Special Features |
30 Years of Nightmares: The Rise of Freddy Krueger By William Henry Pratt This summer makes the 30th Anniversary of one of horrors biggest icons. His name is as fam- ous as his gloved weapon and he has surpassed pop culture as one of the most recognized charac- ters in the world. He is Freddy Krueger, the night- mare man who invades our sweet dreams and turns them into something of horror. The summer of 1984, a new horror movie was about to be released. A low budget horror flick by the name A Nightmare on Elm Street. When the movie first hit the screens, no one knew, including its creator/ writer and director, what an impact that this new horror icon name Freddy would make. He was an instant hit with horror fans and the rise of Freddy was about to began. Leatherface, Michael Myers and Jason Voohees were ripping teenagers apart and doing it with great style. They were big brutes, hulking monsters with little care in what they did. They were nothing more than killing machines who found and used anything they could to kill teens and anyone else they came across. They went about their bloody craft hidden behind masks and spoke not a word. They were good at what they did but waiting in the winds was a smaller, eviler soul ready to have his time in the limelight of slaughter. He wore a dirty red and green sweater and a brown fedora upon his head. In his right hand his killing device, a set of handmade razor claws placed within an simple glove. His evil was un- matched and when he was alive, he was the terror of the town of Springwood and after his death he became something more. Unlike his silent counter parts, Freddy not only spoke but taunt his victims before ripping into their flesh as he attacked them at their most vulnerable, when they were asleep. Entering the horror genre lineup at the very height of the slasher movie movement, Freddy quickly took the top spot in the hearts and minds of horror fans alike. He was cool, mean and wore his hat with style. He was the brain child of film writer/director Wes Craven, who envisioned his nightmare killer after remembering a childhood ac- count. When as a boy, he looked out his bedroom window and saw an older man walking down the street in a hat and red and green sweater. This look stayed with Craven and when he needed a look, a very distinctive look for his new killer, he drew upon the image he saw all those year ago. Under the hat and make-up was actor Robert Englund, who brought the new villain to life. His por- trait of Freddy was nothing less than amazing and as the films draw into a full franchise, Englund would carry on as the only man to play Freddy in all of the film sequels. One film after another followed the first Nightmare on Elm Street running through the rest of the 1980's until Freddy was killed off in the film Freddy’s Dead. But as we all know you can’t keep a good monster down for very long and in 1994 for the first film’s 10th Anniversary, the nightmare man made a returned in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. He was back and ready to kill again as Robert Englund slipped into the rubber make-up once again. In 1988, Freddy went were no other horror hero ever went before…..he got his own TV series. Freddy’s Nightmares with host Freddy himself with Robert under the hat, hit TV screens for a short lived series. The gloved one would start and host the show much like the Crypt Keeper would do for Tales From The Crypt a few years later. Sometimes the 30 minute anthology would feature Freddy and sometimes not but he was always there to bring a little horror and fun to the series. In the very first episode we got to see what was only talked about in the first film, when the townspeople trapped Freddy when he was human and killed him to save their town from his evil. They had no idea what evil they were about to unleash After New Nightmare, Freddy and Robert took some time off but nearly 20 years after the first Nightmare, Freddy was back in action again and this time….he was not alone. In the age old tradition of Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman and King Kong vs Godzilla, Freddy was about to battle another horror icon and he was none other than Friday The 13th’s Jason Voohees. The two clashed in 2003 in Freddy vs Jason with Robert returning for what seemed to be the last time he would play Freddy. This film was a fans dream come true and this writer still gets a tear in my eyes when I first see the two killer movie icons together. In 2010 to try and bring in a new generation of horror fans, a remake of Nightmare was released. Sadly Robert, the only man to play Freddy was not invited to reprise the role that he made so impacting. To date there is no plans of this writing to bring out a new Freddy film. So for now kids you can sleep in peace but if you hear his evil giggle and see a figure with a hat and claw, your nightmare is about to begin. |