All language subtitles for Behind.the.Monsters.S01E04.WEBRip.x264-ION10

- I dreamed about a guy

in a dirty red
and green sweater.

He's horribly burned.

- Freddy was different
because we got to see

the actual monster.

- Come to Freddy.

- He wears a dirty brown hat.

- He's got a cool look.

I mean, even though
he's all burnt up,

he's got the hat.
- He's got style.

- He has razors
on his right hand.

- Nobody but Freddy
could have that glove.

- His name is Freddy Krueger.

- Wes calls Freddy the
bastard father of us all.

- You are all my children now.

- He was so bad to the bone.

- And he's also so
easily quotable.

- Welcome to primetime, bitch.

- His commentary became
like the main attraction.

- How's this for a wet dream?

- He wasn't hiding
behind a mask.

He was being sassy.

He was playing
with these victims.

- Let's get high.

- I mean, did anyone ever think

that movie was going
to be a big deal?

Not really.

- Just a marvelous
creation by Wes Craven.

- So iconic, never going to
look at a red and green sweater

and think Christmas anymore.

I only think Freddy Krueger.

- He'll be scary forever.

- When "Nightmare on Elm
Street" came out in 1984,

no one was really expecting it.

- Freddy just came out of
the blue and it's like,

what the F is this?

- The idea that
someone in your dreams

is going to kill you?

I just don't think that
idea ever becomes not scary.

And that's Freddy Krueger.

- Freddy is a demon,
he is a spirit.

He is unknowable and unstoppable

because he doesn't
exist in our realm.

- Freddy likes to
torment his victims

with whatever their
particular flaw or fear is.

He likes to exploit that.

- Freddy operates on a lot
of levels as a character,

as a symbol, he's whispered
about, and he's hinted at.

The children have heard of him.

- He was a filthy child murderer

who killed at least 20
kids in the neighborhood.

- The specter has infiltrated
their imaginations.

He's manifested in the
dreams and in the nightmares.

- Whatever you do,
don't fall asleep.

- And that's where
he can do his damage.

- No!

- There's something horrific
about having a mask on

that hides all
features, you know,

you don't know what's behind it,

but I think the
better horror icon

is somebody like Freddy
who's got a backstory.

He was a child molester killer.

He gets captured and tried
and let off on a loophole.

He gets out, the
parents go after him,

and they burn him alive.

And then his ghost
essentially comes back

and kills all the
children on Elm Street.

- Tina!

- The beginning of
"Nightmare on Elm Street"

really came to me with
a series of articles

in the "LA Times" about
young men who were dying

in the middle of nightmares.

- The famous case was
about the young boy,

teenager who died and he said,

"I'm having these night terrors"

and had a coffee pot and was
trying not to go to sleep

because he was afraid he was
going to die in his sleep.

And everybody was like,

you just need to go to
sleep, you're overtired.

And he died in his sleep.

- So, it was clear
this guy saw it coming,

knew what was going
to happen if he slept,

tried desperately to stay awake

and I just thought,
wow, it moved me.

- I think that really
blew my dad's mind.

You know, he had crazy dreams.

He was really driven
by his own demons.

And I think when he
heard about that kid,

he thought that
could have been me.

- You know, Tina, she dreamed
this was going to happen.

- What?

- She had a nightmare that
someone was trying to kill her.

- Freddy's origins, they're
sort of multifarious.

There was a kid named Freddy
who was kind of my nemesis

in elementary school
and he was a big kid

and he would beat me up.

So, the name Fred,
Freddy, to me,

was like one of those names

that just brings up all
these bad memories, you know?

And then there
was this incident,

this kind of famous incident
now of myself as a child,

I'm lying in bed at night.

I crept to the window and
there was this man, you know,

overcoat and that
sort of fedora hat.

And somehow he sensed that
somebody was watching,

he looked right up into my eyes

and I was just more terrified

than I can ever remember being.

The thing that
struck me most was

that he had a lot of
malice in his face

and he also had this sort
of sick sense of humor

about how delightful it
was to terrify a child.

So, that was kind of the look.

And then what would
the weapon be?

"Friday the 13th" had already
been out and "Halloween"

so there was a lot
of killers with masks

and with some sort
of an edged weapon.

So I said, okay, what's
the earliest weapon

that mankind might've
been afraid of

and well the weapon
of an animal.

