Topics

1

A Nightmare on Elm Street / Freddy's Nightmares :Saturday Nights Alright for Frightening

« on: July 19, 2020, 08:20:38 PM »

                                                                                         NO! NO! NO!

                                                  This isn't one of your Nightmares....this one... was every Freddy fan's

Like many a teenage horror fan in the mid to late 80's, I was a big fan of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and a confirmed FredHead.To this day, the original A Nightmare on Elm Street holds a very special place in my heart for immensely personal reasons.

If there was an article in a magazine about the character,actors, or somehow related to the movie, I would want it,even if it simply had just a single photo I had never seen before.If it was a caricature in a Cracked or Mad magazine,buy!Buy!BUY!A toy or sticker or what have you? I would try to collect it all.I even have a magazine that was basically an episode guide for popular genre shows because it had a list of all the episodes for Freddy's Nightmares(ones pre-internet paper version of wiki/imdb). Not much made it's way to my small home town but I would use whatever resources I could to acquire the latest item. Many thanks goes out to the pages of Fangoria, not only for the articles over the years but for the advertisements in the back pages that lead me to spend my allowance fast as I can on anything Freddy.

One of my most sought out acquisitions at the time was the score for the original movie. Eventually I would locate a CD combo for Part 1 & Part 2. It took me 6 years to find it.I still remember the local wrecka stow,Magnolia Thunderpussy, where I found it one fateful afternoon and then listening to it non stop for at least a week in pure bliss.

In these early days,I couldn't get enough of the gloved one or the potential for stories about bad dreams.Heck, I even joined the short lived fan club.The thought that I could see his spooky antics every week in his own television show?!!How could I resist? I was armed with blank VHS tapes and ready for Freddy!

What would it be like? Just how heavy a serious glove would the Freddy character have in the outcome of each episode?Would Nancy return?

I counted the days till the evening of Saturday October 8th of 1988 came to be.My birthday was three days before, but I could care less,because this day was more important,this was the night Freddy came home. Every Week.To our TV screens in an anthology series called "Freddy's Nightmares – A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series"
               
Ok, lets take a little moment and unpack that mouthful of a name.They could have simply called it "Freddy's Nightmares".ANYONE tuning into the program would be well aware of the movie history from which the man in the red and green sweater originated.

Adding the "A Nightmare on Elm Street:The Series" subtitle was just overkill.It served no purpose.More to the point, outside of the pilot episode the show had little to nothing to do with the ongoing storyline of the movies themselves.My faded memories from watching the show back in the day fail to recall if any of the stories in the shows two seasons actually referenced the events of any of the movies specifically.Or to the constant reoccurring deaths of teenagers in their sleep in this town.Let alone Elm Street.To be fair, the street itself was only significant in the original movie for the implication that several families who lived on the nearby blocks came together for a summer barbecue....of Freddy.

This premiered in pre-internet days.Just imagine how much word space alone writing that title up in newspaper and magazine articles would take? And an abbreviated FN:ANOES:TS just looks like your cat stepped on the typewriter.
       
 It was mere months before this home viewing debut that audiences were treated to  Krueger's antics once again on the big screen in A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4 The Dream Master which was released in August of 1988. Only a year before were we gifted with the return of Wes Craven and Heather Langenkamp to the series in Dream Warriors,released in February of 1987
     
That in of itself was a lot of Freddy in a short amount of time.And the media and fan attention to the gloved one only continued to grow.Freddy Mania was huge.

Freddy fans were at this point riding high on another successful movie release with Dream Master.This saw Freddy taking on the MTV generation.And MTV supported him every slash of the way.Even having him host as DJ on several occasions to promote the then current movie in theaters.All over MTV we would see Freddy with almost hourly showings of the movies trailer during commercial breaks and in the music videos themselves with songs written for the films and about the character.In one, Freddy would even be found....rapping...about his exploits.
   
With this continued success came a glut of Freddy related merchandise and appearances. His face was popping up all over magazine covers,and not just Fangoria.Robert Englund would go on to appear on a variety of television programs in and out of Krueger drag.On October 6th of 1988,days before the premier of his own show,Krueger even sliced the stuffing out of the political puppet show of DC Follies.

Video Games and Comic Books.Sticker books and model kits.Toys of all varieties from board games to squirting Fred Heads started to appear on shelves as the murderous boogeyman was marketed to younger children,the very same ages of his earliest victims.Much to some parents dismay.
 
"Hi my names Freddy, wanna slay?"

 The talking Freddy doll released in 1989 scared more parents than it did the kids and was subsequently pulled from production. Merchandising of this mass murderer was so over the top that Krueger was even given his own record album of dream related tunes,"Freddy's Greatest Hits" released in 1987, on which he implored you to "Do the Freddy" dance .
   
 All this variety of media cemented Freddy's pop cultural icon status.He was now like Santa Claus,every kid seemed to know of the man of their dreams even if they never had seen one of his movies. And kids like me who had seen all the movies multiple times couldn't get enough of anything Freddy.

So it does not come as a surprise that New Line sought to peddle everyone's favorite crispy killer in a weekly television series.

