Johnny Depp’s feature-film debut remains one of the most highly rated movies of his career. The 1984 horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street introduced Depp as Glen Lantz.
Directed and written by horror filmmaker Wes Craven, A Nightmare on Elm Street became a major title in the slasher genre and introduced audiences to Freddy Krueger, the dream-stalking killer played by Robert Englund.
Rotten Tomatoes lists the movie with a 94% critics score from 54 reviews and an 84% Popcornmeter score from more than 250,000 ratings.
The site also places the 1984 movie at No. 48 among its 200 Best Horror Movies of All Time.
Tuesday Knight screams from the grasp of Robert Englund in movie art for the film ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master’, 1988.Photo by New Line Cinema/Getty Images
Rotten Tomatoes described the film with this critics consensus: “Wes Craven’s intelligent premise, combined with the horrifying visual appearance of Freddy Krueger, still causes nightmares to this day.”
The movie is important in Depp’s career because it was his first feature film. Long before he became known for movies such as Edward Scissorhands, Donnie Brasco and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Depp appeared as Glen, Nancy Thompson’s boyfriend.
Johnny Depp’s Film Debut in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’
Released on Nov. 9, 1984, A Nightmare on Elm Street follows a group of teenagers who begin having nightmares about a disfigured man with a bladed glove.
That man is Freddy Krueger.
Krueger does not simply chase his victims while they are awake. He attacks them in their dreams, with the deaths carrying over into the real world. This unusual idea helped separate the movie from other slasher films of the period.
Depp plays Glen Lantz, who is dating Nancy Thompson, played by Heather Langenkamp. Nancy becomes increasingly aware that the nightmares affecting her and her friends are connected to Krueger.
As the story develops, Nancy learns that Krueger was a child murderer who was killed by the parents of his victims after he was released because of a legal technicality. He later returns as a supernatural killer who targets their children in their dreams.
Depp’s Glen becomes one of Krueger’s victims in one of the movie’s best-known scenes.
Although Glen is not the central character, Depp’s role became an important part of his early career. His appearance in the film came before his breakthrough television work on 21 Jump Street and his later rise as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
The casting also had an unusual story. Wes Craven originally thought Depp looked “greasy and pale and sickly.” Craven included Depp’s headshot among photographs shown to his daughter and her friend. The two girls selected Depp.
In a 2020 interview with Showbiz CheatSheet, Craven recalled their reaction: “I said, ‘Are you serious?’ He looked like he needed a bath,” Craven said. “They both said, ‘He’s beautiful.’”
The movie was made for an estimated budget of about $1.1 million and was filmed in Los Angeles. It later grossed $57 million worldwide.
Its success helped turn A Nightmare on Elm Street into a major horror franchise. The original movie was followed by six sequels, a television series, the Freddy vs. Jason crossover, and a 2010 remake. Freddy Krueger also appeared in video games and other franchise material.
Robert Englund’s performance as Freddy became closely tied to the character. Krueger’s red-and-green striped sweater, fedora and metal-bladed glove became recognizable parts of horror culture.
The original film also received lasting recognition outside the franchise. In 2021, A Nightmare on Elm Street was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
The recognition comes as the franchise prepares for another chapter. In July 2026, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Paramount Pictures had obtained U.S. rights to the original A Nightmare on Elm Street screenplay for a new project set in the same world.
For Depp, however, the 1984 film remains a notable starting point. It was his first feature-film role and the beginning of a career that would later include some of Hollywood’s biggest movies.
Related: 1976 Satirical Movie, Filmed Mostly in New York, Ranked Among ‘Greatest’ American Movies of All Time
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