Mckenna Omoruyi
Staff Reporter
A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most iconic horror films of its time. It is easily recognizable by any fans of classic horror movies. The first film of the franchise launched in 1984 following other big movie franchises like Halloween and Friday the 13th. Director Wes Craven debut the film after it was produced on a low budget and released by a small studio called New Line Cinema. No one then had any idea that it would become one of the most iconic horror franchises of all time with many squeals and one of the most notable villains in pop culture history Freddy Krueger.
As interesting as the movie itself is, though, the story behind its creation may be even more so. The movie was inspired by a true story. The director of the film, Wes Craven, in the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, admitted that the original idea for the film came from a series of stories he read in the newspaper regarding young men dying while sleeping and dreaming. This is a rare phenomenon known as sudden arrhythmic death syndrome.
With not much money to spare, a cast of largely unknown actors, and a director who had never had a hit film, it had a lot going against it. However, the story was fresh and original, and it had never been seen or done before.
Although this may be hard to believe Johnny Depp was not the first choice to play Glen the romantic lead in the film. In fact, Charlie Sheen wanted the role but asked for 3,000 dollars a week and the production just did not have that kind of money. It was Craven’s daughters that persuaded him to cast Depp into the role even though he saw the actor as sickly and pale. The director remembers his daughters telling him, “He’s beautiful.”
It was especially important that the film was not just a mindless slasher like Friday the 13th. Nick Corri, who plays Rod Lane in the film said in the documentary, “We would have serious discussions with Wes about, ‘Look, we don’t want this to be another Friday the 13th,” “He really wanted to make it phytologically damaging and real.”
Freddy Kruger has some basis in reality. According to Craven, the name came from a childhood bully. He also recalled looking out his bedroom window one night as a child and seeing a mysterious man looking back at him from the street. After hiding, the director looked out the window and the man was still there making scary faces at him. “The thing that struck me most about that particular man is that he could get such satisfaction from scaring a child.”
Robert Englund was not the first choice for Freddy. While Robert is synonymous with the role, he was not the original actor casted for the film. It was British actor David Warner set to play the part. He pulled out last minute over having a prior commitment to a different film. He is now an icon and recognized worldwide for the role. In all the film was ahead of its time and has gone down in history as a cult classic.
Image Credit: brignews.com
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