Great Character: Freddy Krueger (“A Nightmare on Elm Street ”)
This month’s Great Character: Boogeyman. Here is guest contributor Jason Cuthbert with a post about a notable Boogeyman: Freddy Krueger from the A Nightmare on Elm Street:
Freddy Krueger might just be the Madonna of horror movie characters — a household name regardless of what generation you are from. His brutal burns, brown Fedora hat, green and red sweater and that “cutting-edge” glove are all scratched deep into pop culture iconography. I wonder if director and screenwriter Wes Craven even had a shred of a clue in 1984 that his new horror film boogeyman Freddy Krueger, played by Robert Englund, would scare up so much commercial visibility.
Or that when he cast super actor Johnny Depp in his very first feature film as teen victim Glen Lanz, that Depp would sport his own sharp fingers six years later in Edward Scissorhands. Talk about making dreams come true.
The bedtime predator, Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street and its cottage industry franchise, had his own television series (Freddy’s Nightmares), became a popular Halloween costume and even inspired a hit song from Will Smith’s hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince called “Nightmare on My Street.” I saw the television show, wore the costume and enjoyed the album, so I can verify the Freddy frenzy was not just a dream.
A Nightmare on Elm Street plot summary from IMDB:
In the dreams of his victims, a spectral child murderer stalks the children of the members of the lynch mob that killed him.
Even if Wes Craven didn’t predict the Freddy Krueger gold rush beforehand — Craven made it clear in an interview that his desire to create a totally unique slasher character was premeditated:
“Part of it was an objective goal to make the character memorable, since it seems that every character that has been successful has had some kind of unique weapon, whether it be a chain saw or a machete, etc. I was also looking for a primal fear, which is embedded in the subconscious of people of all cultures. One of those is the fear of teeth being broken, which I used in my first film. Another is the claw of an animal, like a saber-toothed tiger reaching with its tremendous hooks. I transposed this into a human hand.”
Wes Craven even had distinctive reasons to crown his antagonist with the names “Freddy” and “Krueger.” As for that last name, Krueger was an inside-joke reference to Krug, the main villain in Craven’s previous horror flick The Last House on the Left. But his first name was a bit more autobiographical according to Wes Craven:
“Fred was my worst enemy in junior high school. He and I both had paper routes and shared the same drop-off point for newspapers. We used to get into a fight every day. Fred became my least favorite name.”
The movie’s hypnotically memorable nightmare chant sums up the traumatic terror that Freddy Krueger has instilled into the innocent adolescents of Elm Street, and to audiences.
CHILDREN: One, two, Freddy’s coming for you. / Three, four, better lock your door. / Five, six, grab your crucifix. / Seven, eight, gonna stay up late. / Nine, ten, never sleep again.
Freddy Krueger may favor the old grin and cackle over the typical morbid frown. But make no mistake, Freddy is a child murder turned afterlife teen murder — who will literally make people die in their sleep.
TINA GRAY: Please God!
FREDDY KRUEGER: [reveals his glove] This, is God!Unlike the more brooding, anti-social stalkers in horror like: Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Leatherface — Freddy likes to taunt, mock and even sadistically flirt.
FREDDY KRUEGER: I’m your boyfriend now, Nancy.
Freddy’s first nocturnal murder in A Nightmare on Elm Street mixes the supernatural evil of The Exorcist with the buckets of blood from the Friday the 13th series.
Freddy makes Depp’s character a real world participant in a gory bedtime story.
A Nightmare on Elm Street is definitely one of the most creatively high concept horror movies in the genre. Every human being can relate to the sleep-depriving terror of bad dreams, so Freddy is tapping into our collective fears. But imagine if falling asleep could potentially accelerate your funeral date? That pushes Freddy Krueger into the realm of an unavoidable grim reaper, because not even a Starbucks employee with expresso for blood can stay awake forever.
For his distinctive accessories, twisted personality, and dreaming-raiding abilities and for his complete ownership of the name “Freddy” (try not to think of his face when you hear that name) — Freddy Krueger is one wickedly GREAT CHARACTER.
A bit of history: In effect, Freddie Krueger made New Line Cinema. So remember this: There is gold in them there Boogeymen!
Thanks to Jason for this post. You can follow him on Twitter: @A2Jason.
