A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

R

1987

1h 36m

Horror

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Popcornmeter

69%

Tomatometer

68 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

During a hallucinatory incident, young Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) has her wrists slashed by dream-stalking monster Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Her mother, mistaking the wounds for a suicide attempt, sends Kristen to a psychiatric ward, where she joins a group of similarly troubled teens. One of the doctors there is Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who had battled Freddy some years before. Nancy senses a potential in Kristen to rid the world of Freddy once and for all.

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Critics Consensus

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors offers an imaginative and surprisingly satisfying rebound for a franchise already starting to succumb to sequelitis.

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Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

Jul 27, 2023

Abysmal, and the only thing worth cheering is special effects work by Peter Chesney.

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Desmond Ryan

Philadelphia Inquirer

Jul 25, 2023

It's the dumbest installment in the series.

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Bill Briggs

Orlando Sentinel

Jul 24, 2023

Drive-In Academy Award nominations for... Robert Englund, as Freddy Krueger, the one and only, and Chuck Russel, the director, for doing a heck of a job.

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Justin Brown

Medium Popcorn

6 days ago

4/5

This is peak Freddy Krueger! This is the stuff that makes you stay up at night.

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Brandon Collins

Medium Popcorn

6 days ago

4/5

This might be my favorite "Elm Street" movie. The kills are really creative and Freddy Krueger became a horror icon to me after seeing this.

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Heather Wixson

Dread Central

Apr 28, 2026

4/5

Dream Warriors is no doubt in the upper echelon of horror sequels released during the 1980s—not only did it cleverly find a way to bring old and new casts of characters together seamlessly, it also expanded on the original movie’s mythology.

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John

2 days ago

The best Nightmare of the whole franchise.

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Andy D

2 days ago

Fun time seeing this in the theatres!

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Joel

2 days ago

"Welcome to prime time, bitch!" As bonkers as it is awesome! Freddy is such a delightful little asshole. I actually fell for the fake out in the end for a second and the fact that her dad arrived in the corniest way possible because Freddy is a prick is so fucking funny.

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Jay R

Oct 15, 2025

Always a great movie, this theater used a real reel projection of the movie, it was a great experience.

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Jessica C

Sep 11, 2025

It was a fun movie that really held up well for the time period. We really enjoyed seeing this again.

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Joel H

@786Joel 2 days ago

They should have just skipped the second movie and gone straight to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. No, this film isn’t perfect. In fact, it’s really cheesy. But it’s the good kind of cheese that makes you chuckle, like gorgonzola. Although Swiss might be more appropriate, considering Freddy’s complexion. But is Swiss really a funny cheese? It’s certainly not as fun to say as others. Regardless, this movie not only abides by the rules set forth in the original, but it also expounds on them and deepens the lore. Plus, Dream Warriors features some of the creepiest imagery in the franchise.

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Chuck Russell

Director

Heather Langenkamp

Nancy Thompson

Patricia Arquette

Kristen Parker

Craig Wasson

Dr. Neil Gordon

Laurence Fishburne

Max

Priscilla Pointer

Dr. Elizabeth Simms

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Synopsis

During a hallucinatory incident, young Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) has her wrists slashed by dream-stalking monster Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Her mother, mistaking the wounds for a suicide attempt, sends Kristen to a psychiatric ward, where she joins a group of similarly troubled teens. One of the doctors there is Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who had battled Freddy some years before. Nancy senses a potential in Kristen to rid the world of Freddy once and for all.

Director: Chuck Russell
Producer: Robert Shaye
Screenwriter: Frank Darabont, Bruce Wagner
Distributor: Image Entertainment Inc., New Line Cinema, Media Home Entertainment
Production Co: New Line Cinema
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 27, 1987, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 30, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $44.1M
Runtime: 1h 36m

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