Look away now, Universal, for Max Landis has conjured up a pitch that would bring together horror’s slasher icons for an unforgettable event movie.
While appearing on Nerdist’s The Writers Panel podcast (via Bloody Disgusting), the Chronicle scribe revealed his far-flung idea for a franchise crossover, one in which Freddy Krueger, Chucky and even Jason Voorhees inhabit the same universe. It’s a little out there, and Landis is known for pitching crazy ideas for shits and giggles – sometimes they stick (see: Bright), whereas others fade into obscurity.
But let’s entertain this potential doozy for a moment. The elevator pitch for Landis’ horror crossover would center on a “John Boyega from Attack the Block” type 17-year-old who is placed in the care of a picture-perfect suburban family…on Elm Street. From there, things get weird, as our protagonist is poisoned by his new parents and begins to dream of Freddy Krueger.
Freddy stalks the kid… pops out… claws to the face… dead instantly. Except he’s not. Freddy can’t get his claws out of the kid’s face. All of a sudden, chains, like the movie Hellraiser, go all around Freddy… pull him up and lock him… he’s like a scarecrow.
Then, the teenager has another vision, only this time, he discovers what really happened on that fateful night on Elm Street, as Max Landis explains:
The parents of Elm Street were like a cult. And they sacrificed an innocent man, Fred Krueger, to summon the demon, Freddy Krueger, and then have been sacrificing their children for 30 years to this demon to become incredibly famous and powerful and wealthy. Now, they have finally gotten to the point where they are going to sacrifice the demon itself [to Pinhead]. Those [villains] are the guys we came to see. Why not just let them be heroes? They’re the characters you love… in a new context.
Halloween 2017 is already chock-full of horror treats, what with Stranger Things, Leatherface, Jigsaw, and Amityville: The Awakening playing across screens big and small. Just imagine if Friday the 13th had seen release at Paramount, too. Oh, what could have been.
Tell us, though, what do you make of Max Landis‘ proposed crossover? Is it hogwash? Or a genuinely compelling event movie? You can, as always, drop your thoughts below.
