ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - November 1st
"A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2:
"A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2:
FREDDY'S REVENGE" released on 1985
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Five years after Freddy Krueger's (Robert Englund) apparent defeat, the Walshes have moved into the Thompsons' former home. Their teenage son, Jesse (Mark Patton), has a nightmare about being stalked by a killer on a school bus. He wakes up and attributes the dream to the unusual heat in the room. Jesse goes to school with his friend Lisa (Kim Myers), whom he is interested in romantically, but is too shy to flirt with her. After getting into a fight with a boy named Grady (Robert Rusler) during gym class, Coach Schneider (Marshall Bell) makes them stay after class and they become friends. Lisa comes to visit Jesse after school and they discover a diary from Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) detailing her nightmares, which are strikingly similar to Jesse's.
The following night, Jesse has a nightmare where he encounters Freddy, who tells Jesse to kill for him. The dreams grow more intense and Jesse unsuccessfully attempts different measures to keep himself awake. He eventually begins wandering the streets at night. One night, Jesse is caught by Schneider when ordering a drink and is made to run laps at school as punishment. After sending Jesse to the showers, Schneider is attacked by an unseen force that drags him to the showers. Jesse vanishes into the steam and Freddy emerges, killing Schneider by slashing his back. The following night, Jesse goes to Lisa's pool party and kisses her in the cabana. Afterwards, his body begins to change and he leaves in a panic. He goes to Grady's house, confesses to killing Schneider, and instructs Grady to watch him as he sleeps and to stop him if he tries to leave. When Grady eventually falls asleep, Freddy emerges from Jesse's body and kills Grady. Freddy then changes back to Jesse, who finds himself looking at Freddy's reflection in Grady's mirror. He flees before Grady's parents enter the room.
Returning to Lisa's house, Jesse tells her what is going on. Lisa realizes that Jesse's terror is giving Freddy his strength, but he cannot stop fearing him and transforms again. He locks her parents in their bedroom and attacks Lisa, but realizes he cannot harm her due to Jesse's influence. He goes outside, where he begins to slaughter the party-goers. Lisa's father emerges with a shotgun, but Lisa stops him from shooting Freddy, who escapes in a ball of flame. Realizing that Freddy is going back to old abandoned factory where he used to work, Lisa gives chase through a variety of waking-nightmares to confront Freddy and make him release Jesse from his influence!
The following night, Jesse has a nightmare where he encounters Freddy, who tells Jesse to kill for him. The dreams grow more intense and Jesse unsuccessfully attempts different measures to keep himself awake. He eventually begins wandering the streets at night. One night, Jesse is caught by Schneider when ordering a drink and is made to run laps at school as punishment. After sending Jesse to the showers, Schneider is attacked by an unseen force that drags him to the showers. Jesse vanishes into the steam and Freddy emerges, killing Schneider by slashing his back. The following night, Jesse goes to Lisa's pool party and kisses her in the cabana. Afterwards, his body begins to change and he leaves in a panic. He goes to Grady's house, confesses to killing Schneider, and instructs Grady to watch him as he sleeps and to stop him if he tries to leave. When Grady eventually falls asleep, Freddy emerges from Jesse's body and kills Grady. Freddy then changes back to Jesse, who finds himself looking at Freddy's reflection in Grady's mirror. He flees before Grady's parents enter the room.
Returning to Lisa's house, Jesse tells her what is going on. Lisa realizes that Jesse's terror is giving Freddy his strength, but he cannot stop fearing him and transforms again. He locks her parents in their bedroom and attacks Lisa, but realizes he cannot harm her due to Jesse's influence. He goes outside, where he begins to slaughter the party-goers. Lisa's father emerges with a shotgun, but Lisa stops him from shooting Freddy, who escapes in a ball of flame. Realizing that Freddy is going back to old abandoned factory where he used to work, Lisa gives chase through a variety of waking-nightmares to confront Freddy and make him release Jesse from his influence!
TRIVIA: JoAnn Willette is one of the girls seated in the back of the school bus driven by Freddy at the beginning of the film. She would later go on to star in the ABC sitcom Just the Ten of Us (1988), a program which not only featured numerous references to the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, but also co-starred Heather Langenkamp (from the first, third, and seventh films) and Brooke Theiss (from the fourth film).