A year before, a little show that could, called Friday the 13th :The Series premiered in October of 1987.It was created in part by Frank Mancuso Jr who was involved in many of the Jason Voorhees sequels.This particular show had NOTHING to do with Camp Crystal Lake's most famous camper at all.But that didn't stop it from lasting three seasons.Not bad for a show that was run on what was called "first run syndication" programing back in those days.First Run Syndication referenced shows that were created specifically for the secondary television market.A market that was beginning to expand even more in the late 80's with the development of cable and new networks beyond the main three of ABC,CBS,and NBC.Fun fact: The most successful syndicated show in the United States in the 1970s was said to be the The Muppet Show

It is interesting to note that Freddy's Nightmares is probably the first television show inspired by a popular horror film series.It was not a common result of a popular movie series or character to get his or her own television program though it has happened over the years.While there have been several long running sitcoms based off of a single successful movie,like M.A.S.H. and Alice.And a few short lived shows based off of popular science fiction movies ,Planet of the Apes and Logan's Run.The idea of a popular movie maniac getting his own show was beyond the pale. What are the odds of that happening?

I was always curious why they called the other show Friday the 13th. Sure, that date has been a harbinger of superstitious bad luck for generations, which did fit nicely into the weekly series theme of cursed items and those who befell them.But that date in the 80's was synonymous with the hockey masked mamma's boy.Even the typeface of the shows title in early advertising matched that of the movies with the same name.Why risk drawing a connection between the two medias when it would only lead to disappoint? They should have at least made one of the sought after cursed items a hockey mask.It could have been a subtle and amusing way to connect the two projects especially if it was shown bought by future camper Shelley.

So I think that Bob Shaye from New Line must have saw this show and was given spark to the idea of how they could continue to milk their murderous cash cow even more by doing a weekly show featuring Freddy.Why focus on making money with just one film a year when you could do it every week with the same property? A show that already had a built in viewing audience would likely attract advertisers to help pay for the weekly project.

Now,whereas the rival series failed to live up to the fans expectations by not including the main villain, New Line wouldn't make that mistake with their own show.If you close your eyes you can almost hear Bob Shaye say "Lets give the fans what they want...more Freddy!EVERY WEEK!"

2

A Nightmare on Elm Street / How many Parents do you think burned Freddy

« on: June 24, 2020, 07:58:05 PM »

 just a curious thought for discussion.....

 First:
What do you think the time period was within he took the twenty kids?Years? A single year?A few months?How much time passed for the Parents combined fear to grow to such a degree that they took to committing a vigilante crime?

I imagine Freddy began with a slow burn, building to a raging fire. At first one kid , here or there, snatched as opportunity allowed. With a cool down period between the firsts. But once Kruger gets a taste , he wants more.And the taking becomes more frequent. So much, that the children go from playing outside to being kept indoors as often as possible. The playgrounds and school yards now child free. So Krueger has to move closer to home. Taking them from backyards and bedrooms as the terror among the town grew. This risky child napping, might make him even go for younger kiddies. Snatching infants from cribs ( less fighting back on their part) .Maybe doing the dirty deed in the child’s room while the parents slept across the hall, leaving his handy work for them to discover the next morning.

All this leading up to him getting caught

We know of at least eleven parents(single or coupled) who were involved in the lynch mob.

But , how many in total do you think might have been part of the group? Even eleven couples would be a lot of people,more than enough,and certainly would have made it easy to spread the gasoline around Freddy's boiler room quickly for good effect. More the merrier would have ensured he was toast. ( wonder if any suzie homemakers brought marshmallows?)

Perhaps in some cases , the Mother or Father could not bring themselves to be involved in the crime, so only one partner participated. Decisions that would have led to a divorce in later years as arguments,trust issues and disdain for the deed increased.Divorce,Of which there were a lot among these families,was yet another way that Freddy hurt these families and the surviving children.Still mucking up their picture perfect suburban lives even within his death.

Might there have there been more? We get hints of other kids dying from severe sleep disorders via Dream Warriors.They could have been other Elm Street Children who Freddy got to off screen

And how might these folks have all met? I could see a small group of neighbors coming together and conspiring such an idea in their backyard at weekend barbecues(a little too ironic...don't cha think?). But how would it spread to all eleven or more?

The group probably didn't meet at the courthouse during Freddy's trial. Why would they ALL be there?....unless..... we take the original scripts deleted story that Glen ,Nancy ,Tina , and Rod et al had a sibling taken by Freddy.......then these Parents would be severely invested in the outcome of the trial.Appearing in the courtroom,testifying.Sharing their grief.

Then that might place the mob at 20....

Marge mentions that the children who were killed were "kids we all knew" ....and what better place to meet these kids AND their parents but than at neighbor hood gatherings,school functions ,PTA meetings.Car pools.Bus stops. Elementary school plays. Sports events, Parks.

The Thompson's probably knew the Grey's as Nancy and Tina felt like longtime best friends. They might have met the Lantz's, as they lived across the street from each other. But would any of them have personal lives where they would cross paths with or know or hang out with the Lanes? or the Parkers?

