Robert Englund's Final Appearance As Freddy Krueger?

[Mitch Henessey]

And it's not happening in a movie:

Spoiler

Flashback Weekend is a horror convention with a deeper initiative. Our philanthropic efforts are dedicated to the preservation of the American Drive-In. Flashback Weekend owns and operates the Midway Drive-In located in Dixon, IL to support the film industry and to present classic 35mm horror film festivals. For this reason, all net proceeds from Flashback Weekend and the Robert ENglund Freddy Krueger make-up photo-ops go to the preservation and operation of the Midway Drive-In, located in Dixon, IL.

The cost for the total package is $365- http://www.flashbackweekend.com/tickets.html

This is strange. For starters, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the thought of Robert Englund Freddy Krueger's final appearance happening at a horror convention. I don't know the guy, but I guess there's a chance he's okay with a send-off for Freddy at a horror convention. And I don't doubt the genuine efforts to preserve the drive-in and classic 35mm horror films, but you also have to consider the realistic possibility of the promoters using a once in a lifetime marketing campaign to sell tickets.

Still, it's bittersweet, if Robert Englund's last appearance as Krueger is happening at a horror convention. Michael Myers, Jason, and Leatherface are horror icons, but throughout the years, different actors have portrayed all three characters. With the lone exception of Jackie Earle Haley portraying Krueger in the 2010 remake, Robert Englund is Freddy Krueger. When you think about the dark sense of humor, the charisma, and the nightmarish appearance with the clawed glove, you think about Robert Englund, because Englund's name and his face are synonymous with the character.

I was hoping for one more film with Englund as Krueger. A lot of die hard Elm Street fans couldn't stand a darker version of Krueger, who took himself too seriously most of the time. I didn't hate Haley as Krueger, but I understand the complaints. And there's no way around it, but the remake was an awful film.

It's so bad I remember Rooney Mara slammed the film during a string of interviews for her Oscar nomination in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo remake a few years ago. I guess we'll have to wait and see, who takes over as Krueger in another unnecessary remake.

 

[Wally Dangerously]

Damn. This blows. I was actually hoping to see Englund as Freddy at least one more time in a Freddy vs. Jason follow-up, given the movie's ending.

Englund's Freddy had some variety in character. The first Nightmare film, still my favorite and one of the scariest films ever, featured a very dark Freddy. Compare that to, say, Nightmare 3 or 4, which featured an almost-comical Freddy, and you can see quite a difference. Nonetheless, Englund always delivered as Freddy and never failed to entertain.

I've never watched the remake and never will. There's just no way you can remake a classic like the original Nightmare and even come close to doing it justice. For the love of all that is good, let's hope there's no remake of Part 2.


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The horror. The horror.

 

[three count bout]

Shape, you make a really good point about how synonymous Englund and Kreuger really are. It's very true that Myers, Voorhees, and Leatherface have all been portrayed by different actors but equally important is that they're all under a mask. Even through Freddies charred visage so much of Englund was always present.

It's sad what studios are doing to these franchises and the characters that embody them in the fans hearts. I'm a big fan of the Hellraiser movies, well before they got crappy and I dread the thought of Hollywood pumping a new age one without Doug Bradley as Pinhead.

I remember when the reboot of NOES came out hearing a healthy amount of people voice their displeasure over the recasting. I never get why the studios think alienating your established fan base is a good idea.

 

[nightmare]

Well this is perplexing. If true, I get why. I just always cling to the hope of one last real Nightmare movie. Hell, I would have even been happy with another F v J. England is the only guy that can pull the character off & its time to either hang up the franchise, or push very hard for one more performance out of Robert.



Either way I am glad we got to see the character & have enjoyed the hell out of the films throughout the years.

 

[Wally Dangerously]

I saw Robert Englund as Freddy in the first Nightmare when I was seven years old.

It scared me nearly shitless.

Nightmare 1 scared me so much that I had trouble sleeping. My mother bought some copies of Fangoria and other horror magazines (still plentiful at the time) in order to find a picture of Robert Englund without the makeup to show to me. She thumb-tacked a picture of Freddy and a picture of Robert Englund right beside it on one of my bedroom walls to help me get over my fear.

That's the mark of a great horror monster.


This isn't related to the thread, but I found a great documentary on the Nightmare series:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtAYEfk7wGk

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I can't remember how old I was the first time I watched the original Nightmare On Elm Street, but it was somewhere in my early teens. Krueger was something unique and different, and the Elm Street films were an instant favorite for me. And I have the Never Sleep Again Elm Street documentary as a 2-dsic special edition on DVD. It's a lot of fun and a good watch for any fans of Krueger and the Elm Street series.

