Summary

• Freddy Krueger's quotes in the Nightmare on Elm Street series became more comedic over time, transitioning from a straight horror movie to a source of comic relief along with gore and kills.
• The rebooted Freddy Krueger in the 2010 film was even more terrifying, portrayed as a child molester, delivering disturbing and horrifying lines.
• Freddy's one-liners showcased his dark abilities, disdain for religion, growing powers, and his belief in his own immortality throughout the films.

The Freddy Krueger quotes from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series are one thing that makes him one of the most iconic characters from the slasher genre. Freddy Krueger has appeared in a total of nine films since 1984, including a remake in 2010, as well as a TV series called Freddy’s Nightmares. Freddy was a child murderer who killed 20 children but avoided prison thanks to a technicality in the court system. However, he ended up the victim of vigilante justice as the parents of the victims trapped him in his home and caught it on fire, burning him alive. Freddy lived on as a vengeful spirit, seeking more victims on Elm Street.

While the first A Nightmare on Elm Street movie was a straight horror movie, Freddy was able to taunt his victims some before killing them. However, starting with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, the Freddy Krueger quotes ramped up, and he became almost a comedic villain who would use puns and one-liners while killing the teens and young adults in their dreams. Eventually, Freddy's quotes became so over-the-top that he stopped being scary and started becoming someone meant to deliver comic relief along with the gore and disgusting kills.

"We've Got Six More Minutes To Play"

A Nightmare On Elm Street" (2010)

In 2010, Freddy Krueger was back, but in a reboot with a new actor playing Freddy in Jackie Earl Haley. One thing that changed with the new movie was making it scary again and not relying on the one-liners that had become synonymous with the franchise. However, that doesn't mean the movie doesn't have some great quotes. One of the best was when Freddy was killing Jesse in his dreams. Freddy explained that a brain can continue to function for seven minutes after the heart stops beating - and that is terrifying because it means Freddy doesn't just want to kill. He wants to torture - even after his victim dies.

"It's A Boy"

A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)

For anyone who wondered how Freddy Krueger always managed to come back from the dead, Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child showed that in disturbing detail. Alice (Lisa Wilcox) was trapped in the Dream Realm, and she watched first-hand how Freddy came back into existence and started his reign of terror all over again. It all started with a demonic-looking infant coming into existence in the Dream Realm. Slowly, he then grows quickly and develops into the Freddy Krueger that fans know well, before delivering this quote to let Alice know he was back and it was time for kids to fear him once again.

"You Shouldn't Have Buried Me, I'm Not Dead"

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

Many agree that the best sequel in the franchise was A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, which was the first movie to show that the kids could actually go into each other's dreams and work together to beat Freddy. This allowed multiple survivors at the end of the movie. Sadly, the fourth movie decided to kill them, and it all started with Kincaid. Believing Freddy was dead, they went back to their lives only to find out the threat was still very real. Freddy came into Kincaid's dreams and brought him into a junkyard where he came back to life in front of the teen. This was one of Freddy's more ominous and threatening quotes.

"Welcome To My Nightmare."

Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)

When New Line Cinema released Freddy vs. Jason, it gave fans of the slasher genre a rare chance to see two of the biggest icons in horror fight each other. After spending most of the movie with Freddy controlling Jason to kill more unsuspecting kids, the two finally have a chance to go to war in the final part of the movie. It all starts in Freddy's nightmare realm. Because they are somewhere that Freddy is all-powerful, he taunts Jason with this iconic quote, letting him know he is in his world, and has no chance of winning while they are there. Unfortunately for Freddy, Jason soon pulls him into the real world and ends it there.

"You're My Number One. You're My...Little Nancy."

A Nightmare On Elm Street" (2010)

There was one major change in A Nightmare on Elm Street's reboot in 2010. In the original movies, Freddy was a child killer that the parents of the victims killed when he got off based on technicalities. However, Freddy was more terrifying in the reboot, as he was a child molester of preschool children and his favorite was Nancy. After Freddy tore through as a vengeful spirit and killed all of Nancy's friends from the preschool once they were teenagers, he turned his attention to Nancy. When he saw her and was ready to kill her, Freddy Krueger's quote was both disturbing and very horrifying. This was a much darker Freddy for a new generation.

"I Love Soul Food."

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

Midway through the fourth A Nightmare on Elm Street film, Alice falls asleep and dreams that she's snuck out to see a movie. However, Krueger sucks her into the screen, and she's confronted by him in a decrepit diner. The two are served a meatball pizza, and a close-up reveals that the tormented souls of Krueger's victims are on the meatballs. Krueger plucks one from the pie using his iconic clawed glove and chews it down, offering up this incredibly silly remark as he does so. It is not a scary or demeaning quote, but it does show his lack of care about the kids he has killed.

"Nice Hearing From You, Carlos!"

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

The final film in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street lineage, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare has a reputation for placing an emphasis on humor, resulting in a strange tone. It's not one of the most well-remembered films in the Freddy saga, but it did feature more than a few noteworthy lines. After confronting a teen named Carlos in a dream, Krueger summons a chalkboard and scrapes his claws across it, producing a noise so irritating that it blows Carlos' head apart. Nabbing one of the ears out of the air, Freddy offers up this ridiculous one-liner.

