Can I have another?
Hey. Can I have some more coffee, please?
Where you going?
Excuse me.
Bitch.
Hello?
Anyone here?
Lady. Lady.
Hello?
What the fuck?
Dean. Dean.
I told you, if you keep falling asleep, they're gonna kick you out of here.
Um, sorry. Won't happen again, okay?
Okay.
Nancy. - Hey, Kris. You can sit wherever you want.
- Actually, I'm just here to meet Dean. - Oh, he's right over there.
Thanks.
Hey.
Wow, you look like you haven't-
Like I haven't slept in three days?
Dean, what's going on?
So, what are we doing after this?
Let me see if we can go to Ashley's or whatever.
Then I don't know.
Look out, here comes your girlfriend.
- Oh, hey. - Hi. Can I get you guys anything else?
Uh... Um...
No, I think we're good. We'll just get the check.
Is that the only thing you wanna ask her, Quentin?
Asshole.
Hey.
Why is Kris with Dean?
Okay.
Come on.
That's fucked up.
What was that all about?
Um, Jesse's just- He's pissed because Kris broke up with him.
- I didn't even know they were together. - Yeah.
I guess I can keep the change?
Yeah. Look...
...I'm sorry about the mess.
- These guys are just- - I'm used to it.
So you ever get tired of working here every weekend?
Do you ever get tired of coming here every weekend?
Quentin. You coming or no?
Sorry. Look, this should take care of the rest of it.
- See you around. - See you.
Listen, maybe you should talk to somebody.
I did.
And he thinks all my problems come from my past.
We began going through my childhood...
...and that's when they started.
When what started?
These nightmares.
Nightmares.
So, what, you can't sleep?
I can sleep.
I just don't want to.
Okay, Dean, listen to me.
They're just dreams. Okay? They're not reaI.
These dreams...
...they're reaI.
They're not.
They're re- I'm sorry, Kris.
- No, it's okay. - Kris.
No, no. It's fine. I'm gonna go clean myself off.
It's okay. It's okay.
You're not reaI.
You're not reaI. You're not reaI!
I am now.
Dean, what are you doing?
You're not reaI. - Dean, stop it. Dean.
Dean, stop it!
Dean!
Tragedy can shake us at our core...
...and it can also unite us in our shared grief.
Today we are gathered and united...
...for the tragic loss of a young man with so much life ahead of him.
Let us pray.
Lord, you who can turn the shadow of death...
...into the light of a new day...
...as we gather to commend Dean into your hands...
...help us to wait upon thee with penitent hearts...
...and remind us of he who died that we might live.
- and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Amen. - Come on, sweetie. It's over.
Yeah.
Let's go say hi.
- Gwen. Hi, how are you? - Alan, hi.
- It's been a long time. - Yeah, yeah.
- Especially under these circumstances. Yeah, not a...
You know, Nance, if you need someone to talk to...
I'm okay. Thank you.
We're setting up a crisis center at the schooI.
- You know where my office is, right, Nancy? Yeah.
We're gonna head out. Take care. - Good to see you.
Bye-bye, Quentin.
You knew Dean that far back?
Jesus, that is me. But I don't know how I'm in that picture.
I didn't meet Dean untiI high schooI.
Come on.
- Dean said something right before he died. - Oh, please don't.
He said, "You're not reaI."
He kept repeating it over and over again.
Do you have any idea what that means?
No. I don't.
Think about it. What would it mean? Dean was on a load of medication when-
Jesse.
When it happened, it was like somebody was making him do it...
...but there was nobody there.
Jesse, you have to believe me.
Kris, it was late and you were scared. Your mind was just playing tricks on you...
- ... that's all. - I believe you.
You do?
I've seen...
- I saw- - You didn't see anything.
You weren't right there. Kris was.
She's already fucked up, so leave her alone.
You have no idea what I've seen.
Let's go home.
- Hi. - Hi.
Hey, Mom, where are all the photos of me from when I was younger?
- They're not here. - Oh, well, who knows?
They're probably packed away over the garage. Why?
Because today at the funeraI I, um...
I saw a photo of Dean and I when we were, like, 5.
But, you know, it's funny, I don't remember knowing Dean before high schooI.
Who can remember being 5 years old?
Hey, why don't you pack those up? Dinner's almost ready.
Good night, honey.
Remember me?
Kris? You okay?
What is that?
Uh, nothing.
Just, like, a sketch.
Are you okay?
- Yeah, I'm okay. - Yeah?
Are you okay?
Yeah, you know.
You know, like, if you ever need somebody, if you ever wanna talk to somebody, I-
I'm sure you have like a thousand other people you could talk to...
