The 1984 Wes Craven classic A Nightmare on Elm Street already met an unsuccessful franchise reboot attempt in 2010 with Jackie Earle Haley taking over the role of Freddy Krueger from Robert Englund, and while the casting choice was inspired, it was the story that didn’t quite meet expectations.

The beauty of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, and most horror films for that matter, is the mythology that the world these stories take place within create. Elm Street’s mythology ran deeper than Freddy Krueger and this is what left audiences wanting. My idea for reinvigorating this franchise goes beyond Freddy’s child-murdering past. My idea brings back the Dream Warriors.

In 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, we’re introduced to a group of Elm Street survivors who are all living in a mental hospital together. With the help of Nancy from the original film they learn to unlock their potential in the dream world and fight back against Freddy, opening up a whole new side to the franchise where dreams are the key to it all.

With that, I take you into my pitch…

Fade in:

It’s Elm Street. Night. A teenage girl runs down the street. She’s beat up and out of breath. Her pajamas torn. A butcher’s knife in one hand. It’s Nancy. Four parallel cuts on her arm bleed as she looks around to the cookie-cutter houses on the street for help. There’s something unusual about them though, all the lights turn off the moment she looks at them. Then the streetlamps. She looks to the sky. No stars. No Moon. Nothing. Then she hears it. A little girl. Singing…

“One, two, Freddy’s coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door. Five, six, grab your crucifix. Seven, eight, gonna stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again.”

“What do you want from me!?” She screams.

A single streetlight flicks on. Nancy inches towards it, but a Freddy pops up behind her instead and follows closely. She stops. He leans in and whispers in her ear, “Your life.”

Nancy turns around, “You killed my friends!” She stabs him with the knife. Freddy just laughs. He raises his gloved hand and slashes.

Nancy pops awake in her bedroom with a silent scream, completely out of breath. She’s cut bad. She looks at the carnage, then at her hands. She’s still holding the bloody butcher knife. She starts to scream. Her parents rush into the room. Her mother calls the police as her father goes to her side. They look at one another. The look says it all. “What has our daughter done?”

We slash into the title and credits. Over the credits we see images of four dead teenagers and articles about a killer loose in Springwood. Then the last article, killer caught. As the credits end we come back to the exterior of Westin Hills Asylum.

Nancy is now being detained there under an intense psych evaluation. She’s been framed for the murders by Freddy and she hasn’t slept for days. She’s under the watch of the strict psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Simms, a ruthlessly unforgiving and judgmental doctor, and being studied by the sympathetic Dr. Neil Craven (a tribute to the late Wes), an oneirologist who believes the key to Nancy’s perceived psychosis is in her dreams.

At the Asylum, Nancy comes in contact with a group of teenagers who stick close together and don’t interact with anyone else. Among them are Kristen Parker, who feels connected to Nancy, Joey Krusel, a mute, Alice, neurotic and hiding behind her sense of humor, the short-fused Kincaid, the nerdy and depressed Will, and the former drug addict Taryn. Something unites all of them. They’re all haunted by Freddy, working together in rotation to give each other sleep. They immediately bring Nancy into their group, knowing she’s not responsible for the murders.

Things had been somewhat quiet as of late, but the moment Nancy joins them one of their own is murdered that night. Will is tricked by Freddy into throwing himself off of the building. It’s this instance that they realize the danger will continue for them. They tighten up their rotations and watches. They need to stay alive, but Nancy wants them to fight.

One night, when it’s Kristen and Nancy’s turn to sleep, she starts getting haunted by Freddy. It’s in this nightmare that she learns she can draw Nancy into her dreams with her and they work together to escape Freddy. Upon waking up, they tell the other’s about what happened. The others are now on board with Nancy. They want to fight, too.

Using this information they seek out Dr. Craven to learn more about controlling their dreams while experiencing them. Dr. Craven tells them that dreams are manifestations of their own subconscious so in a way they are always in control, but that he’s worked with people dealing with nightmares before and taught them how to turn their dreams happier. Using this new knowledge, Kincaid and Taryn volunteer to join Kristen in the dreamworld that night to practice controlling their dreams. Dr. Craven also promises to research Freddy, and leaves.

Kristen begins in a nightmarish hellscape, her childhood home where we see her abusive parents manifested to the extreme, both dressed like Freddy. She uses her mind to change the dream into a happier place, a fantastic meadow little girls would dream about. She brings Kincaid and Taryn into the dream with her. Kristen quickly learns how to control her dreams and gain strength from her mind, but Kincaid and Taryn struggle.

Meanwhile Nancy and the others who are meant to be watching and wake them up at the notice of a struggle, are taken away by Dr. Simms for the night, locked in straight jackets for disobeying curfew and sneaking out of their rooms. That’s when trouble starts in the dream world.

