4. A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Lover
Few franchises have died as long and painful a death as the
Nightmare on Elm Street series. To input a bit of editorial commentary; let me interject to say that the myth of Freddy Krueger---the bastard son of 100 maniacs---has been near and dear to me since I saw the Wes Craven masterpiece from under a blanket, on cable circa 1985; at the tender age of six years old. I was beyond frightened. It can truly be said that the idea of a stalker capable of killing in dreams was more than I could take at that age. Imagine my surprise, years later, to learn that the franchise was all downhill from there. Installments such as
The Dream Warriors would momentarily revitalize the darkness of the monster that is Freddy, but ultimately it would be the excesses of the 1980s that would do him in. By the time Freddy finally died in 1991s Freddys Dead: The Final Nightmare, fans such as myself heaved a sigh of relief that the dream stalker had been put out of his misery. Throughout the series he had become no more than a caricature of himself, spouting one liners and recycling scares that left audiences laughing in the aisles more than hiding under blankets. Interestingly enough, though, was that Freddy need not have died. One writer had a unique idea to breathe new life into the franchise with an idea that was so original and such a different take on things that it may have paved the way for a return to the dark, horrifying monster created in
A Nightmare on Elm Street. That writer was none other than Peter Jackson (yes
that Peter Jackson). In what is reported as Jacksons first Hollywood paycheck, Jacksons foray onto Elm Street embraced the farce Freddy had become. After so many defeats, Freddy had lost the ability to scare, and was no longer terrifying. In fact the teenagers of Springwood take sleeping pills so that they can fall asleep and take turns attacking him. The once reviled Krueger kills one of his tomentors---in the ultimate horror irony---as an act of self-defense! Once done, he regains some of his power and slowly returns to the horror icon he once was. The script was never used, largely due to Elm Street veteran Rachel Talalay stepping in to direct and commissioning a script from New Line Executive Mike De Luca. The full tale is recounted in the documentary
Never Sleep Again hosted by fan favorite Heather Langenkamp. Instead of a smart, poignant story that wasnt afraid to embrace the franchises faults we instead got
Freddys Dead. A film that Rachel Talalay herself has stated should have been darker and scarier. The film may have left us disappointed in its execution but it did pave the way for an ongoing relationship between New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson, the studio and director responsible for The Lord of the Rings. As such, the ultimate irony may be that Freddy himself is indirectly responsible for bringing the Tolkien classic to the screen.