10 Interesting Facts About ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’

The film about how high school students see the same terrible dream about a terrifying man with long claws chasing them has probably been seen by everyone.

Freddy Krueger scares all children with his vile and scary appearance. In addition, the directors wanted to make the bones of the skull still show through the character, but at that time they could not create it with the help of makeup, and the idea had to be abandoned.

We invite you to learn about 10 interesting facts about one of the most famous horror films, A Nightmare on Elm Street.

10 The film came out later than the script was written.

The film premiered on November 9, 1984, but the script had already been written in 1981. One day, Wes Craven drew attention to an article from the Los Angeles Times newspaper, which told about a group of teenagers who had very scary dreams, so much so that they didn’t want to go to bed. Their parents, on the advice of doctors, gave their children pills, but, unfortunately, they all died in their sleep.

It is not known what caused their death, but according to the script, Freddy Krueger is a character who hunts teenagers in their sleep and wants to kill them. Wes decided to name the character after a former classmate who always terrorized him.

9. In the final scene, the folding roof of the car fell

Some moments that were not included in the script are very useful, and become the highlight of the film. Sometimes scenes are not re-shot because the improvisation is better than intended.

The final scene where the convertible top of the car falls was not part of the script. That is, she entered, but it happened too quickly, thus becoming unexpected for the young actors. The faces of the guys are not a game, this is their true state.

8. Long shoot where Nancy takes a bath

The plot of this scene is as follows: Nancy lies serenely in the bathroom, when suddenly the clawed hand of Freddy Krueger appears from the water.

The shooting was not easy and lasted 12 hours – a special bath was used for them, in which the bottom was cut off, and in order not to fall through it, they had to rest their feet on the walls of the bath.

There was a barrel under the plumbing and a man was sitting in it wearing Freddy’s glove. The man needed to be very careful, because by accident it was possible to damage the lenses of the cameras with the blades.

7. Film debut of Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp got to audition by chance – he just came for the company with his friend, whose name is Jackie Earl Haley. Craven. Seeing Johnny, the director asked him to read the script – the role of Glen. At that time, the actor was not yet popular, and he got the role of a teenager whom Freddie would kill according to the script.

Glen is a guy with a difficult character, according to the plot, he was cut up by a killer. Johnny Depp didn’t get the credit for this role, but that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the most popular movie stars of our time.

6. The clawed glove wasn’t invented by accident.

The gloves that were worn by Freddy Krueger were not a random idea. Craven studied the primitive fears of people, and it turned out that they were terribly afraid of teeth, claws …

Some things people are afraid of instinctively, unconsciously – for example, pale dead skin, dark, deep-set eyes, elongated facial features, etc. Fear originates from the time when death from predators and its claws was more common than suicide is now, caused mostly by depression…

One day, Wes saw a predator – his cat – clutching the upholstery of the sofa, and it was decided that the killer’s gloves would be with claws. The same glove was used in Evil Dead 2.

5. Robert Englund got the role of the killer by accident

The actor got the role of the killer by chance – the whole point is that he quarreled with his girlfriend. Robert wanted to annoy his girlfriend, so he painted his face, borrowed theatrical makeup, and did not wash it off for several days. The girlfriend left Robert, but this became a new stage in his life – director Wes Craven saw him.

After the film was released, Englund became a megastar and was followed everywhere by female fans begging, “Freddie, cut me up!” Once the actor was surprised that he was on the list of “sexiest movie characters” in 1984.

4. Actress Heather Langenkamp was the same age as her character

Everyone’s favorite performer of the legendary Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street, in one scene looks at herself in the mirror and says these words: “Oh my God, I look like 20!” It is interesting that at that time the actress really had the same age.

She played the role while still a student. The actress managed to get around other contenders for this role by the fact that the director wanted the heroine to differ from Hollywood standards.

3. John Kennedy was assassinated on Elm Street

On November 22, 1963, US President John F. Kennedy was shot dead on Elm Street in Dallas. John F. Kennedy was driving in an open limousine down Elm Street, and the covert assassin hit him with several bullets.

There were many versions of why the president was killed, among them there are also very curious ones: it was believed that he wanted to declassify documents relating to UFOs. Frames of documentary filming are still shown in the corresponding programs on television.

2. The Briton was sentenced to prison

On April 4, 2007, Jason Moore was sentenced to prison because he attacked his friend with a clawed glove (you can buy them online).

According to psychiatrists, the 37-year-old man is simply obsessed with Freddy Krueger and his bloody deeds. Jason watched his favorite movie many times, and did so right before the attack. The detective stated that Jason’s murder weapon is the most terrible of all that he has seen in his practice.

1. Creepy shot – lengthening Freddy’s arm

There is a very frightening and creepy shot in the film – Freddy Krueger moves around the nook at night, and his arms become longer. Before the film crew saw it on screen, the crew thought it was going to be funny and unfortunate.

The thing is that such an effect was achieved by naive means: the sleeves of the jacket were hung on fishing lines and controlled by fishing rods to catch fish from the roofs of houses.