But all the others? They all didn't live on the same few blocks on Elm Street. Freddy would not restrain himself to just one streets worth of children. Some lived on the rich end, the poor end or somewhere in the middle and could have known or even been friends with each other from their own childhoods. If each had a child before the ones we met in the movies, they could have certainly known each other from school interactions.

If the background information introduced in Freddy's Dead were to be brought into the thought, what if Freddy lived with his family on Elm Street.And he took the kids of his neighbors who looked down on him or his family, or treated his child with disrespect. His familiarity in the neighborhood might have made it easy for him to get close to the kids when it came time to take them.
It seems likely that most of these parents had a child to replace the one Freddy took shortly afterwards when they knew it would be safe.I cant imagine each family having a second child at the time as they would have had to left that baby home alone with a sitter while they went out to torch a maniac. And, I imagine after Freddy's release, they would not be keen to leave their living children alone and unprotected.

While it was omitted from the movie, the characters of the Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street were to have a younger sibling in the original script. It was a scene that was even filmed. But it boggles the mind that if true that the subject of Freddy and their former brothers or sisters deaths never came up. Either in direct conversation or playground rumor. It seems odd that none of our characters really know of Freddy before the events of the movie. What he did in ones own town would remain a part of the spoken or whispered history forever.

Especially considering the kids had their own jump rope song in regards to the event. It always struck me as odd that none of the kids in the movie had more than a passing familiarity with Freddy's past.Perhaps the parents went out of their way to hide the history. All pictures of the previous child put away. Forever tainted by Krueger's touch in their eyes. No longer their kids, now his. "Use to take HIS kids" Group promises to not let even the memory of Freddy to touch their new children. But someone outside this group would be talking about the past. Newspapers revisiting the scandalous event ,neighbors, gossip seekers. A whole town would not be silent of the slashers sins.

Another question comes to mind......How soon do you think they came up with the idea to torch Freddy and then take action? They couldn't have waited too long after his release as Freddy would be anticipated to leave town and get away to start all over in anew with someone else's kids. Would Freddy have been released immediately after the ruling? or later that evening in secret(The angry crowds outside the jail would be huge)?next day?

And since they couldn't have known each other as one group of friends, how did they all come together? Sure, Word of mouth could have spread from one pocket of parents to another ( "did you hear what the Thompson's are planning to do? " "Im in!" ) .Some of them might have come up with it immediately after the courts ruling and had a quick discussion, and then reached out to others......."you each bring one parent to the meeting....and they each should bring one parent "...and so on .

Maybe as soon as LT Thompson ( or what ever level of cop he was at the time) was seen to be part of the group, others joined in quickly. Maybe it was he who had the idea in the first place.

(Ive always wondered who signs a search warrant...and if LT Thompson was involved in some way or not , what if he was the one who forgot to sign it so he would have felt a greater need to right his wrong)

Eleven or more couples are a lot of mouths , and there would surely be a loose tongue or two in the bunch,how did they keep this all a secret for so many years? Some might have been only on watch, trying to find where Krueger ran off too hide.I don't believe they had found his kill playground before he was arrested as there would be enough evidence on that site to convict and Krueger didn't own the boiler room so would they even need a search warrant before entering an old abandoned boiler room that belonged to no one?

“Poured gasoline all around the place, made a trail of it out the door , and lit it up and watched the whole place burn”

A fire of any kind would attract attention not to mention firemen and other police even if they had found him in an old abandoned boiler room ,most likely out on the edge of town . If the building in Nightmare 2 was the place in question(Maybe Kruegers place was a older version of the boiler in the back of the lot.), that would be a huge fire.

Unless they consolidated most of the gasoline around the area where Krueger slept on site with a small trail to the outside so they could light it from a safe distance. Burning his escape routes and forcing him to run through walls of fire. But even controlling that fire would be a serious undertaking.

“The burned him in his boiler room and they hid the remains. “ Why they didn’t just shoot him and bury or burn the body? Why the elaborate execution? Sure, I understand their desire to make him suffer for what he did to the children. But why the risks that comes with fire? Could it have been a symbolic choice because Freddy burned the bodies of “his” children to dispose of them? Or was it a cleansing ritual? Burn him from existence .No gravestone,no body, no memory.

How the heck did they manage to set a place on fire AND collect the bones? Sticking around after Krueger came bursting out of the fire , screaming vengeance only to be shot down by Marge? Did they sing campfire songs, roast marshmallows on his twitching corpse while they waited for the fire to be put out?

Perhaps Donald Thompson managed to have removed the bones from evidence after the fact? Alter the paperwork. However, why did they choose to hide the bones in the middle of a junkyard in the first place? For what purpose ? So they could visit them whenever they wanted?

Sure, one would think middle of a junkyard would be a great place to lose something, but there is still the risk that someone would discover the remains. Seems fitting that the junkyard owner was involved in the crime.

But why not just bury the f#%king thing in the first place and be done with it. Maybe the bone disposal was a last minute decision. After the fire, they might not have many choices with the town and other police watching. Perhaps they collected the bones so the fire would have looked like an accident or arson and not a murder but they had little time or options to dispose of it at the time.

