Week 29: “A Look at A
Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise”
Freddy Krueger is one of the most iconic horror film icons
ever created. In addition to having been
featured in nine films he’s also graced a television series, comic books,
novels, and CDs, not to mention the fact that his image is one of the biggest
selling items during Halloween. Freddy
has become an icon of pop culture that doesn’t seem to wane even when there
isn’t a new film on the horizon. I’ve
decided to take a few moments to give my thoughts on each of the films as these
films played a tremendous part in my love of the horror genre growing up.
I don’t know when I first saw the original film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) but I
do know it was after the second film as I saw them both at the same time. Despite being a Michael Myers fan growing up,
Freddy Krueger was the more dynamic character.
For one, his sound and dialogue played a huge part in terrifying me as a
kid. Director Wes Craven’s original film
was atmospheric, dark, filled with suspense and had a great cast of “normal”
teenagers. Craven’s talented cast led by
the charming Heather Langenkamp created a group of characters that could easily
represent your own best friends and neighbors. This would play a key point in
future sequels which all featured young high school or college aged students
haunted by the un-killable Fred Krueger. Whenever I was in the mood for Freddy Krueger
this would be the first film I’d take in.
Despite the infamy of A
Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), it holds a special
place as a favorite of mine because it was the film that prompted me to watch
the first film. Actually, it was the
trailer for this film that put the bug in me to see these films. I remember seeing the trailer for this film
and was in awe at the moment where Freddy stood over all the children at the
pool party and exclaimed, “You are all my children.” Freddy had this ambiance and menace that was
undeniable. When I finally saw this film
on video I ended up watching both the first and second one. I can’t remember which one I saw first but
this is the one that was calling out to me.
The film itself is dark and moody and atmospheric like the
original. In fact, it comes the closest
of any sequel to that dark mood of the original as it wouldn’t be until the
third film that the deaths and carnage would become more “light hearted” and “comedic”. This film also happens to be the only one
with a male protagonist which sets it apart from the others. Even though I was unaware of the homoerotic
motifs and imagery in the film when I was young, there is no denying their
presence or impact on the film overall.
It didn’t matter to me then about this (when I didn’t know any better)
and it doesn’t matter to me now (since I am very aware of it). For me this is more entertaining and raw than
the subsequent sequels which all focused on the comedy and more imaginative
death sequences.
Now I’ll be the first to say how glad I was that Heather
Langenkamp returned for A Nightmare on
Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987).
By then I was well aware of the impact of the series. By this time I wanted to actually go see this
film at the theater (but sadly that would not happen until Wes Craven’s return
to the director’s chair). For a long
time I considered this my favorite of the franchise. It was the “coolest” of them all with some of
the best visual SFX in addition to the best dream sequences and death sequences
in the entire franchise. Also, the tragic
death of Langenkamp’s character Nancy who had once been a victim but now a
savior and hero to a new generation of kids made this film poignant. Something
future sequels would lack. This would be
the film most often paired with the first film in my Freddy double feature
nights.
I’ve never really been a fan of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988). I was a little thrown by the fact that Kristen
(played so eloquently in the previous film by a young Patricia Arquette) was
now played by Tuesday Knight and that she was killed off within the first
fifteen minutes of the film. I didn’t
really take to any of the other characters because of this despite the fact
that Lisa Wilcox did a fine job of taking over the franchise as Alice. The most memorable death scene was Elaine
turning into a cockroach (which will stay with me forever) but everyone else’s
death was pretty forgettable. The only
reason I ever continue to revisit this film is to pair it up with its direct
sequel Part 5, which I enjoy so much more.
It should be noted that even Robert England continued to do
a fine job as Freddy Krueger throughout the subsequent films never missing a
beat despite the films becoming less scary and more comedic. He was able to take the punches and keep
getting back up after being knocked down.
A Nightmare on Elm
Street Part 5: The Dream Child (1989) would be my next favorite in the
series and it would create my triple feature night partnered with the original
and Part 3. This film returned the
franchise to its darker mood and atmosphere especially considering that it
partially takes place in an asylum and features Freddy’s mother. With the theme of motherhood and children at
its core it was also one of the few sequels to really touch on a taboo subject
in horror films especially one geared towards teens and young adults. Everyone was at top form and I loved that the
film featured Kelly Jo Minter, one of my favorite actors at the time from Summer School (1987) and The Principal (1987) but would soon
become more famous for her horror roles in Popcorn
(1991) and The People Under the Stairs
(1991). With just these few roles she
became one of my favorite actors of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s.
