HORRORFIXXX

I'm sorry, but any A Nightmare on Elm Street movie without Robert Englund as Freddy isn't a real A Nightmare on Elm Street movie. The remake already played that hand, and played it so poorly that it tanked the IP for the better part of two decades. And counting! A lot of slashers are easy to recast; so much of their identity is in their silence, in their mask, in their inherent absence of any definable identity. Jason you can recast. Michael you can recast. Freddy Krueger you can never recast, because he is steadfastly the opposite. He is uniquely Robert Englund and Robert Englund is irreplaceable.

I can't see this movie actually happening, but an announcement that dances around the subject of Robert Englund's onscreen involvement implies that a.) they're definitely replacing him, b.) they know that's a choice people will be unhappy about, and c.) whatever alternative they've concocted isn't any good. An idea that's actually good enough to move forward with sans Robert Englund would be something so creative and so bold that they'd be hyping it up from the outset. If it's TRULY the right pitch for this revival, why hide it?

If this does get made and Englund isn't Freddy, I just can't fathom a reality where it winds up as anything but a Hellraiser: Revelations type cashgrab. It could (and should!) be more of a Phantasm: Ravager style sendoff. I know a lot of people hate that film (I myself quite like it), but it's hard to argue that it at least actually represents and respects its own legacy. It did the best job it could with the resources available! That is literally all I, and likely most series fans, are asking for.

Yeah, sure, Robert Englund is 79 and has claimed in recent years to be unwilling to reprise the role again in live action because of all of the physicality and makeup that comes with it, but there are ways around that and it's pretty easy to bat away an offer that hasn't actually come. I see no reason they can't just Phantasm: Ravager this. Let him do what he can and do the rest with body doubles, with creative usage of close up and far away shots, with freakin' CGI makeup if that's what it takes to ensure one last trip to Elm Street is an actual trip to Elm Street.

It isn't ideal, but CGI Robert Englund Freddy beats the hell out of Prosthetics Chris Pratt Freddy or Prosthetics Jared Leto Freddy 10 out of 10 times. If you insist on doing something, do it well.