We slice open Nightmare on Elm Street 3 – WTF Happened to This Horror Movie

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Director Chuck Russell's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (watch it HERE) is widely considered to be one of the greatest horror films of the 1980s, if not of all time, so at first it may seem strange that we've made the film the subject of the latest episode in our WTF Happened to This Horror Movie video series. But while Dream Warriors did turn out to be great, the process of getting the film to the screen was not easy. It was a rushed, stressful production that started out with a script written by A Nightmare on Elm Street creator Wes Craven and collaborator Bruce Wagner, but much of what they wrote didn't make it to the screen.

In the video embedded above, we discuss the Craven and Wagner script, which received a substantial rewrite from Russell and Frank Darabont, and then delve into the production of Dream Warriors. With so much going against it, it's impressive that Dream Warriors is as good as it is.

This episode was written by Cody Hamman, Edited by Victoria Verduzco, Narrated by Jason Hewlett and Produced by John Fallon. Berge Garabedian is the Executive Producer.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors has the following 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.

This is what the WTF Happened to This Horror Movie series is all about: 

Hollywood has had its fair share of historically troubled productions. Whether it was casting changes, actor deaths, fired directors, in-production rewrites, constant delays, budget cuts or studio edits, these films had every intention to be a blockbuster, but were beset with unforeseen disasters. Sometimes huge hits, sometimes box office bombs. Either way, we have to ask: WTF Happened To This Horror Movie?

Some previous episodes of the series can be seen below, and more can be found on our JoBlo Horror Videos YouTube channel!