Features

A New Nightmare? Why Now Is The Time For Freddy Krueger’s Return

We can already hear the haunting melody of the Elm Street kids, as Hollywood gears up for an eventual reboot of A Nightmare On Elm Street.

Since 1984, the razor-gloved Freddy Krueger has haunted our nightmares, with the Springwood Slasher becoming the stuff of legend.

It’s now been 12 years since Samuel Bayer’s 2010 reboot left critics screaming for all the wrong reasons, meaning that – not counting Freddy vs. Jason as a full-blown Krueger caper – we last saw this boogeyman get a proper sequel in 1994’s Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.

It’s hard to see a premise as imaginative and meta as that not working today, so it’s a shame we’ve already done it.

New Line Cinema

So, here lies A Nightmare On Elm Street, taking a seemingly endless nap while fans dream up a new New Nightmare. With rumours of everything from two Kruegers to Elijah Wood wanting to take the reins, Freddy is clearly ready to don his fedora and striped jumper again.

The question is, can an Elm Street reboot slash its way to the top of the box office?

In the latest edition of our free digital magazine The Lowdown, we look to the potential future of the franchise and how it can make an effective comeback in the age of the legacy sequel.

Read the full feature here.

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Tom Chapman

Tom Chapman

Contributing Writer

Tom Chapman is a Manchester-based writer with square eyes and the love of a good pun. Raised on a diet of Jurassic Park and Jumanji, this '90s boy had VHS movies flowing in his blood from a young age. These days, he's addicted to all things Watchmen, Game of Thrones, and The Mandalorian, while reading up on what the X-Men are doing and imagining a life in Gotham City. Having previously worked at What Culture, Movie Pilot, and Screen Rant, Tom is now finding his way at Zavvi, Digital Spy, Radio Times, and Comic Book Resources. No topic is too big or too small for this freelance writer by day, crime-fighting vigilante by night