This year “A Nightmare on Elm Street” celebrated its 35th anniversary, the highly influential slasher film became the quintessential horror movie series of the eighties, turning Freddy Krueger in to one of the most recognizable villains in horror movie history. You wouldn’t think a scarred undead child molester and murderer with claw hands who takes perverse delight in haunting teens would become a mascot for the eighties, but you’d be shocked. Krueger was incredibly popular in the eighties, arguably more than Jason Voorhees, and I say that as someone who favors Jason. In either case, these are five of my favorite Freddy Krueger moments where he wrought havoc on unsuspecting Elm Street kids and was at his most sadistic.
Demonic Freddy (Freddy vs. Jason)
Sure we’ve seen all of Freddy’s incarnations, before. We’ve seen him as a man, as a creation turned demon in “New Nightmare,” as a superhero, and as a gigantic worm, but we didn’t really see the monster behind the scarred man. Being able to finally pull Jason in to his own domain once and for all, he keeps Voorhees at his mercy and victimizes him. Attempting to save him, heroine Lori goes to sleep and tries to help Jason. Angered at her interference, Freddy bursts from Crystal Lake in all his unabashed demonic form sporting beady serpentine eyes, a scarred face, sharp teeth, pointed ears and an even deeper voice. His arrogance allows Lori to pull him back in to reality where he faces Jason who looks on surprised and ready to kick his ass back to Elm Street. Then it’s on!
Freddy Slashes Tina (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
Serving as a horrific preamble to the epic story of Freddy Krueger, one of his first victims Tina manages to barely avoid Freddy in her dream world as he taunts and stalks her. Sadly she falls victim to the dream master who proceeds to stab and slash at her making her suffer as her boyfriend sits and watches in horror as his girlfriend falls victim to the sadism of Krueger. One of the most shocking deaths in the series, Tina is the motivation for Nancy’s battle against Freddy, and suffers a terrible death by the clawed one.
A Sea of Blood (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
Out of all of the films in the series, this death is the most well known because Craven simply outdid himself. We don’t know what happened to Glen in his sleep, we don’t know what Freddy did to him. All we know is that Glen drifted off for a moment and was sucked in to his bed only to re-emerged as a geyser of thick red blood that poured along the ceiling of his room. Knocking off everyone Nancy has ever loved, Freddy inflicted his worst punishment on her hapless boyfriend, and he paid dearly. This remains one of the most memorable deaths in Craven’s masterpiece and it’s one of the earliest memories I have watching a horror movie.
Primetime Bitch! (Dream Warriors)
Jennifer is a television addict who knows well what is happening to the other patients. In a futile attempt to stay awake she tries to keep her attention to her loyal television smoking a wasted butt she discovers. She burns it on her skin thinking she’s managed to avoid sleep and nods off for a split second. Oblivious she watches as Zsa Zsa Gabor is interviewed by Dick Cavett who turns in to Freddy and slashes her in cold blood. Jennifer goes to fix the television when it goes haywire, but it’s too late as arms extend from its sides, and Freddy’s face emerges from the top declaring Jennifer’s big break in TV has come and he proudly welcomes the bitch to Prime Time by bashing her head in to a screen. Careful what you wish for, Jennifer.
Freddy Sucks (The Dream Master)
Being able to now enter the realities of the teens who have entered his world he manages to make poor bookworm Sheila pay dearly. The severely asthmatic young girl, while taking a test, happens across Freddy who appears out of nowhere and proceeds to suck face with her. Literally. Using her weakness to his advantage he plants his lips on her and sucks the living soul out of her sapping every bit of life force from her leaving her as little more than a withered shell of skin and bones suffering a rather horrific asthma attack in front of her crowded class. Truly it’s one of the more disturbing deaths of the series and one of his sickest.