Robert Englund

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

In the narrative, Freddy Krueger was originally a child murderer who killed 20 children but was released on a technicality. The victims' parents along with other Elm Street residents sought vigilante justice and burned him alive in the boiler room where he committed his crimes. However, Krueger returned as an undead entity capable of entering dreams to kill. His power is fueled by fear; when Nancy Thompson realizes this, she calmly turns her back on him, causing Krueger to evaporate. The story reveals that Krueger targeted the teenagers specifically because their parents were accomplices to his homicide. Marge Thompson discloses these details after Nancy pulls a fedora with the name "Fred Krueger" from a nightmare into the real world.

In Their Own Story

The terror began when teenager Tina Gray woke from a nightmare where a disfigured man in a bladed glove attacked her, leaving mysterious slashes on her nightgown. Her friends Nancy Thompson and Glen Lantz soon shared similar dreams of the same man. During a sleepover, Tina's boyfriend Rod Lane arrived, but when Tina fell asleep dreaming of the attack, Rod witnessed an unseen force fatally slash her before fleeing. Police arrested Rod despite his innocence. Later, Nancy burned her arm on a pipe in class to startle herself awake from a dream chase in the boiler room. She nearly drowned in the bathtub at home while sleeping. At Rod's funeral, where he was found dead and staged as a suicide, Nancy's parents grew worried. Marge drove Nancy to a sleep disorder clinic, where she grabbed Krueger's fedora from her dream. After learning Krueger was burned alive by parents including hers, Nancy rigged booby traps in her home. She lured Krueger out of the nightmare into reality, set him on fire, and locked him in the basement. Police found he had escaped; he smothered Marge in the bedroom before vanishing into a bed with her. Finally, Nancy turned her back to Krueger, causing him to evaporate.

Reader's Guide

Wes Craven based the screenplay loosely on news stories about Asian refugees dying in the middle of nightmares, specifically Hmong refugees suffering from "Asian Death Syndrome" after fleeing war in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The condition afflicted men between ages 19 and 57 and was linked to sudden unexplained death or Brugada syndrome. Craven also drew inspiration from a 1968 student film project by his students at Clarkson University filmed along Elm Street in Potsdam, New York. For the character's design, make-up artist David B. Miller used photographs of burn victims from UCLA Medical Center. Craven chose red and green for Krueger's sweater after reading a 1982 Scientific American article stating these are the most clashing colors to the human retina. The iconic glove was developed after Craven considered a sickle; he asked special effects guy Jim Doyle to create a "glove with steak knives." Two models were built: a hero glove for cutting and a stunt glove to prevent injury.

Did You Know?

• Robert Englund's character, Freddy Krueger, was named after a boy who bullied Wes Craven in school.
• Make-up artist David B. Miller designed Krueger's face using burn victim photos from UCLA Medical Center.
• The red and green sweater colors were chosen because a 1982 Scientific American article stated they are the most clashing to the human retina.
• Two versions of the bladed glove were built: a hero model for cutting scenes and a safer stunt model.
• Robert Shaye, the film's producer, appears in two uncredited roles as TV news and radio broadcasters.