...but if you wanna talk to somebody...
Thanks.
Quentin. You're gonna be late to class. Come on, buddy, let's go.
- My dad. - I know.
Now, class, it was Pericles who told the Athenian people...
...they should all gather into the gates of the city...
...while his navaI fleet picked off the Spartans by sea.
Now, it was to be a slow but sure victory.
The Spartans would never make it over the walls of the acropolis, Pericles said.
But what he didn't take into account is that the plague would eventually strike.
Open your books to page 84.
To further complicate matters...
...the Spartans were armed with a variety of weapons...
...some of them even improvised.
And they would not hesitate to slaughter every Athenian they saw...
...even children.
Especially the children of soldiers. This is where the...
Wake up.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
You really shouldn't fall asleep in class.
Hi, Kris. - Who are you?
You look just as beautifuI...
...as ever.
You have nothing to worry about.
This won't hurt...
...one...
...little...
...bit.
Are you okay, Miss Fowles?
What happened?
I'm sorry.
What?
Kris!
Rufus.
Rufus, what are you doing?
Huh? What are you doing out here?
Come on.
Rufus.
Come on.
Hey.
I have to fly to London on a redeye tonight.
Okay.
You gonna be okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
I'm gonna be all right. Have a safe flight.
I just worry about you.
- Try and get some sleep. - Okay.
I'll call you when I land.
I love you.
Love you.
Jesus, Jesse.
- What the hell are you doing here? - Are you gonna let me in?
Yeah, come in.
All right, I know I've been an asshole...
...and I've been jealous and I've been fucked up.
But Dean was my friend too.
Will you please tell me what's been going on?
I'm having these dreams.
And I'm scared.
I think Dean was having them too.
Kris, listen, we've all-
I know what you're gonna say.
But now every time I dream...
...I always see this man.
And he's...
He's burned...
...and melted. And he's always trying to...
- ... attack me with these knives- - Knives on his fingers.
What?
Oh, my God.
We're having the same dream.
- Kris, it's not possible. - It is possible.
- It's just a dream, all right? - It's not a dream.
Shh. Shh.
Oh, God.
I'm so afraid.
AII I wanna do is go to sleep, but if I do he's gonna kill me like Dean.
Maybe we should just stop talking about it, all right?
We keep talking about it, we'll keep thinking about it, then we'll keep dreaming about it.
Look at me.
You'll stay with me?
Of course I'll stay with you.
Rufus!
Rufus, get in here!
Rufus!
Ugh. Shit.
Rufus.
Rufus?
Rufus, come here, boy!
Come here.
Ru-
Ru- Rufus.
Oh, my-
I was just petting him.
Jess! Help!
No! No!
Help me, please! Help me!
One, two
Freddyºs coming for you
- Come on. Come on. - Three, four, better lock your door
We have to hide.
- Five, six, grab your crucifix Five...
- Seven, eight, gonna stay up late - ... four...
...three...
...two...
...one.
- Ready or not... - Oh, my God.
...here I come.
- Jesse? - Mm.
Jess?
Found you.
Kris! All right- Hey! Hey! Kris, stop!
Kris! Stop! Kris!
Oh, my God.
Wake up!
Kris!
Oh, shit.
Kris?
Oh, God.
Kris?
Oh, shit.
Fuck.
Okay, okay.
Okay, okay, okay.
Hey! Hey, you! I'm calling the cops!
Honey?
Nancy.
- Nancy. - Yeah?
It's the middle of the night. You need to go to sleep, hon.
Okay, I will.
- Now. - Okay.
Shh! Shh. Shh.
- Nancy, it's me. It's me. - Jesse. What the-?
- Hey, hey. - What are you doing here?
- Stop. Just listen to me, okay? - What happened to you?
- Whose blood is that? Is it your blood? - Listen, okay? Please.
- I was with Kris and- - What'd you do to her?
I didn't do anything, I'm trying to tell you. Listen to me, something's going on, okay?
- Tell me what happened to Kris, Jesse. - Someone killed her in her sleep.
What?
- What are you talking about? - Don't pretend you don't know...
...because you do. You said it at the funeraI.
He's the one who's trying to kill us in our dreams.
- AII I keep hearing is the song. - What song?
One, two
Freddyºs coming for you
Freddy.
- That's his name and he's in all of our heads. - No, that's impossible. No.
Nancy.
Shit. We gotta stop this.
- How? - I don't know.
Just don't fall asleep.
If you die in your dreams, you die for reaI.
Nancy? Who's in there?
Oh, shit.
Police. Don't move!
Get down! Get down!
- I didn't do anything. Down!
Listen to me, I didn't do anything. Please.