Top and Above: Jesse (Mark Patton) has his first nightmare about Freddy (Robert Englund)
A Nightmare on Elm Street became a phenomenal hit when it was released in 1984, and New Line Cinema producer Robert Shaye wasted no time in green-lighting a sequel. However, original Elm Street writer and director, Wes Craven, showed no interest in returning the for the sequel, having repeatedly clashed with Shaye on the set of the first film. Shaye continued forward nevertheless, announcing a release date for A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 before there was even a script written!
New Line approached little known screenwriter David Chaskin, who attempted to mix more humor into the film. After 3-days, Chaskin presented New Line with the first 15-pages of the script and was then hired to complete the screenplay for Freddy's Revenge, with Jack Sholder (fresh from directing another New Line horror film, Alone in the Dark) to direct. Rather than continue the story of Nightmare's sole survivor Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), Nightmare 2 focuses on the new residents of Nancy's old Elm Street house, joining a grand tradition of horror sequels which ignore the survivors of the prior installment for what would appear to be cost-control reasons. Langenkamp told the Never Sleep Again documentary that she was never actually offered a chance to do Nightmare 2, and the film's line producer couldn't recall if there had ever actually been any internal discussions at New Line about bringing her back. It has been hypothesized that Chaskin and Sholder's new concept of Freddy (possessing someone in the real world vs. killing them in their dreams - a plot point strongly disliked by Wes Craven) seemed so different from the first film, that bringing Nancy back wouldn't make a lot of sense.
This film is famous for having undertones and themes that many perceive as homoerotic, and the events of the film are often seen as an allegory for Jesse's closeted homosexuality. While the makers of the film initially denied that this subtext was intentional, Chaskin eventually admitted that the subtext was intentionally written into the script in order to give the characters more depth (although, to this day, Sholder still claims he was completely unaware of the homoerotic undertones while making the film - even if it is all ridiculously obvious when you watch the film today!). Make-up effects artist Kevin Yagher, who replaced David B. Miller, who designed the Freddy make-up for the original, only had a few pictures and the original film as reference. So he redesigned Freddy's look, studying pictures of burn victims and making the subsequent changes to Freddy's look, creating nine sections which were used on Freddy's burnt face, with Yeager stating he made the make-up less bulky than in the original film in order to allow more facial movement. Gregg Fonseca, the original films production designer, initially returned to fill the same role in this film, and had even designed all the sets seen in the film, before quitting just before the start of shooting. Fonesca claimed that the production was rushed and that his department in particular was severely under-funded. Art director Maggie Martin took over Fonseca's role during the actual shoot.
New Line approached little known screenwriter David Chaskin, who attempted to mix more humor into the film. After 3-days, Chaskin presented New Line with the first 15-pages of the script and was then hired to complete the screenplay for Freddy's Revenge, with Jack Sholder (fresh from directing another New Line horror film, Alone in the Dark) to direct. Rather than continue the story of Nightmare's sole survivor Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), Nightmare 2 focuses on the new residents of Nancy's old Elm Street house, joining a grand tradition of horror sequels which ignore the survivors of the prior installment for what would appear to be cost-control reasons. Langenkamp told the Never Sleep Again documentary that she was never actually offered a chance to do Nightmare 2, and the film's line producer couldn't recall if there had ever actually been any internal discussions at New Line about bringing her back. It has been hypothesized that Chaskin and Sholder's new concept of Freddy (possessing someone in the real world vs. killing them in their dreams - a plot point strongly disliked by Wes Craven) seemed so different from the first film, that bringing Nancy back wouldn't make a lot of sense.
This film is famous for having undertones and themes that many perceive as homoerotic, and the events of the film are often seen as an allegory for Jesse's closeted homosexuality. While the makers of the film initially denied that this subtext was intentional, Chaskin eventually admitted that the subtext was intentionally written into the script in order to give the characters more depth (although, to this day, Sholder still claims he was completely unaware of the homoerotic undertones while making the film - even if it is all ridiculously obvious when you watch the film today!). Make-up effects artist Kevin Yagher, who replaced David B. Miller, who designed the Freddy make-up for the original, only had a few pictures and the original film as reference. So he redesigned Freddy's look, studying pictures of burn victims and making the subsequent changes to Freddy's look, creating nine sections which were used on Freddy's burnt face, with Yeager stating he made the make-up less bulky than in the original film in order to allow more facial movement. Gregg Fonseca, the original films production designer, initially returned to fill the same role in this film, and had even designed all the sets seen in the film, before quitting just before the start of shooting. Fonesca claimed that the production was rushed and that his department in particular was severely under-funded. Art director Maggie Martin took over Fonseca's role during the actual shoot.
