Episode 18 - A Nightmare on Elm Street Afterthoughts

I love A Nightmare on Elm Street and its iconic predator Freddy Krueger. 

That is what I summarily thought of the franchise as a kid in the 1980s and kept it that way for decades to come. However, things change with time and I eventually came to realize that I am in love with the idea of Freddy Krueger more than I am the products put to screen.

People my age were heavily saturated for a number of years with Freddy popping up. Not just in our youthful nightmares, but everywhere else as well. Whether he was rapping with The Fat Boys or appearing in his own Nintendo game, he was EVERYWHERE. He became a part of  the vernacular of America’s youth to the point where many kids (including myself) referenced him without even having seen a single NOES. I knew Will Smith rapped about him, I knew all about his cool glove, and I knew second-hand about the films through friends (who evidently had no parental filter present for movie-time at their houses).

Over the years as a kid I managed to catch a large portion of the Nightmare offerings but never a film in its entirety. It would not be until my teen years when I could and would see many of them as full films. Unfortunately, by then I was much more interested in other things that are relevant at that age. Still the steadfast love for horror managed to get most of the Nightmare films in for me in my younger years. Not until more recent years would I see them all and become more honest about what I was watching and it was honestly kind of a bummer.

Let me say this first:  I do not care for any of the films past the first 3 in this franchise. I enjoy the third film the most, find theoriginal the scariest, and recently have found fondness for the second (sorry Vinny) through convention experiences where some of the cast have enlightened new perspectives on the film. Past those first three films, I would be fine if I never saw the remaining sequels ever again. They certainly are not the worst films in the world but they just don’t do much for my tastes. What started out as a great and scary concept had morphed into low-brow humor and cheap entertainment after a few sequels and I just cannot find enjoyment in them.  

The thing I do want to mention is how Wes Craven captures the highs and lows of American teenage life as well as anyone has. People instantly think of John Hughes films when thinking of 80’s teenagers in film but what about Wes Craven? He masterfully portrays that teenage world in many films and really deserves more credit for that. While Freddy Krueger is an iconic and very effective boogeyman, the reason he reaches this level of terror then and since is because of his teenage victims. You invest in them because you care about them which makes the fear matter. Craven would achieve this again in the Scream films, albeit not quite as successfully, but still another great example of it. The first film really deals with the discrepancy that dwells between adults and teenagers. Not only is the idea of a man who can prey on you in your sleep absolutely genius for a horror film; but it is also just as fantastic for telling the story of the strong meaningful friendships that blossom at that age through random bonds (good and bad) while your parents do not understand you. This theme of unified supportive youth would appear throughout most of the series until Craven would take the wheel again. The two sequels that followed dealt with a laundry list of teenage problems including drug abuse, depression, homosexuality, suicide, and others. These topics are delicate and really on an island in these massively popular horror movies and I applaud these first 3 for that. Now I will not go any further with sequels because we try not to spend time bashing movies. It is not why we get together and do this. Many of you may love New Nightmare or Freddy’s Dead so why waste time detailing the opinion I already made clear. No point to that so just let others enjoy their movies! I just wanted to cover the deeper issues that I think are important in these films and a big reason why they hold up so well. 

Lastly, if you have a chance to meet Mark Patton, Robert Russler or any others from Part 2…then DO. Their panel at Horrorhound in Indianapolis this past Fall was truly enlightening concerning their franchise entry. A movie that I found just okay at best in the past, immediately became one I looked forward to watching for this show. Hopefully Kim Myers can visit our area sometime and build on this.

Thank you for taking the time to listen, or read, or both. It means the world to Grizzly Abner, Mad Chann and myself. 

Until next time….

Beware of the moon

The Professor