When people think of horror movies there are a few faces that come to mind. Some people may think of a hockey mask, others may think of an expressionless Halloween mask, but some people think of a horribly burned man with knives for fingers. Freddy Krueger was first introduced in 1984 for Wes Craven’s original A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Robert Englund played the character behind the makeup for a total of eight movies, before the character was rebooted in 2010 with Jackie Earle Haley. During Englund’s career as the character, Freddy killed a lot of teenagers in their sleep, but some were more grotesque and brutal than others. Here are the 10 Most Brutal Freddy Krueger Kills.
Tina (A Nightmare On Elm Street)
The very first kill in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series was Tina Gray, played by Amanda Wyss. The character was in a relationship with Rod Lane (Jsu Garcia), who later took the blame for his girlfriend’s murder. Tina’s death was brutal mainly because she was dragged up the wall and onto the ceiling by Freddy, before falling down into a pool of her own blood.
The kill was violent, intriguing, and set the tone for the rest of the film. It also took quite the ingenuity to pull off, with the crew having to build a revolving room to make it look realistic.
Taryn (Dream Warriors)
While the first A Nightmare on Elm Street is considered a horror masterpiece, the third film in the series is often considered one of the best sequels in the franchise. Part of this is because of how well developed the characters in the film are. One of the characters named Taryn White (Jennifer Rubin) was a recovering drug addict.
Since Freddy always preys on the fears of his victims, Freddy made Taryn overdose to kill her by injecting her with his needle fingers. Not only did this scene introduce one of the iconic variations of Freddy’s weapon, but it also gave fans one of the most memorable kills in the franchise.
Sheila (The Dream Master)
Sheila Kopecky was one of the supporting characters in the fourth movie; A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Sheila was in Kristen Parker’s friend group, which included Debbie, Alice, Rick, and Dan. Like all of her friends besides Alice, Sheila faces a horrible death in The Dream Master.
Sheila is the smart one of the group and she also has asthma. Freddy of course takes advantage of this when it comes time to killing Sheila. After falling asleep in class, Freddy appears and says, “Wanna suck face?” before literally sucking the life out of Sheila and leaving behind a dried-up corpse.
Carlos (Freddy’s Dead)
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare is often considered one of the worst sequels in the franchise, partly because of the excessive comedy. The film introduces a new group of teens to go up against the dream demon, while also introducing Freddy’s daughter. One of the teenagers is named Carlos, who has a hearing impairment, causing him to wear hearing aids.
When it is time for Freddy to take Carlos out, he shoves a giant cotton swap through his ears, ripping out his eardrums and hearing aids. Freddy puts parasite hearing aids back on Carlos’ ears, which make every sound 10x louder than normal. Freddy proceeds to scratch his claws on a chalkboard until Carlos’ head literally explodes.
Jennifer (Dream Warriors)
Jennifer Caulfield was one of the teenagers in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors that was a patient at Westin Hills Asylum. After her friend Phillip is killed by Freddy, Jennifer tries to stay awake by watching TV in the REC room and smoking a cigarette.
As she dozes in and out, she sees Freddy on the TV attack Zsa Zsa Gabor on a talk show, before the screen goes to static. Jennifer stands up to adjust the set when Freddy’s arms and head break out of the TV and grab her. Freddy says the now famous line, “Welcome to prime time, b****” and pulls Jennifer’s head through the screen.
Glen (A Nightmare On Elm Street)
Johnny Depp is by far the biggest actor that has come out of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. His character in the first film was Glen Lantz, who was dating Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp). Like all of Nancy’s friends, Glen has a brutal death at the hands of Fred Krueger.
After Glen falls asleep while he is waiting for it to strike midnight, he is pulled through the center of his mattress. It isn’t revealed how he is killed by Krueger, but all that is left of Glen is gallons and gallons of blood, which erupts from his bed.
Dan (The Dream Child)
Dan Jordan, played by Danny Hassel, was first introduced in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master but had a much bigger role in The Dream Child. Dan is the father to Alice Johnson’s son Jacob, but unfortunately, Jacob grew up without a father thanks to Freddy.
Freddy kills Dan by literally turning himself into a motorcycle. The wires of the bike dig into Dan’s skin and fuse his body to the machine. By the end, the cyborg-looking Dan has no control over how fast the bike is going and wakes up just as he is about to be hit by a semi-truck.
Phillip (Dream Warriors)
Phillip Anderson was admitted as a patient at Westin Hills Asylum for being suicidal, but in reality, the poor teenager was just being tormented by Freddy Krueger. The character was known for sleepwalking, which was how Krueger killed him.
After one of Phillip’s marionettes morphs into Freddy, Freddy grows full size and slits Phillip’s arms and legs open to pull out his tendons. Krueger, now morphed into a giant Freddy, walks Phillip like a marionette with his tendons to the edge of a tower, cuts his tendons, and lets Phillip fall to his death.
Greta (The Dream Child)
Greta Gibson was one of Alice Johnson’s friends who didn’t initially believe in Freddy Krueger, but she eventually found out the truth in the worst way possible. Greta’s mother was a very controlling woman who kept her daughter on a strict diet to launch a modeling career.
Later on in the film, Greta has a dream where she stands up to her overbearing mother at the dinner table, but unfortunately, things turn south quickly. When it came time to kill Greta, Freddy locked the poor girl in a high-chair and stuffed food in her mouth until she suffocated.
Debbie (The Dream Master)
The last person to die in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is Debbie Stevens. Debbie was an athlete who found herself in the friend circle of Kristen, Alice, Rick, and Sheila. Debbie was terrified of bugs, so much so that Sheila created a device that acted as a bug repellent.
After she falls asleep while working out, Freddy pushes her barbell down which splits Debbie’s elbows open. Debbie begins to turn into a cockroach and gets stuck in glue, which is revealed to be part of a bug trap. Once Debbie is fully transformed into a roach, Freddy crushes the trap which causes Debbie’s guts to squirt out from the crushed cardboard.