Los Angeles Public Library
Cahuenga Branch Library
Santa Monica Boulevard, East Hollywood
The 1916 library that played the police station, now a working branch with its own page for hours. Pictured: the library, 2015.
See the branchLos Angeles · Summer 1984 · A sleep-lab read-out
A Nightmare on Elm Street
In the film a girl is wired up at a sleep clinic and told to stay awake. The clinic, the school, the police station and the boiler room were four unrelated Los Angeles buildings. Wire them in one lead at a time.
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Wire the sleeper
Six leads, six rooms
Each lead on the head is a room from the film, and each room is a real Los Angeles place. Attach a lead to draw its trace and read where the room was made.
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0 of 6 leads on
No leads on. Pick one to start the recording.
Flat lines.
Nobody is wired in yet.
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Thirty-two days
A shoot you could count
Principal photography began on 11 June 1984 and lasted 32 days, in and around Los Angeles. Filming wrapped at the end of July.
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The estimated budget was $1.1 million, up from an original $700,000. Heather Langenkamp won the part of Nancy at an open audition against more than 200 actresses. She was then a student at Stanford.
Depp was unknown when he was cast as Glen, and the film was his debut. The fan location list puts Glen’s house, where Johnny Depp made his film debut, on the same avenue.
Wikipedia says Krueger’s red-and-green sweater was chosen after a 1982 Scientific American article about clashing colours.
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Wikipedia says Nancy’s high school was filmed at John Marshall High School.
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Wake
Go and see the rooms
The library and the cemetery are open to the public. The school, the jail and the campus are best seen from the street. The Genesee Avenue houses are private homes, named by their street and not pinned.
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Where it is now
5 places you can look at in Los Angeles, plus the private homes on one street.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Site reference · Restricted access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working public high school. Look at the Collegiate Gothic front from Tracy Street; the campus is not open to visitors.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working public library on Santa Monica Boulevard. Walk in during opening hours; it is closed on Sundays.
The front of the main building at John Marshall High School, Los Angeles Times Know Your City series, 16 April 1956. Los Angeles Times · CC BY 4.0 Hollywood and Los Feliz · 3939 Tracy Street, Los Feliz
John Marshall High School
Wikipedia says Nancy’s high school was filmed at John Marshall High School.
A working public high school. Look at the Collegiate Gothic front from Tracy Street; the campus is not open to visitors.
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Cahuenga Branch Library on Santa Monica Boulevard, designed by Clarence H. Russell and opened in 1916. Photographed 30 December 2015. MichaelJLocke · CC BY-SA 4.0 Hollywood and Los Feliz · 4591 Santa Monica Boulevard, East Hollywood
Cahuenga Branch Library
Wikipedia says the police station exterior was filmed at Cahuenga Branch Library.
A working public library on Santa Monica Boulevard. Walk in during opening hours; it is closed on Sundays.
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Stay
A room in Hollywood.
A 1927 hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, a drive from the library and the school.
The Hollywood Roosevelt
The Hollywood Roosevelt
Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles
A hotel at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard that opened in 1927, in Hollywood and a drive from the library and the school. Pictured: Cahuenga Branch Library, 2015.
Check roomsGo there
See the places.
The library branch page and a marketplace search for Los Angeles film-location tours.
Los Angeles Public Library
Cahuenga Branch Library
Santa Monica Boulevard, East Hollywood
The 1916 library that played the police station, now a working branch with its own page for hours. Pictured: the library, 2015.
See the branch
Viator · Ad / affiliate
Los Angeles movie and TV location tours
Los Angeles
Live marketplace results for film-location tours in Los Angeles. Check which routes pass the sites. Pictured: Lincoln Heights Jail, 2009.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
No dates yet.
Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The archive
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
6 of 6 places · 10 of 10 stories
North Genesee Avenue
North Genesee Avenue, West Hollywood
Nancy’s street
Nancy’s fictional Elm Street home corresponds to a private house on North Genesee Avenue.
Glen’s house
Glen’s house stands on the same avenue; it was Johnny Depp’s film debut.
An open audition
Heather Langenkamp wins Nancy against more than 200 actresses.
Thirty-two days
Principal photography runs 32 days from 11 June 1984, in and around Los Angeles.
John Marshall High School
3939 Tracy Street, Los Feliz
The school
John Marshall High School plays Nancy’s high school.
Lincoln Heights Jail
421 North Avenue 19, Lincoln Heights
The boiler room
The closed Lincoln Heights Jail supplies the boiler room and the police station interiors.
Cahuenga Branch Library
4591 Santa Monica Boulevard, East Hollywood
The police station
A 1916 library supplies the police station exterior.
American Jewish University
15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel-Air
The sleep clinic
A Mulholland Drive campus stands in for the sleep disorder clinic.
The inspiration
Craven builds the story on 1970s newspaper reports of refugees who died in their sleep after nightmares.
Evergreen Cemetery
204 North Evergreen Avenue, Boyle Heights
A burial
A character’s burial scene is filmed at Evergreen Cemetery.