- Get down! Aah!
I loved her, man! I couldn't kill her!
Whatºs going on down there?
I didn't do anything! Stop!
Shut up.
- Get up. - I didn't kill her! You know!
- Shut the fuck up. Thatºs a roger, two-two.
Get up.
Call it in, code four. Get him out of here.
Copy that, weºve got a homicide.
Code four. Homicide suspect in custody.
Nancy! You know! You know who did it!
Coming in.
Open three.
Clear.
Clear four.
- Let him out. All right.
Hold five open.
Open four.
Hello? - Hi, it's Nancy.
Hey.
You said to call you if I needed to talk.
- Yeah. - Kris is dead.
Stay awake.
- Stay awake. - Quiet.
Shut the fuck up.
That'll be $24.97.
Five, four, three, two...
Five, six, seven...
Nightmares?
Yeah.
Freddy?
Open four.
Get up.
Folks posted your baiI.
Jesse, help me.
Help me, please.
Kris?
- Oh, God. - No.
Just me.
What do you want from me?
Hmm. I don't know, Jesse.
You think you can turn back time?
- Answer me! - No.
Do you think you can bring the dead back to life?
- No. No! - No?
I didn't fucking think so.
No! No! No!
Why are you screaming? I haven't even cut you yet.
I didn't do it! I'm innocent!
Get me out of here!
Let me the fuck out of here!
Did you know that after the heart stops beating...
...the brain keeps functioning for well over seven minutes?
We got six more minutes to play.
- You okay? - Yeah. I'm just really exhausted.
Here.
- What's that? - ZoneraI.
It's basically speed for kids with ADD. I've been on it since I was, like, 15.
No. No. No, thanks.
Nancy, look, you're running on fumes. Here, okay? Are you sure? It's-
Yeah, I'm fine for now.
I didn't take you for the religious type.
Yeah, well, you gotta believe in something, you know?
What's this one doing here?
It's The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
I saw it in one of my dreams. It's about a guy who's betrayed by a town...
...and he gets his revenge by taking all their children.
I keep dreaming about children too.
And then there's also a schooI.
Well, it's gotta mean something.
Yeah, but, I mean, what? We didn't go to schooI together untiI, like, 6th grade.
- Look, we're running out of time. - What do you mean?
Nightmares are triggered by the belief that the dreamer has no controI...
...and this can cause insomnia.
But then it says at the 70-hour mark...
...the insomniac will begin to experience micronaps.
"His brain will shut down its functions for seconds in an attempt to recharge. "
This basically means that you're dreaming, but you don't know it.
Like, even if you're awake.
And then it says that after that, your brain will shut down, inducing a coma.
Which is permanent sleep.
Nancy?
Nancy.
Yeah?
Hey.
Where have you been?
I was at the bookstore.
Okay, well, I didn't know where you were.
And I just feeI like, with everything that's been happening with your friends-
Hey, Mom?
Do I have some sort of connection with Kris...
...and Dean and Jesse?
Or Quentin?
Like, maybe we went to schooI together when we were little or something like that?
Not that I can recall.
Did we ever know a guy named Freddy?
I don't think so.
Okay.
Good night.
Hey, it's Gwen.
Nancy's starting to remember.
Honey, you okay?
Yeah, I'm fine, Mom.
- All right. I'm going to bed. - Okay.
Little Nancy.
All grown up.
You're just a nightmare.
That's right.
No one can prove I was ever here.
Who are you?
You don't remember?
You must.
You're my number one.
You're my...
...little Nancy.
I set an alarm.
Yes, you did.
In your dream.
You smell different.
Quentin?
Nancy, he got to him. Jesse's dead.
He died in his sleep.
I saw him.
- I fell asleep. I saw Freddy. - All right, I'm coming over.
Okay.
Shit.
So Badham's a preschooI.
It's on the other end of town. It was closed years ago.
Can't find any pictures.
Wait, come here.
I drew this after my dream.
I don't know. I've never seen it before.
How is the guy in our dreams connected to the schooI?
I don't know.
But I know my mom's hiding something.
There's nothing here.
Help me.
What is that?
We're all here.
Kris, Jesse, Dean.
It's me, it's you, it's-
What are you doing?
Nancy, what is going on?
- Give me the picture. - I don't understand.
You said that... You said that we didn't know each other.
But we're all in this picture. We went to schooI together.
Give me the picture.
- It's okay. - Why would you lie to me?
- I didn't lie. - It's right here. Why would you lie to me?
- Stop Iying. You're Iying to me. - I'm not Iying to you.
- Stop Iying to me! - I am not Iying to you!
I didn't want you to have to go through your life with this memory!