Interesting that Donald could remember EXACTLY where the bones were left. It's not like junk in a yard would get moved around over decades

Maybe he WAS actually a security guard for the junkyard,with a key. Taking the job,after losing his,so he could keep an eye on the remains. Because to him that would be the only way he could continue to convince himself that Krueger was really dead,despite all that he had witnessed with his daughter and her friends and the other deaths that must have followed after the first movie.
   
Now, the thought intrigues me : before they burned him.....how did they catch him? 

3

A Nightmare on Elm Street / 1428 Elm Street

« on: June 12, 2020, 11:33:24 AM »

What is it with that house ?
Understandably, it is central to the story in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street.It's the home of our heroine ,Nancy.

It's where the past comes home to roost (roast?heheh)

But why would they continue to use it in each of the sequels?Bad writing?Lack of imagination?Horror movie trope(it appeared in the previous movies, so it HAS to be in every one)?

Krueger had no personal connection to that building prior to the first movie.His home was in the boiler room. That was where he used to take his kids.Why wouldn't he want to continue to chase his new victims around the steampipes and dark and dirty metal corridors of his past.

Part 2 could have taken place anywhere on Elm Street.Anywhere in Springwood for that matter.But I do think ,for at least the first sequel, there was a purpose of having the story take place at 1428.

I always like to believe that Nancy's defeat of Freddy in part one trapped Kruegers spirit inside,for lack of a better word,the soul of the house. When Nancy brings Freddy "out" from the Nightmare he is not at his full strength despite his recent three soul kills,and who knows what effect the transition from dream to "reality" would have on him.Might in this form he be experiencing real physical pain as when he was alive.Pain that weakens him even more.

And when Nancy turns her back on him and defeats Freddy by taking away the power she gave him, he fades away and disappears into the floor.(and into Nancy as well).You can here him falling down into the void while fading away.Down to the cellar

So when a new family moves into 1428, Freddy has influence over the house and the people inside because his spirit is now part of the house itself. The house is heavy with him in the halls.Even the temperature inside the place is corrupted by his presence. And Jesse is his door out.

But then ,why appear in Dream Warriors? Now, I love the decrepit rotten haunted house look of 1428 in the sequels.But it doesn't make sense for Kristin to be dreaming of the house at all.

Unless ,perhaps ,Krueger is still tethered to the house and the connection influences the Nighmares that he presents to his victims.A lot of the sequences in Dream Warriors show the kids walking and running through broken down furniture littered hallways and not Krueger's traditional boiler room setting.

But again, after all these years? Why would Kruger use 1428 as a Nightmare element? I would think there would be more fear to generate from placing his victims in the terrifying unexpected unfamiliar shadows of a boiler room.Or turning someplace they know and love against them.Not some strange broken down house.Granted, it is spooky.
   
The use of the house does serve as a connection to Nancy and her past.Her seeing the paper mache house for the first time after just days before hearing the old haunting nursery rhyme must have really started to connect the dots that something terrible was going on.And that something might have to do with Freddy Krueger

For all we know, she has not had a Nightmare since surviving the first.Freddy has stayed far away from her, or has not had access to her because of a broken connection or the use of Hypnocil.So the fact that a total stranger has made a replica of her childhood home would be disconcerting.Despite her Freddy free nights,I imagine that Nancy never once went to sleep without thinking about the man of her dreams,and wondering if tonight would be the night he returned.

In an early draft of Wes Craven's Dream Warriors I seem to recall there was an attempt to make 1428 directly connected to Freddy Krueger.Something about the address being a halfway house that he was born in.I recall hearing some other tale that at one point it was going to be discovered that Krueger lived in that house when he was murdering the local children and after his death Marge and Donald moved in to coverup his mysterious disappearance.

It's possible that Kristin had seen the house at some point.She does live in Springwood.She could have heard stories of the two families who had troubles there while growing up:The girl who went mad when she watched her boyfriend get butchered across the street the same night her mother burned herself to death in the bed upstairs.The boy who went mad and killed a teacher and bunch of kids. So it could be childhood fear that is part of her subconscious ...and we all know how Freddy likes to play with the hidden horrors. But as she says to Nancy, the former resident of 1428, "It's just a house I dream about" . So it appears that Kristin doesn't have a personal connection or remembrance to the house.She doesn't even know who Nancy is in relation to that house.I'm guessing here , but Kristin was probably about 8 or 9 years old when the events of the first Nightmare occurred.Way to young to hear about the house and it's events.She also never heard about Freddy.

         On the flip side, Kristin's Mother seems to know something about the former Thompson house( and potentially it's connection to the Krueger history as she was there that fateful night with the Thompson's when they burned Freddy alive).She is adamant that her daughter get away from that house.Does she think it's cursed? Or is she more concerned that nothing good can come from her daughter digging up these old memories?It's probably more of a concern about the neighbors talking about her crazy daughter is at it again,talking about Freddy.

How did Mrs Parker happen to be in the area in the first place? Kristin most likely sought out the house after the events of Dream Warriors and before the events of Dream Master, in effort to connect to Nancy and learn more about the history of Freddy.So she learned where the house from her dreams actually resided. But why would her Mother just happen to be driving by? Is the Parker residence located nearby? And Mother just happened to catch the daughter on her way home from a round of tennis? I'd say it's unlikely that 1428 Elm Street and the Parker's place are near each other.If close,Kristin would then have had some awareness of it considering it's history,especially if it was even slightly run down as in her dreams. She was even compelled to make a paper-mache version of the house that she never saw before but in her dreams.The house,and the Nightmare, left that much of an impression on her.

