When Robert Englund first introduced Freddy Krueger in Wes Craven’s seminal 1984 horror classic A Nightmare On Elm Street, most moviegoers were, understandably, terrified. Freddy was born out of a traumatising incident from Craven’s childhood when, late one night, while looking out of his bedroom window, he spotted a disturbed-looking elderly man walking down a secluded side path at the side of his family’s home. That, coupled with a Los Angeles Times newspaper story about a group of Southeast Asian refugees so haunted by their experiences that they ended up suffering horrific nightmares, proved the inspiration for one cinema’s most iconic bogeymen.
Yet, as the Freddy Krueger phenomenon moved on into multiple sequels, some of the magic that made the character so terrifying got lost along the way. Freddy stopped being scary and instead transformed into something of a comedy character with a penchant for saying a rude word beginning with "B." He may not have been the same Krueger of old, but one thing Freddy has already retained, however, was an ability to elicit jet black laughs—both good and bad.
"I'm your boyfriend, now." - A Nightmare On Elm Street
In a horror movie littered with memorable moments, the sequence which sees Freddy defy the laws of the dream world to terrorize Heather Langenkamp's Nancy via a disconnected telephone set the blueprint for almost every inventive Freddy set piece to come.
It has all the ingredients of a Krueger classic in being terrifying, wildly inventive and darkly hilarious. All that and not a single drop of blood is shed. This is Wes Craven at his best; delivering scares alongside social satire with a sinister twist on the teenage habit of the day.
"I've got the brain." - A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
It doesn’t take long for the franchise to turn unintentionally hilarious. One film, in fact, with A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge leaving many screaming again…but this time with laughter.
Essentially a Freddy Krueger-led riff on The Exorcist, it sees Freddy possessing confused teen Jesse Walsh. An early encounter between the pair sets the tone with Robert Englund’s Freddy, as reliable as ever, explaining to the youngster that Jesse has the body while Krueger has the brain. He proceeds to remove his scalp, revealing his actual brain. It’s a neat bit of body horror turned hilarious by Jesse actor Mark Patton’s Ned Flanders-esque high-pitched scream.
"Welcome to primetime, b****!" - A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors got things back on track thanks to a script featuring contributions from Craven and future Shawshank Redemption scribe Frank Darabont.
Chuck Russell, who directed The Mask, added visual flair to proceedings, as demonstrated in the fate that befalls would-be actress Jennifer. Falling asleep in front of the TV, it’s not long before Freddy is poking his head out of the television set, growing arms, uttering another inspired quip and shoving her straight through it. Highly creative if slightly nonsensical, the only downside is that it marks Freddy’s first use of the trademark B-word. The first of many.
"How’s this for a wet dream?” - A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
From the moment Freddy was resurrected via a stream of flaming dog urine, audiences knew A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Child wasn’t going to be subtle. Renny Harlin, who became known for big and brash action efforts like Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, cut his teeth here, with what was the highest-grossing Freddy movie from the franchise’s original run, helped by a series of memorable set pieces.
It kicks off with this effort, which sees Rodney Eastman’s Joey, offed by Freddy disguised as a naked woman swimming within his water bed. It’s a pretty elaborate set up for what is nevertheless a killer line.
"Wanna suck face?” - A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
You would think that a character having asthma wouldn’t provide much fertile soil for a Freddy punchline, but you would be wrong. As characters go, Toy Newkirk’s Sheila Kopecky is one-dimensional, to say the least. She’s a nerd who wears big glasses and says things like “mind over matter." She gets a memorable final scene, though, with Freddy sucking the literal life out of her, French style.
It’s a scene given extra sinister clout by the special effect whizzes who create the terrifying effect of Sheila’s body flattening out like a deflated lido before she dies of an actual asthma attack.
“You can check-in, but you can’t check out!” - A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
The crowning achievement from the fourth Freddy film, Debbie is the last of final girl Alice Johnson’s friends to meet their Krueger, though she goes out with a bang—or should that be a splat?
Having earlier established that Debbie has a deep-rooted fear of insects, few fans could have predicted what would unfold; that Debbie would perish after literally transforming into an insect before being squished by a giant Freddy. Arguably the most elaborate scenario in the entire franchise, there’s very little that makes sense about Debbie’s bug-based transformation, but one thing is clear: it’s pretty hilarious to watch.
"Bon appetite!" - A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
Ever the sensitive souls, the makers of A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child found a way to send-up important teen issues like bulimia in a way as dementedly unappealing on the screen as it sounds on paper.
Greta, an aspiring model earmarked as Freddy fodder from early on in the film, makes the mistake of falling asleep at the dinner table, leading to a demented nightmare in which she is fed her own organs. With her cheeks puffed out and mouth full, Freddy—by now in full horror movie clown mode—quips "you are what you eat!" as the teen meets her end. Yuck.
"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little soul too!" - Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
Unlike most of the entries, this sequence falls into the category of being so astonishingly, unintentionally cheesy, all you can do is laugh. And cringe. A lot.
Bizarre to say the least, it comes early on, setting the tone for the film to come, with Freddy terrorizing a mysterious teen by the name of John Doe by dressing up as a witch. Decked out in something akin to a bad Halloween costume, Freddy is even riding a broom. Knowing reference to Wizard of Oz or not, the moment he declares “I'll get you, my pretty, and your little soul too” is possibly the most absurd in the whole franchise—quite an achievement.
"Nice hearing from you, Carlos." - Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
Having wrung jet-black comedy from drug addiction, eating disorders, and, um, "asthma," the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise went one step further with Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare and a Freddy gag around deafness.
The fact Freddy’s Dead was in 3D should have indicated the series was reaching its nadir. Just in case fans didn’t realize, Tank Girl director Rachel Talalay had Robert Englund ham it up with the slaying of the hearing-impaired Carlos. Having cranked his hearing aid up to an absurd level, Freddy proceeds to drop pins and scratch chalkboards with Tom and Jerry-like glee until the poor kid’s head explodes. If you didn’t laugh, you’d probably cry.
"Now I'm playing with power!" - Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
Eager to stay relevant, Freddy’s Dead tried to tap into youth culture with a Super Mario-inspired set piece. The idea was simple, with Spencer Lewis—played by Road Trip’s Breckin Meyer in an early role—waking up in his own garish platform video game.
Freddy then took control, appearing in poorly-rendered 2D form in the game to whip Spencer, sending him off a cliff. Though his friends do manage to cut the power, Freddy counters by donning a power glove—an ill-fated bit of Nintendo product placement if ever there was—before dispatching the teen. It has not aged well and is all the funnier for it.