The Evolution of Freddy Krueger (Animated)
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Freddy Krueger defined 80's slashers, but with so many films under his belt he was bound to go through some changes. From creepy to comedic to creepy again, let's go through his progression… animated!
warning: spoilers ahead!In A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Freddy’s wearing a red and green striped sweater, brown pants, boots, a fashionable fedora and his signature bladed glove. To avenge his own death he attacks the teenagers of Elm Street in their dreams, and is defeated by being ignored.
In the sequel, A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), his nose is hooked and his burn marks, which appear more embellished, extend farther down his body. Green stripes are added to the sleeves of his sweatshirt, and his pants darken. His eyes are more demonic-looking, and his blades are physically attached to his hand – two traits that would not carry over to the other sequels. This time Freddy takes control of a young boy's body and pops out and crashes a pool party. But when Freddy gets smooched by the young boy's girlfriend, he turns to ash.
In A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), Freddy's look is consistent with the previous film, but he's shown shirtless for the first time, revealing a chest of screaming souls. He gets beat up by dysfunctional kids in the dream world and is finally defeated when his human remains get laid to rest.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) resurrects Freddy with the power of dog pee. He’s the same Freddy, but his glove is slightly updated in colour. Freddy neutralizes the kids from the last film, and this time, he bursts when shown his own reflection.
Freddy is re-birthed in A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989), and grows quickly into an older, saggier version of himself, with larger burn marks. He trains a young apprentice in the dream world, who unfortunately turns on him, and Freddy is absorbed by his mother.
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), takes us through Freddy's upbringing as a child, then teenager, and finally as a middle-aged serial killer. He's burned to death, but manages to gain dream-demon powers. Physically, Freddy retains the larger burn marks, but isn't quite as saggy. He faces off against his daughter, who blows him up once and for all.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) establishes the previous Freddy as a made-up movie character, and introduces a taller, pale-eyed Freddy demon. This one wears a green hat. trench coat, leather pants, tall boots, a striped turtleneck and an organic bladed hand. He attacks the star from the first film, but gets cooked in an oven.
In Freddy Vs Jason (2003), we're taken back to the original time-line and shown another version of human Freddy pre-burn. This Freddy's burn marks are darker, his teeth are sharper, his pants are lighter and the blades on his glove are larger. He raises Jason Voorhees to do his bidding, but gets jealous of his kill count and faces off against him instead.
The franchise would be rehashed, whoops, I mean rebooted in 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street with a shorter and more realistically burned Freddy Krueger. While creepier looking, he fails to live up to the Freddy we all know and love.
With scavenged parts, Dr Frankenstein is ready to bring life to his creation. But just how has Universal’s Frankenstein Monster design and story evolved? Let’s dig in now...animated!