There are horror movies, and then there are classics of the genre, featuring iconic villains. A Nightmare On Elm Street is the latter, as the villainous Freddy Krueger is one of the biggest characters in horror history. Freddy was always equally horrifying and he was surprisingly hilarious, and he was played in nearly every movie by none other than the great Robert Englund. With nostalgia ruling the day and other horror classics like the Halloween and Friday The 13th developing new sequels, could Englund slip Freddy's glove back on for another adventure? Probably not. As Englund explained, he's just getting too old.
I'm too old to do another Freddy now. If I do a fight scene now it's got to be real minimal because I can't snap my head for eight different takes and different angles. My spine gets sore. I can still be mean and scary, but I'm mostly relegated now to sort of Van Helsing roles, old doctors and shit. So it's fun that the last moment of me ever playing Freddy is a wink to the audience.
While generations of Nightmare on Elm Street fans would love to see Robert Englund invading the dreams of some more teenage victims, it looks like the actor doesn't feel quite ready to play his signature character again. After all, the guy is 70 years old at this point, and Freddy usually has a fair amount of action sequences.
Robert Englund's comments to EW do make sense, and he also references what was apparently his final time playing the role of Freddy. Englund was last seen in Freddy's sweater in 2003's Freddy vs. Jason. The film co-starred Kelly Rowland and Jason Ritter, and saw the two iconic horror villains facing off in a war for supremacy and the same set of victims. The film ended with Jason apparently winning and decapitating Freddy. But as the Friday the 13th villain rose from Camp Crystal Lake's waters with Freddy's head, it winked at the audience-- proving that Freddy always gets the last laugh. Englund didn't know it then, but that wink would be his final shot as the character, which he seems to get a kick out of.
Of course, there was another Nightmare on Elm Street film released in 2010. This was intended to be a reboot for the franchise, and starred Watchmen actor Jackie Earle Haley as the new Freddy. But despite a supporting cast that included Rooney Mara and strong box office performance, the film was critically panned and the planned reboot was cancelled. What a nightmare.
It's currently unclear when and if A Nightmare on Elm Street will continue, although it seems it will be without Robert Englund. But considering how his performance really made the character, whoever replaces him will have big shoes to fill.
Be sure to check out our 2018 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
