10 One-Off Slasher Horror Movie Villains Who Must Return
3. The Entity - Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
Freddy Krueger, of course, is one of the most prolific movie killers in the genre. For the often-underrated Wes Craven's New Nightmare, though, the series took its iconic creation in a new direction, one which was so effective that it could easily have kickstarted the series all over again.
New Nightmare massively deepens Elm Street lore. In this meta-movie, it transpires that an ancient demonic Entity has been summoned by way of the ‘80s horror series, inhabiting the form of Freddy Krueger and residing within Craven’s fictional world, all the while making its way into ours like Freddy himself.
To that end, the Krueger that we see in New Nightmare is a completely different character, and he’s presented as such through brilliantly subtle means. Robert Englund once more steps into the role, but everything - from his sweater to his performance - is toned down, made more serious, more scary.
There’s an argument to be made that New Nightmare is the franchise’s high point, and the Entity almost as interesting a bad guy as Krueger himself. Had they a few more films to play with, they could have taken this places.