A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
Wes Craven's Franchise and the New Nightmare
Hollywood is home to some truly nightmarish characters. No film series epitomizes this better than A Nightmare on Elm Street. It managed to become a mainstay in pop culture with people recognizing series antagonist Freddy Kreuger without watching any of the films.
Despite being the third highest-grossing horror movie franchise, there hasn’t been a film in the franchise since 2010 most likely because the next film has been stuck in development hell since at least 2015. This is a far cry from the series’ heyday in the 80s and 90s where almost every year had a movie.
The year 1984 is when the franchise first started with A Nightmare on Elm Street directed by horror legend Wes Craven. The film followed teenagers who were having their dreams invaded by Freddy Kreuger, a deceased murderer burned to death by the parents of his victims. By the end of the film, Freddy is defeated but that doesn’t stop him from returning over and over again.
He returned in the appropriately titled A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge in 1985. The film had all the usual horror film tropes but what made this different was its subtlety. It’s by fans and critics that Jesse, one of the film’s characters, is gay. This isn’t stated anywhere in the film but there are some hints. For example, there’s a scene where he sees a teacher at a fetish club. That same teacher eventually tries to hit on him at a gay bar. Robert Englund, the man who played Freddy, basically confirmed this fan theory in a 2010 interview:
“…the second Nightmare on Elm Street is obviously intended as a bisexual themed film. It was early ’80s, pre-AIDS paranoia. Jesse’s wrestling with whether to come out or not and his own sexual desires was manifested by Freddy.”
Films that followed this one didn’t touch upon the theme of repressed homosexuality or any similar themes. They were focused solely on being typical slasher movies. This wasn’t a bad idea for New Line Cinema as each movie in the franchise so far has made a huge profit. One has to wonder when or if there will be another movie in the series. If there is, will anybody care if it’s just another horror movie?
The estate of Wes Craven owns the rights to the franchise as of 2019 and is actively looking to put out another Nightmare on Elm Street. The latest rumor is that it may become a series on HBO Max which would be the second Nightmare on Elm Street show after Freddy’s Nightmares. This could be a great direction for the series as there may be too many horror movies out there for a new Freddy Kreuger killing spree to stick out. Whatever the future holds for Elm Street, just make sure you sleep with one eye open.
