Nightmare On Elm Street’s Worst Franchise Flaw Wasn’t A Mistake

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Although turning Freddy Krueger into a cartoony, comedic villain is often seen as a mistake, the change was actually one that a specific Nightmare On Elm Street sequel director made on purpose. Freddy Krueger’s villain devolution is a story that will sound all too familiar to horror audiences. In his first screen appearance, 1984’s originalA Nightmare On Elm Street, Freddy was a chilling, near-silent villain, an instantly iconic embodiment of sadistic evil.

However, by his fifth movie outing, Freddy Krueger was a gurning, goofy parody of his old self. The Nightmare On Elm Street villain was a TV host, a rapper, and a video-game villain, with the franchise insisting on over-exposing the once-mysterious villain. As a result of this over-saturation, Freddy became deeply un-scary in the later Nightmare On Elm Street sequels, earning more screen-time and reducing his villainous mystique as a result.

Related: Most Modern Slasher Movies Steal Nightmare On Elm Street's Best Trick

However, while the transformation of Freddy Krueger from a terrifying, near-silent boogeyman to a wisecracking, cartoon antihero may seem like an unfortunate mistake, it was actually an active creative decision made by director Renny Harlin during the making of Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. During an interview regarding the troubled third Nightmare On Elm Street sequel, the helmer was quoted as saying “we've reached a point where the audience sees Freddy as the hero. They come to these movies to hear his funny lines and see him do those amazing things. And because of that popularity, I'm faced with showing Freddy in a more heroic light and giving him more screen time. People will still fear him, but they will also be cheering him on.”

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