Legacy of the Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise
By: Caleb A.
Many people have experienced a nightmare at some point in their lives. Thankfully, we know that these are just our dreams and they can’t hurt us but, what if we could get hurt in our dreams? What if someone was capable of entering our dreams and murdering us? That my dear reader is the exact premise of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Today we are going to take a look at one of the most storied horror movie franchises and see what makes it so special.
Back in 1984, Wes Craven unleashed A Nightmare on Elm Street to the world. The world was introduced to Freddy Krueger, the knife glove-wielding madman who could enter dreams and kill as he pleased. Based on many reports it seems that Craven got his inspiration from a series of refugee deaths in the late 70s where these people were so traumatized from what they experienced that they had horrific nightmares. These men refused to sleep eventually leading to their deaths. He then took this and turned it into one of the most interesting concepts a horror movie could have. Craven forced audiences to consider that sleep may not be as safe as we once thought.
Aside from the fantastic concept, Krueger quickly became synonymous with horror. At a time when masked killers were carving their corner of the horror market (pun not intended), Freddy stood out among the crowd. Sure, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface are terrifying in their own right, but Freddy just brought something different to the table. The man was breaking established norms and cliches of slasher movies and setting his own rules.
One of the most incredible aspects of the franchise is the amount of detail that Craven gave to Krueger’s backstory. To summarize an extremely long story: Freddy was the son of Amanda Krueger, a nun who got locked in an asylum for maniacs she worked at and was raped and tortured. As a child, Freddy was a very disturbed person. The audience is shown in flashbacks that he would often be ridiculed and called “The Son of 100 Maniacs” due to his parentage. Through flashbacks, we are also shown that he would murder small animals in his free time. Eventually, Freddy grows up and becomes known as the Springwood Slasher, a title given to him by the parents of Elm Street for the kidnapping and murders of their children. He gets caught and taken to court where the death penalty is all but assured. Unfortunately for the parents, something goes wrong with the forms to process him into prison and he gets off on a technicality. The parents of Elm Street then take justice in their own hands and burn him alive in his home on Elm Street. Before dying, Freddy is greeted by dream spirits who offer him the chance at immortality as long as he continues to murder people. Freddy agrees and this leads us directly into the first film.
Aside from an interesting concept and a detailed backstory, there were other aspects to the franchise that set it apart from other films. One of the biggest ways that Freddy set himself apart was his banter. During this time audiences were growing accustomed to the silent slashers that were popular in the Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchises. This became the norm and generally speaking is still pretty much the norm even today. Freddy flipped this trope on its head and engaged his victims in a fair bit of trash-talking before getting to the murder. And you know what, audiences loved it! Not only was Freddy entertaining but a lot of the time he was actually really funny. He frequently taunted his victims while slowly torturing them.
Another way in which the franchise subverted the norms of the horror genre was in how Freddy’s powers operated. Never before in a horror movie did a character have such a ridiculous amount of power. He could enter people’s dreams and basically do as he pleased. Shapeshift to play on a victim’s fears? Check. Make the person relive their worst memories? Check. Force Jason Voorhees to kill on his behalf? Check. The man seemed unstoppable. It is interesting to note that the amount of power that Freddy had been always correlated to how feared he was. Basically, as long as he provoked others to fear him, he was unstoppable. His power could even grow so much that he could escape the dream world and bring his mission to the real world.
One last way in which the franchise sets itself apart from the competition is in the memorable death scenes. In a normal horror franchise, deaths happen quickly with no care for the victims. The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise goes out of its way to try to make each death memorable. Sure there are some weird deaths (the roach motel/ bug transformation one from Part 4 and the baby puking scene from five stick out as odd) but there also are some of the most memorable movie deaths in horror history in this franchise. Who could forget young Johnny Depp’s “blood volcano bed” death in the first movie or the “vein puppet” death from the third movie? Elm Street took what should have been quick scenes and turned them into extended cuts (pun intended this time) that helped us to gain a better understanding for just how Freddy went about his business.
The Elm Street franchise is a must watch for any horror fans. While it may subvert a lot of the tropes found in modern slasher movies, let’s not forget that it also helped to start many of these tropes as well. The movies gave us one of the most interesting concepts in film history as well as one of the most beloved horror icons. The Elm Street franchise has a legacy that has been around since the 80s. Despite a few setbacks over its 30+ year history (part four, five, and the 2010 reboot), the franchise has staying power that firmly cements its place and legacy in movie history.
