Robert Englund Talks ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’ Movies, ‘I Would Have Cast Different Actors To Play Freddy’
The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise host some of the most legendary horror movies in the genre’s history. When discussing classic horror movies, it’s nearly impossible to not mention the stapled villains: Jason Voorhees, Chucky, Leatherface, Michael Myers, Pinhead, and of course, Freddy Krueger. Freddy has become so ingrained in our pop culture that it’s hard to imagine anyone besides Robert Englund portraying the character. In fact, New Line Cinema and director Samuel Bayer attempted to do just that when they rebooted A Nightmare on Elm Street in 2010, and that panned experiment didn’t go so well.
Though fans may love Englund portraying Krueger, Robert himself visualized other actors portraying the horror baddie. It’s hard to imagine anyone else portraying the serial killer, but the actor’s concept is an interesting one. Recently, during a panel discussion at the 2018 Summer Television Critics Association press tour, Robert Englund discussed the Elm Street horror movies. As Nerdist reported, the actor revealed that over the years, he has come up with a different concept for Krueger.
“If I had an Eli Roth budget I would have cast different actors to play Freddy for every potential victim because Freddy is only alive in the imagination of his future victim. They would talk about it at a slumber party or in a locker room at school, or on the bus going home. All we know about this Fred Krueger is he wears a hat, wears a red and green striped sweater and has a clawed hand. That’s the specifics.”
Robert Englund then explained that the killer we see in the Elm Street horror movies isn’t the true Krueger, just one version of him.
“It could be a red and green cardigan for one Freddy. It could be an old tattered baseball cap for another Freddy. Freddy could be tall, he could be short…Every one of the victims could have a different Freddy they imagined.”
#HistoryOfHorror #TCA18 When we asked panel to choose just one modern master of horror @RobertEnglund said he would love to see Freddy used today with modern special effects. @eliroth points out that Slenderman was a horror character completely made from social media. pic.twitter.com/LV6sidrwfe
— The Hollywood Times (@hwoodtimes) July 28, 2018
As horror fans know, Freddy Krueger was a deranged killer who murdered children. He was burned alive by concerned parents and families of his victims, and then he became a supernatural force that haunted teenagers’ dreams and killed them in their sleep. So, Englund’s concept may seem off to some fans because of this, but the actor had an answer for that in his new concept. He said that at the end of the horror film, audiences would see the different version of Krueger pull his face back, and it would reveal Robert Englund as the essence of Freddy.
Robert Englund is pitching his own version of a Freddy Krueger movie where every victim has their own version of Freddy and let's get this green lit asap. #TCA18
— Kelly Lawler (@klawls) July 28, 2018
The idea of the serial killer taking form in a variety of different versions is an intriguing one. If the filmmakers had done this in the remake, then it may not have been labeled as one of the worst horror movies of 2010. The actor also added that he doesn’t feel that Freddy Krueger is just a classic horror villain. Robert Englund said that there’s a nostalgia for the ’80s for a variety of reasons, but so many horror movies and characters transcend that decade.