I didn't want you to remember. I wanted you to forget!
Remember what?
What happened at that preschooI?
Smile, everybody.
You guys look great.
There was a man at the preschool.
His name was Fred Krueger.
One, two
Freddyºs coming for you
Three, four Better lock your door
He was a gardener.
He lived in the basement of the preschool...
...and you kids were his life.
Four...
...three...
...two...
...one.
We didnºt wanna believe it at first.
Ready or not...
You all were so innocent.
...here I come.
And you, Nancy...
What are you drawing? That is so good.
...you were his favorite of all.
You know what? I got some other drawings.
And they're, like, really bad drawings. Maybe you can help me fix them?
And then we started to notice things.
Yeah. Uh, he has been acting a little strange lately.
He takes us to the secret cave.
It's okay. It's all right.
So, what did you do? Did you call the police?
He left town before we ever were able to confront him.
He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore.
So these dreams that you're having...
...they're repressed memories...
...from a terrible, terrible time.
I hope that you're right.
We have to find the other kids in the picture.
- What are you talking about? No. - It doesn't make any sense.
- There's gotta be more to it. It's not- - This makes totaI sense.
You heard your mom. These are just memories.
- What if she's wrong? - We're experiencing them...
- ... living them, but they're just memories. - How do you know that?
Memories don't kill you.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa! Quentin, get in the car. - It's my dad. I gotta go.
- We have to do something. - Look, stop.
This is crazy. Listen to yourself.
I'm sorry.
I want you to do 400 warm-up. Then do a 200-back-breast drill swim.
Quentin, I need you to focus. I need you to wake up, get into this.
Let's go. All right, guys.
Step up. Let's go. On the blocks.
Take your mark.
Make sure you're working your underwaters...
...hit the turns, in and out really quick.
PowerfuI dolphins off the wall.
All right, guys, we're gonna do eight 300s, descend one to four, hold five to eight.
All right, hop out. On the blocks, guys. Let's go.
Let's step up.
Take your mark.
Come on, pick it up. Let's go. Come on.
Come on. Come on, let's go. Attaboy.
Come on, now. Come on. Come on, let's go.
Come on.
Come on!
Wait!
Hey!
Okay.
Krueger! Come on out, you bastard!
Goddamn it. You open this door, Krueger!
What do you think I did?
- I didn't do anything! - Get your ass out. Open the fucking door!
- I didn't do it! Norm, make sure...
- ... he can't get out the back! Okay.
Stop!
Stop. Okay.
Okay. Okay.
What are you doing? No, no, no. This isn't the right way.
- We gotta call the police. - What is the right way?
Our kids get on a stand, tell a room of people what happened?
- No, we've got to call the police. - He's right.
- This is not the way to do this. This ends tonight.
Okay. Okay.
This is for my son!
Come out, Krueger!
No!
Are you okay?
Go get the nurse.
Breathe, breathe. Come on. Come on, breathe.
- Relax and breathe. Come on. Come on. I'm okay.
I had another nightmare last night.
That burned man with the striped sweater, he keeps trying to kill me.
I ran a different way this time. I ended up in front of a preschool.
I woke up before I had a chance to explore, but it has to mean something.
He chased me into the preschool this time.
I got away, made it down to the basement.
But it feels like thatºs where he wants me to go. Like...
...he needs me to find something.
Iºm starting to dream with my eyes open.
I canºt tell whatºs real anymore.
I havenºt slept in three days.
If I sleep, I dream.
If I dream, Iºm dead.
Is there anybody else out there that this is happening to?
Can somebody help me?
Please?
They're all dead.
I know what happened to Freddy.
You killed Krueger.
- Where'd you hear that name? - You chased him...
...cornered him and burned him to death. You hunted him!
We did not hunt him. We were protecting you.
- From what? - From him. From what he did to you.
- From what you kids told us he did to you. - We were 5. We would've said anything!
- Why didn't you go to the police? - You were so young.
No. God! And the things we said he did...
The cave. Did you ever find it?
No.
How do you know he was guilty?
- Oh, my God. - You killed an innocent man.
Mm-mm.
There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about that night, Quentin.
Good, you deserve at least that.
Quentin. When you grow up and you have kids...
...I hope you never know the feeling of utterly failing to protect them.
- Don't touch- Don't touch me. - Son-
You listen to me.
As far as everyone around here is concerned, Fred Krueger never existed.
Quentin.
Quentin, wait. Wait.
- What? - Slow down.
- Stop. - We got him killed.
Our stories, our lies.
- What if we can make him stop? - What if we can?
The preschooI. Marcus said that Freddy wanted him to find something.
Fine.
Nancy.
