One of my all time favorite movie villain is Freddy Krueger. The primary antagonist in A Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in 1984. As the malevolent spirit of a child killer who had been burned to death by his victims’ parents after evading prison. Kruger goes to murder his victims in their dreams, causing their deaths in the real world as well. In the dream world he is a powerful force and seemingly invulnerable. However, whenever Freddy is pulled back into the real world, he has normal human vulnerabilities and can be destroyed. Freddy has a burned disfigured face, wears a dirty red and green striped sweater, brown hat, and a metal-clawed brown leather, right-hand glove. He crafted the glove in a boiler room where he used to take his 20 victims.
More of Freddy’s backstory is revealed in series three, Dream Warriors. Freddy’s mother, Amanda Krueger, was a nurse at the asylum where they locked up the most insane criminals. Amanda was accidentally locked into the room with the criminals over a holiday weekend. They managed to keep her hidden for days, raping her repeatedly. When she was finally discovered, she was barely alive and pregnant, with the result that Krueger was regarded as “the bastard son of a hundred maniacs” due to it being impossible to determine which of the rapists was his biological father.
Later it is revealed that he was adopted by an alcoholic who abused him throughout his childhood until Freddy finally murders him as a teenager. Freddy tortures animals and engages in self-mutilation, and becomes a serial killer by murdering the children of people who had bullied him when he was a child.
Freddy comes from hurt and hatred, and we soon learn that he knows nothing else. He not only enjoys killing, he takes great bride in crafting traps and custom nightmares for his victims, so he can scare them as much as possible. He doesn’t kill people because he thinks it’s right, or because he’s mentally ill. He kills people because he can, and he wants to.
Freddy’s very famous rhyme. One, two, Freddies coming for you. Three, four, better lock the door. Five, six, grab your crucifix. Seven, eight, better stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again.
Krueger loves a good one-liner or wisecracks. Here’s some of his best. . . . do you remember which movie from the series they are from?
10. No running in the hallway.
9. No pain, no gain.
8. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but nothing will ever kill me.
7. How’s this for a wet dream?
6. This is it, Jennifer, your big break in TV.
5. Oh, what a rush.
4. If the food don’t kill ya, the service will.
3. What do you know, I bet my high score.
2. I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little soul, too.
1. I’m your boyfriend now Nancy.
There’s many more, these are just a few. Gotta love his sick sense of humor.
If you want to watch the series in order, here they are:
- “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)
- “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” (1985)
- “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987)
- “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” (1988)
- “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” (1989)
- “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” (1991)
- “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare” (1994)
Then there was Freddy vs. Jason (2003)