Nato’s Picks
Johnny Depp’s Messy Demise In A Nightmare On Elm Street
What better way to start my selections than with a classic, showcasing Johnny Depp’s messy demise in the very first A Nightmare On Elm Street. Yup, that’s right, for those of you non-horror fans, a wee-little Jack Sparrow was brutally murdered by none other than Freddy Krueger one night while sleeping in his bed.
Before anyone really knew the destruction Freddy is capable of, Depp’s death really set the tone on carnage and brutality by the copious amount of blood spewed from his bed as he’s sucked in. Well not sucked in, pulled in I should say, as Freddy reaches his arms from out of the bed and pulls Depp into a giant hole which we can only assume leads to the depths of hell. A geyser of blood then rockets out of the hole and continues until the entire room is just dripping in the gooey substance, which his poor mother sees when opening the door to her son’s room.
And you thought your room was messy as a kid?
Comic Book Dude Gets Shredded In Part 5: The Dream Child
While one of the least gory kills of the bunch, Freddy’s superhero antics and colorful violence easily make Mark’s death in The Dream Child one of the more creative Krueger kills.
Mark (Joe Seely) is your average comic book nerd stereotype, lusting for the pretty character and wanting to be the hero. Well, when he mistakenly falls asleep reading comics one night, Freddy gives Mark the chance to be that hero, entering some black and white dream landscape which is like a comic book panel.
Freddy’s first move is going punk and skateboarding directly at Mark as a stunning distraction, only to kill a plumply stuffed Greta (Mark’s friend) right before his eyes. This is when Mark goes into hero mode, looking like some high-tech western gunslinger (The Phantom Prowler) who pumps Freddy full of lead. This of course doesn’t do shit because Mark’s playing on Freddy’s home turf, as Krueger gets back up in “Super Freddy” form – a muscular version of our merciless killer.
Mark uselessly fires his guns at Super Freddy, but ends up only prolonging his fate. Freddy walks over and takes a swipe at him, and we now see Mark as a paper thin drawing with a chunk now cut out, as all the color leaks from Mark’s figure, signifying his loss of blood. All that’s left is a waving paper form in the shape of Mark, which Freddy easily turns into confetti.
As I said, not exactly the bloodiest and most vile kill Freddy has ever pulled off, but easily the most fun.
Freddy Plays Puppet Master in Part 3: The Dream Warriors
My favorite Freddy kill is a nice little mix between grotesque and fun, showcasing Krueger’s puppeteering skills in The Dream Warriors. Seriously, I still squirm every time I watch this scene, even though I know exactly what’s about to happen.
At first, Freddy possesses the form of a hanging marionette, hinting that our killer might stay in toy form for a unique Chucky-like kill. This isn’t the case though, as he walks over to his victim Phillip’s (Bradley Gregg) bed in toy form, but then morphs back to his “human” form at the foot of the bed. Phillip, paralyzed by fear, watches as Freddy makes a cut down each arm and each leg, and then pulls the veins out of his body so he can work him like the marionette shown before. Ugh, yes, Freddy is working Phillip by his veins.
With total control over the young man’s body, he walks Phillip through the hospital hallways and rooms, dripping blood as he goes, but everyone just assumes he’s sleepwalking or going for a leisurely stroll – until Freddy walks him to a windowsill. Teetering on the edge for all his friends to see, Freddy toys with him for a short amount of time, letting him sway back and forth, but then cuts his “strings” and lets Phillip fall to his death.
Tortured, defeated, and then thrown from a building – Freddy sure knows how to put on a show.