Don't you wanna hang out, Nancy?
What are you doing?
I just saw Kris in a body bag.
All right, you've been up for too long.
You're having micronaps. We gotta go.
Let's go find the preschooI.
What are we doing here?
I need more pills.
Come on. Come on.
Hi. Um, I'm gonna need a, um, refill on that, please.
On this, you're out of refills.
I'm gonna have to call the doctor on this.
Look, I don't have time to call a doctor. Look-
Oh, my God.
Look, I've been on this stuff since I was 15.
Okay? It's totally fine.
You just go back, you fill it up and- Even just a couple.
- AII I need is a couple. - No. No, I'm sorry.
When I want you
In my arms When I want you
Quentin. Quentin.
- Just fill it up. - No.
Dream, dream, dream
Quentin.
When I feel blue In the night
And I need you To hold me tight
Whenever I want you All I have to do is dream
No. No.
Wake up!
You're bleeding.
Oh, my God. What happened?
Hang on.
His sweater.
- Okay. - He's here.
Man, you're hurt really bad.
Let's go to the hospitaI. Come on.
Dr. Blake Mason to ICU, please.
Baby.
Oh, honey, honey, honey, what happened?
Who did this to you?
Look at it, Mom. You know who did it.
You know who did it.
Oh, honey.
Dr. Zeger. Dr. William Zeger to CCU.
Dr. Zeger. Dr. Zeger to CCU.
Okay, how we doing?
It's gonna be okay.
I'm gonna give you a little something for the pain.
- It'll put you right out. - It's okay.
No, Mom, I don't want it. I don't want it. I don't want it.
- It's okay, it's okay. - No, Mom, no.
- I don't want it. Don't let her do it. - This might sting a bit.
- No! No! No, no.
- Okay. Okay. - No!
- Where's Quentin? - Can I have a word with you in the hall?
Don't leave. Don't leave, Mom. Mom.
Where's Quentin? I need Quentin.
Your daughter needs to be sedated, but I can't do anything...
- ... without your authorization. - I just want her to be out of pain.
Good. Sign this.
She'll be fine.
Great.
Thank you.
- You okay? - Yeah.
- Yeah? - What is that?
- Adrenaline. Keep us awake. - Where'd you get it?
I stole it off one of the nurse's carts.
You can't take that. You have no idea what it's gonna do.
You know what? That is kind of the least of my concerns right now. You want some?
No.
Whoa.
Are you okay?
Yeah. I'm good.
Let's go.
How much further? We're almost there.
Hey, will you talk to me? I'm falling asleep.
Yeah. What do you wanna talk about?
I don't know.
What's your favorite color?
Blue.
Look, if you really wanna talk, how come over the last couple years...
...every time I've invited you out, you've just never shown up?
I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't exactly fit in.
Okay, look, if we survive the next 24 hours...
...then I'll take you out on a reaI date.
Well, what if I say no?
Well, why don't you sleep on it?
You okay? - I'm fine.
Come on.
I saw him. He was right there.
We gotta go. Come on.
This is it.
This is the schooI.
- No! Heh-heh-heh.
Are you okay?
I don't know what's reaI anymore.
Come on.
Follow me.
Hey, give me your lighter.
All right, well, now that we're here, now what?
Because I don't remember any of this.
This must be his room.
Okay, he brought us here for a reason.
This is definitely his room.
Quentin.
- What? - There's something back there.
I've been here before.
If you can keep a secret, I'll take you to a speciaI place.
What are those?
What are those pictures of?
They're all of you.
- Let me see. - No.
No.
Oh, God.
No.
We were wrong.
He's not after us because we lied.
He's after us because we told the truth.
He brought us here so we would remember what he did to us.
God. Fuck!
Fuck.
What does he want from us? He's never gonna stop.
I know what we need to do.
Come on.
There's gotta be another way.
If we just sit here and do nothing, we're gonna die.
- I should do this. - I'm the one who pulled his sweater out.
What if I'm the only one who can bring him out?
Nancy, I can't let you go to sleep. You're not gonna wake up.
I know you won't let that happen.
Wake me up if you see me struggle.
Gotta believe in something, right?
I'm gonna be here when you get up.
We're gonna make it.
Aw, shit.
You can't save her.
Tag.
You're it.
Krueger!
Your girlfriend's here. I'll be right back.
One, two
Guess whoºs coming for you
Little Nancy.
Now that you caught me, what game do you wanna play next?
- Fuck you. - Ooh. Sounds like fun.
It's a little fast for me.
How about we hang first?
No. It's not reaI.
It's reaI.
I'm reaI.
Boo.
Now, how's this for a wet dream?
Quentin, wake me up.
