Freddy's Nightmares

Last updated
Freddy's Nightmares
Freddy's Nightmare (television logo).svg
Also known asFreddy's Nightmares: A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series
A Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy's Nightmares
Genre
Created by Wes Craven [lower-alpha 1]
Presented by Robert Englund
Theme music composer Nicholas Pike
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes44 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producer Gilbert Adler
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time44–46 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Syndication
ReleaseOctober 8, 1988 (1988-10-08) –
March 12, 1990 (1990-03-12)

Freddy's Nightmares (also known as A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series) is an American horror anthology television series, which aired in syndication from October 1988 until March 1990. [1] A spin-off from the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, each episode is introduced by Freddy Krueger (played, as in the films, by Robert Englund), and features two different stories, with eight of them throughout the series actually having Freddy Krueger as the main antagonist. The pilot episode was directed by Tobe Hooper, and begins with Krueger's prosecution on child-murdering charges.

Contents

The series was produced by New Line Television, producers of the film series, and Stone Television. It was originally distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures. Afterwards, Warner Bros. Television would assume syndication rights after acquiring Lorimar-Telepictures in 1989.

Premise

Due to the murderous basis of Freddy Krueger, New Line Cinema opted not to develop a television series with a regular batch of characters to mix it up with Krueger on a continuous basis; deeming it futile, since he would inevitably kill most of them, and there would be no one left. Instead the producers created an anthology series, employing a new crop of actors to be used for each episode.

Each episode tells a different story of a dark rooted and/or grim nature that takes place in the fictitious town of Springwood, Ohio, and in particular, on Elm Street; the same setting as the A Nightmare on Elm Street films. Though the Freddy Krueger character occasionally plays a part in the plot, most of the stories do not involve him (it is, however, often hinted that Krueger indirectly influenced the desolate nature of the plotlines).

Similar to the Crypt Keeper in Tales from the Crypt , Krueger's primary function is to host the series. He is featured in regular bumper segments, where he offers an ominous or slapstick reaction to the happenings of the episode—culminating in him giving a quick, and usually eerie, epilogue at the end.

One element that made the series unique is its two-tier story approach. Most of the episodes feature two different stories that each take up the first and second halves. Every second story, however, usually built on a character who played a minor (or supporting) role in the first.

Several episodes throughout the second season form mini-arcs, with the events of one episode being followed up and/or referenced in a later episode. Examples of this include the episode "Interior Loft", which was given a direct sequel, "Interior Loft-Later" and "Lucky Stiff", which was followed up with "Easy Come, Easy Go".

Torrance High School was used as the filming location for Springwood High School, predating its use in later horror series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer .

Cast

The only actor from the film series retained for the TV series was Robert Englund, as Freddy Krueger.

Some of the featured actors who went on to later become notable were:

Other notable guest stars featured in the series were:

Episodes

With the exception of the pilot, and the first season's seventh episode "Sister's Keeper", all of the episodes carried two separate storylines. The first half hour would be devoted to one story, while the last half hour would be devoted to a second storyline. [1]

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 22October 8, 1988 (1988-10-08)May 27, 1989 (1989-05-27)
2 22October 9, 1989 (1989-10-09)March 12, 1990 (1990-03-12)

Home media

VHS

In the US, five VHS tapes were released by Warner Home Video in September 1991. Each tape featured one episode. The episodes released were: [2]

In the UK, eight VHS tapes were released by Braveworld Ltd., originally in 1989 as rental-only tapes and then again in 1993 to the sell-through market. Each tape features two episodes. The tapes released were: [2]

In Germany, eight VHS tapes were released by Virgin Video, originally in 1989 as rental-only tapes. Eacht tape features two episodes.

DVD & Blu-ray

In 2003, Volume 1 (the first 3 episodes) was released on Region 2 DVD in Ireland and the UK, by Warner Home Video. Volume 2 and Volume 3 was also planned to be released later in future years to come, however, Warner canceled the releases due to poor sales. [2]

In 2011, a Blu-ray collection of the original seven A Nightmare on Elm Street films was released in the US. The set included a DVD with special features, which included two episodes of the show ("It's a Miserable Life" and "Killer Instinct"). [3]

In 2022, all episodes translated into German were published in Germany by Pidax. [4]

Syndication

Initially the series aired in syndication across the United States.

