Like many horror fans I just love Freddy Krueger. He is a moment of inspired design that you really don’t see that often at all in scary movies. Most horror icons are really just marauding killers who later take on a supernatural edge. Freddy started as supernatural, clawing his way into dreams. But unlike other creatures with that quality Freddy also gained serious mainstream traction.
During the Eighties Nightmare On Elm Street was everywhere and in subsequent decades the ultimate dream troll has always held a spot in our pop culture consciousness, though everyone would rather forget the very poor remake from a few years ago. Seriously, I’d rather watch Freddy’s Dead on loop than sit through ten minutes of the 2010 version.
FYI, Freddy’s Dead was the worst of the original films, followed by A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. But the third movie is one of the best and you really should give Wes Craven’s New Nightmare a chance.
Anyway, it has been thirty years since the original Elm Street sucked Johnny Depp into a bed, so Wes Craven released a few trivial facts about the movie on Twitter. Some of these are already known by fans, but there are a few new ones as well…
The idea behind Freddy’s glove was rooted in the primal fear of attack by animal claws. #30YearsofNightmare pic.twitter.com/gp5P6x5gDu
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 14, 2014
I was told that #NightmareOnElmStreet was initially banned in Finland and censored in Germany. #30YearsofNightmare pic.twitter.com/OwUdBEmGz1 — Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 20, 2014
Freddy Krueger’s appearance was inspired by a man who stared at me through my window one night. #30YearsofNightmare pic.twitter.com/jxocp6949V
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 5, 2014
The film playing on Nancy’s TV when she drifts off to sleep is Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead. #30YearsofNightmare pic.twitter.com/nlTL9jgyGe — Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 19, 2014
The boiler room was shot at the Lincoln Heights Jail, which was condemned shortly after, due to high levels of asbestos. #30YearsofNightmare
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 17, 2014
Final inspiration for Freddy’s face came from the make-up artist, David Miller, eating/playing with pepperoni pizza. #30YearsofNightmare — Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 24, 2014
Freddy Krueger was originally written for an older man, but when older men read the role, they had a softness to them. #30YearsofNightmare
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 22, 2014
.@charliesheen wanted to play the role of Glen in #NightmareOnElmStreet, but he wanted more than was budgeted. #30YearsofNightmare — Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 20, 2014
While in college, I wrote a paper on dreams and learned to write them down after I awoke. #30YearsofNightmare pic.twitter.com/IRbJJgBdC4
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 22, 2014
This scene was shot by stretching Spandex across a hole and having Freddy press against it. #30YearsofNightmare pic.twitter.com/6OL06KqrAh — Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 13, 2014
I believe NOES cost $1.8M to produce, which it nearly made back in its $1.2M opening weekend. #30YearsofNightmare pic.twitter.com/9Zlf6U58k5
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 12, 2014
The famous scraping noise was created by scratching a steak knife on the underside of a metal folding chair. #30YearsofNightmare — Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 12, 2014
Took 4 hours to put all the make-up & rubber on for the face of Freddy Krueger. #30YearsofNightmare @RobertBEnglund pic.twitter.com/CvqgR3ObcG
— Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 9, 2014
The words “Elm Street” are not spoken at all during the film. #30YearsofNightmare pic.twitter.com/aoMvR9GbtJ — Wes Craven (@wescraven) October 8, 2014
To add to the Evil Dead bit: if you watch Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes, there is a torn poster of Jaws in the caravan. Sam Raimi saw this as a poke at Jaws for not being ‘real’ horror, so he did a similar thing in The Evil Dead. In the basement you can see a torn poster of The Hills Have Eyes. Craven apparently loved this and as such The Evil Dead can be seen on a TV in the first Nightmare On Elm Street as a hat tip.
One last bit of trivia: to create the infamous blood-gushing bed scene, the entire room was built upside down.
Last Updated: October 24, 2014