This dress...
...was always one of my favorites.
Do you remember it, Nancy?
Of course you do.
You remember everything now, don't you?
Your memories are what fuels me.
No. Please don't.
Your mouth says no...
...but your body says yes.
Mmm.
Don't turn away.
Look at me!
Look what you did to me.
Now it's time to play.
Are you having fun?
Naughty girI.
You can't hurt me.
You're in my world.
And you can't ever leave.
Ohh...
That's music to my ears.
I wanna wake up!
You can't wake up.
I had to keep you awake long enough so when you finally slept...
...you'd never wake up again.
Nancy, wake up.
Wake up, Nancy, wake up!
We're gonna be in here a long time.
- Nancy, please! - Did you really think your boyfriend...
- ... could wake you up? - Please, don't do this!
Please!
I'm your boyfriend now.
Nancy, come back! Please, wake up!
You promised!
Sweet dreams.
Quentin, get him.
Die! Fucking bastard!
Nice try, Nancy.
Now let me take a stab.
Now, why don't you just fucking die?
It hurts, doesn't it?
That's because you're in my world now, bitch.
Wait.
Give me some slack. Yeah, aim it up a little higher.
No sign of a body anywhere.
Hey, Quentin.
Nightmare's over.
I want you to go straight up to bed, okay?
Yeah.
Hey, Mom?
I know you were just trying to protect me. Thank you.
I'm just glad you're safe.
Nightmare on Elm Street is one of those interesting things that is so infamous...
...that, I think for a lot of kids, it's almost like a rite of adolescence or something.
What elevated it so much and what kept it around...
...was the creation of a villain that you can't run from.
So many of the other horror movies, horror franchises...
...who gave you something that was completely grounded in reality...
...where, you know, as long as you had your own legs...
...and, you know, a good pair of shoes, you could hauI ass.
With Freddy Krueger, it was a matter of trying to stave off the inevitable...
...and that sooner or later you have to face your nightmares.
It was such an originaI idea.
I mean, the thought of someone being able to harm me while you sleep...
...is just horrifying.
You're so vulnerable, you have no controI.
And then on top of that...
...the character they created was terrifying. There was no way around it.
There's kind of a delicious nature to his eviI.
He kind of takes such joy in it...
...and it almost puts you, in the audience, on his side...
...as opposed to in the victim's side.
No! No!
Freddy Krueger is charismatic with more than just his weapon.
The character itself is an amazingly frightening, compelling character...
...that as a fan I love...
...and as a producer it was important if we are guys...
...who are making our living making horror films...
...this is the best you can get.
- Ready or not... - Oh, my God.
...here I come.
I looked at it as a mystery first to try and figure out where he came from.
I found that Freddy had very little...
...in the way of a background, a mythology to him.
We knew that the parents had killed him...
...and that the return to the nightmare was a vengeance for that...
...and instead of going after the parents, he goes after the children.
In all the other Nightmares, you don't really explain...
...why Freddy is actually after these kids.
Right behind you.
What makes this reimagining so much more speciaI...
...is that we do give reason to why Freddy's doing what he's doing...
...and it's a great reveaI at the end that you figure out...
...that Freddy is the person you thought he was.
This dress was always one of my favorites.
I think the darker it got...
...or the more based in somewhat of a reality...
...the more weight the project and the story has.
Some of the campier aspects kind of came about in the later sequels...
...and there's a kitsch element to that that people love and appreciate...
...that kind of Robert brought to the role. But that's not what the film was about.
It's not one-liners. It's not winking your eye.
This is the guy with the razor-sharp glove...
...who wants to just brutally destroy you for what your parents did.
I can't in good faith go out and make a Freddy Krueger movie...
...that feels like it's a sequeI to the last ones that you saw.
We have to create the franchise that is our own.
And that begins with Freddy Krueger and how that character is portrayed.
You have a villain that only one actor has ever played...
...so in a remake of this movie, you truly are re-creating this film and this character.
For us at Platinum Dunes, Jackie was the only person we ever wanted.
I saw the screen test for Rorschach and I'm like, "That's the guy. "
I mean, he's pretty sick.
We'd always wanted Jackie Earle Haley and we went after him hard on this movie.
I heard people were thinking about me for this role on the Internet.
And it was fans suggesting that I might be right for this role.
And my immediate reaction was like, "Hmm. That's kind of cooI."
He embodied everything that we wanted.
Fans are aware of him because he'd been nominated for an Academy Award.
He's a brilliant actor.
We'd seen some stuff on Watchmen.
We'd all seen Little Children and loved him from his earlier films.
Instead of trying to build off of that whole franchise...
...and continue with the same guy...