By this point in the houses real life, it could be boarded up and abandoned and not looking too far off from it's dream variation.Two traumas associated with murders and death would be enough to scare off any potential new buyer.With no one to care for it,it's appearance would be left to rot. And whose to say that the influence of Kruegers spirit trapped within it's walls didn't speed up that process.

In Dream Child the house appears once again, albeit briefly.It is seen in a drawing by Mark.And once again, these new characters are further removed from the Houses history. Alice never dreamed of the house.Though she visited it with Kristin in real life before she died.Mark may have seen a picture and learnt about the house from Alice telling her about Freddy's history and what had happened to her,her brother, and her friends over the last two years and how it's all connected to a terrible past of the town of Springwood.This in turn could have subconsciously influenced Marks dream.And then Freddy invited Mark over to his house to read comics.

But why the house again? Is Freddy still trapped there thanks to his original defeat?He has worlds of horrifying places to send his victims into upon their entering the Nightmare,why still return to 1428?

And once again in Freddy's Dead, the house appears. Krueger even hides it behind a false facade for some reason?The kids who find themselves entering Springwood would have zero knowledge of the house,it's history.So why would Freddy draw them over it's threshold in disguise?

The appearance of 1428 in Wes Craven's New Nightmare does, however, make complete sense.It's saved for the perfect moment where "Heather" accepts her role as "Nancy" in the final confrontation.Kudos for the art director getting the right color of the blue front door to match the door in the first film and not the red of the sequels.

In New Nightmare when "Nancy' entered the house ...and it wasn't the movie home...I was crushed.It would have been amazing for her to climb the steps following Dylan's crumbs.And then we see her enter her former characters bedroom to find her old bed that she then uses to go after Freddy.

That must have not been in the budget, since they would have to recreate every part of the interior seen on camera,as well as decorate the house and especially her bedroom to match, since the original 1428 house has never had an interior that matched the movie.That's a lot of money for what would essentially be a few minutes at most on screen.

FUN FACT: The interior of the ACTUAL 1428 N. Genesee Avenue house was used to film additional scenes for the television broadcast of the original John Carpenter Halloween as the inside of Laurie Strode's home.

4

A Nightmare on Elm Street / One,Two Freddys Coming for You

« on: June 08, 2020, 08:17:55 PM »

      One of the many aspects of Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street that fascinated me from my first viewing was the use and presence of the children's jump-rope song.

It's haunting,catchy, and creates a sense of history.

When we first hear the song it is early in the movie immediately following the first horrific Nightmare of Tina Grey. As she lays back on her bed,sweating from fear,clutching her crucifix to her now razor torn nightgown,she prepares for a sleepless night.

The implication to me has always been that this song is going through her head and follows her into the morning. Is it something she heard in her dream or is a subconscious memory from childhood coming back to her? A child's prayer to ward off evil spirits?

As the night fades into the morning on screen we are shown four young girls in their white party dresses playing jump-rope and reciting the song.Could this too be a memory of Tina's recalling reciting this same jump-rope tune as a child when playing with her friends?The young girl enthusiastically jumping rope is blonde like Tina.

Or is it simply the Nightmare seeping into her daily thoughts?Clawing it's way into her waking thoughts.Continuing the fear.

An effective method that has been used many times in horror movies is the use of children singing a creepy tune.It's often unsettling as the child singing is traditionally presented as looking as if it's innocence is tainted by the very evil of which it is singing.But the use here to me is something more than a familiar scary movie trope. This song and the fact that it is children singing it actually has a historic reference to the story of our characters.

As we all know,Freddy is the Santa Claus of slaughtering children.He terrorized kiddies from parks to playgrounds,backyards to bedrooms. His murderous efforts were the stuff of urban legend even before he was caught.But after they caught him,it became something much worse.The terror had a face...and a name.And his name was spoken everywhere once he was caught.Freddy's name and face and even his exploits would now invade the homes of every child thanks to the nightly news,papers, and overheard conversations of parents.Children would go to bed with his name echoing in their heads.They now would have a name to the one who murdered their friends.

And children respond to fear in their own way. It would not be out of the ordinary for them to use one of their choices of childhood play to cope with something dark and scary like death.

Rhyme chanted by children while skipping has been around for ages. Examples of English-language rhymes have been found going back to at least the 17th century.Often utilizing folklore.

The nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie" is itself an urban legend of childhood play that is thought to be about The Great Plague. If true, this historic use is creepy in itself.Imagine kids playing outside your window singing this little ditty...for fun...while friends and family were dying in great numbers and your chance of catching the same sickness they sang about was just as great?

The legend of Lizzie Borden found its way into a jump-rope song

    Lizzie Borden took an axe
    She gave her mother forty whacks,
    After she saw what she had done,
    She gave her father forty-one.

