A new fan-made trailer reimagines Wes Craven's 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street using footage only from Stranger Things season 4. Long before the release of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven was a household name in horror due to movies like The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes. However, his 1984 slasher is undoubtedly his most famous film of the decade due largely to Robert Englund's terrifying turn as the iconic villain, Freddy Krueger, who torments teenagers in their sleep.
Because of A Nightmare on Elm Street's immense influence on the genre, it's no surprise that Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers drew inspiration from Craven's film for the horror-tinged Stranger Things season 4. The similarities between the Springwood Slasher and season 4's big bad are undeniable and at one point Dustin even directly compares Vecna to Freddy Krueger. Increasing the connection between the two even more is the fact that Englund himself cameos in Stranger Things season 4 as Victor Creel, the father of Henry, a.k.a Vecna.
Recognizing these various similarities, YouTuber José Mellinas has put together a creative fan-made trailer mashing up Stranger Things season 4 with one of its primary inspirations, A Nightmare on Elm Street. The fan trailer sets out to reimagine Craven's iconic 1984 film using footage exclusively from the latest chapter of the Netflix series. Check out the video below:
Click here to watch the video on YouTube.
The fan-made trailer does a decent job of achieving its prescribed goal and serves to further highlight the similarities between the two titles. Other than the aforementioned connections, Freddy Krueger and Venca both hail from another realm, stalk a character named Nancy, and torment their victims via walking nightmares. While A Nightmare on Elm Street may be the most apparent inspiration behind the Vecna-centric season, it certainly wasn't the only influence. The Duffers also admit to drawing inspiration from John Carpenter's Halloween for the horror-adjacent Stranger Things season 4.
Despite endless Easter eggs and homages referencing the 1980s, the Duffers have been able to create their own unique and compelling series that has been enjoyed by those who are well acquainted with its horror movie influences and those who are just discovering them for the first time. Thus, it's interesting to see fan-made trailers that highlight the Netflix show's influences in a fun and accessible way. The threat of Vecna still very much looms following Stranger Things season 4, so perhaps one can look to the countless Nightmare on Elm Street sequels for clues as to where the Duffers will take the fifth and final season.
Source: José Mellinas/YouTube