The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise is a series of cult American horror films created by writer/director Wes Craven. It began with the original film in 1984, and ended with the sixth and final installment in 1994. The franchise follows different groups of teenagers (with the exception of the sixth film) as they battle the demonic spirit of malevolent killer Freddy Krueger in their dreams, sometimes succeeding, but always dying eventually. Freddy's Dead finally killed off Krueger and closed the original Nightmare storyline.