So I thought, okay,

it'll be basically a
hand with claws on it.

Perfect.

- Who are you?

- Wes described it
to me as something

that he could make
an a boiler room.

I kind of knew what that meant.

This guy was going
to be a tinkerer.

He was going to be able to
work with copper and steel.

He was going to be good
at soldering and welding.

So, that sort of
gave me an idea,

probably going to
go brass or copper,

partly because of the look,

partly because of the
way you can work it.

I did a little sketch for
him and kind of showed him

how it would work.

He said, "Fine,
let's pursue this."

They figured out where the
joints really needed to be.

What's the articulation
going to be like?

They have to be as
articulate as your hand is.

We went through a lot of
different shapes on the knives,

everything, you know, to
like cut down buck knives

to all sorts of
different things.

A lot of them were
way too heavy.

A lot of them were
curved the wrong way.

They couldn't be turned upside
down, but we were still,

you know, tiger claw,
long fingernails.

He kept making this gesture.

And so, that meant to me that
this curve had to go this way.

It wasn't going to do this.

It was going to do this.

We made one hero, one metal.

We made a stunt glove that
was basically all plastic

and it had wooden blades.

So, they'd break off.

We had made a stunt
glove with plastic blades

that had like Mylar
on the fingers

that you saw and all
the background shots.

And then we made one glove

that was metal
with plastic blades

that he would use any time he
was just far enough off camera

or the stunt coordinator
wanted something

that was close enough, but
that wouldn't hurt anybody.

But there was only
one metal version.

It wasn't designed
to be an icon.

It was just designed to be
a tool for this character

and instead, he became
an icon with this thing.

- I just loved it so much.

On one level, the
claw extends Freddy.

It extends his anger,

his revenge, and it's a
little larger than life.

I think all those
elements have combined

to kind of make it
symbolic and evil.

- It's such a powerful
idea and a powerful image

because we haven't really seen
anything like that before.

We've seen claws and
we've seen sharp knives

and we've seen chainsaws and
we've seen everything else,

but we haven't seen that
extension of the person

doing the killing become
like a part of them.

- Die!

- How the glove transformed me,

how the glove affected
me was it's heavy.

And when I put it on, one
shoulder dropped a bit like this

and it affected my movement
and it affected my posture.

And I immediately thought
it's like having a holster,

it's like reaching for the gun.

So, that posture became
signature for Freddy Krueger.

- The first time that
Robert put the glove on

and he sort of hurt himself,

tink, tink, cut himself a
little bit with everybody did.

And he goes, "Ow!"

And then he goes, "Ha."

And we were like,
cool, good to go.

And that was
just his face, no makeup.

- Well, the interesting
thing about Freddy

is he was originally
conceived as a dirty old man.

- They wanted a very
big man to play the part

and he was to be mute,
he wouldn't speak at all.

- David Warner was
one of the actors

they were talking to about it.

He was thought of as this
much older character.

- And I went in and I was
sort of in my punk rock stage

at that time, my hair
was a lot blonder

and I penciled
circles under my eyes

and I wore all black and
I played a staring game

with director Wes Craven
as he told the story to me.

- And he was able to put himself

into the position of being evil.

And it brought out that
wonderful thing about Freddy

of it's the guy in the
sidewalk, frightening the kid.

- I did kind of get
what he was going for.

We were on the same playing
field with our understanding.

- So, I said, "Okay, fine.

"This might not work,

but I will try it with
this younger guy."

The rest was makeup and
once the makeup was on him,

you didn't know how
old he was anyway.

I was like, "Duh,
what was I thinking?"

- And then you add

that makeup to him.
- Right.

- There's something about that,

he really is the epitome

of the serial killer
turned horror icon

because he does not
hide behind a mask.

He is himself.

- Please God.

- This,

is God.

- In the original script,

he's hideously burned
and disfigured.

I mean, it's less than
$2 million budget.

You've got to
reproduce it 25 times

over the course
of your schedule.

I think that what they came
up with based on the structure

of Robert Englund's face is
brilliant and it's so iconic.

- I worked on "Nightmare
on Elm Street" one

in Dave Miller's garage.

So, I got to see how
the makeup was designed,

which was very clever.

It was a two layer application.

The first layer that
went on Robert's skin

was all this burned flesh.