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Many people have experienced a nightmare at some point in their lives. Thankfully, we know that these are just our dreams and they can’t hurt us but, what if we could get hurt in our dreams? What if someone was capable of entering our dreams and murdering us? That my dear reader is the exact premise of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Today we are going to take a look at one of the most storied horror movie franchises and see what makes it so special.
Back in 1984, Wes Craven unleashed A Nightmare on Elm Street to the world. The world was introduced to Freddy Krueger, the knife glove-wielding madman who could enter dreams and kill as he pleased. Based on many reports it seems that Craven got his inspiration from a series of refugee deaths in the late 70s where these people were so traumatized from what they experienced that they had horrific nightmares. These men refused to sleep eventually leading to their deaths. He then took this and turned it into one of the most interesting concepts a horror movie could have. Craven forced audiences to consider that sleep may not be as safe as we once thought.
Aside from the fantastic concept, Krueger quickly became synonymous with horror. At a time when masked killers were carving their corner of the horror market (pun not intended), Freddy stood out among the crowd. Sure, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface are terrifying in their own right, but Freddy just brought something different to the table. The man was breaking established norms and cliches of slasher movies and setting his own rules.
One of the most incredible aspects of the franchise is the amount of detail that Craven gave to Krueger’s backstory. To summarize an extremely long story: Freddy was the son of Amanda Krueger, a nun who got locked in an asylum for maniacs she worked at and was raped and tortured. As a child, Freddy was a very disturbed person. The audience is shown in flashbacks that he would often be ridiculed and called “The Son of 100 Maniacs” due to his parentage. Through flashbacks, we are also shown that he would murder small animals in his free time. Eventually, Freddy grows up and becomes known as the Springwood Slasher, a title given to him by the parents of Elm Street for the kidnapping and murders of their children. He gets caught and taken to court where the death penalty is all but assured. Unfortunately for the parents, something goes wrong with the forms to process him into prison and he gets off on a technicality. The parents of Elm Street then take justice in their own hands and burn him alive in his home on Elm Street. Before dying, Freddy is greeted by dream spirits who offer him the chance at immortality as long as he continues to murder people. Freddy agrees and this leads us directly into the first film.
Aside from an interesting concept and a detailed backstory, there were other aspects to the franchise that set it apart from other films. One of the biggest ways that Freddy set himself apart was his banter. During this time audiences were growing accustomed to the silent slashers that were popular in the Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchises. This became the norm and generally speaking is still pretty much the norm even today. Freddy flipped this trope on its head and engaged his victims in a fair bit of trash-talking before getting to the murder. And you know what, audiences loved it! Not only was Freddy entertaining but a lot of the time he was actually really funny. He frequently taunted his victims while slowly torturing them.
Another way in which the franchise subverted the norms of the horror genre was in how Freddy’s powers operated. Never before in a horror movie did a character have such a ridiculous amount of power. He could enter people’s dreams and basically do as he pleased. Shapeshift to play on a victim’s fears? Check. Make the person relive their worst memories? Check. Force Jason Voorhees to kill on his behalf? Check. The man seemed unstoppable. It is interesting to note that the amount of power that Freddy had been always correlated to how feared he was. Basically, as long as he provoked others to fear him, he was unstoppable. His power could even grow so much that he could escape the dream world and bring his mission to the real world.
One last way in which the franchise sets itself apart from the competition is in the memorable death scenes. In a normal horror franchise, deaths happen quickly with no care for the victims. The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise goes out of its way to try to make each death memorable. Sure there are some weird deaths (the roach motel/ bug transformation one from Part 4 and the baby puking scene from five stick out as odd) but there also are some of the most memorable movie deaths in horror history in this franchise. Who could forget young Johnny Depp’s “blood volcano bed” death in the first movie or the “vein puppet” death from the third movie? Elm Street took what should have been quick scenes and turned them into extended cuts (pun intended this time) that helped us to gain a better understanding for just how Freddy went about his business.
The Elm Street franchise is a must watch for any horror fans. While it may subvert a lot of the tropes found in modern slasher movies, let’s not forget that it also helped to start many of these tropes as well. The movies gave us one of the most interesting concepts in film history as well as one of the most beloved horror icons. The Elm Street franchise has a legacy that has been around since the 80s. Despite a few setbacks over its 30+ year history (part four, five, and the 2010 reboot), the franchise has staying power that firmly cements its place and legacy in movie history.
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