WhenA Nightmare on Elm Streethit theaters in 1984, the rapidly developingslasher subgenrehadn’t seen anything like it before.
What if your nightmares killed you in the real world?
Where does the series go from here?
But one easy avenue does remain:a Freddy Krueger origin story.
That conundrum is especially true where villains are concerned.
Certainly, prequels grant these characters dramatic dimensions.
Image via New Line Cinema
Speaking of goofy: Jason Voorhees’s heart houses a demonic worm that keeps him from dying.
Craven’s original Nightmaremovie keeps things simple.
The lore behind Krueger grows across the sequels, a requirement ofNightmarebecoming larger than the one-off Craven envisioned.
Image via New Line Cinema
Seven years after the first entry,Craven’s points aren’t merely diluted they’re lost.
That wildly unique disposition can carry a prequel in his, well, sleep.
What Do We Already Know About Freddy Krueger’s Origins?
Image by Zanda Rice
If he becomes their servant,the spirits will grant him immortality.
Krueger doesn’t see a downside.
What Could a ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ Prequel Explore?
Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
This white picket fence setting is apsychological horror-thriller all its own.
Amanda abandons him, his father abuses him, and his peers bully him.
Freddy Krueger never needs an excuse to gleefully kill.
Like many men, he wants “it all,” and to be “forever.”
Unlike many fictional horror men, he thrives at the intersection of outrageous, entertaining, and menacing.
A properly realized origin story might just scare us sleepless all over again.
A Nightmare on Elm Streetis available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.
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