...you almost have to start over and that's what we're doing here.
Oh, God. - No.
Just me.
He's just like such an amazing, iconic character.
I mean, it was just an absolute honor to be offered the role...
...and to get to go and play Freddy. It's pretty cooI.
- Found you. - Aah! Aah!
When they closed the deaI, everyone in the production office cheered.
There's a difference between having an actor that elevates things...
...and maybe someone who could've done a good job with the role.
Jackie's obviously an amazing actor and he's really good at doing dark stuff...
...but I think he's also quite funny.
I can't imagine anyone else doing it. I think he's perfect for it.
When he has that makeup on and he's screaming at you...
...and coming at you with knives, it's been very easy to play that fear.
This is just a dream. I'm dreaming.
Freddy Krueger is definitely a fun character to play...
...just because he's so way out.
I mean, he's so not of this world.
Just the whole larger-than-life aspect of this character, it drew me.
He really does justice to Freddy Krueger and he brings something unique.
He brings something with his own voice...
...that expands on the character that we haven't seen before.
Casting the guy with that kind of pedigree sends a message to the audience...
...that we're serious about making a seriously scary movie.
This is kind of a cooI process of getting in here...
...and trying to figure out how to make Freddy my own...
...but yet, you know, not get so far away from what Robert did.
You know, Robert did this amazing job with Freddy over the years.
He's made him who he is, this iconic, malevolent boogeyman.
And Robert did it in such a way where there was a lot of comedy involved...
...and it was both scary and funny.
And I think now what we're doing with Freddy in this new way...
...is still kind of trying to be true with the things that piss him off...
...the things that make him so ragefuI and the killing boogeyman that he is.
When I was looking to re-create Krueger...
...I looked at the things that we knew about him on the surface...
...and tried to find a deeper mythology or a reason...
...for why they made him- Had become so iconic.
Why the fedora, why the sweater, why the glove?
In placing him as a caretaker at a preschooI, furthermore a gardener...
...I began to find deviations from that whole hat, sweater, glove...
...that made sense to me...
...that applied some base logic...
...to why he became the character that he is now.
The gardening hand claw that he used landscaping the preschooI...
...suddenly turned into the glove.
This won't hurt...
...one little bit.
The sweater actually came from the mythology of the Pied Piper.
The term "pied" meant stripes of contrasting colors.
Finding that allowed us to see some more mythology in the sweater itself...
...by saying that, you know, "Here he is. He's come back for your children. "
So all that tied together and we realized we've made sense of this...
...so why abandon it?
This is an iconic character...
...and audiences are gonna be expecting to see certain things.
When it comes to wardrobe, we're gonna give it to them.
For me, the iconic symbols of the film are the glove, the hat, the sweater.
I think we would've been crucified...
...if we had not put the sweater, the hat or the glove in there.
I actually think kids would've gone nuts.
Let's not self-implode by changing these iconic elements.
If you get rid of the hat, the glove and the sweater, I think it's not Freddy Krueger.
I mean, at the end of the day, it's like you can't stray too far.
Show that sweater to anybody and people will go:
"That's a Freddy Krueger sweater. "
You can see the claw and be like, "Freddy wore that. "
It makes Freddy Krueger who he is.
We did severaI fittings on the hat, severaI tries on the sweater and the glove.
These guys slowly and meticulously put this thing right to where it needs to be.
One of the things that we did that was a bit different is the makeup.
Freddy now has a bit of a different look.
It's probably grounded a little bit more in reality.
Looks more like an actuaI burn victim...
...but at the same time too, they kind of put in little undertones of boogeyman.
Everyone decided that we were gonna go after the idea...
...that he would look like a reaI burn victim.
So we hired Andrew Clement, who was amazing.
The makeup stuff can be seen as a skill, but it's very much a talent.
It's like being a painter. Andrew's unbelievable.
His drawings were different than everyone else we spoke to.
On some leveI you have to jump off a cliff because you know fans are gonna hate it.
Initially, they're gonna hate it because it doesn't look like their Freddy Krueger.
That's always a difficult, difficult decision to make.
When Andrew was designing the prosthetic...
...he and Sam were using the tools to mold it and talk about it.
Where the depth was, how thin it could get...
...and what we could do to try and help things.
All kinds of things, like his ears. Like Jackie has his reaI ears.
A burn victim would lose their ears first thing. How do you balance that?
Looking in the mirror and articulating that makeup...
...and seeing just how well it moves...
...you start to get a sense of a whole other being, not even a person.
I mean, a whole other entity.
Ooh. Sounds like fun.
I somehow just take that tone, that sense and give it to Freddy to run with.
Tag. You're it.