"This... is God."

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

The original film featured one of Freddy's most terrifying quotes because it showcased his beliefs in his own dark abilities as he stalked Tina Gray, played by Amanda Wyss, in her nightmares as he grew in power. After Freddy terrified Tina by slicing through her sleeping gown in their first encounter, the final meeting resulted in Tina whispering "please, God" at the sight of him. Freddy whipped his clawed glove up to his face and quickly responded with this iconic quote. Freddy's entire past trauma was seeped in religious symbolism and this shows his disdain for any religious institution.

"Kill For Me!"

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

The first sequel to the original 1984 horror was A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, which took place five years after the events of the first film and introduced Jesse Walsh, played by Mark Patton, as he begins to have terrible nightmares. Freddy Krueger manages to lead Jesse to his hidden glove as he reveals his plans to possess Jesse's body and use it to continue his killings. When Jesse threw the glove away in disgust, Freddy made his demands known. This is something the franchise moved on from, but at the time, it showed his growing powers.

"Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones, But Nothing Will Ever Kill Me."

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

One of the traits that make Freddy such an unstoppable horror movie villain is the fact that he just keeps coming back. Even Freddy is aware of his apparent immortality, as he twisted a classic rhyme to comment on it in 1991's Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, the sixth film in the long-running franchise. He then dramatically listed off the various ways his victims had tried to kill him while slicing off his own fingers,

"Well, let's see now. First, they tried burning me. Then they tried burying me. But this—this is my favorite. They even tried holy water! But I just keep on tickin', because they promised me that."

"My Reign Of Terror Was Legendary."

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

"The Springwood Slasher, that's what they called me."

In 2003's Freddy vs. Jason, the movie starts off with a quick recap that features Robert Englund in his human serial killer form before he was burned by the vengeful parents of Springwood. It was a dark reminder that Freddy Krueger wasn't turned bad because of his terrible death, but that he was always a monster who preyed on those weaker than him who was sadly proud of his "reign of terror." Freddy was a cold-blooded killer. His death just made him deadlier.

"No Pain, No Gain."

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

After toying with Alice in a dream, Freddie hints that his next victim will be Debbie. Trapping Alice and her friends in a dream cycle, Krueger then moves on to his next victim, whom he finds lifting weights. After Debbie remarks that she "doesn't believe" in Freddy, he bends her arms backward with the bench press bar, snapping them off at the elbows as he spouts this quip. In an utterly bizarre sequence of events, Debbie then sprouts insect-like appendages and transforms into a cockroach-like being, giving the film some distinctly Cronenbergian vibes. It might be the Nightmare franchise's best nightmare.

"The Only Thing To Fear Is Fear Himself."

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

Freddy's one-liners aren't always the most original, as he tends to subvert common sayings and modern lingo for his own purposes as often as he twists classic nursery rhymes, something he demonstrated again in 2003's Freddy vs. Jason. Freddy paraphrased Franklin D. Roosevelt's iconic 1933 inaugural address speech as he was preparing to kill Katharine Isabelle's Gibb Smith, though she was killed by Jason in the real world, beginning the divide that would lead to the ultimate battle between the two horror icons.

"How's This For A Wet Dream?"

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Given Freddy Krueger’s dark backstory, a lot of his one-liners are sexually-driven. In A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, a character named Joey Crusel (Rodney Eastman) is introduced. He is mute and has a crush on one of the nurses at Westin Hills Asylum. Freddy, of course, uses that to his advantage to subdue Joey. The character returns in A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master, but the character doesn’t have a happy ending as he did in Dream Warriors. This time, Joey dreams that a nude model is swimming in his water bed, but, soon after, he gets pulled into the bed by Freddy, who offers this ridiculous remark.

"Now I'm Playing With Power."

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

One of the sillier installments of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise came in 1991 with Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Instead of relying on his darker roots, the film turns him into more of a comedic figure, with him cracking jokes for the whole movie. That being said, Freddy still has some brutal kills in the film, one of which involves a Nintendo Power Glove. The Power Glove was released in 1989, and, while Nintendo wouldn’t let the filmmakers use the actual product, Freddy still uses a similar-looking toy and says the famous Nintendo Power catchphrase when he kills Spencer.

"I'm Your Boyfriend Now, Nancy."

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Out of all the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, the original is still often regarded as the best of the series. Part of this is due to how dark Freddy Krueger originally was. The first film introduces his awful crimes, which makes this line all the more horrifying. The line is delivered after Freddy kills Glen in his sleep. When Nancy unplugs her phone, it rings, and she finds Krueger on the other end of the line. Krueger says the famous line and the bottom half of Nancy’s phone turns into a tongue, which is just as iconic as the line itself.

"Wanna Suck Face?"

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

Throughout the Nightmare on Elm Street series, Englund has delivered some chilling one-liners when his character murders teenagers. One of these lines came in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. The movie takes place after the events of Dream Warriors despite recasting Patricia Arquette with Tuesday Knight as Kristen Parker. The film sees several returning characters but also introduces a new group of friends. One of these friends is Sheila (Toy Newkirk). When it comes time for her to die, Krueger offers this quote before sucking the life out of the teenager. In the real world, her death was played as an asthma attack.

