10 Horror Movie Franchises That Forgot How To Be Scary

Of the iconic monsters of the 80s, Freddy Krueger is perhaps the best example of a legitimately frightening concept turned into a punchline. Inspired by a series of stories about survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide dying in their sleep and a childhood bully, Wes Craven envisioned his burnt demon that killed teens in their dreams (and, by extension, reality) as a morality tale. Krueger was the unspoken dirty little town secret, a known child murderer (and likely molester) who got off on a technicality and suffered vigilante justice, only to have his own in the afterlife.

Robert Englund's brutal portrayal of the killer in the first film is absolutely devilish, barely a wisecrack under what's left of his skin. While the sequel has its detractors, its Freddy is still a gross monster willing to expose his insides to freak out his prey. The third, scripted by Craven, was meant to bring about an end to the series, returning original heroine Heather Langenkamp to destroy Freddy once and for all. But the studio wouldn't have it, as Freddy's popularity had grown beyond just the film franchise.

The dreams got goofier, merely set-ups for bad one-liners. While part III included the ad-libbed "Welcome to primetime, bitch!", it still retains a lot of imagery and intensity that drew audiences in years before. By Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, he was like Gallagher with a knife-glove instead of a sledgehammer.

You know you're nightmare man is the comic foil when he's hosting a TV series and doing commercials.