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Freddy Krueger has been a Halloween icon ever since he was introduced into the world of horror in 1984. "A Nightmare on Elm Street" went on to spawn a number of sequels and even a remake, but there will never be anything quite like the original. Here are 10 things you probably didn't know about "A Nightmare on Elm Street."
It was inspired by actual events.
Wes Craven read an article in the LA Times of a teenage boy who was suffering from horrible nightmares and began fighting sleep by any means possible. The boy's parents, concerned for his well being, got him sleeping pills.
Finally getting him to sleep, they took him up to his room only to hear him moments later thrashing, screaming, and eventually dying. The parents found a coffee maker as well as all the sleeping pills hidden in the room. Craven thought it would be interesting if there was something or someone in the dreams that actually killed him, thus Freddy was born.
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The title has connections with the Kennedy Assassination.
Everyone knows that John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas but few realize he was actually killed on Elm Street. Wes Craven thought it would be a perfect name of the street in a movie where nightmares literally come to life.
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The script was pitched for 3 years before being picked up.
New Line Cinema, which was a tiny, independent studio at the time, finally picked up the script after everyone else said no one would be frightened by a movie about dreams.
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Charlie Sheen almost starred in the original movie.
Sheen was approached by New Line Cinema but he wanted $3000 per week which was completely out of the budget for such a small studio.
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Wes Craven's daughter insisted he cast Johnny Depp.
The role had come down to Depp and one other actor when Craven's daughter told him he must cast Depp. Craven was unsure of Depp's look but finally gave in when she insisted that girls would love him. Good call.
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Freddy Krueger was originally written as an old man.
Wes Craven thought it would be creepy to have Freddy portrayed by an older actor but after auditions he found old men to have a softness to them that didn't fit the sinister evil he was looking for in Freddy. Of course Robert Englund, who was 37 at the time, took the part and the rest is history.
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Freddy's face was designed based on pizza toppings.
David Miller, the head makeup artist, was having dinner when he suddenly had an idea. He started arranging the cheese and pepperoni and eventually created the concept for Freddy's face out of it. I'm assuming the dinner was a write off as a work expense.
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The famous melting stairs scene was made using Bisquick.
The scene of Nancy trying to run upstairs but being slowed down as the ground melts beneath her was actually made using pancake mix. The crew cut holes in the stairs and filled it with Bisquick. After sitting for several hours it became paste-like and created the perfect look and feel of a nightmare coming to life.
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Freddy's face had to be completely recreated for the sequel.
David Miller was unavailable for the follow up film so a new head of makeup effects was brought in. Unfortunately no one predicted the success of the first film so there were very few photos taken of Freddy's original makeup. Everything had to be created from scratch, which is why he appears to have changed so much from one movie to the next.
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Brad Pitt and Christian Slater were turned down for the sequel.
Both actors auditioned but were rejected for the part of Jesse Walsh in "Nightmare on Elm Street 2". Despite this rejection I'd say both of them ended up doing alright for themselves.