10 Movies That Influenced Audiences In Awful Ways
5. Friday The 13th & Nightmare On Elm Street Gave Killer His Idols
In the 1980s, Freddy Krueger was seen more outside the Nightmare On Elm Street movies than inside them. With an album, children's halloween costumes (of a famed child molester and murderer), and toys all over the place, it's a genuine surprise that our dreams aren't all full of the knife-fingered killers this cultural phenomenon spawned.
One of these killers is Daniel Gonzalez, whose spree killings between September 15 and 17 in 2004 left four dead and several injured in attacks that Gonzalez described as "orgasmic" and "the best things I've done in my life."
By his own admission, the 24-year-old was inspired by the Nightmare On Elm Street movies and wanted to be a famous serial killer like Freddy Krueger, who he felt similar to. When asked by police why he'd committed such heinous acts, he told them he'd wondered what it was like to be Freddy Krueger for the day.
So, did the schizophrenic burn his face or build a knife-glove? No. The so-called "Nightmare On Elm Street Killer" stole some large knives from a department store and wore a hockey mask for at least one of his killings. Despite idolising the son of a hundred maniacs, Gonzalez' killing spree had much more in common with Jason Vorhees.
Perhaps it's fitting that he's also known as the Mummy's Boy Murderer.