[Freddy speaks to Jesse for the first time in Jesse's nightmare]
Freddy Krueger: [Freddy runs the knives of his glove over Jesse's head] I need you, Jesse. We got special work to do here, you and me.
Freddy Krueger: [Freddy then slams Jesse against the wall, slowly tilting his head to him] You've got the body...
Freddy Krueger: [Freddy takes off his hat and digs his own fingers into his skull] I've got the brains!
Top: Jesse bonds with Lisa (Kim Myers);
Above: Jesse also becomes friends with Ron Grady (Robert Rusler) after their mutual run in with sadistic Coach Schneider (Marshall Bell)
Michael J. Fox was considered for the role of Jesse Walsh, but was unable due to his commitments to Back to the Future (1985) and Teen Wolf (1985). Brad Pitt, John Stamos, and Christian Slater all later auditioned for the role, until Mark Patton (known for his role in the 1982 film Come back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean) was cast. Patton, an openly gay actor, has amusingly stated that he sees himself as the "first male scream-queen", due to a combination of factors, including the film's homoerotic subtext, the fact that he was often depicted onscreen screaming "like a girl", and because he viewed the character as a closeted gay man. Robert Rusler, who auditioned for his role on the last day of shooting Weird Science (1985)(Robert Downey Jr. drove him to the audition) was also cast his best friend, Ron Grady. Kim Myers was allegedly cast in the film due to her resemblance to Meryl Streep, but it was Patton who insisted to the casting director that he wanted Myers to play the role of his "girlfriend" Lisa.
Marshall Bell was cast as the sadistic Coach Schneider, with veteran actor Clu Gulager, and Hope Lange and Christie Clark playing Jessie's family; father Ken, mother Cheryl, and sister Angela. Producer Shaye, widely whispered to be a "frustrated actor", initially wanted to cast himself in the role of Grady's father, but was convinced not to by Sholder (and almost getting fired in the process). Instead, Shaye cameo-ed in Freddy's Revenge as the Bartender in the gay S&M bar. Shaye took his bit part very seriously by all accounts, even taking his young daughters with him to a S&M clothing store to buy his own costume! While Shaye’s cameo was officially uncredited, many at New Line Cinema never let him live it down.
With the huge success of the first Elm Street, Robert Englund and his agent realized how crucial he was to the role of Freddy, thus assuming New Line wouldn’t dare re-cast the way Paramount did with Jason after every Friday the 13th film. So, they asked for way more money to return in Nightmare 2, but New Line was having none of it. Even Shaye didn’t think Englund was all that important to the role, reasoning anyone playing Freddy is just a "dude under a rubber mask". They cast an extra to replace him, but he played Freddy like Frankenstein’s monster, with slow, rigid movements. After suffering through this in the early stages of filming, Sholder went straight to Shaye to demand that they give Englund whatever he wanted to return as Freddy. Englund would also appear for the first (of four) times in a Nightmare movie without make-up, playing the Bus Driver at the beginning of the movie - the other times being A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (as an Asylum Inmate), Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (Freddy in a flashback), and Wes Craven's New Nightmare (playing a fictionalized version of Himself).
Marshall Bell was cast as the sadistic Coach Schneider, with veteran actor Clu Gulager, and Hope Lange and Christie Clark playing Jessie's family; father Ken, mother Cheryl, and sister Angela. Producer Shaye, widely whispered to be a "frustrated actor", initially wanted to cast himself in the role of Grady's father, but was convinced not to by Sholder (and almost getting fired in the process). Instead, Shaye cameo-ed in Freddy's Revenge as the Bartender in the gay S&M bar. Shaye took his bit part very seriously by all accounts, even taking his young daughters with him to a S&M clothing store to buy his own costume! While Shaye’s cameo was officially uncredited, many at New Line Cinema never let him live it down.
With the huge success of the first Elm Street, Robert Englund and his agent realized how crucial he was to the role of Freddy, thus assuming New Line wouldn’t dare re-cast the way Paramount did with Jason after every Friday the 13th film. So, they asked for way more money to return in Nightmare 2, but New Line was having none of it. Even Shaye didn’t think Englund was all that important to the role, reasoning anyone playing Freddy is just a "dude under a rubber mask". They cast an extra to replace him, but he played Freddy like Frankenstein’s monster, with slow, rigid movements. After suffering through this in the early stages of filming, Sholder went straight to Shaye to demand that they give Englund whatever he wanted to return as Freddy. Englund would also appear for the first (of four) times in a Nightmare movie without make-up, playing the Bus Driver at the beginning of the movie - the other times being A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (as an Asylum Inmate), Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (Freddy in a flashback), and Wes Craven's New Nightmare (playing a fictionalized version of Himself).