"What A Rush."

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

One of Freddy Krueger’s most iconic kills came in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. One of the patients at Westin Hills Asylum was named Taryn White, played by Jennifer Rubin. Taryn was a recovering drug addict, but she got one last high as Freddy killed her. Taryn put up a good fight against Freddy with a couple of switchblades, but she met her demise when Freddy’s fingers turned into needles. Freddy jabs Taryn with the needles in both of her arms and says this line as Taryn screams in agony.

"No Running In The Hallway."

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Though later films change him into something of a comedy figure, Freddy Krueger is a force to be reckoned with in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street movie. The vengeful spirit of a child murderer, he's come back to torment the families of those who murdered him. One day during class, teenager Nancy discovers an apparition of her murdered friend Tina. Following her as she's dragged down a hallway in a body bag, Nancy accidentally runs into a student who, after a second glance, is a clawed-glove brandishing Krueger who offers up this frightening quote.

"How Sweet, Fresh Meat."

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

While Tuesday Knight replaced Patricia Arquette in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, she wasn’t in the film for that long. Instead, Lisa Wilcox’s character Alice Johnson was the new Final Gril. Before Freddy kills Kristen, she accidentally pulls Alice into her dream. Seeing Alice in the dream world, Freddy delivers this silly quote. Alice turns out to be more than the average teenager, however, since she is able to defeat Freddy not once, but twice. Alice is last seen at the end of A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, which means she is one of the few characters to survive the wrath of Freddy Krueger.

"I'll Get You, My Pretty, And Your Little Soul, Too."

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Anybody who has seen the Nightmare on Elm Street movies knows that later sequels had more comedy than earlier films. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare has the most comedy of them all, and the Wicked Witch of the West scene is a prime example. The beginning of the film shows Freddy torturing John Doe in his sleep. In one scene, John is in a house that is falling from the sky. When he looks out his bedroom window, he sees Freddy in a witch’s hat riding a broomstick. As a parody to The Wizard of Oz, Freddy yells out a twist on a famous quote. Many people reacted negatively to the film’s comedy, but this line was too ridiculous not to like.

"You're All My Children Now."

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)

Wes Craven didn’t want to turn A Nightmare on Elm Street into another slasher series like Friday the 13th. Despite his wishes, New Line Cinema went ahead with a sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, since the original was popular. The first sequel had a ton of not-so-subtle undertones, but it also had a huge Nightmare on Elm Street plot hole since Freddy was somehow able to enter the real world. After Freddy hops up from the ground and starts slashing teenagers, he stops and says this memorable quote. Despite the film being one of the less appreciated installments in the series, this specific line was still one of Krueger’s most sinister ever.

"Every Town Has An Elm Street!"

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare wasn’t the final nightmare, as the title suggests. However, the film expands on Freddy’s backstory, including a flashback of Freddy being burned alive. It is also revealed that Krueger had a daughter named Maggie, played by Lisa Zane. During one of Maggie’s dream sequences, Freddy is haunting her despite them not being in Springwood, Ohio. Freddy explains that it doesn’t matter where they are because "every town has an Elm Street.” While the movie stand up today compared to the others, the line certainly does, as it's true that many towns actually have an Elm Street.

"Come To Freddy."

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

After cornering Nancy in his boiler room in the first A Nightmare on Elm Street film, Freddy takes the opportunity to taunt her. Maliciously dragging his claws across rusted metal, Nancy cowers in a corner as Krueger draws closer. Freddy makes this remark as he closes in for the kill, but, thinking quickly, Nancy burns her arm on a nearby pipe, which jerks her awake. Now screaming and causing a scene in her high school classroom, Nancy discovers that she still has a burn mark on her arm, revealing Freddy's machinations are even more dangerous than they seem.

"Welcome To Prime Time, B*tch."

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Jennifer Caulfield was yet another patient at Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital, but her death stands out a bit more than those of her friends. Jennifer tries to stay awake by watching TV, but, eventually dozes off, and Freddy slips in. Freddy shows up on the show Jennifer was watching and even kills Zsa Zsa Gabor before Jennifer tries to change the station. Freddy’s head stretches through the top of the TV and two mechanical arms reach out to grab Jennifer and pull her through the screen. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is full of memorable deaths, but Freddy’s quote, “welcome to prime time, b****!”, is among the best quotes of the entire franchise.

• 

  A Nightmare On Elm Street

  Release Date:

  1984-11-16

  Budget:

  $1.8 million

  Cast:

  Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Amanda Wyss, John Saxon, Johnny Depp, Ronee Blakley, Jsu Garcia, Lin Shaye

  Director:

  Wes Craven

  Distributor :

  New Line Cinema

  Genres:

  Horror

  Rating:

  R

  Runtime:

  91 minutes

  Writers:

  Wes Craven

  Sequel(s):

  A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Freddy vs. Jason

  Franchise(s):

  A Nightmare on Elm Street

  Studio(s):

  New Line Cinema