But over that, was an
additional layer of like

almost like melted
cheese on pizza,

stringy pieces that
went over that,

that you could look through
to see the under structure.

- And it was like all new to me.

I mean, it was an adventure
and part of me got

a little scared and it
is rather claustrophobic

the first time.

- The first time I saw
Robert in the makeup

where I really got the full
import of Freddy Krueger

was on the set in the
scene where I'm in school

and I go down the steps into
the boiler room of the school

and he comes out

- Tina?

- And it hit me with full force.

Like that is a scary character.

But up until that moment,

I hadn't really given much
thought to Freddy Krueger.

I didn't really think
the movie was going

to make him into a star.

- Let's face it,
like your nightmares

are just your brain
turning on yourself.

It's all of your intellect
and everything that you know

and fear about the
world, turning on you.

And I think that's
who Freddy is to Wes.

This is the kind of
dark side of his brain,

carried by Robert Englund

who brought his
Shakespearean wherewithal

and his wit and his talents

to create an incredibly scary

and yet compelling and
charismatic character.

- Everything about that
character from the way

the makeup works to
the way Robert speaks.

- Now, you die.

- It brings that character
to life in what is probably

the most terrifying
way they could have.

- Freddy wasn't functioning
like the other ones

because he was not
a corporeal slasher.

He was not just some
deranged mad man

who was taking down
people at a camp.

He functioned differently.

He had admit those to him
where he was hunting in dreams

and there was no real
clear cut way to kill him.

And that was horrifying.

- Wes was always
adamant about the fact

that the bad guy had to be
as smart as the protagonist.

And I think, the
thing about Freddy

is that he's smart so he's
relatable and he's funny.

- How sweet, fresh meat.

- Freddy has it all, man.

I mean, he's just
the coolest monster.

He's the coolest, bad guy ever.

He moves well, he's got all
these kind of great poses

that Jason never had.

I mean, I love Jason,
but sorry, Jason.

- The whole Freddy
Krueger's, you know,

thrust is about killing these
kids with this sense of glee.

- He will throw in these
one-liners as he's killing you,

as he's about to kill you,
or after he's killed you.

And he wants you to
know that he enjoys it.

- Bon appetit, bitch.

- We loved Freddy for his
comedy and his timing.

- Want to suck face?
- No.

- Freddy was a character
who didn't rely on his size.

He didn't rely on his speed.

He was toying with
people psychologically.

- Welcome home, Taryn.

Look familiar?

- Freddy is in there with
those private thoughts,

those private fears.

He knows what makes you tick.

- Let's get high.

- Freddy Krueger, more than
any of the other icons,

is much more personally involved

with the people
that he's killing.

- Yeah.
- He gets to know them.

He gets to understand them.

Like he puts a lot
of time and energy

into making the
perfect nightmare.

He's trying to kill you in a way

that is going to
terrify you the most.

- I want to draw some blood.
- Help!

- As he searches

for your weaknesses.
- Searches for it right then.

- He goes right
in and he finds it

and he exploits it.

This idea of like, like
fucking with his prey.

- Hello?

- I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy.

- The key is that the movies
take place in a dream.

It is in fact, the
"Nightmare on Elm Street"

and everyone that sees it
can identify with that.

Everybody's had a bad dream
or a daydream or a nightmare.

- It's interesting because in
his world, in the dream world,

he has free reign, he
can do whatever he wants,

but once he steps
into the real world,

it's like "Home Alone."

Nancy was able to set
up all these traps.

Like, he's one of
the sticky bandits.

- Ow!

- It's ridiculous.

- The idea that we
grow up with is,

oh, there's a
monster under my bed.

There's a monster in the closet.

Will, you just go into bed

and you put the
covers over your head

and you close your eyes

and it's all going to be fine,

but that's literally what's
going to kill you in Elm Street.

- All day long I've been
seeing that guy's weird face.

And hearing those fingernails.

- Fingernails?

That's amazing you saying that,

that made me remember the
dream I had last night.

- And I think everyone
found that idea

so fresh and exciting and
invigorating and terrifying.

- This is just a
dream, he isn't real.

He isn't real.

- Wes came to New York to
do all the post-production

for "Nightmare on Elm Street."

My sister and I went to
visit him one weekend.

