Why is it 'Elm' in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'?
What does Elm depict in A Nightmare on Elm Street? Does Elm tree represent something bad in the horror context?
Best Answer
Elm Street is one of the most common street names in the United States. If you exclude numbers (because numbers in a title are strongly connoted to having several in a series, whether it's streets or movies), the most common names are Park, Main, Oak, Pine, Maple, Cedar, Elm. So “Elm Street” has a “generic street” feel to it.
In fiction, Elm and Pine have traditionally dominated over the other tree names that are more popular in real life. Park is even above, but the word “park” has connotations (of nature, empty spaces, that kind of stuff) that “elm” doesn't have. This points towards Elm or Pine as a generic street name for a movie.
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Why is Nightmare on Elm Street called Elm Street?
Elm Street was named after Elm Street in Wheaton, Illinois, where Wes Craven went to college. Wes Craven said that Johnny Depp wasn't very confident about his own performance and that the inexperienced actor needed some re-assurance during filming.Is Nightmare on Elm Street based off a true story?
While most of the Elm Street story is fictionalized, the inspiration for the idea of Freddy Krueger comes from a real story with real people. The director, Wes Craven, says his idea for A Nightmare on Elm Street came after reading a news story in the L.A. Times.Was Nightmare on Elm Street all a dream?
The fact that Glen, Tina, Rod, and Marge were killed by Freddy is at least confirmed. It turns out though, that writer/director Wes Craven actually wanted a happy ending that would've indeed brought everyone back to life and made the whole movie a dream.Is it true that every town has an Elm Street?
Nearly every town in the United States is home to an Elm Street. However, only one Elm Street is home to infamous child killer Freddy Krueger.Michael Jackson - Who Is It (Official Video)
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Answer 2
I've always seen it as just a very generic suburban name. There's a complete difference in tone and setting between (for example) A Nightmare on 5th Ave, A Nightmare in the Bronx, and a nightmare in peaceful suburbia.
To my knowledge there's nothing deeper to it, and my guess is that it just helps set the tone.
Answer 3
The wiki page says that maybe a 1968 student film project made by students of Craven's at Clarkson University inspired the movies. The student film parodied contemporary horror movies, and was filmed along Elm Street in Potsdam, New York.
I'm not sure if it's true or not, maybe it was just for the tone, like Stephan Muller said.
Answer 4
I was watching the video of the assassination of JFK tonight and the street where it happened was called Elm Street, which may bring back the memories of the people who lived in that time and for those who follow history. Could be a clever way of marketing a movie title.
Answer 5
Craven decided to make A Nightmare on Elm Street after reading a series of L.A. Times articles about a group of teenage Khmer immigrants who, after moving to the U.S. from refugee camps, died in their sleep after suffering from disturbing nightmares.
There was also sleep paralysis experiments conducted in the 1970's by a doctor named Ravenscroft that lived on Elm Street.
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