmare On Elm Street” in the 1980’s like I did, you’ll remember that every single sequel to that film was rubbish.
Like the dying “Saw” franchise these days, a new Elm Street film was always an event and just like the “Saw” films, the sequels got more ridiculous as the years rolled by.
What the hell though. They’re all good for a laugh and afterall, It was the 80’s.
What’s Saw’s excuse?
As ridiculous as all of those films were, I always thought the artwork for the advertising posters was brilliant. All hand-drawn and painted too! – A rare thing these days.
Earlier this year, an excellent documentary on the Elm Street series was released.
At 240 minutes, “Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy” isn’t for the casual viewer. Insanely detailed and packed to bursting point, the documentary is well worth seeing if you (like me) have a soft spot for these films.
Original Elm Street poster artist Matthew Peak even did the artwork for the front cover:
Matthew Peak is right up there with the likes of Drew Struzan for me and like I say, he was the talent behind the artwork for almost all of the “Nightmare On Elm Street” films and here it all is…
“A Nightmare On Elm Street” (1984):
“A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” (1985):
“A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987):
“A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” (1988):
“A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” (1989):
Although Mathew Peek didn’t work on the 6th film, he designed the artwork for the CD soundtrack…
So there you go.
Great artwork for not so great films.
Buy the “Never Sleep Again” documentary HERE.
Visit artist Matthew Peek’s site HERE.
Watch the trailer for the original Elm Street film HERE.
You May Also Be Interested In…
* Graham Humphreys: “Zombie Flesh Eaters” Artwork
* “Back To The Future” Concept Art
* Concept Art: James Cameron’s “Terminator”
The Unravelling Of Al Cook... 
Beautiful artwork ,I drag them from my childhood ,Dream child is my fav. 🙂
Also a big Freddy fan. Grew up watching these films terrefied every night but it was a buzz watching them. The 1st one blew me away. 2nd was weird. I loved the 3rd Some quality kills in that 1. 4th was rediculas and the rest were shocking although i enjoyed freddys dead. New nightmare was decent aswell. The Remake was an embarresment. The never sleep again documentry was quality. FREDDY will never DIE.
“the rest were shocking although i enjoyed freddys dead. New nightmare was decent aswell.”
– Ha Ha!
I love these posters. Have forever. But ever since the release of the first Elm Street, I’ve been dying to know how the “Dreamscape” Snake monster wound up in the poster. It’s clearly visible and unmistakable above Freddy’s pinky.
These are utterly great. But as a kid from europe who grew up in the 80’s we were obviously treated with the UK poster art. So I’m obviously nostalgic attached to them. Sacriledge, I know..