He's like, "Meet me
at the editing room."

So, we go up to Times
Square and he's like,

"You know, we just
put together a cut

and I really don't even know
if we have a film here."

I mean, honestly, he was
very unsure about it.

- Did anyone ever
think that movie was
going to be a big deal?

Not really.

Bob was hoping it would make
$2.46 cents for the company.

So, the fact that there were
articles written actually

in the "New York Times.'

- When I really sat
in a movie theater

and watched with an audience

is when I saw how other
people really responded to it.

And it was fabulous because
everyone just was yelling

at the screen and screaming it,

the characters to not go in,

"Don't go in the basement!"

And I realized that
this was a new age.

Like this is horror movies,
different than regular movies

and everyone's there
to have a great time.

- Our first weekend,
Wes called me and said,

"We just kicked "Beverly
Hills Cop" off the top spot

and I'm like,
"You're kidding me."

What is it about this thing?

- I know you're there, Freddy.

- Freddy Krueger does not
really appear in the advertising

of the first films.

You saw the glove in the posters
and in the newspaper ads,

but by the time the
second film came out,

he had really taken hold

and they were putting
him front and center.

Watch out for him.

May be in your
neighborhood soon.

A "Nightmare on Elm
Street," part two.

- It was obvious that
Bob Shay ar New Line

would want a sequel

because the first film
was such a success.

It did so well, it set up
this fantastic character,

this incredible story,
this great world,

but there's a part of a
lot of people that believes

that maybe they
didn't know enough

of what they were getting into

with regard to the character,
with regard to the story.

A successful film is one thing,

but a character breaking through

the way Freddy
Krueger broke through

did not happen as
quickly as maybe

that movie went into production,

which is why Freddy as a
character is all over the place

in Elm Street two,
compared to the first film.

- He's inside me.

I'm scared.

- Jesse, who is
doing this to you?

- Fred Krueger.

- With part two, you know,

him being awake and Freddy
kind of living inside of him

and growing inside of him.

It's almost more of a
"Hellraiser" concept.

And I think it didn't work.

- I think sometimes Nightmare
two is unfairly dismissed.

In Nightmare two, Freddy's
still really scary.

In fact, it's actually one
of the most disturbing movies

I've seen, especially
when I was young,

because it was a
body horror film.

It's very Cronenbergian,
emerging from the physical body

of this young man.

You're like, ah,
what are you doing?

You know, there's
something still dangerous

about the character.

- When I got hired
to do Nightmare two,

what I wanted to
bring to the character

was I wanted to give
it more bone structure.

I bought burned books
and I studied all this,

the actual people who had
been scarred completely

from head to toe.

And you know, what I noticed
was that some bone structure

was coming through, cheekbones,
brows, things like that.

Sometimes the nose was gone.

I kind of embraced that because
I always saw Freddy sort of

as a male witch.

- I'll get you, my pretty.

And your little soul too.

He has the hat with
a big wide brim.

He's got fingernails
sort of, with claw hand

and he's got sort
of a hook nose.

And I kind of went off of that

and made it look
more like a witch.

We do a lot of promotions
after part two.

So, we would go in
video stores we'd go

and Robert would sign
a bunch of stuff.

I mean, he was getting
big and in New York City,

they're incredible, great fans.

I mean, they'll
scream out, "Robert!"

They all know him
by his first name.

"Freddy!"

I thought, you
know, what is this?

He kills kids and here
these kids are all running

to touch him and say hi to him.

So, I think that's kind of
when I knew something's up

with this character.

- You've got posters
and magazine covers

and they started talking
about consumer products

and things like that.

And they were going to
be the launching pad

for the next step, which of
course was "Dream Warriors."

- Nightmares,
they have a way of coming back.

"A Nightmare on Elm
Street 3 Dream Warriors."

- Everyone knew that
because of this franchise

and particularly
"Dream Warriors,"

Freddy Krueger was cool.

- I said, where's
the fucking bourbon?

- Mom?

- Wes Craven didn't
really have much of a hand

in "Nightmare on Elm Street,"
part two, but in part three,

it's a fan favorite
because we're seeing Freddy

become a little
more self-actualized

as like this showman murderer.

- A circus needs a ringmaster
and that's what Freddy became.

He was our guide through
all this kind of stuff,

making the jokes about them.

