Englund looks back on ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ ahead of its 40th anniversary and reminds PEOPLE how it scared the shit out of an unsuspecting waiter one day.

Nightmare on Elm Street has been terrorizing teenagers for 40 years. At the time of its release on November 9, 1984, the now iconic horror moviewritten and directed by Wes Cravenintroduced the public for the first time to an entirely new creation: a sadistic child killer who stalked high school students while they slept, turning his victims’ dreams into nightmares.

That killer was Freddy Krueger, who became known for his disfigured face, tattered red and green striped sweater and brown fedora, as well as his trademark leather glove adorned with metal claws. Came to life for the first time on screen thanks to Robert Englundwho played the character in six films before retiring from the role after 2003. Freddy vs. Jason.

The actor, now 77, originally appeared alongside Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompsonveteran western star John Saxon, Oscar nominee Ronee Blakley and a handful of teen stars, including Nick Corri and Johnny Deppboth in his film debut.

Related: Nightmare on Elm Street Star Recalls First Time Seeing Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger: ‘Totally Terrifying’ (Exclusive)

Filming for the slasher took place in various parts of Los Angeles during the summer of 1984. One of those locations was Hollywood’s Ren-Mar Studios, which previously served as the setting for I love Lucia and The Dick Van Dyke Showamong other classic television comedies.

“There was still stuff from those shows stacked in the corners, you know, with cobwebs and stuff like that,” Englund recalls to PEOPLE while promoting NightmareReleased in 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD), and noted that making the horror film there felt like “we were violating” the traditional American family. “I remember that kind of strange juxtaposition.”

Englund also remembers being so “tired of catering” on set that he, Corri and Depp went out to lunch between takes one day. “We just couldn’t do it anymore. No more peanut butter, jelly and macaroni and cheese,” he says, revealing that the three of them “went across the street to a Thai restaurant.”

The only thing was that Englund was still dressed as Freddy. While he says that “everyone got used to me in my Freddy costume,” that was not the case for those not involved in the production, and his appearance scared at least one of the restaurant’s employees.

Related: Robert Englund Reveals His Own Freddy Krueger Nightmare That Still Scares Him: ‘I Literally Can See It’ (Exclusive)

“We walked into a dark Thai restaurant and we were sitting there, we were in the back, towards the kitchen, and this guy came from the back kitchen area,” he recalls. “I remember there was a porthole window in the door and I had taken off my hat and the door opened and that fluorescent light from the kitchen poured in and shined on me. And I just looked at the guy and he wasn’t. “I was thinking “I think I was playing with my chopsticks, and the poor guy dropped his entire tray of food for this other group of people who were there waiting to be served and ran back to the kitchen.”

Laughing about it now, Englund says: “What he must have seen: you know, Freddy Krueger, 12 or 14 feet away, sitting in a booth, hatless in that bit of fluorescent lighting that just cut him off. I think that one guy is still working.”

That was just one of the many stories both Englund and Langenkamp, ​​60, have about their time on the set of Nightmare.

While reminiscing about making the film, Langenkamp, ​​who was 20 at the time, tells PEOPLE that she and co-star Amanda Wyss became good friends. “She’s even my best friend now,” the actress shares, while revealing that they, along with Depp and Corri, would “hang out and have a lot of fun getting to know each other.”

He adds: “When you get put together on a set, there’s a lot of things you want to know about each other and where you’re from. And there was a lot of that. But we got very comfortable very quickly. We all seemed like, ‘We didn’t have any drama or jilted lovers or nothing like that on this set, as far as I remember.”

Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Director Shares ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ Connections in Robert Englund Episode

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If there was any problem between the co-stars, it was the fact that the wardrobe team sometimes mixed up clothes that belonged to Depp and Langenkamp. “There was a lot to laugh about,” the actress continues. “I know Johnny and I had jeans that were the same size and they often mixed together. So his, you know, were longer than mine, so he’d come out in my little tall jeans and we’d realize, ‘Oh, you’re done.’ jeans again. You know, we’d have fun times like that.”

Speaking of Depp, while previously chatting with PEOPLELangenkamp shared how she felt like a veteran on the set of Nightmare compared to her co-star, who was 21 years old during filming. “When I went up Nightmare on Elm StreetHe had done several TV movies of the week and smaller projects. So I had been on sets before. And I always think about my experience opposite Johnny Depp, who was literally on his first job,” she recalled. “And then I felt like a seasoned professional next to him because I had never really been on a set.”

Although she may have felt like she knew what she was doing at the time, “I was probably faking it half the time,” Langenkamp shared, acknowledging that her first leading role “was a very daunting experience for me.”

In honor of its 40th anniversary, Warner Bros. releases Nightmare on Elm Street in 4K UHD digitally on October 1 and physically on October 15.

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