A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) eliminates the safety of wakefulness by murdering through dreams, and its $1.8 million budget netted $25 million—a 1,388% profit margin that outperforms #6 Psycho's initial theatrical run by 688 percentage points. Wes Craven's concept of sleep as a death sentence is psychologically impeccable, and Freddy Krueger's 9-film franchise longevity exceeds that of #8 The Silence of the Lambs' single sequel. The film's 91% Rotten Tomatoes rating is 10 points higher than the average 1980s slasher, cementing its durable fear of the unconscious.