Friday Night Double Feature: Ready For Freddy?

It’s October and that means Halloween and the screams that come with it. Because of that, this month we’ll suggest Double Features more along the horror lines, and what better way to kick that off then to start with the gloved one himself, one of the leading causes of my teenage nightmares, Freddy Krueger.

I never got into the Friday the 13th or Halloween franchises the way I did A Nightmare on Elm Street. A supernatural killer that invaded your dreams always seemed a lot more terrifying than the killer of Crystal Lake or Michael Myers. Even as the franchise started realizing they could take Freddy to new, and more humorous, lengths with his slayings, he was an intimidating figure.

The Elm Street franchise had its highs and lows as it switched from the first movie’s less-seen psychological elements to out and out gorefests. By the time the movie really started resorting to gimmicks to get people to watch (3-D scenes) Freddy had lost a lot of the mystery that made him a terrifying figure. It’s probably no surprise to find the less popular endeavors are the ones that didn’t involve creator Wes Craven. But there’s easily a double feature in the saga – a triple if you want to go meta and explore the idea of Freddy coming into the real world in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.

Let the Halloween fun begin:

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Of course, the best way to kick off a Elm Street double feature is to start at the beginning, when Freddy was a mostly unseen character that tormented teenagers through their dreams. While the other movies started to demystify the character, we are given very little information about Krueger as leading protagonist hottie Nancy (Heather Langencamp) tries to find out what is murdering her friends. Sure the movie has Johnny Depp in one of his earliest roles (although I doubt anyone knew his career would become as big as it has at the time) and there are some gorey sequences that will never be forgotten (the girl being pushed up the wall and onto the ceiling as she dies, Depp’s bloodbath of a death), but unlike most of the others, this is a movie intent on keeping its killer shrouded in secrecy. Frankly, he’s more menacing that way and that’s why A Nightmare on Elm Street holds up after twenty-plus years despite some pretty bland acting and dated special effects. (Trivia: Everyone recognizes the young, prominent Depp, but Roger Rabbit voice Charles Fleischer puts in a performance here in a less comedic role).

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

After a bland sequel that took Nancy out of the equation (and Wes Craven, which explains a lot), the story returns to the heroine after the events of the first movie. Now Freddy has moved away from the physical “Elm Street” and is stalking the last of the offspring of those who killed him in their desperate act of vigilante justice. Convenience brings the kids together in an institution and convenience puts Nancy as a new employee in the same institution, but excuse that and you’ve got an enjoyable story, albeit a little outlandish at times. This is the beginning of Freddy’s evolution to a more comical killer, as the story expands with more outlandish dreams appearances (the “Freddy worm”), more brutal and clever murders (puppetry anyone?), and humorous quips to serve as punchlines (“Welcome to Prime Time bitch”). Instead of shrouding Freddy in secrecy and shadow, this movie brings him front and center in all his roasted glory. After this Freddy would almost be as cheered for as any of his victims and Craven would step away from the franchise until New Nightmare. This is still the best of the sequels, however – an enjoyable and still thrilling Nightmare.

Other Nightmares (in my order of preference): Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, Freddy vs. Jason, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge

Enjoy our Double Feature suggestions? and maybe we’ll use them in a future column.