The violent and sexual content of the series often meant that episodes were heavily edited before airing. An example of this is the series finale Safe Sex, which had 8 minutes of its more explicit footage deleted.

In 2006, AOL teamed up with distributor Warner Bros. Television to bring Freddy's Nightmares to its new In2TV broadband service. [5]

NBCUniversal's horror and suspense-themed cable channel Chiller previously aired Freddy's Nightmares with marathons once a month. Season one and two were shown one after another, with commercial breaks, however, the channel ended the run on March 31, 2011. [6]

In the UK, Sky and Virgin Media customers could watch the entire first series, one episode per night, at 8pm on Zone Horror, starting June 8, 2009. [7]

In Sweden, TV4 Guld aired the show every week from 2010 to 2012. [8]

El Rey Network has been airing the series since November 3, 2015. [9]

As of February 15, 2022, the series is available on Screambox, a streaming service dedicated to horror content.

As of May 1, 2022, the series is now streaming on Tubi, an ad-supported free content platform owned by Fox Corporation.

Reception

Mark Pellegrini of the Adventures in Poor Taste gave the show overall rating of 6 out of 10. In a review he explains his reasons for it as that only 8 out of 44 episodes are about Freddy Krueger. Out of those 8 episodes the "Photo Finish" received the best score, while the "Safe Sex" was booted out as the worst. "No More Mr. Nice Guy" episode was greeted with a homage to the first five Nightmare on Elm Street films, while the scene where Freddy gets burned alive was shown later in Freddy vs. Jason and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare . [10]

John Kenneth Muir in his book Terror Television (2001) placed Freddy's Nightmares as the worst of the horror television programs between 1970 and 1999. Muir found the series having uninteresting stories and that it's production was so low that it appeared to be homemade, and that it wasted the talents of Englund. [11]

Legacy

The genesis of the series and its impact were later revisited in the 2010 documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy , which features interviews with a number of the show's writers, directors and other parties involved like original Elm Street director Wes Craven and New Line producer Bob Shaye. The Blu-ray release of the documentary includes outtakes from the series as well as footage that was deleted due to it being too graphic for television.

Notes

  1. ↑ Characters created by

Related Research Articles

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> (franchise) American supernatural slasher franchise

A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American supernatural slasher media franchise consisting of nine films, a television series, novels, comic books, and various other media. The franchise began with the film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), written and directed by Wes Craven. The overall plot of the franchise centers around the fictional character Fred "Freddy" Krueger, the apparition of a former child killer who was burned alive by the vengeful parents of his victims, who returns from the grave to terrorize and kill the teenage residents of the fictional Springwood, Ohio in their dreams. Craven returned to the franchise to co-script the second sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), and to write/direct Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). The films collectively grossed $472 million at the box office worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddy Krueger</span> Horror film character

Freddy Krueger is the antagonist of the A Nightmare on Elm Street horror film franchise. Created by Wes Craven, he made his debut in Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as the malevolent spirit of a child killer who had been burned to death by his victims' parents after evading prison. Krueger goes on 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. He is commonly identified by his burned, disfigured face, dirty red-and-green-striped sweater and brown fedora, and trademark metal-clawed, brown leather, right hand glove. This glove was the product of Krueger's own imagination, having welded the blades himself before using it to murder many of his victims, both in the real and dream worlds. Over the course of the film series, Freddy has battled several reoccurring survivors including Nancy Thompson and Alice Johnson. The character was consistently portrayed by Robert Englund in the original film series as well as in the television spin-off Freddy's Nightmares.

