It’s a safe bet to make that anyone who grew up watching horror movies – or for that matter, anyone who loves horror movies – is familiar with the likes of Freddy Krueger and the A Nightmare On Elm Street film franchise. Throughout the 80s and 90s and even on into the new millennium, Wes Craven’s creation of a disfigured killer who wears a razor blade affixed glove and does away with teenagers by infiltrating their dreams, became a horror movie staple.

Although both Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13th’s Jason Vorhees were terrorizing audiences in movie theaters during roughly the same period, for whatever reason, Krueger never quite grew in pop culture infamy in the same way Jason did. From video games to movie franchise reboots, it always seems that Jason gets there first. But with a new A Nightmare On Elm Street film now on its way, perhaps it’s time to take Freddy Krueger in a different direction?

That’s what the man who spent years playing Freddy thinks, anyway. Robert Englund has an idea of his own about what a new A Nightmare on Elm Street movie could look like. Speaking with Florida Today, Englund broke down his thoughts on how not just one Freddy Krueger could alter the traditional understanding of A Nightmare On Elm Street, but numerous Kruegers, hunting the now grown up children whose childhoods were filled with horrific tales of the killer who comes lurking when sleep overtakes them. Said Englund:

“Kids who grew up hearing stories about this Freddy Krueger guy and the awful things he did envisioned him in their own way, and that is the version that begins to haunt them. Some people may picture him as stout, another might envision him as tall and thin, another with a different hat, or a different sweater.

He could have different gloves, or even a glove with small razor blades as referred to in the first movie. It would be neat to see very different interpretations of Freddy Krueger based on the child’s vision of who or what Freddy was to them. After all, each person’s subconscious would picture him in a totally different way.”

Nightmare on Elm Street Reboot

Englund’s idea definitely gives A Nightmare On Elm Street a new flourish that could set itself apart from other horror reboots – especially in a time where a new Friday the 13th is also on its way. But while the idea is an intriguing one, a film with multiple variations on the same killer could stand the risk of diluting what make the character special. Freddy Krueger has always been capable of altering his appearance in the dreams of his victims, so really a bunch of different looking Freddies in a brand new film is a superficial change at best to a well-revisited story line.

Still, Englund’s idea is only an idea at this point and if taken into consideration by a decent writer (Orphan’s, David Leslie Johnson is currently working on the Elm Street reboot) there’s much to be fleshed out. There’s currently no word as of this writing whether or not Englund will be returning to star in the new film, but should the franchise take on the idea at least in some small way, the future could hold not just one but numerous faces of an iconic horror movie villain.

Screen Rant will keep you up to date on news of the A Nightmare On Elm Street reboot.

Source: Florida Today (via Indiewire)