The original A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most famous horror movies of all time. The film has been so talked about, and remade, over the last 30 years that you wouldn’t think there’d be much left to learn about the classic franchise. However, an old deleted scene has just resurfaced, and it adds an entirely new layer to the story. Check out this extended look at Nancy first learning about Freddy Krueger, and then hear what else she learns.
If you know the original A Nightmare on Elm Street well, then the first minute and a half of this scene will look very familiar to you. Nancy’s mother Marge brings her daughter down to the basement to tell her the story of the child murderer who was released on a technicality. After he gets out, the parents decide they need to take him down themselves. However, it turns out Nancy's parents didn't take the law into their own hands and burn Fred Krueger alive out of some personal sense of justice or fear that he might come after their children. As the deleted scene reveals, it was revenge, because he'd already gotten their children. Nancy had a sibling who was killed by Freddy.
And just like that, A Nightmare on Elm Street changes drastically. Imagine how Nancy is feeling when her mother tells her "You weren’t always an only child." Nancy’s entire relationship with the movie’s antagonist changes in this longer version of the scene. This isn’t just a case of Nancy trying to survive a vengeful spirit, it’s actually a young girl who wants to take revenge on the man who killed the sibling she never knew. This actually helps explain some of the motivation that Nancy later has when she realizes there may be a path to actually killing Freddy Krueger. She’s not looking to simply get out alive, she wants him dead for the same reasons her parents did.
It’s interesting when scenes like this get deleted as they have the potential to not only change various aspects of the movie, but in the case of a franchise like A Nightmare on Elm Street, it would have had the potential to change the entire series. When Wes Craven made the decision to cut this scene he essentially changed these characters. While he likely removed the scene because he decided the subplot wasn’t necessary, had he left it in, it could have very easily been a part of Nancy’s return in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. As each entry in the series built on its predecessor, perhaps this information would have slightly changed how the third film ended, which could have subtly changed everything that came after.
What do you think about this change to A Nightmare on Elm Street? Does it impact what the movie means to you?