There's a reality of what can fit and what can work...
...with Jackie's individuaI face.
There are tradeoffs. We're after comfort and speed and where appliances end.
And every day, we need to have a brand-new set of faces.
This is a long makeup. There are a lot pieces to it...
...so we're trying to find ways that we can shorten up the time.
And one of the ways we can do this is by doing this contact adhesive.
I'm just gonna put adhesive on both the appliance and his face.
We activate it with alcohoI, so we can just do large areas at the same time.
It's important for me to get everything really right.
When I told people my build schedule, they said:
"It's burn makeup, you can get away with murder. "
And I really didn't look at it like that. I want this to be really texturaI and reaI...
...and I'm seeing the lighting and I'm altering the paint just subtly...
...to try and pull out some of those forms based on the way I'm seeing Sam light it.
So it's a lot of thinking on your feet.
I'm gonna have to steaI Jeffrey Dean Morgan's line...
...when they asked him, "So how did you get into the head space of The Comedian?"
He says, "Are you kidding?
Three hours in that makeup, I'd come out of that trailer wanting to kill anybody. "
And the same thing is true for Freddy, man.
It's like I'd go in there, I would sit down. It started at six and a half hours of makeup.
They worked the creative process down to three and a half hours...
...and an hour getting out of the makeup.
You sit there for three and a half hours...
...with these guys meticulously gluing this stuff all over your entire noggin.
And the last thing they do is put these contact lenses in your eyes.
They're oversized.
It really helps to put you in the head space of Freddy Krueger.
Don't turn away.
Look at me!
The makeup's amazing. It really is.
To see and communicate with someone who's just so nice...
...with this creepy-ass mask on...
...it's like you can't look him in the eye.
We're taking it a couple of steps further...
...and we're actually removing pieces of his cheek...
...and we're doing a little bit of carefuI computer-generated technology...
...and it's gonna blow some people away.
That was the next step, about how this movie was different from 1984...
...is we were gonna affect his face a little bit digitally...
...and do things they probably couldn't have done back then.
I think that's something that the fans will be excited about...
...when they see the new Freddy Krueger.
No. It's not reaI.
It's reaI.
I'm reaI.
What we discovered in testing and actually as we went through...
...that really the less light we put on it, the better.
The less light we put on it from the front, the better it looked.
And it was also scarier. It's like the more light we just bring from behind...
...and the more we keep the front in shadows, the scarier he looked.
The movies have been around for 25 years now...
...and everybody knows who he is.
Yes, our Freddy Krueger is different and he looks different.
But they're coming to see Freddy Krueger. I'm going to see Freddy Krueger.
So how long do you hold him back?
You don't throw him out there one second into the movie, but you start in shadows...
...and you slowly reveaI your villain.
It's been pretty effective on how we've done it in the movie.
Before we see his face, the fedora is such an iconic image.
It's really about that silhouette.
Every now and then we'll do just that tiny bit of rim light...
...so that you sense his shape.
And occasionally, it's also about when you see him from the front.
It's like getting that little glint in the eyes without seeing anything else.
- Remember me? - Aah!
At the end of the day, the lighting and all those things don't matter...
...if you can't see what the actor's doing, if you don't feeI what the actor's doing.
And so with Jackie really able to manipulate that mask...
...you know, that makes all the difference in the world.
When he gets in those nightmares, you can see...
...how he really takes on that character.
He just takes over that screen, his shoulders come up.
It's the size of the character that he really brings to it.
He works well as this character who's of a smaller stature in reaI life...
...and now he's bigger than life in nightmares.
- You're not reaI. You're not reaI! - Ha, ha.
I am now.
I've asked myself, why have audiences embraced Freddy Krueger...
...this maniacaI killer that you can't stop?
It kind of gets back to that campfire story.
We love to sit around campfires, you know, or at least back in the day, right?
Sit around and tell, like, this scary story.
There was something that was kind of fun and exciting...
...and titillating about being scary.
And I think that the same is true for Freddy Krueger.
He's kind of like this mythicaI boogeyman...
...that's also an inside joke to the fans, to the culture.
We know that he's fictionaI.
And it's fun to have this sense of dread and fear.
And it's almost like, you know, a giddy scream as he's coming after you.
The only thing that makes sense, right? It's like, "Why do we like this guy?"
I mean, it just- It makes no sense.
This character you're gonna have empathy for, hate him...
...you're gonna be scared of him...
...and it's all what Jackie's done with it. It's multi-faceted.
They're making Freddy a monster. They're making him a killer.
They're making him just freaking scary, you know?
Like no jokes, no nothing.
I mean, he's down to business in this movie.
- Boo. - Ah!