Come To Freddy!

Hi everybody! I decided to drop another one. I was gearing up to do one about Nightmare On Elm Street series for quite some time, and even started it but just didn't find time to give it a proper attention and focus. I bet there's gonna be plenty of Nightmare articles very soon since the franchise is under spotlight again, but I wanna share my take before the overkill happens.


Who doesn't know Freddy Krueger? He's probably the biggest horror icon of the 80's. It's surprising when you learn that the Nightmare movies actually didn't make much money and each made around $15 000 000 in the box office with minimal budget of around $3 000 000

My introduction to the Nightmares was in very late 80's with Freddy's Revenge.



I was aware of the series and Krueger even before I saw it because it was freakin everywhere in the media and especially magazines, with multiple pages dedicated to the then latest installment - The Dream Child. I was just a couple of years old, little kid.I had two teenage sister and we know what teenagers love - horror movies! I believe my parents were watching also just to make sure everything in the movie is passable to watch, so eventually and ironically it turned into a family movie night, but with the first sequel to the NIghtmare On Elm Street! Somehow I was allowed to watch but of course, I didnt see half of the movie cause someone had their hand over my eyes whenever anything happened lol
There are two scenes I remember from the first viewing:



It was so scary for me then, just wow. Scary but at the same time really cool, like watching a comic book or fantasy movie. That's the thing about Freddy - he's like a comic book villain with all those now cheesy 80's superpowers and funky ways to kill his victims, turning into carpets or giant worms, or TV sets!





Haha, I remember being scared to take a shower or take a bath from then on for some time when it was dark already!

Years later when I rewatched the movie, its now filled with 80s, but thats one of the biggest reasons why I love it! To this day its my favorite in the series, but most likely due to nostalgic reasons. On the other hand, I think even if it wasn't the one that I saw as a kid I'd still like it the most.

Very soon after my sisters rented the first one. From the first one, I only remember the one scene that got everyone talking everywhere - the scene were the blood shoots out of the bed - the leftovers from Nancy's boyfriend. That movie only underlined what its sequel established for me - that Freddy is the scariest movie character ever! (Then)



The franchise seemed to be so popular in the 80s, it even had Marvel comic books! Althought it was cancelled only after two issues since Marvel thought that doing a comic book on a killer child molestor wasn't the best idea. And too bad cause that one, two-issue story was really realy good.

Freddy Krueger was this bratty prankster with super powers that were getting more and more over the top with each movie. It's amazing how much character and persona came from Englund. I knew it did, but not to this extent. It wasnt the screenplay and it wasnt the director that created Krueger - it was Robert Englund. The prankster vibe, the danger, the vibe. Robert has a specific way of portraying the character, in both the personality and physical movement. He had this very flamboyant and mime-like way of moving. He MADE this character, he IS Krueger. Also, Krueger had that morphed, devilish voice that worked so well and gave me chills. I see now that there is no Freddy without Englund - just like there is no RoboCop without Weller, or John Rambo without Stallone (or Batman without Keaton for me personally)



The next Nightmare ive seen long years later when Wes Craven's New Nightmare came out on VHS. I loved it. I remembered it much more serious and better written then it actually were, but still enjoy it a whole lot even today. Would be my second favorite in the series.



When the spotlight hit the franchise again, I was on it - I bought books, the novelizations, and rented the third one - the Dream Warriors, which is a quintessential 80s horror cheese and which I loved as well. A group of teenagers? with different superpowers? a wizard, a techno punk etc? How not to love it as an 80s kid! It was like a group from Captain Planet or something.



Oh and I gotta mention I had a huge crush on Nancy!



Funny personal story: When I was a kid I wanted to have a dream with Freddy Krueger just to see if it was real (lol, kids) and to share my experience with my friends the following day. So to dream about freddy, I spent an entire day watching NOES movies.
Result: that night I had a dream that I was sitting in front of TV watching NOES movies

Freddy vs Jason killed the franchise, and I don't even wanna devote any time to this terrible farce.



Right now the trailer for the remake has been released.I wanna say im an open minded person. Of course, I hated the idea of a remake but thats understandable - the movies that werent good should be remade, not movies that are classic and dear to so many fans and such a big part of the pop culture. Once the first images of the new Freddy surafced, I started singing a different tune. The thing was, there was no redesign in the character which is already such an enormous plus that it immediately got me thinking that those guys may actually get it right, if they understand the idea it seems. The character doesnt need a redesign just for the sake or redesign - if it aint broke, dont fix it. Horror fans adore Krueger, it would be idiocy to change him. They didnt even touch the glove, so thats fantastic. I was open to the remake - if you dont look at it as a contender but merely a modern take/spin on the franchise, youll welcome it. I was really trying to give that one a chance. Hey, I love Nightmare series like crazy, but the first one didnt age well at all. Still, thats a plus for me cause its a good 80s cheese now, and I love the 80s, but it doesnt translate well for today. I even stomached the idea of Krueger without Englund - well, its a different take, even if its absolutely not something I would want, id "stomach" it.

So here comes the trailer. What can I say? Now just from this small trailer I see now how much character and persona came from Englund, even more than I originally thought. He MADE this character, he IS Krueger, in character and movement. Its gonna be very hard to recreate or be faithful to it, otherwise the new Krueger will just come out as another disfigured cardboard slasher killer. Another one in a sea of carboard horror characters that flooded the theaters in the last 4-5 years, most of them from Platinum Dunes. Also not sure about Freddy with a lisp.

And the worst part of it all - Michael Bay, a person who - without a doubt - is the most talentless person who ever made it in Holywood

Another worry of mine is the film's editor, Glen Scantlebury. Its the same person who edited Transformers, and we know how that turned out. The editing is so bad there that cyou cant even tell whats going on in some scenes. Very amateurish and very jumpy, trying to force the pace by qucik cuts instead of teh combination of both editing and the actual scene/story itself

As for the face of the new Freddy - well, its fine. It looks like severly burned victims do now, although I agree with some of the youtube comments that he looks a lot like Michael Jackson, with no disrespect emant for the late king of pop.



So here it is folks, hope you enjoyed the read and see ya in theaters in April 2010