A Nightmare on Elm Street: The sleeper hit that started a franchise

A Nightmare on Elm Street was 1984's sleeper horror movie hit and helped put struggling writer-director, Wes Craven, on the map. The film also made actor Robert Englund an icon in the horror movie world, and the character of Freddy Krueger a household name.

Craven's concept for the film was groundbreaking: a murdering maniac who stalks his teenaged prey in their dreams, the one place you think you'd be safe. He toys with them till they're psychically and mentally exhausted, then he goes in for the kill, usually in the most bloody of ways.

The inspiration for the film and the character of Kreuger was from numerous sources: A newspaper article about a group of Asian immigrants who died in their sleep, a very frightening encounter Craven had with an elderly homeless man when he was a kid, a schoolyard bully named Fred Krueger, and oddly enough, the synthpop song Dream Weaver by Gary Wright. There was also a Nazi official named Friedrich-Wilhelm Kruger, but that's just coincidence.

Creating Freddy

Here is a picture of the make-up tests done on original Freddy actor David Warner. He had to drop out of the role because of scheduling conflicts, and the rest is history.

The character of Freddy Krueger was originally suppose to be a child molester. There was a wave of molestation going on in California at the time and this must of subconsciously got to Craven, but he used his better judgement and changed the character; He didn't want the public to think he was trying to cash in on the latest scandal.

The red and green sweater that we've all come to know and love was based on DC Comic's Plastic Man, and Craven chose those color after reading an article that stated, red and green were the two most clashing colors to the human retina.

The decision to have a talking, mask-less killer helped set Krueger apart from the typical lumbering, silent, hooded villains like Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees. In creating a weapon for Krueger, Craven thought that knives were too commonplace and had the thought, "how bout a glove with steak knives?"

In this series of articles, I plan to review and discuss every Nightmare movie, some of the more noticeable and out-there merchandise, and the effect that this franchise has had on pop culture.

SWEET DREAMS