I really hate Freddy’s
Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991).
From the trailer I thought this would be a cool movie. It was supposed to be the last, it had the
Power Glove and part of it would be in 3-D!
The reasons why I hate it is because it wasn’t the last, it had the
Power Glove, and only the ending was in 3-D (which I never even got to
experience), among many other reasons why this film is bad. None of the dreams sequences were interesting
and them showing the truth about Fred Krueger and that he has a child all
seemed ludicrous. The film was poorly
directed but that’s not nearly as bad as the script or the celebrity cameos in
the film all of which contribute to the infamy of this bad film. I don’t watch this film unless I get the urge
to watch the entire franchise (which isn’t often any more). In hindsight I do love Lisa Zane and it does
have Yaphet Kotto but these are minor great things from a major disappointment
of a film.
My faith in the franchise would be restored with Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) which
allowed Craven to return to the franchise he started and make everything right
again. This is my favorite of the
sequels after the first film. Craven was
able to make a stale franchise fresh and invigorated it with smart characters,
an intelligent script and amazing special FX and makeup FX not to mention the
amazing score by J. Peter Robinson.
Unfortunately, the lack of love for this film at the Box Office spelled
the end. The film was way ahead of its
time by bringing back actors from previous films to play themselves and being a
film that focused on film myth in Hollywood as well as fairytale myth in a dark
world of Freddy’s making. This was as
striking and original as the original film had been in ’84. This also happened to be the first film in
the franchise that I got to view on the big screen on opening weekend. I remember the day very well as it was either
this film or The Next Karate Kid
(1984) and there was no way in hell I was going to be talked into seeing that
film. Other than the original film, this
is the only film in the entire franchise I can watch on its own without adding
in one of the sequels. For me, this film
stands on its own and doesn’t need to be paired with any of the others.
In 2003 Freddy would meet his match with Freddy Vs. Jason. Having seen this film on opening night as
well, I loved this film. It was exciting
and it invigorated the Friday the 13th
franchise, which I’ve never been a fan of.
It featured the Freddy I wanted to see in the later sequels and the
Jason Voorhees that should’ve been in all those sequels. Unfortunately, time has not been very kind to
this film. It’s neither scary nor moody
and plays like a pop horror-action-teen movie rather than a scary matchup of
two of the horror genre’s most iconic images.
It was following the trend of horror films at that time like Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), Cherry Falls (2000), Dracula 2000 (2000), The Forsaken (2001), Jeepers Creepers (2001), Thirteen Ghosts (2001), Dog Soldiers (2002), and Darkness Falls (2003), to name a
few. Even now, people who loved the film
when it first came out despise it. I
hardly ever watch it.
This would be the last film in the franchise to star Robert
England. He had a great run that was
longer than most others who played iconic fiends of horror. England was Freddy and it would be
hard for someone else to fill his shoes but Jackie Earle Haley was up to the
task for the remake A Nightmare on Elm
Street (2010). This film was darker
and more atmospheric than previous films but it was also less interesting,
lacked suspense, and wasn’t any fun. It
tried so hard to be gritty and realistic that it forgot to be entertaining. It also lacked originality and was generally
a downer of a film despite Haley actually being the best part of the film. This is the only film in the franchise I’ve
never bothered watching a second time.
Why bother when all the previous films are superior and at least have
England to entertain? I’m sure there are
fans of this film out there…I’ve just never met any of them.
I could saw some more about the films themselves but I know
most anyone reading this has already seen the films several times over and had
their own double and triple features.
Despite being a Michael Myers and Halloween
fan there has always been enough room for love of this franchise with me. I love horror films and I love franchises
because they allow us fans to continue seeing the progression of some of our
favorite characters in more stories.
They don’t all have to be great films but they do need to entertain and
generally respect the franchise as a whole in order to satisfy us die-hard
fans. Freddy Krueger is by far the
most interesting and dynamic of all the horror film icons and that was made possible
not only from his creator Wes Craven but the man who brought him to life Robert
England and all the adventures and characters he interacted with in each film
crafted by a huge and talented group of actors and film-makers.
Documentaries that focused on a single individual can fall
into two camps – one is that it’s too pretentious to actually say something serious
about the subject or two it tells a well-rounded and comprehensive look at the subject’s
life and career both the good and the bad.
Unfortunately, the second one only actually happens when the subject has
already passed on. So it is with great
pleasure that To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story (2017) belongs in the
second type and Kodder is very much still alive. 