The Nightmare song is itself an adaption of a children's nursery rhyme , "One,Two,Buckle My Shoe" .A corruption of it's former innocence.

But when did the Children of Elm St begin to sing of their neighborhood boogeyman? Soon after his capture? Years later? I'm back and forth between the song appearing sometime shortly after he was captured or after he "vanished" that the kids started up their little rhyme .

After his capture they would have felt safe to poke the bear, so to speak with their playtime song. I can even picture Freddy somehow hearing this childrens playtime rhyme while still alive and smiling gleefully. It must have sparked joy in the black hole where his heart used to be to know the power of fear he held over the children of the town. So much that they are singing about him.

And if it started after he "vanished" then the thought that he was still out there would be alive and well in their little minds.Growing the fear. Their protectors had failed, and Freddy was free to murder them at any moment.

I'm not sure how much time passed between capture and release .While they would likely to rush the trial through as fast as they could in a small town court, it would still probably be months between capture and release.And in that time the kids would learn his name,know his face. Overhear stories of his crimes. Having lost friends to this maniacs hand, they would not be able to easily ignore the horrors.And the jumprope song could have come out in those moments between.

As Marge says "it was even worse after they caught him". There would be no ignoring the monster or the details of his crimes.Everyone in town would be talking about him....and his victims. Often, I'm sure, forgetting that little ears were listening in the room.

Kids would be asking their Mommies and Daddies "Is Freddy going to come get me?Take me away like he did my friend?".And while Parents would try to reassure the kids that he was now in the hands of the law and would never be able to hurt them.That he would be locked up away from the world for the rest of his life.The kids would still be afraid.If something like him got to their friends before...what else is out there waiting in the dark?

Their parents,knowing the truth of his disappearance,would reassure their little ones that Freddy was gone for good and would never be able to hurt them.(Little did they know).But not every parent in town played part in the burning of the boogeyman.So not everyone had the assurance to convince their children they would be safe now.

If we follow the story into Part 3, then there was no body to be discovered,officially.So as far as the people of Springwood knew, Freddy was still out there...alive...and he could come for them.The whole town, minus the parents who knew the truth,would be afraid.There would be no reason to believe their children were safe now.Sure, some would assume that Freddy ran out of town as soon as he could to become someone else's problem. But there was no way of knowing for sure.Or that he would never return.Even the Parents would be afraid of Freddy.

That's a whole lot of fear generated by an entire town of adults and children.

So maybe a month or so after Freddy's mysterious disappearance...one or more of the kids would start up the little playground rhyme.In their own little way of facing the fear.And the rhyme would spread quickly, as every child would identify with the fear of the song .

While the exact timeline of Freddy is never concretely established in the first movie, it's possible that Nancy's childhood would have been not far from the actual events that lead to his death. I've always liked the omitted story idea that Nancy was the second child of Marge and Donald Thompson. That her other sibling was actually murdered by Freddy and she was conceived after the event when her parents felt the world would be safe once again for their child.A celebratory second chance.

So this would mean that even 5 or so years after the death of Freddy, the children of the playground would be still speaking of him,even if only in play.

HOW did it all begin?
I imagine it begins slowly as big kids and older brothers start scaring little kids/younger siblings with tales of how Freddy's gonna get them.
I imagine these older children teasing their younger brothers and sisters with "Freddy's coming for you" ..."gonna get you"....."take you to his boiler room". Even chasing them around the living room with butter knives clenched between their fingers.I could even see some parents/adults using the threat of Freddy to try and get kids to behave...."You better stop,or Freddys going to come and take you way" Their intent is playful spooking with no real maliciousness but it creates real fear in the minds of the little ones who may not be able to let go of the real life terror behind the mockery

Over time, this would lead to the birth of the jump rope song the kids sing for "fun".

Always keeping Freddy present in the minds of the kiddies. Never letting him fade away.But remember,not every kid is having fun. Some are having normal nightmares of this "Freddy" they keep hearing about.The fear is building.

And it is within these dreams Freddy may have found a way to cross over.
Did the song instill the beginnings of the fear that Freddy needed to return?  Did it create the link that Freddy needed to get inside their dreams since he was already spending time inside their minds from childhood? 

What started as a playful game .A means to cope with the internal anxiety of the unknown of the imagined threat of Freddy. Becomes itself an instrument of fear. One that Freddy would years later turn back on the children and use for his own purposes.

The last line of the jump-rope song serves as a curious harbinger of what was to come.

But which came first ....the chicken.....or The Nightmare?The bad dream or the dream of killing in the afterlife? Either way, this chicken came home to "roast"

Might Freddy have heard this tune before he died? Or did he pull it from the subconscious of his intended victims? Taking a long forgotten childhood memory and throwing it back in their face,
               
The rhyme appears repeatedly in The Nightmare world of the movies.Performed by young boys and girls who presumably are previous victims of Freddy.Dressed in their funeral best

Pristine white party dresses and clothes. Suggesting innocence. But also, there is an element of class depicted in this representation. Dressing up your children in specific clothing to go to a social party is something often seen done by wealthy families.Freddy is often said to have hated these well to do Springwood families who act and appear as if the darkness of the world can't touch them.He would show them the evil this world has to offer, that he has seen first hand.