<i>Wes Cravens New Nightmare</i> 1994 film by Wes Craven

Wes Craven's New Nightmare is a 1994 American meta supernatural horror film written and directed by Wes Craven, creator of 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street. A standalone film and the seventh installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, it is not part of the same continuity as previous films, instead portraying Freddy Krueger as a fictional movie villain who invades the real world and haunts the cast and crew involved in the making of the films about him. In the film, Freddy is depicted as closer to what Craven originally intended, being much more menacing and less comical, with an updated attire and appearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Englund</span> American actor and director

Robert Barton Englund is an American actor and director, best known for playing the supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. Classically trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Englund began his career as a stage actor in regional theatre, and made his film debut in Buster and Billie in 1974. After supporting roles in films in the 1970s such as Stay Hungry, A Star Is Born, and Big Wednesday, Englund had his breakthrough as the resistance fighter Willie in the miniseries V in 1983. Following his performance in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984, he became closely associated with the horror film genre, and is widely-regarded as one of its iconic actors.

<i>Freddys Dead: The Final Nightmare</i> 1991 film by Rachel Talalay

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare is a 1991 American slasher film and the sixth film in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. It is a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and was originally intended to be the final installment of the series; Wes Craven's New Nightmare was released three years later but takes place outside the series canon. A canonical crossover/sequel, Freddy vs. Jason, was released in 2003. This was New Line Cinema's first 3D film release.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> 1984 American slasher film by Wes Craven

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Johnny Depp in his film debut. The film's plot concerns a group of teenagers who are targeted by Krueger, an undead child killer who can murder people through their dreams, as retribution against their parents who burned him alive.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors</i> 1987 film by Chuck Russell

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is a 1987 American fantasy slasher film directed by Chuck Russell in his feature directorial debut. The story was developed by Wes Craven and Bruce Wagner and is the third installment in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp, Patricia Arquette, Larry Fishburne, Priscilla Pointer, Craig Wasson, and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. Nancy Thompson, now a psychiatrist, and Kristen, a patient who can bring others into her own dreams, team up with other kids to launch a daring rescue into the dreamland and save a child from Freddy Krueger.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master</i> 1988 film by Renny Harlin

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is a 1988 American fantasy slasher film directed by Renny Harlin, and is the fourth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Serving as a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), the film follows Freddy Krueger who, following the death of Nancy Thompson and completing his revenge against the families who killed him, reappears in the dreams of Kristen Parker, Joey Crusel, and Roland Kincaid, where he uses Kristen's best friend, Alice Johnson, to gain access to new victims in order to satiate his murderous needs. The Dream Master is often popularly referred to as "the MTV Nightmare" of the franchise.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child</i> 1989 film by Stephen Hopkins

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child is a 1989 American slasher film directed by Stephen Hopkins and written by Leslie Bohem. It is the fifth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, and stars Lisa Wilcox, and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. The film follows Krueger, using a now pregnant Alice Johnson's baby's dreams to claim new victims.

Nancy Thompson (<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i>) Main character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series

Nancy Thompson is a fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. She first appears in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as a teenager hunted in her dreams by enigmatic serial killer Freddy Krueger. In this film, she was portrayed by Heather Langenkamp—who reprises the role in the sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). Langenkamp later portrayed a fictional version of herself who embodies the role of Nancy in Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). A reimagined version of the character, Nancy Holbrook, is portrayed by Rooney Mara in the 2010 remake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Parker</span> Film character from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series

Kristen Parker is a character from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. She is a co-protagonist and final girl of the third film of the series A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and the false protagonist in the following film A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, and has appeared in various merchandise as well. She is played by actress Patricia Arquette in Dream Warriors and Tuesday Knight in The Dream Master. She is the central member of the titular Dream Warriors, seven teens who have to learn to fight as a group in order to survive their spectral tormentor, enigmatic murderer Freddy Krueger, and has the ability to bring others into her dreams as well as being an Olympic-level acrobat in her dreams.

