Freddy Kreuger is one of the most iconic horror characters to ever grace the screen. Even more than 40 years after the original A Nightmare on Elm Street release, and more than three decades since the last decent-quality entry in the franchise, the character remains extremely recognizable in the pop culture zeitgeist, and is typically regarded as one of the “big three” when discussing slasher movie icons, along with Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th and Michael Myers from Halloween. While Michael Myers last appeared just two years ago in the finale for David Gordon Green’s trilogy in Halloween Ends and Jason is getting a new look and new interest with the upcoming Crystal Lake series, A Nightmare on Elm Street has been dead in the water for 15 years, when Samuel Bayer remade that original film with Jackie Earle Haley playing Freddy Kreuger.
To most horror fans, the best film in the Elm Street series is a two-horse race between Wes Craven’s 1984 original and Chuck Russell’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, which came out three years later. Craven would go on to have a storied horror directing career, but Russell released a few bangers, too, including the 1988 remake of The Blob and one of Jim Carrey’s best comedies, The Mask, in 1994. Now, almost 40 years after his first foray into the Elm Street series, Russell chatted with Dread Central’s Development Hell podcast and floated the idea of returning to Elm Street, but this time, with another familiar face as the iconic slasher.
Chuck Russell Agrees That Jim Carrey Would be Great in the Role of Freddy Krueger
Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 – Dream WarriorsImage via New Line Cinema
When asked about whether he’d like to return to the character and horror franchise, Russell stated, “I’d love to do another Elm Street if there was the full support of everybody. Patricia Arquette has said she’d like to do it again… I still think Robert, for me, is the only Freddy.” When Jim Carrey was suggested as the new Freddy Krueger because of Russell’s experience directing Carrey on The Mask, he replied, “Yeah, that would be great. Jim, in my opinion, could almost do anything if he put his heart into it. For Jim to do it, we’d have to do something that was another leap in the Elm Street series—a little bit like what Wes did with his very meta New Nightmare.”
A major issue that many had with the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street was with how straight it played. Robert Englund’s slimy comedy peppered between brutal kills and nightmarish scenarios was one of the most fun and engaging things about the character. Completely losing that bit of dark comedy in the remake set it up for failure from the start. Casting someone who has a long list of experience in legendary comedy movies, and especially someone who has already collaborated on a semi-dark and twisted comedy, could be beneficial.
Russell also stated that Dream Warriors’ final girl, Patricia Arquette would love to revisit the role. With the franchise being cold for 15 years and the most recent entry being the worst film in the series, a collaboration between the original director and star could finally bring magic back to a horror IP that desperately needs new life.
Jim Carrey May Seem Like a Strange Pick, but He Could Actually Save the Horror Franchise
The Mask Jim Carrey (1994)Image via New Line Cinema
At this point, the bottom can’t get any lower for the Nightmare on Elm Street series. The 2010 remake is universally thought of as the worst entry, so anything better than that has to be seen as a win. However, casting Jim Carrey in the role as Freddy doesn’t have to be a failure. Carrey is known for being a chameleonic actor, and has succeeded in a number of different genres, including a few dark thrillers and black comedies, like The Number 23, Dark Crimes, and The Cable Guy. Carrey has the ability to come off as creepy as he is funny, as well as present a subtlety to his comedy, without transitioning to the full goofball mode seen in films like Ace Ventura or Dumb & Dumber.
Carrey still has the star power to carry a franchise, as seen with the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, of which his role as Dr. Robotnik is seen as the best and funniest part of the billion-dollar-making trilogy. Suiting up as Kreuger would give Carrey another chance to blend his talents of slapstick jokes and physical acting, with his ability to use the audience’s expectations to surprise them and become an unsettling character. It’s often the most comedic actors who jump into a surprisingly dark role and end up giving legendary performances, like Robin Williams in One-Hour Photo or Kevin James in Becky.
Carrey has often talked about his exhaustion with Hollywood and acting and only accepting roles that reinvigorate his passions. Taking on the role of Freddy Krueger could bring him into a genre he doesn’t have much experience in, and allow him to play an iconic character that, for better or for worse, will garner a ton of attention and anticipation towards a release date. The controversy over Carrey’s inclusion and his potential for greatness are enough to fully bring A Nightmare on Elm Street back into the spotlight. If Chuck Russell were to direct a sequel, his experience of knowing how to make one of, if not the best, Elm Street movie, combined with his collaboration experience with Carrey, could just be enough to save a dying horror franchise.
First Film
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Latest Film
A Nightmare on Elm Street Reboot #2
First TV Show
Freddy’s Nightmares
Cast
Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, Mark Patton, Patricia Arquette, Laurence Fishburne, Lisa Wilcox, Danny Hassel
Character(s)
Freddy Krueger
The third-popular and oldest slasher franchise made by New Line Cinema since 1984 which actually, in 2003, they made a collaboration with Paramount to make Freddy vs. Jason.