[Freddy looks at the kids around the pool with his arms out, the gas flame from the barbecue pit blazing behind him]
Freddy Krueger: You are all my children now.
Top and Above: Freddy rips through Jesse's body and attacks the pool party
Reportedly, Shaye micromanaged every aspect of the production, regularly confusing crew members by stepping over the line and offering orders which should have come from the director. That led to an understandably uneasy relationship between Shaye and Sholder. As a result, tensions were high, the hours were long, and the work was hard. There was no real time to stop and second guess the direction of the franchise, and in the Never Sleep Again documentary, Englund recalls several moments during filming, such as the pool sequence where Freddy appears to teenagers outside of their dreams, where he struggled with playing the part because so much of it felt like it was going against the rules set in the first installment - namely because Freddy was attacking people while they were awake.
Another tense scene was the now (in)famous dance scene, that was meant as an homage to Risky Business (1983). Sensing impending embarrassment, Mark Patton didn't actually want to do it, forcing the production to repeatedly postpone the filming of the scene. It was initially stated in the Never Sleep Again documentary that Patton figured out his own choreography, told the filmmakers to roll the camera, and he'd give it his best shot. Patton later changed his story, telling WithoutYourHead, "There's nothing I do in that movie that's not written in the script [...] If you look in the script, it says, 'Jesse bumps his ass against the door three times and gets on the bed and pretends to masturbate.' It's all written in the script. I didn't make that stuff up." While the scene has haunted some of the involved parties for years, Patton says it enjoyed an extended popularity at gay clubs at the time and he no longer finds it embarrassing.
Another tense scene was the now (in)famous dance scene, that was meant as an homage to Risky Business (1983). Sensing impending embarrassment, Mark Patton didn't actually want to do it, forcing the production to repeatedly postpone the filming of the scene. It was initially stated in the Never Sleep Again documentary that Patton figured out his own choreography, told the filmmakers to roll the camera, and he'd give it his best shot. Patton later changed his story, telling WithoutYourHead, "There's nothing I do in that movie that's not written in the script [...] If you look in the script, it says, 'Jesse bumps his ass against the door three times and gets on the bed and pretends to masturbate.' It's all written in the script. I didn't make that stuff up." While the scene has haunted some of the involved parties for years, Patton says it enjoyed an extended popularity at gay clubs at the time and he no longer finds it embarrassing.
TRIVIA: The scene with the possessed parakeet was based on the film The Birds (1963). Clu Gulager had his eye injured during filming of the scene. Producers later regretted even putting it in the movie, as it was too "goofy."
Top: Robert Englund on set with make-up effects creator Kevin Yagher;
Above: Director Jack Sholder (red shirt) on set
Released in 1985, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge was actually meet with relatively mixed reviews with critics either responding positively to Englund's return as the iconic Freddy Krueger, but criticizing the plot for straying to far from the original. Freddy's Revenge was, however, extremely well-received in Europe, as residents of those countries caught (and loved) the sexual overtones. This overseas popularity is what convinced New Line that they had a profitable franchise on their hands. In a February 2010 interview with Attitude magazine, Englund said "... the second Nightmare on Elm Street is obviously intended as a bisexual themed film. It was early '80s, pre-AIDS paranoia. Jesse's wrestling with whether to come out or not and his own sexual desires was manifested by Freddy. His friend is the object of his affection. That's all there in that film. We did it subtly but the casting of Mark Patton was intentional too, because Mark was out and had done Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean."
"Subtext" aside, Freddy's Revenge grossed nearly ten times it's production budget at the US/Canadian box office, grossing $30 million. New Line, Shaye and Englund would of course go to make the next installments in the franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) (which featured the return of Heather Langenkamp as Nancy), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), and the 2010 remake A Nightmare on Elm Street, making New Line Cinema truly the "house that Freddy built"!
"Subtext" aside, Freddy's Revenge grossed nearly ten times it's production budget at the US/Canadian box office, grossing $30 million. New Line, Shaye and Englund would of course go to make the next installments in the franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) (which featured the return of Heather Langenkamp as Nancy), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), and the 2010 remake A Nightmare on Elm Street, making New Line Cinema truly the "house that Freddy built"!
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 40%
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