I've wondered about these children.Are they spirits of the murdered? Souls trapped in The Nightmare to wander and play in the dark forever.

Is Freddy using them?Placing them in the paths of the dreamers to amplify the fear they already feel?

Are they conscious souls or just figments of his twisted imagination. Memories of children taken in the past

If they are previous victims,When did they first hear the tune? Who taught it to them?

It stands to reason that the song originated some time after Freddy was captured and maybe before he was burned.It probably emerged within the first year of Freddy's discovery and death.And then shortly after became a playground staple for a good 3 to 5 years.Fading in popularity as the next fads took over the kids imagination. Jump-rope as a play activity grew in popularity in the 50's but started to decline over the next decade as the temptation of television pulled kids back indoors.But some things never die away completely.Trends and fads reemerge as next generations discover them in their relatives record collections.Old songs get sung again. All it would take is for one kid to come to the playground and tell his friends :Have you ever heard of Freddy Krueger?Freddy's story was likely to be the top ghost story told at the sleepovers in Springwood." My big brother told me a story about this guy who used to murder kids right here in Springwood.He had knives for fingers...and he would come for you at night,snatching you from your bed." Always ending the story with the song" One...two...Freddy's coming for you"

And so the legend of Krueger would be passed on and on.Never forgotten.Despite the parents of the town trying to hide the past.

Still,Kids in the Nightmare sequels were not aware of Freddy and his past ,let alone the jump-rope song.It was not part of THEIR childhood.In each sequel someone had to do research to learn Freddy was in fact real,to explain his past & how it might connect to them and that he was not a figment of an overactive imagination.

        In Part 2, Jesse Walsh is new to town so it's understandable that he is unaware of the gloved one. But ,presumably, Lisa Weber,Jesse's friend, has lived in Springwood for a good part of her life and even in the neighborhood of the Thompson home as she walks to meet Jesse at 1428 Elm St for a car ride to school. Yet she  mentions in regards to reading Nancy Thompson's name in the diary that she didn't know her as it was " before my time".Grady knew of Nancy and even what happened to Glen across the street.But neither Grady nor Lisa seem to be aware of Freddy Krueger?

How can one live in this town and NOT know of this violent past,even in passing enough that mentions of razors for fingers or red and green sweater would trigger awareness? Has the town already started to cover-up it's horrible history?
                                 
   In Part 3, Kristin seems to first hear and then partially recall the jump-rope song from her Nightmares. When Nancy arrives to the hospital and hears Kristin reciting that tune familiar from her own childhood, she is surprised and concerned: "Where did you learn that rhyme?" .

This to me indicates that the jump-rope song had long since faded away from the playground.Nancy is alarmed that someone would know this rhyme from her childhood, one that she herself probably heard very little in the years leading up to her first encounter with Freddy Krueger and even less since. Kristin knowing about this rhyme indicates something is seriously wrong:Freddy's back.

This is Krueger's revenge of it's original intent.In Dream Warriors,Nancy replies to a question about what was that rhyme by explaining that it is "something we used to say to keep the boogeyman away".

When did she do this? In the original Nightmare she is seen dreamily reciting the rhyme while slipping into sleep in the bathtub.Almost as if she is subconsciously sleepily recalling the rhyme.And it's supposed security prayer purpose

By this point in the movie she hasn't emerged from her dream with the fedora from Freddy's head with his name written on the inside.Her mother hasn't taken her to the basement and revealed the terrible history of her family and direct connection to Freddy.

Nancy,when confronting her Mother with the hat, even exclaims "Fred Krueger, Mom. Fred Krueger. Do you know who that is, Mother? Because if you do, you better tell me because he's after me now" .Even at this point Nancy doesn't know a thing about Fred Krueger,nor does she directly correlate him with the old jump rope song.

She has only had the the school Nightmare where Krueger says to her "Come to Freddy" and heard Tina drawing a connection from her own nightmare to the jump-rope song of their shared childhood in an almost throwaway comment .

It is implied that both Nancy and Tina had their first Nightmare on the same night of the beginning of the movie.Freddy having visited them both in a similar fashion,yet both survived the first night.Nancy seems relatively unaffected by the Nightmare she had.In the original script its implied that Krueger just walked into the room she was in,scrapped his knives along the wall and walked out the other side as if he was just checking up on her.However, Tina is still freaked out the next morning and was likely eager to discuss it with her best friend before school.

We never hear Rod or Glen's reference the jumprope song themselves in any way.Granted, neither of them have heard the name Freddy mentioned in relation to their dream.

What might Nancy have known of Freddy,other than the rhyme from her childhood?Wouldn't Nancy, as a inquisitive child, have asked who this "Freddy" was and why he was "coming for you"? out of curiosity even back then?Nancy's Parents would never have discussed Freddy in her presence.Can you picture their faces when the first time they heard her SINGING about Freddy?!

She probably learned the rhyme on the playground as a child.And even heard stories about the man who inspired it. But as she grew up, it must have faded to the background of her memories.

Nancy says to Tina -"Sounds like a real boogeyman. 1 2 Freddy's coming for you" when we first meet her

It's interesting that she says " Sounds like a REAL boogeyman." and then immediately references the regional jumprope song that is part of her towns and families history.

