This wasn't always considered a classic.
It did fairly well for the budget and had a cult following, but I don't think this was considered a bonafide horror classic until about a decade later.
shareThe Fresh Prince even did a song about it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fVbaYFVUbLo
That song was released in 1988 just 18 days before ANOES 4: The Dream Master was released. That's when Freddy-mania was at it's peak.
The highest grossing ANOES films in NA (excluding the remake and FvJ).
4 > 3 > 2 > 6 > 1 > 5 > 7
It's probably wrong to say it took a decade for the film to become a bonafide horror classic. It was a decent hit out the gate but the franchise ramped up and financially peaked in the middle. That's very uncommon for most horror franchises where the original is usually the highest grossing entry.
When one looks at the facts it's very fair to say the film wasn't a mega hit from day one.
For reference Halloween (1978) earned around 3x as much as ANOES (1984). With F13 (1980) earning about 2x as much.
Those are considered the 'big three' slasher franchises of the 80s (and thus all time). But as can be seen with regards to the original entries, Halloween and F13 were much bigger hits domestically than ANOES.
Some people are calling OP out for this thread but factually it's correct.
Everything you’ve stated certainly adds up. Without taking into account the box office stats, just from my experience of being a kid in the 80s, I would say Halloween was the most well known slasher at that time. I was too young to see Halloween when it was released in theaters but it was a staple of the horror VHS boom and was on HBO. Friday the 13th was really big to most kids, and all it’s sequels. A Nightmare On Elm Street, when I finally saw it on VHS felt more like a spoof or something with the Freddie character. I only saw it once then and I don’t think I ever even revisited it until I was in my 30s.
share