And people really
responded to that.

- Welcome to prime time, bitch.

- He takes the chick and
he puts her head in the TV,

pandemonium, screaming,
laugh, I mean,

it's just like you went to
see Freddy for those moments.

- It was still dark, but
it had gone beyond revenge.

There was a sense of enjoyment
in the killing of the kids

that was new to Freddy to me.

It was like, it wasn't
just to make amends

for the past
injustices that he felt

had been perpetrated
against him.

- Sorry, kid, I don't
believe in fairy tales.

- Freddy is a world-class
world builder.

He takes full
advantage of the powers

that the dream demons
have given him.

- The fact that he is
limitless in his powers

also means things
keep getting bigger.

They get a little
more sensationalized.

They make jokes
and put them on TV

and talk shows in the movie.

- Can I ask you something?

- Certainly.

- Who gives a fuck
what you think?

- Freddy became this character
that was like live on stage.

Like almost like at all times.

And as a drag icon,
we can relate.

- He had catchphrases

and it was very like
delivery like this.

- What's wrong, Joey,
feeling tongue tied?

- Well, maybe at first
you don't realize

what a huge imprint
and what a huge impact

your character is going to make.

But, then I think
they quickly realized

like we've created
like a horror icon.

He was ready for
prime time, bitch.

- Nightmare three, the
total grosses,

so to speak, are
now over 40 million.

It scored the biggest opening

for any independent film, ever.

Why?

Why you ask?

Freddy Krueger,
that's why, sucker.

- When that hit,

and it was a huge hit,

it made more money
than the first two.

It was like, all right,
now we know what this is.

It's Freddy and teens, boom.

Let's go forward.

- Believe it or not,

some people still
don't recognize me.

That's why I carry this.

- He was doing MTV spots,
music videos, you name it.

Freddy became this huge
mainstream success.

- 80s horror characters
stopped being relegated

to just what we saw
on the silver screen.

They became pop
culture phenomenons

and celebrities of their own.

You would turn on MTV
and Freddy Krueger,

not Robert England,

but Freddy Krueger would be
hosting a block of music videos.

- Right now it's Los
Lobos with the case

of those "Shakin',
Shakin' Shakes."

- And don't even get me started

with Freddy's phone sex line.

- So, dial this number
now, if you dare.

Tell 'em Freddy sent ya.

- You know, I know
you weren't supposed

to call him and jerk off,

but I mean, it was all
set up like that, right?

- $2 the first minute,

45 cents each additional minute,

children get your parents
permission before you dial.

- Freddy just became this
merchandising monster.

He had 1-900 numbers.

He had his own TV series
for a little while.

- Remember, we make house calls.

- As the editor of "Fangoria,"

I knew every time I
put him on the cover,

that issue was going to
like double in sales.

We did spin off magazines,
licensed magazines.

It was Freddy, Freddy, Freddy.

That's kind of maybe what
pissed the readers off.

He no longer belonged
to just the fans now.

Now mainstream America
embraced Freddy.

- We loved Freddy
from the beginning.

We subscribed to
"Fangoria" magazine.

I had every issue.

There's this point when
something becomes too popular

and all the dickheads
that I hated, you know,

started being Freddy fans.

And it was like this
thing that was mine,

this thing that
was uniquely mine

and the other people who
loved it were like me.

When it became so popular

that Freddy was
hosting shows on MTV,

I have to say, I resented it.

- I mean, it probably
made the character

much less terrifying,
but you know,

he had to do what he had to do.

I'm sure he was like,

how do I rise to the occasion?

- He was just a complete success

in every pop culture way
you could think about.

I mean, limousines
with rock stars,

going places and
having a great time.

- You see in the next couple
of movies, it was always like,

let's copy the three formula,
let's showcase Freddy.

- How's this for a wet dream?

- Four, "The Dream
Master" is my favorite

because it had jokes,
it was also weird

and it was also just kind
of really exciting to me.

- Freddy was not
just the funniest,

but Freddy was also
the most maniacal.

He was so in charge
of his universe.

And when you were
sucked into it,

anything that could
happen, did happen.

- You can check in, but
you can't check out.

- They check in, but
they don't check out.

- It is incredible.

- I think it may be the only
franchise where the box office

went up with each successive
film for the first four films.

Each of the first
four films made more

than the one before it.

