Handled dreams better than Inception...

Oh man, the post-apocalyptic scenes were done superbly well, especially the zombie train bit? That was like... perfectly executed.

And yeah, the sequences where they're running around the post-nuke wasteland actually seemed like the sort of strung-together sequencing you would find in a dream/nightmare. The morphing snake man segment was cool, but sadly the stop-motion claymation was kind of bad. Still, the way the horror elements were handled was pretty cool, and I'm really glad they filmed and edited it all together as if it was actually taking place in a dream.

Actually...

I think they do a generally good job in that series of making the nightmares feel like nightmares. They could be a little more whimsical... no, more wispy? I think wispy is the right word.

But otherwise, A Nightmare On Elm Street generally captures that fleeting dream-like feeling, while also being grounded enough to feel terrifying. The thing that makes nightmares so frightening is that there's still an element or hint of realism there -- like it's actually happening -- but then the bizarre and the grotesque emerge and that's what makes them so scary. And generally, the Elm Street series has been good at capturing the bizarre, grotesque, and the grounded all at the same time. I'm reminded of the motorcycle death sequence in I think Part IV or V? That was absolutely horrifying, and still pretty gruesome to this day, where Dan is skinned alive by the burning tubes and electric wires of the motorcycle? Yikes. What a way to go.