To put it simply, Wes Craven’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is one of the most iconic scary movies ever made. “A Nightmare on Elm Street” made an entire generation (and many viewers in later generations) terrified of going to sleep. Age when “A Nightmare on Elm Street” released: 37. Selected movie credits before “A Nightmare on Elm Street”: Stay Hungry (1976), A Star Is Born (1976), Big Wednesday (1978). Selected movie credits after “A Nightmare on Elm Street”: Cinématon (1985), A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987), Someone to Love (1987).