A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Robert Englund Reveals How He Wants Franchise to Be Revived (Exclusive)

With it being 13 years since horror fans were last given a new entry into the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, audiences are desperate to see how Freddy Krueger could be revived, and while longtime star Robert Englund has confirmed he won’t be returning to the series due to its physical requirements, he has a few ideas of his own on how to bring the concept back from the dead. Namely, rather than recreating the origin story of Krueger, he thinks elements of the second and third films could be reimagined in compelling new ways using modern-day technology to offer new perspectives on terror. The documentary Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story hits Screambox and Digital HD on June 6th.

“I certainly think that they should reboot [A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors], because 3 has a ‘previously on Nightmare on Elm Street‘ sense to it, and it reunites everybody, and it is the fan favorite,” Englund shared with ComicBook.com on how he could see the franchise being revived. “I think if you took a poll or a vote, you’d find out more people like Dream Warriors than any other film. And it’s a good script. The original script for that is terrific, and if you look at who wrote it, those people have Oscars now. And then I would love to do a cameo in it, maybe switch genders and play the Priscilla Pointer, Amy Irving’s mother’s role, the skeptical, cynical therapist who doesn’t believe they’re all having a common dream, a dream in common, a nightmare, a collective nightmare. I think that would be fun, a nice wink at the audience. It’s traditional in a remake to bring somebody back from the original.”

He continued, “But yeah, it’s hard. I mean, I would love to see a sensitive, contemporary director, independent, Spirit Award-winning director or somebody reboot [Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge] and really explore Freddy’s manipulation of the boy in that and the boy’s burgeoning bisexuality. I think today, we could do that. We could deal with that and what’s going on there and play with the psychology of it and Freddy’s manipulation of that and really make that heroic. I think that would be interesting to do. I think we’re ready for that.” 

Englund last starred as Krueger in Freddy vs. Jason, which pit his villain against the iconic killer from the Friday the 13th franchise, while Jackie Earle Haley took over the role for the 2010 reboot of the original premise. The actor reiterated that the technology exists to get much more ambitious about how a filmmaker would approach bringing Krueger’s dominion to life in unconventional ways.

“To me, Nightmare on Elm Street is one of those films that does, in fact, beg for the new technology. The dreamscape, the landscape of the mind is such a ripe place to go with CGI. I think that that would be fun, so that would require a bigger budget. Not Marvel-level budget or effects, but I think imaginative … I remember years ago seeing that movie with Robin Williams, What Dreams May Come, the one where the paintings come alive,” Englund recalled. “That effect done today is probably much more enhanced and sophisticated, and I think that would be an interesting effect to use as a segue into a nightmare, into the dream landscape. But I’m no fool. I grew up in Hollywood. They remake everything, and they’re going to remake it sooner or later, and I think one of the tricks would be to find one actor that can go the distance, play Freddy over and over again.” 

Another idea supported by Englund is to use iconography from the core series but reimagine them in more ambitious ways that might draw influence from the memorable mythology and expand them in unexpected directions.

“All people know about Freddy Krueger is that he’s disfigured from burns. He wears a hat. He has a red-and-green sweater on and a claw. That’s all they know. They don’t really call it a fedora, I don’t think. They don’t go into great description of the claw, the glove, or the sweater, other than maybe the stripes,” the actor expressed. “So the sweater could be a cardigan. The hat could be an old frayed baseball hat. The claws could have huge blades on them like Wolverine or little tiny sharp nails on them. It could be leather fetish. It could be S&M bondage-ish. We don’t know. Freddy could be taller. Freddy could be older. Freddy could be younger. Freddy could be shorter. Freddy could be fat.” 

Englund added, “And everybody that has heard the legend, the myth, the story whispered about the locker room or at the sleepover party that hears about this Freddy Krueger who killed children, and ‘my mother heard, and she said, and I heard Daddy say, and blah, blah, blah.’ Now they’ve heard about it. Now they’re infected, and Freddy’s in their subconscious, and when they fall asleep, he can enter them. But they only know those basic facts, so they could imagine a different Freddy. And then we would maybe reveal at the end the uber Freddy that’s controlling all of these dreams, but it’s their subconscious that manipulates the image of Freddy. So you could have half a dozen Freddys, actors play Freddy, which would be fun, I think.”

In Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, “A classically trained actor and director, Robert Englund has become one of the most revolutionary horror icons of our generation. Throughout his career, Englund starred in many well-known movies, but shot to super-stardom with his portrayal of supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. This unique and intimate portrait captures the man behind the glove and features interviews with Englund and his wife Nancy, Lin Shaye, Eli Roth, Tony Todd, Heather Langenkamp, and more.”

Stay tuned for updates on the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story hits Screambox and Digital HD on June 6th.

What do you think of the actor’s remarks? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!