When Freddy Krueger shows up in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, it’s on a daytime talk show. Heather Langenkamp is interviewed for an anniversary special on the original A Nightmare On Elm Street. As the TV host announces to her that Robert Englund is there for a surprise appearance, the audience cheers in delight. As he jumps through a screen, he uses his bladed glove to tear the paper. Instead of beginning to taunt his victim as he prepares to kill them, Englund walks out onto the set and immediately begins using his charm and charisma to get louder applause.
This scene is not Freddy playing a trick on a sleeping victim, but Robert and Heather playing versions of themselves. Set a decade after A Nightmare on Elm Street, we find Heather – who portrayed Nancy Thompson – living her life as a journalist with her husband and son. She is receiving harassing phone calls from a mystery person. As the calls become increasingly worse, she begins having nightmares about Freddy attacking her.
It was a risky choice on Craven’s part, choosing Englund and Langenkamp to depict versions of themselves. New Nightmare premiered two years before Scream, and the meta themes of horror films hadn’t yet become a trend. But the movie worked thanks to the groundwork set by Wes, Robert, and Heather.
In A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven picks away at the facade of the idyllic white suburban life. When we meet Nancy and her friends, they are preoccupied with school and dating. Their lives are changed when Freddy Kruger starts hunting them in their sleep. Unlike horror villains who came before him Freddy didn’t just rely on his brute physicality to dominate his victims. He messed with their psyche and made them question their reality. When he originally appeared on screen, movie goers weren’t immediately expecting a laugh or a gag.
When Krueger attacks Tina in an alley behind her house, he traps her and taunts her with gory body horror. He slices off his finger and even removes the skin on his face. He toys with her to show the lengths he will go to torture his victims. Craven’s original iteration of Freddy made him a horror icon and incredibly popular. People began dressing up like him for Halloween, even making songs about him like DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince’s "A Nightmare on My Street".
The popularity created a demand for more films. Four of the six installments did not involve Craven or Langenkamp. These projects veer into more lighthearted, silly horror. The value Freddy brought to audiences – silly gags and crude humor – seemed to outweigh the need for more thoughtful storylines.
The road back to Nightmare’s roots relies heavily on Heather and Nancy. The final girl is a complicated figure in Slasher films. Many fans and critics see them as problematic, especially the over emphasis on white virginal girlhood. In the first film, Nancy is closer to the empowering side of final girls. She is able to outsmart Freddy and control her fear of him, ultimately defeating him.
When we meet Heather in New Nightmare audiences aren’t fed a nostalgia trip. Craven gives Langenkamp the space to revisit a character that undoubtedly shaped her life and career. We watch her look into the past and see how her life has changed by being involved in the film. Not just the overt change of having Freddy stalk her in the “real” world but how closely her identity is attached to Nancy.
Craven offers up a different approach to his iconic character as well. The talk show scene is about as silly or comical as Craven allows this Freddy to become. The toned down approach makes the film eerie. Because we barely hear Freddy speak in the film his presence is looming and menacing. New Nightmare is a fitting end for Krueger. His defeat at the hands of Nancy and her son provided audiences and critics with a film they’d been craving for years.
Freddy was asleep for ten years until 2003's Freddy vs. Jason brought him and Jason Voorhees back to life. The film was a vehicle to reintroduce these characters to a new generation and hopefully let them find a new audience in a changing horror landscape. By 2003, Scream, Final Destination, and The Ring caused a shift in the genre. Teenagers with access to new technology weren’t scared by the same horror tactics that worked in the 70’s and 80’s. Teens craved newer, flasher and smarter scary movies. Unfortunately, this match up produced none of those things.
The plot centers around Krueger, whose powers have weakened as the people of Springwood have forgotten him. Freddy resurrects Jason to kill in his place until he is strong enough to haunt in dreams again. The movie utilizes the Krueger from the many sequels; he is back to being outlandish and over the top. It’s a disappointing turn, not only for Krueger, but also the characters playing the teenagers in the film. None of them have any defining qualities. When Freddy eventually kills them, you simply don't care.
This shared universe was a monetary success despite its bad reviews. The film earned nearly $116 million dollars at the box office. Audiences seemed to enjoy the pure entertainment value of watching two killers battle it out. There were reports of people cheering during the fight scenes and rooting for Jason or Freddy to win.
So much of the conversation around existing IP’s being rebooted has centered around action and superhero films. Horror franchises have long suffered from the same fate. The Halloween franchise is the perfect example. Since 1978, Michael Myers has appeared in 13 films. These films have created so many storylines that it can be difficult for fans to keep up.
When horror films are remade beyond recognition, audiences ultimately lose the most. Movie goers don’t just want classic horror villains to show up if the main themes of their franchise are lost. Unfortunately, I don’t think Michael, Jason, or Freddy have anything interesting to offer us anymore. When Laurie and the rest of Haddonfield put Michael’s body in an industrial shredder, I felt nothing but relief. I’m perfectly okay with all of them staying in hell where they belong.
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