10 WTF Horror Movie Scenes Inspired By Real Life
7. Freddy's First Kill - A Nightmare On Elm Street
Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street boasts one of those genius narrative hooks that practically every aspiring horror filmmaker wishes they'd come up with.
Claw-fingered antagonist Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) only exists within the dream world, and so can only attack his victims once they enter the land of nod, making them incredibly reluctant to go to sleep.
Craven wrote the film after reading a series of L.A. Times newspaper articles in the 1970s about Hmong refugees who, after suffering through a bout of recurring nightmares, ended up dying in their sleep.
One of the stories spoke of a young man whose family tried to force him to sleep against his wishes, while he was terrified he would die in his sleep.
Eventually he fell asleep after staying awake for many days, only for the family to later be awoken by him screaming in his room. By the time they got there, he was dead by unexplained causes.
This is perhaps best reflected by the series' first very kill, which also happens to be its best.
Poor Tina Gray's (Amanda Wyss) second encounter with Freddy sees her thrown around her bedroom - and even on the ceiling, in fact - much to the shock of her boyfriend Rod (Nick Corri), before she's brutally slashed to death. Naturally, nobody can explain it.