Playing an iconic horror character that doesn’t wear a mask can often be a double-edged sword. On one hand, the inevitable string of sequels guarantee regular work for years if not decades, but it can also lead to the actor in question being typecast for the rest of their career.
While both Robert Englund and Doug Bradley have a huge number of credits under their respective belts, they’ll always be best remembered as A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Freddy Krueger and Hellraiser‘s Pinhead. Other names have since inherited the roles, but they haven’t been able to bring the malevolent figures to life in quite the same way as the originators.
Horror fans love to debate who would come out on top in a battle royale between the genre’s big hitters, something cinema has largely left unanswered with the notable exception of 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason. However, Englund was recently asked if he thought Freddy could take Pinhead one-on-one, and he unsurprisingly hedged his bets with the noted sweater enthusiast.
“If they encounter Freddy and they sleep, at some point in whatever their world is Freddy can get to them.”
Hellraiser is in the midst of being revived on both the big and small screens, but it’s been over a decade since our last visit to Elm Street. The estate of the late Wes Craven has been actively inviting pitches for a while, though, but nothing has gained enough traction as of yet to be placed into active development.
Pinhead might be beating Freddy in the race to make his latest comeback, then, but the Nightmare on Elm Street legend is still firmly of the belief that he’d be able to get the upper hand should the claw-wielding serial killer and the head of the Cenobites ever find themselves crossing paths.