- Oh, and a movie
will cheer you up.

- What are you seeing?

- Nightmare on Elm Street 4."

- Do you have to see one, two,
and three to appreciate it?

- No, Rose, it stands alone.

- By the time you get to comic
book Freddy in the fifth one,

the subtlety was gone

and the subtlety is
what made it scary.

- Faster than a bastard maniac.

- Told ya comic
books was bad for ya.

- Who's ever had a dream
where they were paper?

And fighting Superman?

Like, no one has that dream.

- I like "Freddy's Dead"

because it's so
silly and outlandish

and so far off the beaten path.

Freddy is at his most
clownish in this film

And he's really
taunting the teenagers

that he's actually
killing in it.

- Hey, Spence, let's trip out.

- Even when the movie's kind
of bad, like the sixth one,

there's the video game sequence.

- Now I'm playing with power.

There's the kid with
an ear implant thing

that is intensifying
all the sounds.

- Oh please, no.

- There's a whole big thing
to it that kind of, oh,

they could do anything.

- This is my dream
and I do what I want.

- Might be your dream,
but it's my rules!

- You do get a very
specialized way of death.

That's for sure.

- Nice hearing from ya, Carlos.

- This is where it turned
into Freddy sitcom.

The whole thing.

It has punchlines like sitcoms.

You could put a laugh
track behind that movie

and I think it would make
a lot more sense to people,

but that said, it was
not well-received.

- Questions?

- Yeah, what are you on?

Looks like a frying pan
and some eggs to me.

- "Freddy's Dead" was I think
the low point of the series.

- Kids.

- I got a call from Bob
Shaye out of the blue,

he said, "Look,
we killed Freddy.

We said he was dead forever,

but we thought maybe, maybe
there's one more film there.

And we wondered if you would
like to come up with an idea."

- I'm sure people ask
you this all the time,

is Freddy really dead?

- Of course he is,
Freddy's dead and gone.

- Sort of came to me in a bolt.

We all have these
incredible stories

about how this movie
changed our life

and how we've not been able
to shake it in a sense.

What if we did a film
about everybody involved

with the film?

- He just started
thinking about Freddy

and what it had been to him

and how it was now
kind of torturing him

'cause he didn't know
where to go with it.

It's like, "It's
killing me right now.

I can't let,
Freddy's, you know?"

And then you're like,

"Wait, Freddy, me,
killing, wait, yes."

- When he finally thought it out

and really thought
about this idea

of having it be Heather
Langenkamp as this actress

who played Nancy getting
tortured and haunted

by Freddy Krueger, he
must have been so excited

he came up with
this superb idea.

- How would you like to join
us in the definitive nightmare?

- I thought you
killed Freddy off?

- We did, but the fans,
you know, the fans,

God bless them, they're
clamoring for more.

- It's going to be about
horror, and horror movies,

and Hollywood, and how they
affect the popular culture.

And I said, "Count me in."

- "A New Nightmare"
was meta-horror

before meta-horror
became a big thing

with "Scream" and the film,
Freddy's not really Freddy.

He's really this demon
that's supposed to represent

the loss of
innocence and that's,

this is a demon that this
dislikes the idea of Freddy

and wants to kind of mime him

in order to break
into the real world,

but he has to use Heather
Langenkamp in order to do it

because she was
the original person

to defeat Freddy Krueger.

- I think they'd like to
see us together again.

- In what, a romantic comedy?

- Just because
it's a love story,

it doesn't mean you can't
have a decapitation or two.

- At some point, there's
a choice that is made.

Freddy is going to be fun.

And we're going to have
fun with these movies.

And Wes Craven has to bring
that back in "New Nightmare"

and say, actually, this
guy's gross and disgusting,

and he's a murderer and he
killed a bunch of children.

It's not fun.

- Miss me?

- Wes coming back to make
that character not just scary,

but self-reflexive, to make it
about the creator's journey,

to have Robert Englund
playing himself,

to touch on some of
the very real trauma

that Heather was
having in real life.

- Hello?

- Freddy's coming for you.

- To channel all of
that back into something

that was such a big
part of their lives.

To try to reclaim that
and put it in a movie

and actually scare
a new audience

is pretty much unparalleled
in these franchises.

- Freddy can break
the fourth wall.

He can come after
the filmmakers.

