Freddy Krueger’s Top 10 Kills from the Elm Street Franchise
Of all the modern horror franchises there’s just something utterly special about the Nightmare on Elm Street films. The reasons are fairly obvious- the killer Freddy Krueger talks is one of them, the other are the death scenes itself. For this we can’t compare the Halloween franchise or Friday the 13th which were for the most part based in reality (yes Jason X we are looking at you as the exception to that rule).
And so because Nightmare on Elm Street was based in the dream world literally anything could happen. When was the last time you woke up and thought wtf just happened? That’s REM baby- where your brain will either delve into your deepest fears and anxieties- usually when you’re tired or once or twice a year you’ll get the ultimate great dream.
On Elm Street that was never the case, kids were butchered to death just because they fell asleep- in the words of Alice Johnson from Parts 4 and 5 “don’t fall asleep.” But well, you know unless you’re some Russian priest who travelled around the world lately in a balloon to not fall asleep is pretty darn hard. Said priest went a whopping 11 days without a wink just in case you needed to know.
In short the kills down Elm Street can be outrageous, gory and jaw dropping- the writers could run with their imaginations and often did. This created some very memorable if not often bizarre death scenes in the Elm Street films, and we loved them! Below is the top 10 including from the original to Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.
10. John Saxon Meets a Cadillac
Donald Thompson played of course by the great veteran actor John Saxon returned as Nancy’s father from the original Nightmare movie to star in A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors. Here we see him as no more than the town drunk when Nancy and her new colleague Dr. Gordon track him down so he can help locate Freddy’s remains and kill him forever. Once he is finally persuaded to join the hunt things go awry when Freddy’s remains come to life and attack Donald. He is thrown onto what seems to be the sharp end of a Cadillac and we lose one of the more important characters from the early Elm Street movies. Fight scene is fairly memorable as a nodding tribute to the classic Ray Harryhausen movies.
9. Freddy Plays the Ultimate Trick on Poor Nancy
Everything is going great for Nancy as she aims to help the final kids of Elm Street and save them from Freddy. But everyone’s favourite razor fingered killer has been real busy in what was Part 3: Dream Warriors. His skeleton self has just killed Nancy’s father, Donald (see above). His physical form is now after his nemesis- Nancy Thompson. So Freddy thinks outside the box and comes back as Nancy’s father as a spirit. At first Nancy is very perplexed- but the trick here is on us the viewer. Nancy has no idea at that point that her father has been killed- we do, and so we are bought in to the fact that the spirit really is her fathers. Well no it isn’t and as Nancy comes to terms with it all and hugs him for the last time, Freddy is revealed and he stabs her straight through the stomach for one of the real shock kills of the franchise. Despite the many Kleenex tissues that horror fans got through in that scene at least Nancy delivers the ultimate blow to Freddy by shoving his own gloved hand in his body. But he would, of course be back soon enough.
8. Don’t Dream and Drive
There’s just something about Dan Jordan’s death from Part 5: The Dream Child that touches a raw nerve- (sorry couldn’t resist). But seriously this is a real sad death. We know that Alice and him will be expecting a baby- opening credits are a dead give away! This chapter in their life is about moving on but no Freddy is back through their unborn child’s dreams and he goes predictability after Alice’s boyfriend Dan. There he is on his motorcycle but he’s tired and nods off, this is seriously one of the better kills from the series where Dan literally becomes one with his bike. Pistons break as wiring shoots up Dan’s veins and within his body. This death was originally hacked to pieces by the MPAA.
