One, two, Freddy’s coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door.
Robert Englund’s portrayal of Freddy Krueger has frightened audiences for over 40 years. In 1984, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” debuted, which led to a seven-film franchise. The Los Angeles native called it the “happy accident” of his career.
“It’s the great gift of all of this, is that it became international, and people put my name to my face,” he explained to Melvin Robert on the KTLA 5 Morning News. “Something they never tell you in acting class, you know how important that is… but it really made a difference. It made me international overnight and that’s the great gift.”
The role has reached generations of fans with people of all ages donning the infamous red and green sweater, felt fedora and knife-tipped gloves.
“The kids are hysterical. There’s nothing funnier than if I’m at a Comic Con or something and I see a baby Freddy and a baby Jason battling it out over candy or something like that,” he laughed. “But I like the sexy Freddy-ettes. They get more candy.”
To keep up with the times, all seven films within the saga are now available on 4K Ultra High Definition.
“So many fans encountered the experience on VHS because we were there at the beginning of that whole revolution. They saw it with their mom and dad, or their older brother and sister, or a cool stepdad that let them watch it… but they haven’t seen it perfectly restored, or they didn’t see it in a live theatrical experience,” he said. “So if you’ve got a favorite one, I would check out this collection.”
Englund said he’s looking forward to watching 1988’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master,” to see cinematographer Roy Wagner’s work.
“Remember how great ‘CSI’ looked when it first came on, that depth of field and the color lighting? That’s Roy and he did that with Part Four, and I’m really looking forward to seeing (it).”
Classically trained at England’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Englund started his career on the stage. Playing a badly burned child killer who kills teens in their dreams in the slasher franchise wasn’t something he saw for himself, however, a conversation with filmmaker Wes Craven changed all that.
“You know what Wes reminded me of? Because I was so full of myself, I was the guy in the corduroy jacket with the patches on the sleeves. I was just going to do Shakespeare. I’m not coming back to Hollywood, you know? I’m above all that, and I’d done like 10 years of movie work, and Wes reminded me I’d been a fanboy too as a child, and he taught me to respect the genre,” he explained. “And all these memories of mowing lawns in the valley and going to see double bills of horror movies, Hammer films, and things like that when I was a kid, they all came back. So it really gave me respect for the fans.”
Now all those fans will be lining up along Hollywood Boulevard to see him receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, which is Halloween. He said he jumped at the opportunity to have the ceremony that day, after learning “Halloween” filmmaker John Carpenter opted to receive his honor earlier in the year.
“I figured John would take the Halloween date, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Kurt Russell and everybody. He went and got his in the spring,” he explained.
Englund called the honor “personal,” considering he lived in Hollywood during his time as an aspiring actor.
He called the illustrious Walk of Fame a “real kind of the fabric of popular culture.”
Englund’s ceremony will take place Oct. 31 at 11:30 a.m. PST in front of the Larry Edmunds Book Store at 6644 Hollywood Boulevard. The ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m.
“A Nightmare on Elm Street 7-Film Collection” in 4K UHD is available now.
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