- What the hell
is going on here?

Cut the effects!

- I think the concept of Freddy
coming after the filmmakers

and the actors is his
second best sort of concept.

It's really fun.

- I think the only way to stop
him is to make another movie.

You're going to have
to make a choice.

- Choice?

What kind of choice?

- Whether or not you're willing
to play Nancy one last time.

- It wasn't until it Wes
Craven's "New Nightmare"

that I just genuinely felt
like West had injected it

with something really
refreshing, big ideas.

That's where Freddy started
getting interesting to me again.

- "There was no movie.

There was only, her life."

- It's hard to argue
that Wes Craven

is not a requirement
for a Freddy film

when most people would
agree that the three

he had some involvement with,

one, three, and seven
are the best ones.

- That makes me happy.

I wonder if he felt that.

I wonder if he knew that.

I hope he did.

- Well, then next one
is where he fought Jason

and everybody came
back and it made

more money than any
of them to that point.

- When I was alive, I might've
been a little naughty,

but after they killed me,

I became something
much, much worse.

- It was an epic battle,
it's the Avengers,

it was the Avengers
before the Avengers.

- Oh no!

- It shouldn't be
surprising that

that character versus Jason
became the kind of icon

of the 80s and 90s
that he became.

- "Freddy vs. Jason"
has been incubating

since the first 14-year-old
boy came up to me

and said, "Dude, do you think
you could kick Jason's ass?"

That's really a
fan-inspired film.

And that's probably one reason

it did a hundred
million worldwide,

but it's just a fun movie.

- When a film starts
to create an event,

which nightmare did
because of Freddy Krueger,

it becomes a group event
and people want to be

a part of something.

- Nobody actually
loves Freddy Krueger

in the sense that they're like,

I want that man to be my
father or best friend.

You love him as an idea, a
concept, a piece of amusement.

And ultimately as the character
becomes more legendary

and more iconic, you love
him as a piece of pop culture

that's become a part of
you, a part of your life,

your life's experience.

- The Freddy phenomenon,
I look back and I'm like,

that is weird, man, I
mean, it probably wouldn't,

I wouldn't have questioned
it at eight or nine,

but I look back and it's just
like, why was there pajamas?

- There were things like
toasters that imprinted

the face of Freddy.

I really liked the lunchbox
with the thermos inside.

- I wanted the toys of a guy
who was murdering kids like me.

I had trading cards with
Freddy on it, I had a shirt,

I wanted to dress up as
Freddy, had the glove.

- And then from that,

we get the sexy Freddy costumes

and we get the red
and green mini dress

with the like perfectly
put slash marks

right across the breast,
which are very sexy.

- Sexy damn Freddy Krueger.

- Anybody who thinks
they're above it

hasn't found themselves
on Halloween realizing

that it's actually
kind of perfect.

- Like today.

I still dress up as Freddy
Krueger as a 46-year-old man.

I do my peaches version
of it, of course.

- Today we have like Nike
making Freddy Krueger sneakers.

You could take those
colors and those patterns

and you can put them anywhere.

And you know that they
are Freddy Krueger.

They're just, they're so
iconic in those positions.

I think that they're
always going to be able

to be referenced in
fashion and pop culture

because there are so developed.

We know their entire history,

we know their wardrobe.

And I think that that's
something that you can't escape.

- It's just that that
sweater and hat combination

looks exactly like
Freddy Krueger.

- Wow.

Oh yeah, that do
not cross my mind.

- The iconography of Freddy
Krueger will stay with us

for a long time,

but Robert Englund
embodies Freddy

and he was who we
identified with

and he evolved the franchise.

- Robert is so tied into Freddy.

They tried to do a reboot.

- I don't know Jesse.

- You think you
can turn back time?

Answer me!
- No.

- That actor is a
brilliant actor,

but he just isn't Freddy.

- It was dead in the water
because the character

just didn't have the same life.

- Fuck you.

- Ooh, sounds like fun.

- It doesn't have the
thrill, the relish,

the charm, the charisma,

the little extra Freddy sparkle
that made us fall in love

with him in the first place.

- I'll see you in hell.

- Tell 'em Freddy sent ya.

- There's something
so iconic about Freddy

that stands outside
of the films.

- I thought I was doing a
pretty damn good job here.