The meadow suddenly becomes dark. The trees turn evil. Wolves growl in the shadows. Kristen tries to signal to be woken up, flailing around hoping her sleeping body would as well. Sure enough, it does, but no one is there to save them. Freddy chases and torments them, eventually taking Taryn’s life by injecting her with drug after drug, and then himself before bursting out of her body. Kincaid and Kristen wake up next to the gory mess that was once Kristen.

Meanwhile, Joey, Alice, and Nancy are all sedated and forced into the dreamworld. Joey is in extreme danger, close to being killed by Freddy, when Nancy figures out how to summon them into her own. She grabs Joey at the last minute. Together they find their way into Alice’s dream. It’s here that we discover Alice is Freddy’s daughter and he wants to use her body to enter the real world. Nancy and Joey are unable to stop Freddy from taking her. He keeps her trapped in the dreamworld with him while Joey and Nancy manage to wake up.

They awake to find Dr. Craven has returned, and he’s with Kincaid and Kristen. He believes them now and wants to help. Nancy tells them about Alice and when they open the room she’s locked in, they find her in a coma. Nancy decides the only way to save Alice is for them to all dream together. While Dr. Craven doesn’t like the idea, he knows it’s necessary. He decides he’ll go to where Freddy was murdered and try to find what’s holding his spirit in this world. He puts the teens in a timed sleep. They have one hour to find Alice and get her out.

As they drift asleep, Dr. Simms knocks out Dr. Craven with a baseball bat. She can’t have him helping those terrible teenagers, including Nancy who she still believes is responsible for the deaths. Dr. Craven, unaware that he is out cold and dreaming, heads to the place where Freddy Krueger was burned alive. As he finds what he believes he’s been looking for, Freddy’s charred remains, they come to life as Freddy and kill him. The teens are on their own.

In the dreamworld, Nancy, Joey, Kincaid, and Kristen search for Alice along Elm Street. They enter Nancy’s home, which turns into the burnt building Dr. Craven was just killed in. The little girl singing starts again. “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you.”

“Who’s singing?” Kristen asks.

“It’s me.” Nancy replies. “When I was a little girl.”

The four journey through the creepy building, the screeching of claws on pipes echoing throughout. They find Dr. Craven’s body and now know they’re on their own. Laughing comes from all directions. It’s Freddy. He pops up. Joey stands in front of the others. He turns to them. He opens his mouth and speaks for the first time. “Run.”

The others flea, and Joey stands alone against Freddy. Summoning his dream strength he screams at Freddy, using his booming voice as a sonic weapon. It isn’t enough. Freddy rips out Joey’s vocal chords, killing him.

Nancy, Kristen, and Kincaid find their way out of the building and end up in another house none of them recognize. They hear Alice screaming from upstairs. They run upstairs, opening door after door. Each one shows them a piece of Freddy’s past. The children he murdered. The one he kidnapped and forced to have his child. The death of Alice’s mother in childbirth. The parents of Springwood chasing down Freddy and burning him alive. Then finally, Alice. She’s chained to a bed. They go to her and release her.

“I know everything now.” She says. “I know who I am.” and with that her hand turns into Freddy’s and she rips out Kincaid’s insides. Freddy’s already taken her, and just like that time is up. Nancy and Kristen snap awake. Their dead friends next to them. They’re trapped in the room.

Meanwhile Dr. Simms is looking over Alice, who wakes while she isn’t looking. Freddy, now in Alice’s body, kills Dr. Simms. She takes her keys, tapes some scalpels around her hand, and goes looking for Nancy and Kristen.

Alice opens up the room where Nancy and Kristen were trapped. “Alice?” Kristen asks. “No.” She replies, her voice and demeanor entirely changed. “That was your mistake then.” Says Nancy, “We can kill you now.” And with that Nancy attacks Alice. Kristen jumps in. In the fight Kristen is wounded and Nancy eventually overpowers Alice, shoving her scalpel taped hand into her own face.

As everything clears and all is done, Nancy is forced to take the blame for all the murders. There’s no explaining Freddy. She’s locked in the institution for life, but finds content there knowing she stopped Freddy. Kristen visits her frequently, and moves into her own home. She’s finally happy as well. One night after visiting Nancy, she goes to sleep. A beautiful dream, all of her friends are there, Joey, Kincaid, Alice, Taryn, and Will. Then Freddy. He kills them all again. Kristen closes her eyes and when she opens them, Nancy is next to her. She looks at the laughing Freddy. “Let’s go bitch.” and in the final frame Freddy says, “Huh?”

Cut to black.