Did anybody actually see this in a theater?

yes. i think the theater was fairly packed, most likely was nighttime on a friday or saturday. i was disappointed that freddy was still cracking jokes even though they promised that he would not be and i didn't like his makeup.

I didnt.. but I remember it being out in cinemas seeing the poster in bus shelters and the cinema foyer as I went to see Star Trek Generations (also the 7th film in the series) and the trailer was before certain films of the time.. and remember the reviews, many were astounded that Nightmare on Elm St 'VII' could possibly be this good (after the terrible last few sequels) and bold and meta.. so much so I think I rented it out when it was available on VHS despite not having seen ANY of the previous Nightmare movies (I still haven't really - just seen parts/most of Nightmare 1, own Freddy v Jason on DVD so seen it a couple times, and rented the DVD of the 2010 remake, probably one of the last BB rentals I ever rented)

i went to see it the sunday night of the weekend it came out! it was my bday that saturday and begged my mom to take me to go see it because I love freddy!i was 13! my little brother was 3 at the time and he had nightmares that night lol! everybody jumped the part where freddy jumps out the closet and says miss me?one of my fave nightmare movies! my fav of all is Freddy's dead lol! it has a special place in my heart because I saw it in theatres with my parents also in 3d lol!

This was the first Nightmare movie I saw in a theater

Yes. I saw it in theaters and there was a pretty big crowd too. We saw it opening night