- No, you're great
with the knifey hands

and the melting candle face.

- Get ready to taste
your own blood!

- He could just pop up
and you know who he is

and you know what he stands for.

- He had a personality,
which is fun.

- There's a real
hoot for ya, Woodsy.

- You pasted my head on
Freddy Krueger's body?

- You could turn on TV and
see Freddy in incongruous,

very weird mainstream
situations.

- Every Halloween I
tell him the same thing,

you can't bring weapons
into the office.

- I made this for
you, Uncle Robbie.

- Ah, thanks, Freddie Krueger.

- Just who are you?

They call me Creepy Eddie,
but I'm your worst nightmare!

- He just became like the
friendly killer next door.

- Say your prayers, Simpson.

- How do you spell your name?

- Krueger, with
a K, like Freddy.

- I'm Scary Terry, you can
run, but you can't hide, bitch.

- Freddy has become a part
of American mythology.

- Krueger!

- Well, it ain't Dr. Seuss.

- 20,000 years from now

when they look back on
our fallen civilization,

they'll remember
Michael Jackson,

and Freddy Krueger,
and George Washington.

- I

am

Eternal.

- Because I don't
know that anyone

can remember Fred
Krueger as one thing

because he's been so
many different things.

He has been a scary,
in-the-shadows guy.

Fred Krueger has been an
in-your-face, wise cracking,

MTV generation
rollercoaster ride,

- I'm here to help you.

- Help yourself, fucker!

- He has been the evil
entity that is coming back

through a child to
destroy all of us.

- It's a boy!

- And I think it's what
we put into that character

that we're ultimately
going to get out.

- I literally ask
myself the question,

why do people love this
franchise so much every day?

And every day I come up
with a new answer for it.

- What is seen is not
always what is real.

- I mean, whoever would have
ever in my wildest dreams

thought anybody would
ever remember that role,

let alone, you know, ask me
for an autograph about it.

- So, I think your legacy
is sort of determined

by other people,

which is kind of creepy
when you think about it

a little bit, but I'll take it.

- I want to thank the
fans for their loyalty.

Freddy's been very,
very good to me

and Wes taught me
to respect the genre

and I'm glad I listened.

- It's really a profound,
enigmatic sort of phenomenon

that even though I was kind
of the originator of it,

I have no idea
exactly how it works.

- Freddy will always
exist because we dream.

- Yeah, he will.

- So, he'll always be there.
- He will.

I feel like Freddy fandom gets
re-found every single day.

- Every generation I think,
- Everyone will always love it

- is going to re-pick up Freddy.

- Freddy's my first horror love.

The very first thing
that scared me,

like really scared me,
nightmares for months

that turned into a deep
and abiding love over time.

You know you shouldn't, but
you kind of just can't help it.

- I don't think he's ever
become less scary, actually.

He's just become kind of
more crazy scary to me.

I don't think there'll be
another character like him.

- Freddy came into my life,
I didn't come into his life.

I believe that when
Wes Craven let him out

of a cage somewhere or this
spirit out of a cage somewhere

and I collided with those atoms.

- Freddy's the only our
icon out of all of these,

as far as I'm concerned, that
could get laid on his own.

- I don't know about that.

- I really do think that-

- He's a janitor, not
to malign janitors,

but it's not like-

- I'm talking about post-death.

Again, I feel like
pre-death and post-death,

for all of these people
is a game changer.

- Did you see when he
opened up his shirt

and it was all the
screams of the souls?

- Chicks dig it,

they love body mods.
- The little mouths.

- They do, boys love them too.

- Okay.

- Freddy Krueger is charming.

I love his hat.

- If he wants to be charming.

- If you really got into
like the idea of like,

he can make a jacuzzi into
a big mouth, that's fun.

- Well, if you wanted to
use his powers for good,

I suppose that's true.
- Yeah.

If he decides he
just wants to like,

see what it's like to
date, he'd do very well.

- I don't know.

There's something
about not being able-

- He's a funny guy.

- Well, he is funny.

- Pick up artists always
talk about wearing

a big hat in order to
get attention at the bar.

So, he's got the big hat.

So, girls are already
asking him like,

"What's up with the hat?".

And he's just like,
"I kill kids."

And they're all like,

"Oh, you're hilarious.

You're funny."
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- And he negs 'em a little bit.