The popularity of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series has led to several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, Innovation Publishing, Trident Comics, Avatar Press and WildStorm Productions. After the success of Freddy vs. Jason and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake film in 2003, New Line Cinema created their House of Horror licensing division which licensed the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to Avatar Press for use in new comic book stories, the first of which was published in 2005. In 2006, Avatar Press lost the license to DC Comics imprint, WildStorm Productions which then published several new stories based on the franchise before their license expired as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dream Warriors (song)</span> 1987 single by Dokken

"Dream Warriors" is a song by American band Dokken, that was written by members George Lynch & Jeff Pilson for the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. The song was released as a single in 1987, charting at number 22 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and was also released on Dokken's fourth album, Back for the Attack, as the closing track to that album.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> (2010 film) American supernatural slasher film by Samuel Bayer

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 2010 American supernatural slasher film directed by Samuel Bayer, written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer, and starring Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, and Kellan Lutz. Produced by Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes, it is a remake of Wes Craven's 1984 film of the same name, as well as the ninth overall installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film is set in a fictitious town in Ohio and centers on a group of teenagers living on one street who are stalked and murdered in their dreams by a disfigured man named Freddy Krueger. The teenagers discover that they all share a common link from their childhood that makes them targets for Krueger.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddys Revenge</i> 1985 film by Jack Sholder

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge is a 1985 American supernatural slasher film directed by Jack Sholder and written by David Chaskin. It stars Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Robert Rusler. It is the second installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film follows Jesse Walsh, a teenager who begins having recurring nightmares about Freddy Krueger after moving into the former home of Nancy Thompson from the first film.

Alice Johnson (<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i>) Fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise

Alice Johnson is a fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. She first appears in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) as a teenager that inherits dream superpowers from the victims of enigmatic serial killer Freddy Krueger. In this film, she was portrayed by Lisa Wilcox—who reprises the role in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989).

Nightmares in the Makeup Chair is a documentary film, written and directed by Mike Kerz and released in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Walsh</span> Fictional character

Jesse Walsh is a fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. He was created by David Chaskin and portrayed by Mark Patton. Making his debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge in 1985, Jesse became the first male protagonist of the series. In Freddy's Revenge, Freddy enacts a plan to possess Jesse, using his body to kill in the real world, slowly gaining the strength to manifest his form physically. Outside of the films, Jesse has a main role in the novels. Because of the LGBT representation in a mainstream film, Jesse has developed a large fan base in the gay community and has been called a gay icon. Jesse has been observed by some scholars as a variation of the "final girl" slasher film archetype, and instead a "final boy".

1428 Elm Street, also known as [the] Elm Street House, is a fictional residential house and street address in Springwood, Ohio, and is an important location in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, where it has been the home of Nancy Thompson and her mother, later Jesse Walsh and his family, and finally Lori Campbell and her father, throughout the film series. It has also been implied to have been Freddy Krueger's home at some point before the events that take place in the films. It appears in some form in nearly all the films, as well as literature, comic books, toys, and music videos. The house, like Freddy Krueger, Nancy Thompson, Tina Gray, and Kristen Parker, were all conceived by Wes Craven.

References

  1. 1 2 "Epi-Log #8 (July 1991) – Freddy's Nightmares". Star Tech. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Freddy's Nightmares — Home Video | Nightmare on Elm Street Companion — Ultimate Online Resource to Horror Series A Nightmare on Elm Street". Nightmareonelmstreetfilms.com. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  3. ↑ RL Shaffer 23 Oct 2012 (October 23, 2012). "A Nightmare on Elm Street Collection Blu-ray Review". IGN. Retrieved February 10, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Kaiser Soze 01 Jul 2022 (July 1, 2022). "Freddy's Nightmares - 16 Episoden der Horrorserie uncut auf Deutsch auf DVD". Schnittberichte. Retrieved July 1, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ Kris Oser (November 14, 2005). "AOL welcomes back Kotter-and lots more". Ad Age . Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Indpenedent Programming" (PDF). Chiller TV. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  7. ↑ James Whittington (June 2, 2009). "Are You Ready For Freddy? Freddy's Nightmares Comes To Horror". Horror Channel. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Freddy's Nightmares: Company Credits". IMDb . Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  9. ↑ Barkan, Jonathan (November 2, 2015). ""Freddy's Nightmares" Returns This Week to El Rey! – Bloody Disgusting!". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  10. ↑ Mark Pellegrini (December 9, 2014). "'Freddy's Nightmares' Will Put You to Sleep". Adventures in Poor Taste. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  11. ↑ Muir 2001, p. 630.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.