'Freddy Krueger' (Robert Englund)... As he is chasing after, 'Nancy Thompson' (Heather Langenkamp) in 1984's, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street'![/caption]Now I have been watching horror movies since I was in the early single digits (about as far back as I can remember, I saw, A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)... to understand (I was about 5 years old when I saw this movie, and I have been told stories of seeing horror movies even younger!)
So with that in mind I have been a horror fan for literally almost my entire life, and one of those movies that I have remembered all these years and have seen periodically is the one I mentioned above... It had great special effects, a great story, and an awesome cast... And speaking of cast...
I kind of grew up watching, A Nightmare On Elm Street movies, and one for one, Robert Englund (Urban Legends), has done a great job playing the amazingly creepy, 'Freddy Krueger'...
Now for those of you who don't know who Freddy Krueger is, the character was the, 'Son Of 100 Maniacs' and ended up being the killer through out the, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' series, as an almost demonic trickster who seemed to really enjoy getting revenge on the parents on Elm Street who killed him by killing their kids!
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Robert Englund with his alter ego... Robert Englund helped make, 'Freddy Krueger' the man he is today![/caption]Well Robert Englund did a great job playing this trickster in such a way that for some would be truly scary, but for others would just be pretty awesome (I mean with his glove he is a pretty awesome villain).
Well with that said, a few years ago, and with the seeming un-ending rush of remakes and reboots, New Line decided to remake the first, A Nightmare On Elm Street movie...
Of course this movie was universally condemned and seems to have condemned the series to obscurity, what with since it's fall in the theaters in 2010, a sequel hasn't surfaced and doesn't appear to be doing so any time in the near future...
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Jackie Earle Haley would take over for Robert Englund in, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' (2010)![/caption]With that in mind though, I will admit that even though I can definitely see how this movie could be considered to be, 'bad', I didn't think this movie was all that great either, but I was glad to have been able to have said that I have seen this movie!
I thought that with a continuing series of which character is better from the original or the remake, I thought that I would pose this question, Freddy Vs. Freddy, Who's Better?
Now for Robert Englund his pros and cons as Freddy Krueger are as follows:
1. In the first movie he was a truly demonic entity that was terrorizing teenagers on Elm Street for a truly mysterious reason and it appeared that he was an unstoppable killing machine and there was no way these teens were going to survive!
2. He perfected the glove with knives attached to it, and made it cool!
3. He also managed (in my opinion really up to part 5... but that was more the fault I think of the writers then him), to have this sort of awesome demonic presence that was more of a job that he really enjoyed.
4. Also in all honesty his burn scars were cooler then in the remake!
5. I thought that I would mention the laugh. Robert Englund's version of the laugh is so megalomaniacally cool, that it is just unforgettable!
6. The chemistry to some extent between Freddy & Nancy from the original movie series vs the Freddy & Nancy from the remake seemed more real to me.
7. Lastly, he made Freddy what he is, in the hearts and minds of people all over the world!
Cons:
1. At the beginning of the series, Freddy is getting his revenge on the Elm Street families to make right his murder, vs the eventual methodical job like way that he killed children just for the sake of killing them.
2. I also preferred the more shriveled up burnt demon like Freddy, more then the refined burn victim he would become in successive movies!
Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy: Pros & Cons.
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Jackie Earle Haily as, 'Freddy Krueger' in, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' (2010)![/caption]Pros:
1. Jackie Earle Haley plays Freddy in this movie more like how Robert Englund did it in part 1 of the original series, but instead of being more methodical and demonic, it was more like a psycho path that some how became super natural.
2. I also felt that Jackie Earle Haley brought to the character what had been lost over the years in what Freddy was originally intended to be... I mean over the successive sequels Freddy remained scary, but as the sequels got more campy... I felt that Freddy only seemed to scare like 4 year old girls... In this case I felt like Jackie Earle Haley brought the respectably creepy killer back to the world that was written out of the character slowly over the years!
Cons:
1. I know Jackie Earle Haley was trying to make Freddy more it's own character, the signature moves that have been a staple of the character for decades he either didn't do or didn't do right!
2. Also the character looked just off enough to make it almost seemed like he wasn't a burn victim, but some one with some light scarring!
In the end, I liked both actors playing this character, but I have to admit that my favorite though was Robert Englund... The first and still the best!
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Robert Englund... Still the best Freddy Krueger out there![/caption]For more information on the original and remake Freddy Krueger's please enjoy these trailer for, A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984), and, A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)!
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984):
http://youtu.be/jdb_HSvf2Zk
A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010):
http://youtu.be/polKMrfyK-A