Now, the "REAL" could just be part teenage sarcasm.Like "that guys a real winner" in reference to some jerk.

But it could also be her subconscious calling forth the memories of childhood and her own interaction with the jumprope song. Meaning she knew it was based off a real life boogeyman but probably didnt immediately recall the details.

Then the next time she references it is after her classroom Nightmare.The one in which she hears the monster say "Come to Freddy".Now,at this point , she is still not 100% aware of what is going on.Though she is starting to question,as that burn on her arm didn't come from nowhere.

In her mind the use of the name "Freddy" in her dream could just be her subconscious taking that conversation with Tina,who would be heavy on her mind the day after her murder, and giving the monster a name from the referenced jumprope memory from the day before.

But then that evening as she slips into sleep while relaxing in the bathtub,her half awake mind goes to the jumprope song...again.She is likely recalling the monster saying his name,and then it matching the name in the old song. And in the drowsy moment finds herself reciting the tune.

But it does bring to question why she never references the jumprope song again.Never asks anyone about it or brings up the coincidental connection.Especially after she pulls the hat with the name out of the dream."Do you remember who Freddy WAS in that old Jumprope song?" A perfect moment for that question would have been with Glen while on the bridge.

This thought that Nancy was well aware of the jump-rope song even at a young age,long before she was first visited by Freddy in her dreams means that he has always been a part of her life.

But just when did she use to sing this rhyme for protection from the boogeyman? Or was that just her way of avoiding the truth with this Dr Gordan she just met? On that subject,just how exactly does the rhyme work as a means of invoking protection? Does reciting the rhyme mean you are aware of Freddy,and the awareness means he's no longer stranger danger?We are often afraid of the unknown.

                                                       1...2...Coming for you
                                                            (The threat is real!)
                                                       3...4...Better lock your door
                                             (You are not safe even in your own home!)
                                                          5...6...Grab your crucifix
                                                          (Pray for safety,help!)
                                                      7...8...Gonna stay up late...
       (Stay awake!....stay alert!He comes at night...grabs you while you sleep from your own bed!)
                                                      9..10...Never...sleep......again
                                                 (You WILL be too scared to sleep!)

5

A Nightmare on Elm Street / Crazy Freddy's

« on: June 06, 2020, 07:31:17 PM »

From 1985 comes this HBO Not Necessarily the News commercial parody. "Crazy Freddy's" He's slashing prices.....and children...at cut rate prices.

Its of note that by 1985, Freddy's Revenge would have been released on November 1st.

Not sure of the original airdate of this episode. But considering the timing of the parodying of Freddy...it was most likely in late November after the release of the 2nd movie.If I recall correctly, the show would have one new episode a month during its seasons.

Its fascinating to me that as early as 1985,only one sequel into the series, the Freddy phenomenon was already growing big enough that the character would be used in a full on comedy sketch and not just a verbal punchline.

I have a vague memory that they did a second,similar,Crazy Freddy commercial sometime after Dream Warriors .Once again portrayed by Mitchell Laurance .But I only remember seeing it once, as they never made it part of their best of or Year in Review episodes.

Uploaded this early one for your viewing pleasure.

https://youtu.be/33LS4HvEfqg

6

A Nightmare on Elm Street / Icon-The Robert Englund Story

« on: June 06, 2020, 04:27:42 PM »

Some of you may already be aware of the documentary about "one of the most beloved & feared horror icons of our generation, Robert Englund. "

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/icon-the-robert-englund-story-documentary#/

Many names have already signed on to share their experiences working along side the man.  Hope they use some archival material to include Wes' words.

Several of the interviews were already conducted before the virus did it's thing. Robert reportedly sat for several sessions. So thankfully things weren't slowed down even before they got started.

I'm curious as to how deep they will go into his career, or if they will simply favor the horror years with a quick recap of what led up to that fateful audition

7

A Nightmare on Elm Street / Scream, Queen! -My Nightmare On Elm Street

« on: June 06, 2020, 04:19:10 PM »

So Mark Patton's documentary about his experiences making Freddy's Revenge finally saw the light of day and is now streaming on Shudder for those who did not have a chance to support the Kickstarter and receive digital/DVD copies.

Have you seen it?
Thoughts?

I love that there are so many documentaries created and in development for this favorite series.

One of the perks I got for supporting this effort was a Mark Patton commentary for Freddy's Revenge. And it did not disappoint .

8

A Nightmare on Elm Street / Freddy on Japanese TV

« on: May 29, 2020, 06:21:16 PM »

Based on the makeup and color of the fedora this appearance seems to come from the Freddy's Dead era. 

I love that Robert is all in on this guest appearance.Full Makeup. Chasing victims.....Dancing?!
Its like a lost episode of Freddy's Nightmares.
The MTV Freddy Krueger VJ guest spots never got this crazy. Even when he was slicing the stuffing out of D.C.Follies he was relatively laid back.
It makes me laugh that this child killing character was so lovingly embraced over the years and welcomed on television shows and treated with humor.


https://www.facebook.com/196483267061348/videos/2469146009764401/