If they make one more push to use Englund as Krueger again, I believe it'll work. Constantly hype Robert Englund's long awaited return to the franchise in the trailers, ads, TV spots, and movie posters and the fans will eat it up. The vast majority shit all over the 2010 remake, but Elm Street 2010 raked in a overall total domestic gross of $63,075,011 off of a production budget of an estimated $35,000,000 and a #1 spot on opening weekend, so the interest amongst the fanbase is still there.

Although, if Englund returns, hopefully they'll find a way to make another sequel, because we don't need another reboot. Horror sequels are really hit and miss 90% of the time, and the success rate is low, but you can look at Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives for a few positive signs of hope.

 

[Catacomb]

wih the upcoming supposed release of freddy vs jason 2 it makes me wonder if this really is the final time, or if they get a new freddy for the sequel. for those who haven't heard here is the link to freddy vs jason 2

http://comicbook.com/blog/2013/09/14/friday-the-13th-movie-joins-crowded-2015-freddy-vs-jason-2-a-possibility/

although nothing is confirmed for fvj2 it just wouldnt be the same without england as freddy. or maybe robert knows something we don't about the possibility of a sequel. with how long it took fvj to come out i wouldn't be surprised to see the sequel shelved.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I have a hard time believing in Freddy VS Jason 2 ever happening. For Jason, the focus is on the new film coming out next year, and the planned Friday The 13th TV series. I remember reading the FVJ 2 rumors a long time ago, and you get the feeling FVJ 2 will never make it past the speculation talks stage.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Meh, to be honest, it doesn't really bother me all that much. He's 67 years old, the last time he was Freddy in a film was 11 years ago, they remade the 1st film roughly 4 years ago and there doesn't seem to be any sort of rush to make another one. I haven't read anything anywhere that indicates anyone's even in the earliest stages of production or writing a script. If and/or when they get around to that, it'd probably be another year or two, at least before they even started filming.

I'm kinda over the character as a whole. They put way too much comedy for my liking into the last 3 or 4 Nightmare films. It got to the point where Freddy wasn't even remotely scary and I'm not sure that anything can be done to change that without starting over completely fresh by revamping the character, the concept, the basic plot, the whole nine yards.

 

[nightmare]

Yeah the talk of FVJ 2 has always had me hopeful, but as the years go by it seems more unlikely. One thing that I think would be a much better fit and more likely to happen would be bringing back Freddy's Nightmares. The series would be perfect for an online distribution if someone like SyFy or Showtime didnt pick it up. Places like Netflix would be great, but maybe Fear.net would be the perfect platform. With a decent budget & a few great writers, the weekly show would be a hit. Plus England could just film all his segments over the course of a month & have them used for however long the show runs.


This would be great & waaaay more likely to happen instead of a feature film. Plus there is always a need for a good horror series. Certain shows have come and gone, but this is something that tons of fans would get behind.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Reviving something along the lines of Freddy's Nightmares is a great idea. The Chiller Channel ran both seasons with marathons a few years ago, but for whatever reason they stopped. It's a shame, because the reruns were tucked away on the Chiller Channel, a channel that's not high profiled or popular, because it's 100% horror themed all the time. So either way you look at it, you're running into exposure problems.

Still, a new series could work. Just push the return of Freddy Krueger to TV, and you can count on fans and outsiders, who know the character to give the show a chance. And who knows, a successful Freddy TV series could spark interest for another film. After all, now is the perfect time to strike, while horror TV series are a hot commodity.

The Walking Dead is a ratings juggernaut. I need to take the time to give the show a real chance, but True Blood is a successful series, WGN has a show about the Salem witch trials, and they renewed the show for a second season. Showtime renewed Penny Dreadful for a second season, American Horror Story (although the second season was awful, and Coven was way too schizophrenic at times) is going into a fourth season with strong fan support and popularity, The Strain (it's to the point, where I'm counting down the hours now) premieres tonight with a good amount of hype behind it, and I mentioned the new Friday The 13th Series earlier.

 

[nightmare]

Yeah Chiller is really unknown which is a shame. With the surge of horror related shows\content a channel devoted to nothing but should be pumping out the advertising.


As a fan of Ture Blood I can say, while it is good, some episodes can strain a bit & lose focus. The characters do a great job at drawing you in, but some are better than others at making you care whats going to happen the following episode. I couldnt agree more with you about AHS. I hope this season is far ahead of the last & should be.


Penny Dreadful though, I am not sold on. I lost interest after watching a few episodes because it started treading water a bit for me. I just think that if you are a new show & only have a handful of episodes in the season- you cant stop or slow down. I loved the Frankenstein arc, but that seemed to turn into mist and fade as I was getting hooked. I will eventually watch the rest of the season, but its not a priority.


Now The Strain? Oh yeah. So ready.