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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69%

68 Reviews

Tomatometer

68%

250,000+ Ratings

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

Oct 15, 2026

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

Oct 15, 2026

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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Theodore S

Apr 21, 2019

Definitely the best one in the entire franchise, if not one of the best. There are so many creative kills, so many iconic lines, and the characters are so fleshed out and likable, and they bounce off each other so well. The story of nothing short of marvelous, and the asylum setting that the story revolves around is really amazing. It's so sad that it didn't get a score of 90 or at least 80, because this movie is so incredible, and I still get a bit scared when I watch it. The only real gripe I have is that the adults (mainly closed-minded Dr. Simms and Dr. Carver) are so stupid and think they know what's best because they're older and have power. Other than that, this movie is phenomenal and deserving of so much more praise than it gets

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Finn P

Apr 15, 2019

This movie is crazy!!! It's plot is great, taking place inside a mental hospital. The dream warrior part of the movie is a little lame but there are plenty of great kills. The characters are almost all great and Englund's performance is also very good. One of the best in the franchise and the genre!

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Han W

Apr 14, 2019

A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 give audience sufficient creepiness and imaginative kill to rectify our hopes for the series. This installment is a proper sequel to the original and bring something new to the formula. The silliness of this movie does bring some lightness to the picture but ultimately dragged me out of the movie at some points. The special effects are what makes the movie in this case, and they hold up to the weirdness and extravagant plot that Dream Warrior present.

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Poe P

Feb 13, 2019

Thanks to the idea of continuing the concept from the original, Dream Warriors was a satisfying sequel.

Feb 1, 2019

One of my fav movies of all time. From the deaths to the acting to literally the best line delivered by a murderer the only unsettling part was the nun (AKA Freddys mother)

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George W

Jan 29, 2019

this film was as good as and the other movies of the series

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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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